Aarons had a meal alone at a kosher restaurant in town and then took a taxi back to the motel where he went through the material from Cowley and slid it into the false bottom of his case.
The next morning he knocked on Cowley’s door and the girl opened it. She was naked and she smiled at his surprise.
“He said for you to wait. He won’t be long, he’s just gone to the bank. Come on in.”
She closed the door behind him and pointed at a chair. “Help yourself. You like a drink? We got Scotch or Bourbon, whatever you fancy.”
He shook his head. “No thanks.”
She sat on the edge of the bed, smiling, and obviously used to the effect that her young body had on men.
“What d’you do last night?”
“I had a meal and then went to bed.”
“That’s crazy, you should have come to the club.” She shrugged. “I could have shown you the girls. Why sleep on your own?”
“What club is that?”
“It’s where I work at nights. It’s called the Green Cockatoo.” She laughed. “Calls itself a night-club but it’s just a girlie club really. There’s two other girls from my school work there at night.”
“You’re still at school?”
“Yeah. It’s a waste of time.” She grinned. “I earn more in a night than the teachers make in a month.”
“How long have you known him?”
“About six months. He wants me to move in with him but I’d get bored with just one guy. And I want to make enough dough to have my own set-up.” She smiled. “I got a real nice place in town if you’d like to party with me some time. No need to tell old Roger.”
Aarons looked at his watch and stood up. “Would you ask him to come to my cabin when he gets back.”
“Sure.” She smiled. “Don’t forget. The Green Cockatoo. I’m there from six every day including Sundays.”
It was nearly an hour before Cowley came and as he sat down he grinned at Aarons. “She thinks you’re real cute.”
“You’re taking unnecessary risks, Roger.”
“She doesn’t even know where I work, chief.”
“It’s not just the girl. That car cost a lot more than your job would allow.”
“I’m a single man. If I choose to treat myself sometimes I’m entitled.”
“What do you do with the money I pay you?”
“I got two separate bank accounts for that money and some I keep in cash at my place.”
“What name are the bank accounts in?”
“My name of course.”
“Are these banks in Baltimore?”
“One in Baltimore and one in Washington.”
“How old is the girl?”
“No idea, chief.” He grinned. “Let’s just say old enough.”
“She’s under-age.”
“She told me she was sixteen but I didn’t ask for a birth-certificate.”
“The security people at places like Fort Meade are always on the look-out for people living above their earnings.”
“They aren’t interested in bums like me. I’m just a repairman.”
“My dear Roger. When intelligence agents want information out of some installation or a company they go for the women who clear out the waste-paper baskets not the top men. You’ll be as suspect as anybody.”
“So what d’you want me to do? Drive around in an old wreck and screw old ladies?”
“You’d be wise to sell that car. It’s just drawing attention to you. And everybody who looks at it is going to wonder how you can afford it. Did you pay cash for it or monthly payments?”
“I paid cash.”
“You’re crazy.”
“OK. I’ll sell it.”
“When?”
“Soon as I can. But I’ll lose on it if I have to sell in a hurry. How about you pay me what I lose.”
Aarons shook his head. “No, mister. I pay for the risks you take. I don’t pay for stupidity.”
“You’re real het up about this stuff, aren’t you?”
“Yes. It worries me.”
“Don’t worry, boss. Even if they picked me up they wouldn’t be able to pin anything on me.” He smiled. “And I wouldn’t send you down the river, I promise.”
“I’ll see you here in two weeks’ time. OK. We’ll talk about something else I’ve got in mind for you.”
“Does it make more money for me than this game?”
“Yes. A lot more.”
“I’m your man, chief. You can rely on me.”
At the next meeting Cowley showed Aarons the sales document for the car and Aarons felt that he had brought Cowley into line. He’d lost $500 on the sale of the car and Aarons paid him in cash despite what he had said. Cowley was too valuable a source to want to risk offending him unnecessarily. He had brought the report of an internal enquiry into the shooting down in September 1958 of an EC-130 ELINT aircraft “ferreting” for NSA. It had been shot down by three MIGs in Soviet airspace near the Turkish border thirty-five miles north-west of Yerevan. His other contribution was a report on the first year’s work of a section called Stochastic Math Unit. Aarons didn’t understand what it was about but it had a top security rating.
She came in smiling and excited, clutching the big black folio with its ribbons tied in bows.
“It’s been my lucky day, Andrei.”
He kissed her and smiled. “Tell me.”
“First of all I had a call to say that one of my photographs had been chosen for a special exhibition called The Family of Man. It’s going all round the world and it’ll be a book as well.”
“That’s wonderful. Which picture was it?”
“It’s one you liked, two little boys, one black, one white, sitting on the edge of the gutter with the white boy’s arm round the other’s shoulders. And they’re looking at each other smiling.” She paused. “And that’s not all. Five minutes later there was a call from Life magazine. They want me to do a six-pager on Harlem Today.”
“Let’s go to Sam’s and celebrate.”
She laughed. “Why not? I’m so pleased, Andrei. I can’t believe it. All in one day.”
She came back
