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Roger Ganley walked out on the balcony of his room at the Conrad Hotel in Istanbul and sipped some coffee as he looked over the scenic view of the Bosphorus Strait. The cool breeze that came in from the Black Sea was refreshing in light of the fact that the temperature will probably hit the upper nineties by noon.
Ganley heard the knock on his door and went to get it knowing that it was Jeremy Spak.
“Time to get ready, sir, our first meeting is at ten, that should take us into lunch and our flight to Tbilisi has been confirmed for 10:00 A.M. Monday.
“Has Evans checked in with us yet?”
“Yes, he said to tell you that the CIA is still in Azerbaijan, and there are no new details.”
“You could never trust those sneaky bastards,” Ganley said, “Any other messages”
“Only one, John said that some gentleman called and was adamant about speaking to you, something about some investment, he said he didn’t know that you were supposed to be out of town.”
“Who the hell was it?”
“We don’t know, he wouldn’t give his name, but he told John that he’d call back on Monday.”
“That’s fine, it could probably wait. By the way, there’s something that I’ve been meaning to talk to you about.
Ganley motioned for Spak to sit down on a chair in the living room section of the hotel suite.
“I may become a member of a petroleum consortium in Azerbaijan.”
Spak looked surprised and asked, “I thought you were returning to the States.”
“That’s right, and believe me, there’s nothing that will keep me from getting on the plane when my term is up. But this consortium is too profitable an opportunity to pass up, and here’s where I hope you could come in to play. I never asked you, but do you plan to stay in Georgia with the new administration?”
“I’m still undecided on that, sir, I’ll have to get my ass in gear and start weighing my options.”
“Well, I want you to know that I will give you the best recommendation possible, and if our party is lucky enough to hang in there after the next election, I’d say that you have as good a chance as anyone to succeed me as Ambassador.”
“Thank you, sir, I appreciate that.”
“Secondly, if I do a second mortgage on the old homestead and invest life and limb into the consortium, I’ll need someone here in East Europe to manage my interest, and I’m hard pressed to think of anyone that I would trust more than you.”
“That’s good to know,” Spak says, thinking that he’s worked for the old bastard all these years and he never said this before.
Ganley walked over to Spak and said, “I will pay you the same salary that you’re getting now, and if this is as profitable as I think it’ll be, I think that you’ll see a yearly bonus that will double your salary.”
“That would be very generous, sir.”
“If you don’t mind, I was hoping that you wouldn’t mention any of this to my father. Ten years ago, he would have been mentally capable of handling the job, but as you know, age does take its toll on all of us.”
“I understand, sir, and I thank you again for the offer, I’ll let you know what my plans are as soon as I can.”
“Good, in the meantime, I hope you’re prepared for this 10:00 meeting.”
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