Avenue. I don’t suppose you’d care to try one?” I pushed it toward him.
“Only if you join me. Delicious!” he said enthusiastically, after the first chew. “You have unerring taste.”
“You’re kind to say that.” I reached for a curry puff.
“Well, my dear, I’m already anticipating the other delicacies you’ll bring me after you get back.”
Harp knew something, I decided as I said good-bye to him, left the building, and walked down Constitution Avenue. He knew that I was supposed to be going on a trip, or he wouldn’t have mentioned delicacies. Michael had told him something, but probably not everything.
And I knew now that I was ready to go. I’d been running hot and cold on the issue for the last twenty-four hours, and there were some things I needed to sort out with Hugh first. But I was going. If I didn’t go, I’d regret it forever.
I dragged myself over to the Washington Mall, past the tourists and joggers, and found a solitary bench. I was just getting out my cell phone to call Hugh, to arrange some sort of outdoor meeting where I could talk, in a limited way, about the situation that lay before me, when the phone itself rang. “Private caller” appeared in the display. I clicked “talk” and heard Michael Hendricks’s voice.
“How did you get this number?” And how, I wondered, did he anticipate that I was on the verge of arranging a meeting to break it to Hugh?
“The résumé you left with us yesterday included this telephone number. I gather that I’ve reached you on your cell?”
“Why even ask? I’m sure your colleagues could clarify the type of phone it is.”
“Oh. So you’re concerned about—privacy?” He sounded cautious.
“I should say so! The little thing that happened last night with the police and the guys in the band. And what about the bonsai you sent me with a strange plastic growth?”
“Oh, I see.” He paused. “You discovered both bugs.”
“I did.”
“You’re good,” he said. “That is exactly the level of observation I expect you to use in Japan.”
“But you’re violating my civil rights! And Hugh’s!”
“Rei, for operational security reasons, we need to know that we can trust you.” He paused. “Come on, didn’t it work out for the best last night? The police were alerted that Angus and his friends all were European citizens to be let go without incident. If that directive hadn’t been issued, the band might have wound up in jail overnight with common DC criminals—a situation that would surely test their fake grit.”
“I’m relieved that they weren’t incarcerated,” I said stiffly. “But let’s return to my point. You bugged a place that isn’t even my apartment. Hugh is the one you’re going to have to answer to if and when he finds out.”
“Once he gets up from his illness, that is,” Hendricks said. “What the hell did he drink at your birthday party, anyway?”
“None of your business, and you’re not presenting a winning case for my joining forces with you—”
“Let me try again, in person. Where are you?”
“Oh, come on now, I’m sure you know where I am,” I answered tetchily.
“No, I really don’t know. What’s the location?”
“I’m on the Mall.”
“Can you be more specific?”
I wondered if he was testing me again. “I’m on a bench near the National Gallery. Tell whoever has the binoculars to focus on the bench near the one with the wino stretched out.”
“Rei, my office is not on the Mall, it’s in Foggy Bottom. I’m going to go out and grab a taxi. I’ll see you in ten minutes.”
“That’s ridiculous, I’m not staying here in the cold—” The temperature was fifty degrees, but weather was the first excuse that popped into my head.
“Then why don’t you go inside the Freer? Let’s meet by the coat-check area so that we don’t miss each other.”
It wasn’t likely that we could miss each other, I thought, as I leaned against the entrance to the
“Only if you join me. Delicious!” he said enthusiastically, after the first chew. “You have unerring taste.”
“You’re kind to say that.” I reached for a curry puff.
“Well, my dear, I’m already anticipating the other delicacies you’ll bring me after you get back.”
Harp knew something, I decided as I said good-bye to him, left the building, and walked down Constitution Avenue. He knew that I was supposed to be going on a trip, or he wouldn’t have mentioned delicacies. Michael had told him something, but probably not everything.
And I knew now that I was ready to go. I’d been running hot and cold on the issue for the last twenty-four hours, and there were some things I needed to sort out with Hugh first. But I was going. If I didn’t go, I’d regret it forever.
I dragged myself over to the Washington Mall, past the tourists and joggers, and found a solitary bench. I was just getting out my cell phone to call Hugh, to arrange some sort of outdoor meeting where I could talk, in a limited way, about the situation that lay before me, when the phone itself rang. “Private caller” appeared in the display. I clicked “talk” and heard Michael Hendricks’s voice.
“How did you get this number?” And how, I wondered, did he anticipate that I was on the verge of arranging a meeting to break it to Hugh?
“The résumé you left with us yesterday included this telephone number. I gather that I’ve reached you on your cell?”
“Why even ask? I’m sure your colleagues could clarify the type of phone it is.”
“Oh. So you’re concerned about—privacy?” He sounded cautious.
“I should say so! The little thing that happened last night with the police and the guys in the band. And what about the bonsai you sent me with a strange plastic growth?”
“Oh, I see.” He paused. “You discovered both bugs.”
“I did.”
“You’re good,” he said. “That is exactly the level of observation I expect you to use in Japan.”
“But you’re violating my civil rights! And Hugh’s!”
“Rei, for operational security reasons, we need to know that we can trust you.” He paused. “Come on, didn’t it work out for the best last night? The police were alerted that Angus and his friends all were European citizens to be let go without incident. If that directive hadn’t been issued, the band might have wound up in jail overnight with common DC criminals—a situation that would surely test their fake grit.”
“I’m relieved that they weren’t incarcerated,” I said stiffly. “But let’s return to my point. You bugged a place that isn’t even my apartment. Hugh is the one you’re going to have to answer to if and when he finds out.”
“Once he gets up from his illness, that is,” Hendricks said. “What the hell did he drink at your birthday party, anyway?”
“None of your business, and you’re not presenting a winning case for my joining forces with you—”
“Let me try again, in person. Where are you?”
“Oh, come on now, I’m sure you know where I am,” I answered tetchily.
“No, I really don’t know. What’s the location?”
“I’m on the Mall.”
“Can you be more specific?”
I wondered if he was testing me again. “I’m on a bench near the National Gallery. Tell whoever has the binoculars to focus on the bench near the one with the wino stretched out.”
“Rei, my office is not on the Mall, it’s in Foggy Bottom. I’m going to go out and grab a taxi. I’ll see you in ten minutes.”
“That’s ridiculous, I’m not staying here in the cold—” The temperature was fifty degrees, but weather was the first excuse that popped into my head.
“Then why don’t you go inside the Freer? Let’s meet by the coat-check area so that we don’t miss each other.”
It wasn’t likely that we could miss each other, I thought, as I leaned against the entrance to the
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