“Well. Back to the grindstone. Be seein’ you—I hope.”
Ivan had acted as a courier for Aarons and had spent a lot of time liaising with the four people in Brighton Beach who were still connected to the network. Aarons used them frequently but except for the radio ham it took very little of their time. Ivan had moved in with Sam and Anna at their apartment near Prospect Park for just over a year but for the last two years he had a small apartment of his own in Brighton Beach, over a shop that was not far from the old bookshop which was now used by some Jewish women’s organisation. Ivan made up his income with a series of jobs none of which lasted very long. When Aarons phoned him to come up to see him he arranged a date for late afternoon the next day.
Tania was at the studio and they sat in the kitchen. Ivan had a Coors from the fridge and Aarons made himself a cup of tea.
“I’m going to close down the network, Ivan.”
Ivan showed no surprise. “Is this beer for your guests?”
“Yes.”
“You should be able to provide better than this.” He smiled. “Trouble with Moscow?”
“What makes you think that?”
Ivan shrugged. “Just a question of time, old buddy.”
“Why?”
“Someday you were going to see through them. I’m surprised it took so long.”
“I didn’t say why I was closing down.”
Ivan grinned. “I may not be as brainy as you are, fella. But I’ve got more common sense. They ain’t gonna get rid of a guy like you. So if you’re closing down it means you’ve had enough.”
“What do you think about it?”
“You should have done it years ago. You were a sucker to carry on after the war and after what they did when you wanted to borrow the money for Chantal when she was in hospital. They gave you the finger, kiddo. You should have given it ’em back.” He paused. “What you gonna do?”
“Tania and I are moving to Israel. Do you want to come with us?”
Ivan smiled. “I got some news for you. Rachel and I are getting married next week.”
“I thought she married that fellow from the restaurant in the Bronx.”
“She did but she divorced him about six months ago.”
“What went wrong?”
He shrugged. “She found out he was screwing all over the place, including the waitresses at the restaurant.” He paused. “We’re going to open a haberdashery and notions shop on the Avenue. Old man Henschel’s putting up the dough. A no-interest loan.”
“How much is he putting up?”
“Six thousand bucks.”
“So you’re not interested in moving to Israel?”
“No. I belong here. I always have.” He smiled. “I wouldn’t mind a holiday there some time.”
“You’d be welcome any time. Both of you. How is she, Rachel?”
“Much the same. Older, a bit fatter, cheerful despite what she’s gone through.”
Aarons smiled. “Anna was always sure you two would get married.” He paused. “I owe you a lot of money from over the years. You’ve never had a fair deal from me. I’ve put aside fifteen thousand dollars from my Moscow budget for you. I was going to give it to you next week on your birthday but I’ll give it to you now before you go.”
“What about those bastards in Moscow? They’ll go crazy when they know you’ve finished with them.”
“I’m giving you a packet and I’ll be giving Bill Malloy the same material. If anything happens to me or Tania there are instructions in the packet as to what to do with the contents.”
“Do you think they’ll come after you?”
“No. We’ll be gone before they know and they won’t want what’s in that packet to go to the FBI and the press.”
“You think you’ve got a stand-off?”
“I’m sure I have.”
“What’s Tania say?”
“She’s delighted. I guess it’s her idea more than mine.”
“But you’re happy yourself about it?”
“Yes. Like you said, I ought to have done it long ago.”
“You’ll be around for the wedding?”
Aarons smiled. “You bet.”
“You know something, kiddo?”
“What?”
“I ain’t seen you smile so much in the last twenty years. It suits you.”
Apart from Roger Cowley Aarons didn’t inform any of the other people in his network. They weren’t dependent on him for their livelihoods and if there were no more contacts from him or the cut-outs they would just accept it as part of the game.
A few days later Malloy phoned and said that “the man from Kansas” would like to meet him before he left and a meeting had been arranged in Washington. It seemed that Truman had been kept informed about the help that Aarons had given to the Kennedys and he’d asked Aarons if he would give advice in the future if there was some really vital decision to be made concerning the Soviet Union. The old man was very persuasive and he understood why Aarons had had enough and in the end Aarons had agreed that if such an occasion occurred he would be willing to help but not on a regular basis, only in a time of crisis.
It was obvious when he and Tania had gone for one last weekend with the Kennedys at Hyannisport that it was Bobby Kennedy who had asked Truman to persuade him to be available if it was really crucial.
The lease of the apartment and the Flatiron Building office had been sold profitably and Tania had two prospective buyers for her studio building and apartment. And it was Tania who would spend ten days in Israel finding somewhere for them to live. She would be staying with Lensky while she was there.
They had talked about whether they should live in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem but they knew that they were talking in ignorance. Neither of them had any more than a superficial knowledge of Israel. They would have to take Lensky’s advice and the decision would be Tania’s.
Lensky met her in at Ben Gurion, obviously delighted to see her and at their decision to
