"I was wondering if you'd like to have dinner with me this evening?"
"I'd love to."
"How about Japanese food? There's an excellent restaurant over on MacArthur Boulevard."
"The one with the fixed menu?"
"That's the one."
"I know it. They have wonderful sushi."
"Seven o'clock?" Hood said. "I'll make reservations and meet you there. There's a back room where we can have privacy, away from the public."
Both had security issues to consider. A private room was always preferable for outings in public.
"It's a date."
"Good. I'll see you then."
Hood hung up.
A date, she thought. Is that what it is? Come on, it's only a figure of speech.
Her mood lifted. Before the call, the only thing she'd had to look forward to was an empty brownstone and another evening of reading reports. Dinner out was a welcome change.
A little before seven she parked and went inside the restaurant. The main room was laid out as a long, narrow rectangle. Low tables lined one wall, with square cushions on the floor for seating. A sushi bar with a dozen stools took up the other side of the room. A hanging red curtain led to the back. The decor was simple, accented with polished cherry wood and discrete lighting. Everything was obsessively clean.
A polite Japanese man escorted her back to the private room. Hood was already seated. He rose when she came in. He wore a lightweight tailored gray suit and a blue and white tie.
"You're looking nice this evening, Elizabeth."
She was wearing her usual black and white outfit, nothing Hood hadn't seen before. She took the complement for what it was.
"Thanks. This is a wonderful idea. I'm glad you called."
They sat across from each other.
A waiter appeared and Hood ordered sake for both of them. There was no need to order food. The menu was Omakase. Everything would be brought one course at a time, without any say in what would be served.
When the waiter had gone, Hood took a small electronic device from his pocket, set it on the table and turned it on. It made it impossible for anyone to listen in on their conversation.
"Just a precaution," he said.
"It's a habit," Elizabeth said. "I do the same thing in public."
Hood filled her cup and then his own. "We have a lot in common, don't we?"
Elizabeth sipped. It was good sake, cloudy, unfiltered.
"Our jobs overlap quite a bit."
Hood toyed with his cup. "I was thinking of more than our work. We enjoy similar things. Take Japanese food, for example. Not everyone appreciates sushi."
Elizabeth raised her cup, enjoying herself.
"Or sake."
"Or sake," Hood said. He lifted his cup and emptied it.
When they came out of the restaurant two hours later they were both high on the rice wine.
Hood's driver held the door open for him.
"That was fun," she said. "I really enjoyed myself."
"So did I." Hood stood next to her. "Elizabeth…"
"Yes?"
Hood reached down and touched her face. Then he leaned close and kissed her.
Elizabeth was shocked. She hadn't expected him to do that. It put her at a loss for words. Instead of speaking, she kissed him back.
Hood stepped away. "Sorry, I shouldn't have done that."
"Oh, Clarence, don't be so old-fashioned. You don't have to apologize."
"I could blame it on the sake, but that's got nothing to do with it. I find you very attractive. I thought that kind of thing was over for me. I guess I was wrong."
"That kind of thing?"
"Being attracted to someone. As I am to you."
Standing in the warm Washington evening and listening to Hood's soft, Southern accent, Elizabeth felt something shift inside. It had been a long time since someone wanted to get close. The kiss had cracked open a door she'd closed long ago.
She looked at him with a new eye. Hood wasn't a bad looking man. He was in his 60s but he'd held up pretty well. He was taller than she was, but then almost everyone was. His hair had turned full gray and was perfectly cut. He wasn't wearing any jewelry except a gold watch, not even a class ring. She liked that in a man.
"I like you too, Clarence."
"I can settle for that." He smiled at her. "Let's do this again."
"Call me."
She touched him on the arm and got into her car. Hood watched her drive away.
Down the street a man with a camera got into his car.
CHAPTER 22
Valentina called General Vysotsky from Marsá Matruh. The connection over the satellite link was faint but clear.
"Two FSB agents?" Alexei said.
"I recognized one of them. She's a real bitch. Her name is Katerina Rostov."
"I know who she is. She's one of Volkov's favorites. What's Harker's team up to?"
"I don't know. They left their hotel and Rostov followed them. They headed out on the coast highway toward Libya. It's wide open along there and there's no traffic because of the threat from ISIS. There was too much chance of being spotted if I followed, so I waited near their hotel for them. It was hours before the Americans came back. Their car looked like somebody attacked it with sandpaper. Rostov and her partner were nowhere in sight. I don't know what happened to them."
"Where did they go?"
"The only thing between here and Libya is some old ruins on the coast highway. Maybe they were going sightseeing. It's a tourist attraction, there can't be anything important about it."
"I'll be the judge of that."
Valentina wanted to tell him to go to hell. Instead she said, "What do you want me to do?"
"What you have been doing. Observe. Watch Harker's team and watch Rostov."
"I can't watch them both all the time."
"You don't have to. Rostov will be watching to see what the Americans are doing, like you. You just have to be in the right place to see them both."
Easy for you to say, Valentina thought.
"Your sister and her comrades are looking for something. Volkov wants it, whatever it is. He will have instructed Rostov to get it anyway she can. Under no circumstances must she succeed."
"Do you want me to take her out?"
"Not unless it becomes necessary."
"It would simplify things."
"No, Valentina. You heard what I said. Only if necessary. Keep me informed."
Vysotsky ended the call.
Only if necessary.
Valentina was pretty sure it would become necessary. She knew Rostov by reputation. Sooner or later the woman would make a mistake that required stepping in.
Like threatening her sister.
Thinking of Selena was complicated. Where did her loyalties lie? On the face of it, it was simple enough. Selena was a spy for the main enemy. But she was also the only family Valentina had in the world.
Valentina remembered countless lonely nights when she'd wished for a family, for someone to hold her and care for her. Her mother had been an active KGB agent and was almost never home. Valentina had been brought up by KGB and SVR instructors. The curriculum didn't include family dynamics. The ideal operative had no family except the state. Until recently, that had been Valentina's norm.
Valentina was proud of her role, her uniform. She had respect. She knew people thought her cold but she didn't care what they thought. She'd found her place in the world as an instrument of Russian state policy.
Then her world had turned upside down. She'd learned she had a sister and that her father had been an American spy.
Valentina hadn't been prepared for the emotional shock that followed from the discovery. Emotions made her uncomfortable. She'd succeeded in suppressing almost everything that felt upsetting but when she discovered Selena, the brittle walls she'd built up to contain her feelings began to crumble. She'd been shocked by the sensations that surged through her when she first saw her sister in person.