what yet. But they’ve yanked a lot of their line numbers which is very atypical.”
“All right, keep on it,” McGarvey said. “But watch yourself.”
“I’ve always got Ralph in reserve. Not to worry.”
“One other thing. Take a look at Tokyo Station’s operations. When I asked Murphy about a possible Japanese connection with the STASI because of the yen payments into their accounts, he damned near swallowed his tongue. They all did.”
“What do you want specifically?”
“I don’t know,” McGarvey said. “But it’s my guess that something’s going on over there that’s got them worried.”
“So, I’ll go shopping.”
“I’ll talk to you in the morning. But like I said, watch yourself.”
“I’m out of Twinkies.”
“I don’t think it’s such a good idea for me to come over there now.”
“Send them by cab,” Rencke said, and he hung up.
The service station McGarvey had phoned from sold bread and milk and other convenience store items. He bought out their stock of Twinkies, and a couple of blocks from the ramp where his car was parked he hailed a taxi.
“I want you to deliver this package to the caretaker’s house in Holy Rood,” McGarvey said. He gave the driver the exact location and a twenty dollar bill.
“Twinkies?” the cabbie said. “This person weird or something?”
“Or something,” McGarvey said. “But friendly.”
When the cab was gone, McGarvey retrieved his car from the ramp and headed back up to Chevy Chase. Kathleen would be intransigent after what had happened this morning, but he felt they both deserved another try. If for no other reason than their daughter Elizabeth, who’d been beside herself with joy when she’d learned that her parents might be getting back together. Liz was nineteen now, but that didn’t stop her need for nurturing.
The sun had set but it was still dusk when he parked his car on the street in front of Kathleen’s house. Something was going on at the country club. Cars were arriving in a steady stream. It struck him just then that this was Kathleen’s life, but that it never could be his. Black tie dinners and receptions were tolerable once in a while, but not as a steady diet.
He almost got back in his car and drove off, but he wanted to talk to her. At least to apologize for this morning.
It took her a long time to answer the door, and when she finally did she was dressed in a thick terry cloth robe, a towel around her hair. She’d just stepped out of the shower.
“You,” she said, but she made no move to close the door.
“Did you get your car back?”
“Yes. The police were here this afternoon. There is a warrant for your arrest. Car theft.”
McGarvey shrugged. “I came to apologize for this morning. It shouldn’t have happened.”
“What was that, Kirk? Your coming here, or the two Neanderthals who came to arrest you?”
She was beautiful, McGarvey thought, looking at her face and long, delicate neck.
Even more so now than twenty years ago when they’d first met. In those days they couldn’t keep their hands off each other. They made love in his apartment and in her apartment, in hotel rooms, in his car, in the woods, and on the beaches around the Chesapeake Bay. It had been glorious those first two years.
“I’m sorry,” he said, and he started to turn away.
“Two against one, and they didn’t have a chance,” she said, her voice softening.
“Are you in any danger?”
“No.”
“You wouldn’t tell me if you were, would you,” she asked rhetorically. “Not you.
Ever the loner. Ever the stalwart soldier.” Tears formed in her eyes. “But how about the stalwart husband? The stalwart provider? Where the hell were you during our marriage?”
“Doing my job…?
“What about me?” she cried. “What about my needs? Didn’t you know how much I wanted you, needed you then?” She shook her head.
“Hell, even now…? She turned away and took a few steps back into the dark stair hall.
McGarvey came after her, and touched her shoulder. “Katy?”
“What do you want here?”
“I wanted us to try to get back together.”
“It won’t work,” she said. “It’s impossible.”
“Yes,” McGarvey replied. “But I’m glad we at least tried for Elizabeth’s sake.”
“My sake too,” she said, turning suddenly and coming into his arms. “I wanted to try too.”
“I know,” McGarvey said. It felt awkward holding her in his arms. Unnatural somehow.
Wrong.
They remained like that for several long seconds, until she pulled away. She half-smiled up at him, the gesture wistful.
“The next time you hold a woman in your arms, Kirk, take off your gun first,” she said. “It dampens the spirit.”
Chapter 24
Spranger was shown upstairs to the KGB’s rejerentura section of the Russian Embassy in Rome. His escort was a young, attractive blonde woman, who said her name was Tatiana. She was from Leningrad, and her desire was someday to be stationed at the embassy in Washington.
“Comrade Radvonska is looking forward to seeing you again,” she said, smiling. They spoke in German.
“I appreciate him taking time from his busy schedule,” Spranger replied graciously.
“Will he be long?”
“I don’t believe so,” the young woman said.
They entered a small conference room that could accommodate about ten people around a marble-topped table. Frescoes covered two plaster walls. Windows in the third opened down on a pleasant pocket piazza, deserted at this time of the evening. It was after midnight.
“Is he in the embassy now?”
“Yes, he is. As a matter of fact he is having supper with his family and some friends.
He expressed his regrets in not inviting you to join them, but considering the unexpectedness of your arrival…?
“I quite understand,” Spranger said. “If he will not be long, I’ll wait. Otherwise I could return in the morning.”
“Unfortunately, Comrade Radvonska leaves Rome first thing in the morning.”
“Reassignment?”
“Nein,” Tatiana said. “May I offer you some refreshment? Vodka, schnapps, cognac?”
He was being put off, shown his place, because he no longer represented an agency sponsored by a legitimate government. But Radvonska, who until two years ago was the KGB resident
in East Berlin, had agreed to see him because in this business old alliances died hard. There was no telling when old friends might be needed again. And considering the trouble the former Soviet Union was in at the moment, friends were at a premium.
“No,” Spranger replied. “This is not a social visit. And I too am a busy man.” He glanced toward the door. “Please tell Comrade Radvonska not to concern himself about me. I shall find an alternative source for the information I’m seeking.”
“I’m sure that will not be necessary. His engagement this evening is a legitimate one.”
“And so are my needs.”
