This is an authorized translation in English of a post in French by Vincent Le Roy (@vincentleroy): LE DOSSIER VALMY (Thriller) : Chapitre 17

^{As my primary language is not English, there are probably some mistakes in my translation.}

Remember that the person who speaks here is NOT me, Vincent Celier (@vcelier), but Vincent Le Roy (@vincentleroy), a French guy.

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Chapter 17: Poker shots

We agreed with Patrick that he would come from Rouen to my place in Paris on Sunday afternoon and that we would be driving together in my car. Around 5PM, under a beautiful late summer sun, we take the road direction Düsseldorf.

Around 8PM, we stop before the Belgian border for dinner. I still remember this conversation mingled with the stress of the next day when we had our skin in the game, and the little confidences about the past. Clearly, we are on the same wavelength and instead of firing this guy a year ago, I should have fired the other two. This is what it is. It's cold and I did not hook. It's stupid because the only good guy was him. During the road and dinner, all possible scenarios are considered and responses are prepared for each option.

Around 11PM, we are in Germany, not without difficulty. My GPS made us run in circles on an interchange for almost an hour. For a German car, it fucks badly! In short, we land at Essen at 1AM. It's late and the alarm rings only in a few hours. We need to be fit. In bed!

The rooms are sublime. The Germans did things big. Everything is settled even the continental breakfast. If I had the impression not to bluff Amiens in the laboratory, I must admit that this unpacking extravagance for two small guys, French in addition, in big trouble, does not compute. I do not know what to expect. Neither is Patrick.

At 6:50AM, the car is parked in the Minova car park. Nothing extravagant except maybe the glass headquarters to which we are heading. The hostess notes our names and announces us. In perfect English, she tells us the elevator and the floor where we should go. The 7th floor. Arrived on the landing, Archibald is there and waiting for us. The handshake is warm. He worries about our trip and the hotel. He wants to know if we enjoyed it. I take care not to tell him that I don't really care and that it is a long time since I am not seduced with luxury, whores and alcohol. For now, we have to be diplomats, so I confirm that we are thrilled.

We follow him to the big hall. This is the Board Room. We are on the executive floor. At the top if I can say so, since the building has only 7 floors. They are ten. The secretary offers us some coffee and muffin that I accept as a courtesy. Detler my first caller at home is there too. He starts the discussion by staring at me as if Patrick was not concerned:

• Vincent, personally, I transmitted your file. It's not my responsibility, I'm busy with other projects. I have transmitted and I am delighted to welcome you. I present our CEO, Michael.

The famous Detler gets up, greets us with a firm handshake and leaves the room. I'm looking at the man named Michael. 45 years old, immaculately dressed, calm, cold, with an almost friendly smile. Archibald is in a corner, slightly behind. Quiet and smiling. I cannot determine if all this is positive or not. I do not know that we are starting 12 hours of meetings. Patrick is not prepared for this kind of marathon, in a language that we master but that exhausts us intellectually to be sure not to miss anything. So I do not know the rules of the game but in my defense, the Germans do not know that I will not let go anything during these twelve hours. My goal is very simple: sell the company or its technologies and the men with them. Michael will quickly disarm me.

• Vincent hello and nice to meet you and Patrick. Before you called Detler, we knew you. We had identified you.

There he has just scored a point. He just taped me. He continues :

• What my team saw in Amiens does not interest us.

And shit! I knew it was average ... He continues:

• Last night, I had one of your former associates who told us to be suspicious and that you were a thug.

I'm fuming, I jumps. It's too much for me because there, in three sentences, he just put me down.

• Who?

The answer is sybillin:

• He speaks perfect German ...

And they all burst out laughing. We do not. The only one of my opponents who speaks German fluently is Kojak. And as they finish laughing to get back to business, I think. How could Kojak know that we had contacted Minova and that we were going to Germany? Everything happened in 72 hours. So I have a traitor in my team. Thanks Michael for the info. he ends by confirming that it is about Kojak and the chopper falls:

• To invest in Valmy in such a short time with the conflict that you had the honesty to inform us, it's not possible but you interest us.

His English has become approximate, I realized. It is therefore at the heart of the discussion. This is the moment and I focus even more:

• What interests us is you. You and Patrick. And your Polish friend too. Come join our teams. You are welcome and we take care of everything.

I take a hit. It's rather positive, but I already had a hard time convincing Julie to go live in Luxembourg, far from her sick father, and while she just digested our return to France precipitated in 2004, I can not see myself telling her we're leaving for Germany. This is on the human level but it is true that the friendly welcome did not inform us on one point: they want what?

As for Patrick, 4 years before retirement, with his wife established at the Matmut and two years from retirement, there is no question. I know it in advance. In the scenarios that we thought about in the car, it had not even been considered ... It's time to regain control.

• My dear Michael, we are flattered and honored. But that is not possible. Patrick will never leave France. Personally, I think it would be a very good experience for my children. But if I do that, I have debts. And sincerely, your adventure does not tempt me like that.

That's it, I transferred the hot potato to the Germans. You want us? Bah finds the solution. If he is willing to pay for everything to work with his teams, it is worth something and I want to know how much and what interests them deep down.

Michael is a thoughtful man. He does not want to answer immediately to my question that he guessed and proposes a break. I understand two things, the discussion is not over and they will propose a plan B. They need to confer and we agree to go for coffee with a henchman. The analysis is simple: they want our skills but without bothering with the past. In this respect, I understand them sincerely. And personally, their proposal is a golden bridge. A golden bridge that means planting all my associates and my employees among whom there is a traitor. Sorry Michael, but taking coffee, I categorically refuse. The men have followed me and I will not abandon them. The traitor, I'll take care of it later. For sure.

The poker game is not over ...

Continue to Chapter 18

Introduction
Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4 - Chapter 5 - Chapter 6
Chapter 7 - Chapter 8 - Chapter 9 - Chapter 10 - Chapter 11 - Chapter 12
Chapter 13 - Chapter 14 - Chapter 15 - Chapter 16