by Daniel Silva
Karp swore softly.
They circled the fountains for a few minutes, then walked up a small rise to a playground. The girl who had been feeding the ducks walked slowly after them. After a moment the surveillance van was filled with the joyous screams of children at play.
Karp pressed his fists against his eyes and shook his head.
Karp delivered the tape to Gabriel at the listening post three hours later with the resigned air of a surgeon who had done all he could to save the patient. “I fed it through the computers, filtered out the background noise, and enhanced the good stuff. But I’m afraid we got only about ten percent, and even that sounds like shit.”
Gabriel held out his hand and accepted the cassette. He slipped it into the deck, pressed PLAY, and listened while he paced the length of the room.
“. . . needs someone . . . next assignment . . .”
A sound, like static turned up full blast, obliterated the rest of the sentence. Gabriel paused the tape and looked at Karp.
“It’s the fountain,” Karp said. “There’s nothing I can do with it.”
Gabriel restarted the tape.
“. . . check out her . . . in Paris . . . problems . . . thing’s fine.”
Gabriel stopped the tape, pressed REWIND, then PLAY.
“. . . check out her . . . in Paris . . . problems . . . thing’s fine.”
“. . . not sure . . . right person for . . . sort of . . .”
“. . . be persuasive . . . if you explain the importance . . .”
“. . . what am I . . . tell her exactly?”
“. . . vital diplomatic mission . . . cause of true peace in the Middle East . . . routine security precaution . . .”
“. . . it supposed to work . . .”
The audio level dropped sharply. Karp said, “They’re walking toward the playground right now. We’ll get coverage in a moment when the girl moves into position.”
“. . . meet him . . . de Gaulle . . . from there . . . to the final destination . . .”
“. . . where . . . ”
An injured child cries out for its mother, obliterating the response.
“. . . do with her after . . .”
“. . . up to him . . .”
“. . . what if . . . says no . . .”
“Don’t worry, Yusef. Your girlfriend won’t say no to you.”
STOP. REWIND. PLAY.
“Don’t worry, Yusef. Your girlfriend won’t say no to you.”
And the next thing Gabriel heard was a mother berating her son for scraping a lump of chewing gum off the bottom of the seesaw and putting it into his mouth.
That evening Jacqueline picked up curry after work and brought it to Yusef’s flat. While they ate they watched an American film on television about a German terrorist on the loose in Manhattan. Gabriel watched along with them. He muted his own television and listened to Yusef’s instead. When the film was over Yusef pronounced it “total crap” and shut off the television.
Then he said, “We need to talk about something, Dominique. I need to ask you something important.”
Gabriel closed his eyes and listened.
Next morning Jacqueline stepped off the carriage at the Piccadilly Underground station and floated along with the crowd across the platform. As she rode up the escalator she looked around her. They had to be following her: Yusef’s watchers. He wouldn’t let her loose on the streets of London without a secret escort, not after what he had asked her to do last night. A black-haired man was staring at her from a parallel escalator. When he caught her eye he smiled and tried to hold her gaze. She realized he was only a lecher. She turned and looked straight ahead.
Outside, as she walked along Piccadilly, she thought she spotted Gabriel using a public telephone, but it was only a Gabriel look-alike. She thought she saw him again stepping out of a taxi, but it was only Gabriel’s nonexistent younger brother. She realized there were versions of Gabriel all around her. Boys in leather jackets. Young men in stylish business suits. Artists, students, delivery boys—with minor alterations Gabriel could pass for any of them.
Isherwood had arrived early. He was seated behind his desk, speaking Italian over the telephone and looking hungover. He placed his hand over the receiver and mouthed the words “Coffee, please.”
She hung up her coat and sat down at her desk. Isherwood could survive a few more minutes without his coffee. The morning mail lay on the desk, along with a manila envelope. She tore open the flap, removed the letter from inside. I’m going to Paris. Don’t set foot outside the gallery until you hear from me. She squeezed it into a tight ball.
31
PARIS
Gabriel hadn’t touched his breakfast. He sat in the first-class carriage of the Eurostar train, headphones on, listening to tapes on a small portable player. The first encounters between Yusef and Jacqueline. Yusef telling Jacqueline the story of the massacre at Shatila. Yusef’s conversation with Jacqueline the previous night. He removed that tape, inserted one more: Yusef’s meeting with his contact in Hyde Park. He had lost track of how many times he had heard it by now. Ten times? Twenty?
Each time it disturbed him more. He pressed the REWIND button and used the digital tape counter to stop at precisely the spot he wanted to hear.
“. . . check out her . . . in Paris . . . problems . . . thing’s fine.”
STOP.
He pulled off the headphones, removed a small spiral notebook from his pocket, turned to a blank page. He wrote: check out her . . . in Paris . . . problems . . . thing’s fine. Between the staccato phrases he left blank spaces corresponding approximately to the times of the dropouts on the tape.
Then he wrote: We sent a man to check out her story in Paris. There were no problems. Everything’s fine.
It was possible that’s what he had said, or it could have been this: We sent a man to check out her story in Paris. There were big problems with it. But everything’s fine.
That made no sense. Gabriel crossed it out, then slipped on the headphones and listened to the section of the tape yet again. Wait a minute, he thought. Was Yusef’s contact saying thing’s fine or other side.
This time he wrote: We sent a man to check out her story in Paris. There were big problems with it. We think she may be working for the other side.
But if that were the case, why would they ask her to accompany an operative on a mission?
Gabriel pressed the FAST-FORWARD button, then STOP, then PLAY.
“Don’t worry, Yusef. Your girlfriend won’t say no to you.”
STOP. REWIND. PLAY.
“Don’t worry, Yusef. Your girlfriend won’t say no to you.”
Gabriel caught a taxi at the train station and gave the driver an address on the avenue Foch. Five minutes later he announced he had changed his mind, handed the driver some francs, and got out. He found another taxi. In the accent of an Italian, he asked to be taken to Notre-Dame. From there he walked across the river to the St-Michel Métro station. When he was confident he was not being followed, he flagged down a taxi and gave the driver an address in the Sixteenth Arrondissement, near the Bois de Boulogne. Then he walked fifteen minutes to an apartment house on a leafy street not far from the place de Colombie.
On the wall in the entranceway was a house phone and next to the phone a list of occupants. Gabriel pressed the button for 4B, which bore the name Guzman in faded blue script. When the phone rattled on the other end, he murmured a few words, replaced the receiver, waited for the door to open. He crossed the foyer, rode the lift to the fourth floor, and knocked softly on the door of the flat. He heard a chain sliding away, followed by a dead bolt snapping back. To Gabriel’s ears it sounded like a gunman ejecting a spent cartridge and forcing a new round into the chamber.
The door drew back. Standing in the threshold was a man of Gabriel’s height, square of head and shoulders, with steel blue eyes and strawberry blond hair. He seemed inordinately pleased with himself—like a man who had had too much success with women. He
didn’t shake Gabriel’s hand, just drew him inside by the elbow and closed the door as if he were trying to keep out the cold.
A large flat, dark, the smell of burning coffee and Shamron’s cigarettes hanging on the air. Big couches, reclining leather chairs, fat throw pillows—a place for agents to wait. On the wall opposite an entertainment center filled with Japanese components and American films. No pornography in safe flats: Shamron’s rule.
Shamron came into the room. He made a vast show of looking at his watch. “Ninety minutes,” he said. “Your train arrived ninety minutes ago. Where the hell have you been? I was about to send out a search party.”
And I never told you how I was getting to Paris or what time I would be arriving. . . .
“A proper surveillance detection run takes time. You remember how to do one of those, Ari, or have you stopped teaching that course at the Academy?”
Shamron held out his parched hand. “You have the tapes?”
But Gabriel looked at the other man. “Who’s this?”
“This is Uzi Navot. Uzi’s our katsa in Paris now, one of my best men. He’s been working with me on this case. Meet the great Gabriel, Uzi. Shake the hand of the great Gabriel Allon.”
Gabriel could see that Navot was one of Shamron’s acolytes. The Office was full of them: men who would do anything—betray, cheat, steal, even kill—in order to win Shamron’s approval. Navot was young and he was brash, and there was a smugness about him that made Gabriel dislike him instantly. He shone like a newly minted coin. The instructors at the Academy had told him he was a member of the elite—a prince—and Navot had believed them.
As Gabriel handed Shamron the tapes and sank into the leather reclining chair, he could think of only one thing: Shamron, on the Lizard in Cornwall, promising him that the operation would be a closely held secret within the halls of King Saul Boulevard. If that was the case, who the hell was Uzi Navot and what was he doing here?>
Shamron crossed the room, inserted a tape into the stereo system, and pressed PLAY. Then he sat opposite Gabriel and folded his arms. As Yusef began to speak, he closed his eyes and cocked his head slightly to one side. To Gabriel he looked as though he were listening to the strains of distant music.
“A friend of mine, a very important Palestinian, needs to make a trip abroad for a crucial meeting. Unfortunately, the Zionists and their friends would rather this man not attend this important meeting, and if they spot him during his journey they’ll probably seize him and send him back home.”
“Why would they do that?”
“Because he has dared to question the fairness of the so-called peace process. Because he has dared to challenge the Palestinian leadership. Because he believes the only just solution to the Palestinian problem is to allow us to go back to our homes, wherever they might be, and to establish a truly binational state in the land of Palestine. Needless to say these views have made him very unpopular—not only among the Zionists and their friends but also among some Palestinians. As a result he is an exile and lives in hiding.”
“What do you want from me?”
“Because this man is under constant threat, he finds it necessary to take certain precautions. When he travels he does so under an assumed name. He’s very educated, and he speaks many languages. He can pass for several different nationalities.”
“I still don’t know what you want from me, Yusef.”
“The passport control officers of all Western countries use what’s known as profiling to single out travelers for closer scrutiny. Unfortunately, because of ‘Arab terrorism,’ Arab men traveling alone are subject to the harshest scrutiny of all. Therefore, this man prefers to travel under a Western passport and with another person—a woman.”
“Why a woman?”
“Because a man and woman traveling together are less suspicious than two men. This man needs a traveling companion, a partner, if you will. I’d like you to go with him on this trip.”
“You can’t be serious.”
“I wouldn’t joke about something like this. The meeting this man needs to attend could change the course of history in the Middle East and for the Palestinian people. It is vital that he arrive at his destination and be allowed to attend this meeting and represent the views of a great number of Palestinians.”
“Why me?”
“For one reason, your appearance. You are a very attractive, very distracting woman. But also because of your passport. This man—and I’m sorry, Dominique, but I’m not allowed to tell you his name—prefers to travel on a French passport. You will be posing as lovers, a successful businessman and his younger girlfriend.”
“Posing as lovers?”
“Yes, just posing as lovers. Nothing more, I assure you. This Palestinian leader has nothing on his mind except the welfare and the future of the Palestinian people.”
“I’m a secretary in an art gallery, Yusef. I don’t do things like this. Besides, why should I stick my neck out for you and the Palestinian people? Find a Palestinian woman to do it.”
“We would use a Palestinian woman if we could. Unfortunately, a European woman is required.”
“ We, Yusef ? What do you mean by we? I thought you were a student. I thought you were a waiter, for God’s sake. When did we become involved with a man who has to travel under an assumed name to a meeting that will change the course of history in the Middle East? So much for complete honesty, eh, Yusef ?”
“I’ve made no secret of my political beliefs. I’ve made no secret of my opposition to the peace process.”
“Yes, but you did make a secret of the fact you were involved with people like this. What is he, Yusef ? Is he some kind of terrorist?”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Dominique! The people I’m involved with would never commit an act of violence, and they condemn any group that does. Besides, do I really strike you as some sort of terrorist?”
“So where is he going? How would it work?”
“Are you saying you’ll do it?”
“I’m asking you where your friend is going and how it would work—nothing more.”
“I can’t tell you where he’s going.”
“Oh, Yusef, please. This is—”
“I can’t tell you where he’s going because even I don’t know. But I can tell you how it would work.”
“I’m listening.”
“You’ll fly to Paris—to Charles de Gaulle Airport. You’ll meet the Palestinian leader in the terminal. Only he and a few of his closest aides know where he’s going. You’ll accompany him to the gate and board the airplane. The destination may be the site of the meeting, or you may have to take another flight—or a train, or a ferry, or drive. I don’t know. When the meeting is over, you’ll return to Paris and go your separate ways. You’ll never see him again, and you’ll never mention this to another person.”
“And what if he’s arrested? What happens to me?”
“You’ve done nothing wrong. You’ll be traveling on your own passport. You’ll say that this man invited you to come on a trip with him and that you accepted. Very simple, no problems.”
“How long?”
“You should plan for a week but expect less.”
“I can’t just leave the gallery for a week. I’m not due any time off, and Isherwood will fall to pieces.”
“Tell Mr. Isherwood that you have a family emergency in Paris. Tell him it’s unavoidable.”
“What if he decides to fire me?”
“He won’t fire you. And if it’s money you’re concerned about, we can arrange something for you.”
“I don’t want money, Yusef. If I do it, it will be because you asked me to do it. I’ll do it because I’m in love with you, even though I don’t quite believe you’re really the person you appear to be.”
“I’m just a man who loves his country and his people, Dominique.”
“I need to think about it.”
“Of course you need to think about it. But while you’re making your decision it is cri
tical that you not discuss this with anyone.”
“I understand, I suppose. When do you need an answer?”
“Tomorrow night.”
When the tape ended, Shamron looked up.
“Why so glum, Gabriel? Why aren’t you jumping for joy?”
“Because it sounds too good to be true.”
“You’re not going to start this again, are you, Gabriel? If they thought she was working for us she’d already be dead, and Yusef would be going to ground.”
“That’s not the way Tariq plays the game.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Maybe he wants more than a low-level agent like Jacqueline. You remember the way he killed Ben-Eliezer in Madrid. He set a trap, baited it, lured him there. He left nothing to chance. Then he shot him in the face and walked out as if nothing had happened. He beat us at our own game, and Ben-Eliezer paid the price.”
“He beat me. That’s what you’re trying to say, isn’t it, Gabriel? If I had been more cautious, I would never have let Ben-Eliezer walk into that café in the first place.”
“I wasn’t blaming you.”
“If not me, then who, Gabriel? I was the head of operations. It happened on my watch. Ultimately, his death is my responsibility. But what would you have me do now? Run and hide, because Tariq has beaten me before? Fold up my tent and go home? No, Gabriel.”
“Take Yusef. Walk away.”
“I don’t want Yusef ! I want Tariq!” Shamron slammed his thick fist against the arm of the chair. “It makes perfect sense. Tariq likes to use legitimate women for cover. He always has. In Paris it was the young American girl. In Amsterdam it was the whore who liked heroin. He even used one—”
Shamron stopped himself, but Gabriel knew what he was thinking. Tariq had used a woman in Vienna, a pretty Austrian shopgirl who was found in the Danube the night of the bombing with half her throat missing.
“Let’s assume you’re right, Gabriel. Let’s assume Tariq suspects Jacqueline is working for the Office. Let’s assume he’s setting a trap for us to walk into. Even if that is the case, we’ll still have the upper hand. We decide when to force the action. We pick the time and place, not Tariq.”