"Pierre, alio! Comment allez vous?" Even at ten-thirty in the morning Hans could be cheerful. Armont, definitely a night person, never understood how he did it.
"Bien, considering." Armont knew Hans was more comfortable in English than in French, and he hated speaking German. "What're you doing for the next couple of days?"
"Got something?" The German's interest immediately perked up.
"There's a little cleanup . . ."
After he gave him a quick briefing on the situation via their secure phone, Hans was extremely unhappy.
"Dimitri screwed up. It's not our problem."
"I say it's our problem," Pierre replied. "We guarantee our work and you're either in, or you're out. Permanently. Those are the rules."
"All right." Hans sighed. "Can't blame me for not liking it, though."
"So who do you think we need?" Armont asked. Hans knew the people better than he did.
"Well, we definitely should have Reggie," he replied straightaway. "He's the best negotiator we've got, and also he can get us some of the hardware we'll be needing."