find work. The prospect of counterintelligence anticipating her arrival and taking the trouble to put her in a room fitted with cameras and two-way mirrors was remote. It was unlikely that they would follow her from the moment she arrived in the city or put listening devices in her room. But logic doesnât dissolve fear.
âR ACHEL F INISHED PUTTING AWAY HER FEW possessions in the battered wall closet and looked around her. It was the time to report her arrival and give a coded version of the room number. She knew I was waitingby the phone but decided to wait awhile, take a shower, and try to calm down. âRelaxation is important,â I told her. âProblems will come soon enough and you donât need to reproach yourself in advance. Eat well, get as much sleep as you need, and behave like any other young woman like you. The assignments you carry out and the information you collect have to be integrated into your normal life. Thatâs the way you have to work, without standing out.â Even the series of reports that we demanded of her on arrival at her destination were prepared with this in mind. Everything had an appropriate cover, and no phone conversation or postcard that she sent deviated from what would be considered reasonable.
âShe finished showering and wrapped herself in a towel. The light of the smoke detector winked at her. When she was in training the security officer explained there were hotels with rooms fitted out with peepholes, cameras, and listening gear, so anything going on in there could be observed. But she reminded herself there was no reason to think hers was like that. Why would they bother? Itâs expensive, it consumes resources. There would need to be some suspicion.
âRachel released the towel, placed her leg on the bed, and rubbed herself with a fragrant body cream. She knew this was absurd, but all the same she turned her back to the flashing light. Why give them any freebies? she was thinking. She got dressed and sat by the phone and took a deep breath. She knew no one was going to answer at the number she was dialing. And after hearing the voice-mail message we had devised together, she left a short and reassuring message for her friend in Paris. She knew I would check the recording from another machine, and she also knew by heart the emergency hotline number. It was all in the manual. We had gone through everything, there was no reason to use any of the emergency measures we had devised, and she left the room and went for a walk in the streets around the hotel.
âAnd in the night, exhausted from her tour of the city and saturated with the smells and the tastes that were all new and exciting, she heard the footsteps. By the small light she had left on in the bathroom she could make out the time. Three in the morning, and she hears them clearly, passing by the door of her room and disappearing at the other end of the corridor. The smoke detector in the corner of the room continued to wink at her, and for a moment she wanted to believe that whoever was watching her with a hidden camera was there for her protection. And again she heard them coming back, heavy and rhythmic like the pacing of the guardsmen at Buckingham Palace. They sounded loud, as if the thin door would be no barrier to them. And then they receded and faded away, and came back again.
âShe pulled the blanket over her head and huddled down in the bed, as if she could find refuge in the darkness. The unknown walker continued his pacing, and she wondered whether to call reception and report a stalker outside her room. The thought that they were coming for her did not subside.
âThey know about me. They know about me and theyâre coming to get me. Any moment now there will be a light knock on the door, and then a squeeze of the handle. The heavy key was in the lock. They couldnât open the door without breaking it down, but the chain and the flimsy woodwork wouldnât
âR ACHEL F INISHED PUTTING AWAY HER FEW possessions in the battered wall closet and looked around her. It was the time to report her arrival and give a coded version of the room number. She knew I was waitingby the phone but decided to wait awhile, take a shower, and try to calm down. âRelaxation is important,â I told her. âProblems will come soon enough and you donât need to reproach yourself in advance. Eat well, get as much sleep as you need, and behave like any other young woman like you. The assignments you carry out and the information you collect have to be integrated into your normal life. Thatâs the way you have to work, without standing out.â Even the series of reports that we demanded of her on arrival at her destination were prepared with this in mind. Everything had an appropriate cover, and no phone conversation or postcard that she sent deviated from what would be considered reasonable.
âShe finished showering and wrapped herself in a towel. The light of the smoke detector winked at her. When she was in training the security officer explained there were hotels with rooms fitted out with peepholes, cameras, and listening gear, so anything going on in there could be observed. But she reminded herself there was no reason to think hers was like that. Why would they bother? Itâs expensive, it consumes resources. There would need to be some suspicion.
âRachel released the towel, placed her leg on the bed, and rubbed herself with a fragrant body cream. She knew this was absurd, but all the same she turned her back to the flashing light. Why give them any freebies? she was thinking. She got dressed and sat by the phone and took a deep breath. She knew no one was going to answer at the number she was dialing. And after hearing the voice-mail message we had devised together, she left a short and reassuring message for her friend in Paris. She knew I would check the recording from another machine, and she also knew by heart the emergency hotline number. It was all in the manual. We had gone through everything, there was no reason to use any of the emergency measures we had devised, and she left the room and went for a walk in the streets around the hotel.
âAnd in the night, exhausted from her tour of the city and saturated with the smells and the tastes that were all new and exciting, she heard the footsteps. By the small light she had left on in the bathroom she could make out the time. Three in the morning, and she hears them clearly, passing by the door of her room and disappearing at the other end of the corridor. The smoke detector in the corner of the room continued to wink at her, and for a moment she wanted to believe that whoever was watching her with a hidden camera was there for her protection. And again she heard them coming back, heavy and rhythmic like the pacing of the guardsmen at Buckingham Palace. They sounded loud, as if the thin door would be no barrier to them. And then they receded and faded away, and came back again.
âShe pulled the blanket over her head and huddled down in the bed, as if she could find refuge in the darkness. The unknown walker continued his pacing, and she wondered whether to call reception and report a stalker outside her room. The thought that they were coming for her did not subside.
âThey know about me. They know about me and theyâre coming to get me. Any moment now there will be a light knock on the door, and then a squeeze of the handle. The heavy key was in the lock. They couldnât open the door without breaking it down, but the chain and the flimsy woodwork wouldnât
Similar Books
