Levitate, page 5
Cassiane considered that. “Maybe she started out angry, which made him angry.”
“Possible, I guess.”
Silence spread through the car again. Cassiane listened to the patter of rain on the car roof. Constance seemed antsy, like she was the sort who needed to pass the time by talking but was unsure how a continued conversation would be received.
“Do you do that often? Come up with stories about the people you’re watching?”
“I’m good at it. Not that it’s difficult. People are generally predictable. Couples fight. People are secretly in love with their friends. They resent their coworkers or their bosses.”
Cassiane said, “How depressing.”
“I find it comforting. Our problems can seem overwhelming until we realize everyone is going through the same thing. Everyone has their own battles. Plus it’s fun to make up stories about strangers. You don’t do the same thing?”
“It makes them too human. Too real.”
“And that’s a bad thing?”
Cassiane said, “Enough questions. Timo is supposed to be the psychiatrist, not you.”
Constance withdrew and faced forward again.
The street was buzzing with activity now. A man reading a newspaper on his stoop, a woman in work clothes walking her dog. City life. Cassiane let her eyes drift up the side of the building. Several windows had their curtains pushed open so she could see into the apartments at odd angles. She saw the heads of lamps and the tops of armoires. She knew none of these windows looked in on Rudin. He was smart enough to stay hidden, a fact which made her despair that this morning’s mission was doomed from the start.
“If he doesn’t appear, we can force him to show his face,” Cassiane said. “A fire alarm, perhaps. We could pose as two residents searching for a lost pet. Knock on doors.”
“We don’t want to alarm him. His people probably know how difficult it would be to get a team in place, so he may believe he’s in the clear. We can’t tip our hands.”
Cassiane made a quiet noise of agreement.
“What do I call you?”
“Hmm?”
“Timo calls you Circe. But calling you that seems a bit presumptuous. I’m not a member of your team yet. And I suppose it would be best for our cover if I referred to you as Sophie...”
“Circe is fine.”
“Okay. I was excited to work with you. Both of you.”
Cassiane looked at her. “You knew who we were?”
“Not before I left Turkey. KYP provided dossiers on you both so I’d know who I would be working with. You both have very high success rates. Reports indicate you’ve been working well together here in Berlin.”
“It’s a necessity,” Cassiane said. “Either you trust the person watching your back or you die.”
“Right.”
After a moment, Cassiane decided she had been a bit harsh. “She’s a lifeline. The job I do, that we do, it requires cutting yourself off from the entire world. Everyone who sees you is looking through a veil, seeing something false.”
“You have your own wall.”
Cassiane nodded slowly. “When you’re living like that, it’s incredibly helpful to have someone who sees beyond it. Someone who knows you.”
Constance started to say something, then closed her mouth.
“What?”
“No, it’s not my place.”
“What?”
“You said Timo is the only one who sees through the wall, but that’s not entirely true. She calls you Circe. She uses your code name and not your given name. I know I just agreed to do the same thing but, if it’s all the same to you, I’d prefer to call you Cassiane in moments like this. When we’re alone and when we don’t have to worry about being overheard.”
She almost protested, but the idea did appeal to her. And she couldn’t exactly tell her that Timo frequently whispered her true name while they made love. On top of that, she actually did like the idea of two people seeing through her walls.
“I suppose that would be fine. What about you? Constance? Is that your real name?”
“Indeed it is. Constance Grimaldi. If you want to shorten it like you do Timo, I’m not averse to being called ‘Con’.”
“One step at a time, Ms. Grimaldi.”
Constance smiled.
Cassiane settled in and crossed her arms over her chest. The odds were against them, but they definitely needed to know what Rudin looked like in order to proceed. They couldn’t rely on second- or third-hand accounts. When the time came, when seconds counted, Cassiane wanted to be absolutely sure who the man was just in case she had to put an end to him.
Chapter Five
While Cassiane and Con were on their surveillance mission, Timo closed down the office and walked a circuitous route to a yellow phone box she’d never used before. It was plastered on three sides with flyers, all of which she ignored as she stepped inside and dialed an international number. She was dressed as Dr. Lippert, with a long brown wig and glasses large enough to obscure the shape of her face. Her clothing was also too large so no one could tell if she was big or small. To anyone passing by, she was just another shapeless human form on the street.
The line buzzed in her ear. After a moment, it was answered by a quietly gruff man. “Elegant Pastries.”
“Yes, I would like to place an order for seven cupcakes. I’ll need them delivered as soon as possible.”
“Where can we get in touch with you?” She read the number off the keypad. “We’ll be in touch.”
Timo kept the receiver to her ear to dissuade anyone else who might come along to use the box. She rested her other hand on the cradle so she could press down the hook switch with her thumb so the line would remain open. Within three minutes, the bells within the phone jangled. She lifted her thumb and connected the call.
“Sunflower,” she said.
“Hold please.” Silence, then two buzzes. Finally, a new voice, one she recognized and the woman she was trying to get in touch with, said, “I take it your new asset has arrived.”
“So it would seem,” Timo said. “Initials Charlie-George.”
“Confirmed,” the other woman said. “She’s proven reliable in the past. Talented at gathering information, works well with others, good at building and maintaining covers. We wanted to send an entire team, but we were convinced it wasn’t plausible. She’s the next best thing. If we could only send one person, I’m comfortable with it being her.”
Timo said, “You’ve worked with her on missions before?”
“Not personally, no. But people I trust have, and they recommend her. That’s good enough for me.”
Then that was good enough for Timo. “Confirming contact has been made and details of the mission passed along.”
“Confirmed.” A pause. “The asset is in good shape?”
Timo watched the street through the glass the ensure she wasn’t attracting any attention. “She healed nicely after the incident. She dealt with her confinement well, and she’s adjusting to her new cover.” She didn’t mention the evolution of their relationship. Physical and romantic entanglements between field agents and handlers were common knowledge but not openly discussed.
“I’m glad to hear that. Is there anything else to report?”
“No. I’ll be in contact if anything changes.”
They disconnected the call and Timo stepped out of the box. A brisk wind whipped around the side of the building and slammed into her from the side, strong enough to nearly knock her off balance, but she managed to keep both feet on the sidewalk. She turned to put the wind at her back and walked another indirect route back to Dr. Lippert’s office.
She hadn’t necessarily doubted Con’s identity, but it was nice to have confirmation from those in charge. Now she knew she could trust the newcomer and the mission she’d brought to them. She stuffed her hands deep into her pockets and kept her head down, closing herself off to the other people on the sidewalk who were doing the exact same thing.
#
“There.”
Cassiane was dozing but her eyes opened immediately, focusing through the windshield on the building across the road. Their conversation had dwindled to silence a while ago, and Cassiane saw no reason to remain awake. It wasn’t as if she would recognize Rudin even if he made an appearance. Her mentors had told her to never pass up a chance to sleep, snack, shit, or screw, because they could never guarantee when the next opportunity to do those things would present itself. Taking advantage of a nap meant she had to be alert with no warning. That part had taken some practice but she’d eventually learned.
She sat up straighter in her seat. “Where?”
Con gestured with her chin. She already had her camera up at a discreet height, snapping photos. The man stood just outside the building’s door, hands in his pockets and shoulders hunched. His shovel-thin face was clean-shaven and his hair looked as if it had been recently cut. He was wearing clothes which were obviously too big for him; the wind pushed the excess material against his chest and around his legs.
“He’s changed his appearance, but that’s him. I memorized the cliff of his eyebrows and the bridge of his nose.”
“The cliff of his eyebrows?”
“How deep his eyes are set in his skull. Whatever this is called.” She tapped her own forehead. “It’s the one thing you can’t change easily or without causing permanent damage. That’s him.”
Rudin started walking. Cassiane opened the car door.
“Stay here.”
She was out of the car and walking before Con had a chance to protest. It wasn’t imperative to know where he was going, but leaving the hotel was a big enough risk that it made her curious. If they knew what would make him expose himself like this, it could be used against him in the future.
She fell into step with the rest of the pedestrians, only a handful of downtrodden people reading newspapers or watching their own feet as they walked. Rudin’s stride was long and his pace brisk and she feared she might lose him if she didn’t speed up. He would be aware of his surroundings and would notice someone rushing to keep him in sight, so she prepared herself for the possibility of failure.
Rudin turned the corner. Cassiane was thirty seconds behind him, close enough to see him jogging across the street while she was still at the intersection. She crossed with the light and, once he was out of sight around a second corner, risked picking up her speed to a fast jog. When she reached the point where she’d lost him she paused and scanned the street.
A barber shop was closest to where she stood. He had no need for that, given how recently he’d changed his appearance. A diner, but she could see that he wasn’t at any of the tables or standing in line to order. She didn’t think he’d had enough time to reach any of the other businesses, so he must have turned again. She ran full-speed this time and stopped only when she reached the corner. She put her shoulder against the wall and peeked around the crumbling brick.
She spotted him immediately. He was standing by the Metro station, one hand in his coat pocket while he gestured with the other. He was talking to a hunchbacked Vietnamese man, apparently haggling over a price. They finally came to an agreement and Rudin handed over some money in exchange for three small packages. He stuck them into his coat, but Cassiane was close enough to recognize the Lucky Strike logo.
Rudin turned and started back toward her, so Cassiane continued north. She circled the block and returned to where she’d left the car by side streets. There was no need to follow Rudin now that she’d discovered the purpose for his excursion.
She realized the car was empty when she was still half a block away. She slowed down and scanned the street but couldn’t see any sign of Con. Instinct told her there was no reason to suspect foul play. It was incredibly unlikely that Rudin had lured her away, purposefully separating them so an unseen partner could abduct the newest arrival to the city. She reached the car and pulled up on the driver’s door handle. It opened. She folded herself into the seat and checked her watch. The car was tidy, and Con’s camera was nowhere in sight. The other woman would have put up some kind of fight if she’d been taken by force. Cassiane decided her best move was to wait.
Less than five minutes later she spotted Con across the street. The blonde didn’t seem to be in any hurry as she waited for traffic and crossed diagonally, head down, arms swinging at her sides. She went to the passenger side and got into the car.
“Bathroom break?”
Con said, “I had my pictures, and I had no idea when you would return, so I thought I would make myself useful. This building really only has three blocks of rooms.” She held her hand out. “One is above the lobby, but Rudin didn’t come from that direction. The other two are stacked on top of each other, stretching out along the length of the block. I knew that when Rudin came back, he would have to cross that second lobby. So I went into the building and waited.”
“Risky.”
“Not as much as you might think. The second lobby has a public notice board on the wall and the entrance to the laundry room. When Rudin came back, I was using scrap paper to write a note. I’m looking for a dog-sitter, by the way.”
Cassiane almost smiled. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
“All Rudin saw was a young woman who had just dropped off her laundry.”
“No basket,” Cassiane pointed out.
“There were four in the laundry room. I just picked one up and let it hang from my fingertips as I wrote the note. Rudin came in and I followed him upstairs. Walked past him as if my room was at the furthest end of the hall.”
“What if his room had been the farthest end of the hall?”
“Scheisse, my laundry tokens! I am such a fool... Heavy sigh, shake my head, shoulders slump, trudge back downstairs.” She nodded at the building. “The fourth window on the second level. The one below the waterspout. That’s his room.”
Cassiane nodded. “Good work. He may have been suspicious enough to make a note of his neighbors. There’s a chance you still managed to spook him just by being an unfamiliar face.”
“Maybe. It was a risk I was willing to take. I think he was so terrified of being out in public that he didn’t even realize I was there. He practically flew up the stairs.” She finally looked at Cassiane. “So? What was so important he would leave his sanctuary?”
“Cigarettes. The stress is probably getting to him. He buys them from a Vietnamese man not far from here.”
“Could be useful information.”
“Agreed.” Cassiane stared at the building a moment longer to burn the location of Rudin’s room into her mind’s eye. “Any reason to stick around here?”
Con shook her head. “We have the picture and I sincerely doubt he will risk leaving again any time soon. The longer we stay, the more suspicions we arouse. Besides, I want to get these photos developed as soon as possible to make sure I got a good shot of his face.”
“Even if you didn’t,” Cassiane said, “I’ve seen him now. And odds are good that I’ll be the one forced to make a split-second decision about him.”
“You’re confident you can identify him?”
Cassiane didn’t hesitate. “Confident enough to pull the trigger when the time comes. Is that good enough for you?”
“Absolutely.”
#
Timo listened to Cassiane’s report of their surveillance, but only perked up when she mentioned the cigarettes. “Did you happen to see the brand?”
“Lucky Strike.”
They were in Dr. Lippert’s office. Timo had been leaning against the desk, but now she got up and went to the bookshelf. She took down a thick volume and thumbed through it. Cassiane was lying down on the patient’s couch, while Con chose to remain standing against the wall next to the door, arms across her chest. She was clearly eager to begin developing her pictures but Cassiane convinced her they needed to brief Timo first.
“This could be very fortunate for us. How long do you think it will take him to smoke all three packets?”
Cassiane shrugged. “He’s stressed. He could go through the whole thing in one day.”
“That’s not good. I was hoping to at least have until the weekend. Con, you’re positive you know which room is his?”
“Two thirty-two,” Con said.
“What are you planning?” Cassiane asked.
Timo chewed her bottom lip and finished reading the page before she answered. “We can drug his cigarettes. Put something in them to knock him out. I’m not sure what or how yet. Circe, I need you to get a pack of Lucky Strikes. Maybe two or three, just so we have them available.”
Cassiane nodded.
“I’ll figure out a way to make the swap,” Timo said.
“What are we aiming for here?” Con asked. “You said we could put something in the cigarettes to knock him out, but is that the best plan?”
Timo furrowed her brow. “You think we should go full-out? Murder him?”
“It would prevent him from handing over the anthrax.”
Timo shook her head. “But we don’t know who he’s meeting or what they plan to use it for. If Rudin doesn’t show up with the spores, they may have a backup plan. We need him alive so we can interrogate him. Find out what his plan is, who his contacts are.”
Con said, “Okay, we drug his cigarettes and somehow make the swap. How do we know when he’s smoked the tainted ones?”
“Two birds with one stone.” Timo looked at Cassiane and smiled. “Sophie, you’re fired.”
Cassiane raised an eyebrow.
“Your services are no longer required. Fortunately, it shouldn’t be too difficult for you to find gainful employment as a maid at a nearby hotel.”
“Housekeeping?” Cassiane said. “Can’t I just get shot again?”
Timo put a fist against her eye and faked wiping away tears. Cassiane grimaced at her, which only made Timo chuckle softly.
“It will give you access to his rooms as well as an excuse to check up on him,” she explained. “We can’t do everything from a car across the street. He’s already seen Con in the building, and I’m not a field agent.”
