“Not dollars.”
“Not the ship owners,” she said, still uncertain what was being asked. “They’d have problems explaining where they got it. Government agents, it didn’t matter. They had foreign currency reserves. So if we were sending a ship to Burgas, we’d probably have to pay the charter in gold.”
“But the Bulgarians on the other end in dollars? And the Romanians?”
“Sometimes. Antonescu got paid in dollars. Why are you asking this?”
“I think some of it may have gone missing.”
“No, Tommy would have said. He was very careful about money. You had to be. You couldn’t trust the Romanians. They’d take the money and not send the people. You’d have to arrange it like that-part on delivery.”
Leon stared at her, his mind racing ahead, his stomach dropping. Not the Russians. Something worse.
“Is that what you wanted to know?” Dorothy said, tentative, really asking why.
Tommy’s secretary. More. Had they talked in bed? Never about this. How could you live with yourself knowing? But Tommy could. Planning powder rooms.
Outside, the fisherman kept his face down as they passed the police cars still idling in the courtyard. Leon hadn’t bothered introducing Kay, still stunned, her face empty, off somewhere.
“Take a taxi,” Leon said. “Go straight to the boat.”
“On the boat.”
And then, like some trick in a vanishing act, he slid away between two parked cars.
“What was he saying?” Kay asked.
“He was thanking me.”
“No he wasn’t.”
“You feel okay?” he said, not answering.
“I don’t know,” she said, half to herself. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to feel. To see somebody like that. The blood. You want to wipe it off and then you don’t want to touch it. And then you think, it’s my fault.”
“It wasn’t.”
“You think it, though.” She lowered her head. “You think it.”
He took her arm to lead her into the hotel, but she shied away, an involuntary reaction. “You want to come up? Now?”
“And then leave. I want them to think I’m there. I have some things to do.”
“What things?”
“Do you think I killed Frank?”
“What?”
“Well, they do. Or they’re going to.”
“But you were with me. I said.”
“There’s something else. I have to get out. I don’t want you to get involved in this. Just go up the elevator with me so they think I’m with you.”
“Get out. Of Istanbul? If you do that, they
“I can explain it somewhere else. Not here.”
“Explain what?”
“Look, if you don’t want to do this, I’ll go. Maybe that would be the right thing anyway. But we can’t just stand here.”
“You’re so sure somebody’s watching.”
“It’s Istanbul.” He took a breath. “If you don’t want to, it’s okay. I’ll figure something out.”
“That’s right. That’s what you do. You and Frank.” She looked up, alarmed. “Whoever did it, he’s going to try to kill you too? The same work-”
“No,” he said quickly, then stopped, disconcerted. What if he’d taken Frank’s call, knew what file he was going to pull? He’d be a threat, the next target. Move. “He won’t have to if the police get me. They think I did it. Kay, I can’t stay-”
She slid her hand through his arm. “Now this,” she said, to herself again, her lips grim.
They were quiet in the lift, eyes forward on the art nouveau grill-work, then aware of the elevator boy watching them go down the hall.
“What are we supposed to be doing?” she said inside. “Going to bed? With Frank there? Is that what they think of us?”
“Maybe. Or we’re going over our stories, making sure they match.” He looked over. “Or we’re wondering how this happened. What’s next.”
She lit a cigarette, quiet. “That’s something to think about, isn’t it?”
He opened the briefcase, starting to riffle through the Hirschmann file.
“You brought work?” she said, thrown.
“I just want to check something. To be sure.”
She drew on the cigarette, thoughtful. “You’re really going away? Where?”
He looked up at her, not saying anything.
“You think I’d give you up to the police?”
“If you don’t know, you won’t have to.”
“For how long?”
“Not long.”
“And what’s your plan for me? What do I do? Wait? While you run from the police? My god, I never even
He touched her arm. “I’ll be back.”
“If the police don’t get you.”
He looked at his watch. “Stay in for a few hours, okay?”
“With my lover,” she said.
“That’s right.”
“Who tells me nothing.”
He looked at her. “I’ll be back.” He turned the knob.
“What if they’re already here?” Her voice like a hand, trying to stop him.
“They’ll be in the lobby watching the elevator. The stairs. Having coffee. Some dates, this time of year. They won’t be on the fire stairs.”
They weren’t. He took a backstreet down the Kasim Pasa side of the hill, then circled up, avoiding Tunel. Marina was in her kimono, putting on nail polish.
“It’s about time. You said one more night only,” she said, holding her fingers out to the air.
“We’re leaving?” Alexei said, ready.
“Not yet.”
“Yes, one night only,” Marina said. “You’ll make trouble for me.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll get him out today.”
“You think it’s a hotel here.”
“No, better,” Alexei said, looking at her.
“Better for you,” Marina said.
“Had any visits?” Leon asked. “From our friend?”
She shook her head, blowing on her fingers. “The landlord comes tonight.”
“We’ll be gone.”
Leon took out Alexei’s new passport and handed it to him.
“Barouh,” Alexei said, looking at it. “What kind of name is that?”
“A Jew,” Marina said, blowing on her nails again.
Alexei grunted, shrugging this off.
Leon brought out one of Tommy’s passports. “Recognize him?”
Alexei looked at it carefully. “It’s a different name.”
