p style="-qt-block-indent: 0; text-indent: 36px; margin: 0px;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 12pt;""Gordon Taylor," acknowledged Neal. "We do meet at last in Paris, but I must say, not the way I'd imagined it."/span/p
p style="-qt-block-indent: 0; text-indent: 36px; margin: 0px;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 12pt;"Taylor took his time to chew and swallow. "I would have apologised, but you did try to send me to jail the last time we saw each other. Be sure to thank Mozzie for me."/span/p
p style="-qt-block-indent: 0; text-indent: 36px; margin: 0px;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 12pt;"Neal inclined his head. "This isn't the way you bring people in usually. What changed?"/span/p
p style="-qt-block-indent: 0; text-indent: 36px; margin: 0px;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 12pt;""Alan Woodford asked me to check on the suspicious circumstances of your death as a favour. Good job on that, by the way. Very impressive. Almost had me fooled."/span/p
p style="-qt-block-indent: 0; text-indent: 36px; margin: 0px;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 12pt;"He accepted the compliment. "So the photos were a preview of what's coming?"/span/p
p style="-qt-block-indent: 0; text-indent: 36px; margin: 0px;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 12pt;""I wouldn't have sent them if I was going to give you up. That was the original intention, until I got a better offer. Now that serves as incentive for you to join me. Blackmail isn't ideal, of course, but I heard that you were out of the game and couldn't think of a better way to get you interested again. No honour among thieves, right?" Taylor allowed himself a smile./span/p
p style="-qt-block-indent: 0; text-indent: 36px; margin: 0px;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 12pt;""I heard the Panthers are serving life. What would Woodford do with information about me?" Neal tried to sound nonchalant, hiding his terror within./span/p
p style="-qt-block-indent: 0; text-indent: 36px; margin: 0px;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 12pt;""Come now, Neal. He's influential even behind bars. Nobody has dared to cross him before. If he knows you're alive, he will come after you with everything he has left. How far do you think you can go before his men find you?"/span/p
p style="-qt-block-indent: 0; text-indent: 36px; margin: 0px;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 12pt;""What will you tell him when he asks you about me?" he enquired./span/p
p style="-qt-block-indent: 0; text-indent: 36px; margin: 0px;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 12pt;""I'd asked for eighteen months to produce proof of life, failing which he will assume you're dead. I'll just keep my silence and you can stop looking over your shoulder for danger from the Panthers," assured Taylor./span/p
p style="-qt-block-indent: 0; text-indent: 36px; margin: 0px;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 12pt;""And what do I have to do in return?" He internally dreaded the answer./span/p
p style="-qt-block-indent: 0; text-indent: 36px; margin: 0px;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 12pt;""Nothing you haven't done before. I didn't have the heart to sell you to Alan when I could use your skills on this one. It's got a handsome pay-off too; something to add to the twenty-three million dollar fortune that you're already sitting on. I'd be a fool to disclose details before knowing where your allegiance lies. I'll give you a day's time to mull over your options. If you're in, you'll be picked up on Monday and we can get started." He wiped his mouth with a cloth napkin and stood up./span/p
p style="-qt-block-indent: 0; text-indent: 36px; margin: 0px;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 12pt;""Like I was picked up today?" Neal got up too, his eyebrows raised questioningly./span/p
p style="-qt-block-indent: 0; text-indent: 36px; margin: 0px;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 12pt;""I will apologise for that. They have yet to learn ways of persuasion that doesn't involve guns. I myself have no taste for them, as you know. But after an attempt on my life a few months back, the board members of my company expressed concern over my safety and I've had to put up with this ever since," Taylor elaborated./span/p
p style="-qt-block-indent: 0; text-indent: 36px; margin: 0px;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 12pt;""I always thought it was a dummy corporation."/span/p
p style="-qt-block-indent: 0; text-indent: 36px; margin: 0px;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 12pt;""Of course not," he exclaimed indignantly in his thick British accent. "It's a perfectly legal business which launders most of my money." /span/p
p style="-qt-block-indent: 0; text-indent: 36px; margin: 0px;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 12pt;""Clever," remarked Neal./span/p
p style="-qt-block-indent: 0; text-indent: 36px; margin: 0px;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 12pt;""Thank you." Taylor paused and sighed. "I really hope I get to work with you again." He extended his right hand, but Neal didn't take it. He lowered it with a chuckle and leaned in closer to whisper, "Choose wisely, Caffrey."/span/p
p style="-qt-block-indent: 0; text-indent: 36px; margin: 0px;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 12pt;"Taylor took his time to chew and swallow. "I would have apologised, but you did try to send me to jail the last time we saw each other. Be sure to thank Mozzie for me."/span/p
p style="-qt-block-indent: 0; text-indent: 36px; margin: 0px;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 12pt;"Neal inclined his head. "This isn't the way you bring people in usually. What changed?"/span/p
p style="-qt-block-indent: 0; text-indent: 36px; margin: 0px;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 12pt;""Alan Woodford asked me to check on the suspicious circumstances of your death as a favour. Good job on that, by the way. Very impressive. Almost had me fooled."/span/p
p style="-qt-block-indent: 0; text-indent: 36px; margin: 0px;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 12pt;"He accepted the compliment. "So the photos were a preview of what's coming?"/span/p
p style="-qt-block-indent: 0; text-indent: 36px; margin: 0px;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 12pt;""I wouldn't have sent them if I was going to give you up. That was the original intention, until I got a better offer. Now that serves as incentive for you to join me. Blackmail isn't ideal, of course, but I heard that you were out of the game and couldn't think of a better way to get you interested again. No honour among thieves, right?" Taylor allowed himself a smile./span/p
p style="-qt-block-indent: 0; text-indent: 36px; margin: 0px;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 12pt;""I heard the Panthers are serving life. What would Woodford do with information about me?" Neal tried to sound nonchalant, hiding his terror within./span/p
p style="-qt-block-indent: 0; text-indent: 36px; margin: 0px;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 12pt;""Come now, Neal. He's influential even behind bars. Nobody has dared to cross him before. If he knows you're alive, he will come after you with everything he has left. How far do you think you can go before his men find you?"/span/p
p style="-qt-block-indent: 0; text-indent: 36px; margin: 0px;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 12pt;""What will you tell him when he asks you about me?" he enquired./span/p
p style="-qt-block-indent: 0; text-indent: 36px; margin: 0px;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 12pt;""I'd asked for eighteen months to produce proof of life, failing which he will assume you're dead. I'll just keep my silence and you can stop looking over your shoulder for danger from the Panthers," assured Taylor./span/p
p style="-qt-block-indent: 0; text-indent: 36px; margin: 0px;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 12pt;""And what do I have to do in return?" He internally dreaded the answer./span/p
p style="-qt-block-indent: 0; text-indent: 36px; margin: 0px;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 12pt;""Nothing you haven't done before. I didn't have the heart to sell you to Alan when I could use your skills on this one. It's got a handsome pay-off too; something to add to the twenty-three million dollar fortune that you're already sitting on. I'd be a fool to disclose details before knowing where your allegiance lies. I'll give you a day's time to mull over your options. If you're in, you'll be picked up on Monday and we can get started." He wiped his mouth with a cloth napkin and stood up./span/p
p style="-qt-block-indent: 0; text-indent: 36px; margin: 0px;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 12pt;""Like I was picked up today?" Neal got up too, his eyebrows raised questioningly./span/p
p style="-qt-block-indent: 0; text-indent: 36px; margin: 0px;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 12pt;""I will apologise for that. They have yet to learn ways of persuasion that doesn't involve guns. I myself have no taste for them, as you know. But after an attempt on my life a few months back, the board members of my company expressed concern over my safety and I've had to put up with this ever since," Taylor elaborated./span/p
p style="-qt-block-indent: 0; text-indent: 36px; margin: 0px;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 12pt;""I always thought it was a dummy corporation."/span/p
p style="-qt-block-indent: 0; text-indent: 36px; margin: 0px;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 12pt;""Of course not," he exclaimed indignantly in his thick British accent. "It's a perfectly legal business which launders most of my money." /span/p
p style="-qt-block-indent: 0; text-indent: 36px; margin: 0px;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 12pt;""Clever," remarked Neal./span/p
p style="-qt-block-indent: 0; text-indent: 36px; margin: 0px;"span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 12pt;""Thank you." Taylor paused and sighed. "I really hope I get to work with you again." He extended his right hand, but Neal didn't take it. He lowered it with a chuckle and leaned in closer to whisper, "Choose wisely, Caffrey."/span/p