"Brad Thor - Harvath 01 -The Lions Of Lucerne" - читать интересную книгу автора (Thor Brad)

off the furniture. Those prissy academics who run Versailles now have been
scouring the world trying to buy back all of the original furniture.
тАЬThey made it perfectly clear that they believed the desk was a national treasure and
that they would go to any lengths to get it back. They claim that they were dealing
directly with the owner, but thatтАЩs a load of bullshit. The owner was a savvy old bird
who used SothebyтАЩs on the sly to mount a very discreet bidding war. I had one of
my lawyers from Amsterdam represent me as an anonymous buyer. The French bid
high right from the get-go, and we followed them straight up. There was no way I
was going to let them get it. Bill Gates was hovering around the fringes of the
bidding, and I thought I was really going to have some trouble out of him, but he lost
interest after a while. When the other players fell out of the running and we were neck
and neck with the French, we let them win the bid.тАЭ
Snyder leaned forward surprised. тАЬIf you let them win the bid, howтАЩd you end up
with the desk?тАЭ
тАЬIтАЩll tell you how,тАЭ said Fawcett, тАЬand if I do say so myself, itтАЩs brilliant. We had a
girl inside who handled the banking. For their deals, especially one of this size,
SothebyтАЩs has very strict rules. They donтАЩt care if youтАЩre Charlie de Gaulle or
Charlie Potatoes, if you canтАЩt come up with the payment, you lose your place in line.
They came back to us when the French money didnтАЩt show and asked if we would
match the bid. Meanwhile, the Frogs were going batshit trying to figure out what
went wrong. It was beautiful. Our girl had worked it so she was spotless. It looked
like the bank in France screwed things up. We were able to get the rolltop for a
fraction of what it would have cost if thereтАЩd been an all-out bidding war. And let me
tell you this, it felt good to stick it to the Frenchies.тАЭ
Rolander had heard the story before, but the guile of his old college roommate made
him smile nonetheless. Rolander was amazed at how far sheer force of will and
personality had carried Fawcett. He sometimes wondered where he would be if heтАЩd
been as ruthless. Being a senator wasnтАЩt bad by a long shot and Russ Rolander
hadnтАЩt got to where he was by sitting around, but what would it be like to have
FawcettтАЩs money and power? What would it be like for him to support all of his
vices with his own money, rather than depending on the steady stream of Fawcett
deposits to his Caribbean bank account?
Well, if you were going to be in a pocket, Rolander reasoned, it might as well be a
deep one.
SnyderтАЩs reaction wasnтАЩt much different. He was also amazed at the lengths to
which Fawcett would go to get what he wanted. Snyder felt a bizarre sense of
camaraderie with the man. Both he and Fawcett knew no limit to their passions, nor
to the depths to which they would descend to force the world to give them what they
wanted. As much as they had in common, though, there was one thing that Snyder
knew for sure, he was smarter than Donald Fawcett would ever be.
тАЬSo,тАЭ continued Fawcett, тАЬthatтАЩs how my little Louis XV room came to be. How
much do you want to bet that he banged Marie Antoinette right on that couch youтАЩre
sitting on?тАЭ
Snyder tried to suppress it, but a slight smile crept across his lips. Fawcett might
have monkey loads of money, but he didnтАЩt know shit when it came to history.
Marie Antoinette wasnтАЩt married to Louis XV, she was married to Louis XVI.
тАЬI get what I want. DonтАЩt I, Russ?тАЭ
тАЬThatтАЩs right,тАЭ Rolander managed between coughs, as Fawcett, who had been
walking behind the couch, had smacked him hard on the back mid-swig of his
brandy.