After family came another hour devoted solely to her expensive European schooling. The American in St. John’s Wood, where she’d done her elementary years. The international middle school in Paris, where she’d learned how to speak French and get into trouble. The all-girls boarding school outside Geneva, where she’d been incarcerated by her father for the purpose of “sorting herself out.” It was in Switzerland, she volunteered, where she discovered her passion for art. Each of her answers was greeted by the scratching of his pen. He wrote in red ink on a legal pad the color of sunflowers. At first she thought he was scribbling in shorthand or some form of hieroglyphics. Then she realized he was making notes in Hebrew. The fact that it was written right to left-and that he could write with equal speed with either hand-served to reinforce her impression that she had passed through the looking glass.
At times he seemed to have all the time in the world; at others he would glare at his wristwatch and frown, as though calculating how much farther they could push on before making camp for the night. From time to time he slipped into other languages. His French was quite good. His Italian faultless but tinged with a vague accent that betrayed the fact he was not a native speaker. When he addressed her in German a change came over him. A straightening of his back. A hardening of his severe features. She answered him in the language of his question, though invariably her words were recorded in Hebrew on his yellow legal pad. For the most part he did not challenge her, though any inconsistencies, real or imagined, were pursued with a prosecutorial zeal.
“This passion for art,” he said. “Where do you think it came from? Why art? Why not literature or music? Why not film or drama?”
“Paintings became a refuge for me. A sanctuary.”
“From what?”
“Real life.”
“You were a rich girl going to the finest schools in Europe. What was wrong with your life?” He switched from English into German in mid-accusation. “What were you running from?”
“You judge me,” she responded in the same language.
“Of course.”
“May we speak in English?”
“If you must.”
“Paintings are other places. Other lives. An instant in time that exists on the canvas and nowhere else.”
“You like to inhabit these places.”
It was an observation, not a question. She nodded in response.
“You like to lead other lives? Become other people? You like to walk through Vincent’s wheat fields and Monet’s flower gardens?”
“And even through Frankel’s nightmares.”
He laid down his pen for the first time. “Is that why you applied to join the Agency? Because you wanted to lead another life? Because you wanted to become another person?”
“No, I did it because I wanted to serve my country.”
He gave her a disapproving frown, as if he found her response naïve, and then shot another glance at his wristwatch. Time was his enemy.
“Did you meet Arabs when you were growing up in Europe?”
“Of course.”
“Boys? Girls?”
“Both?”
“What sort of Arabs?”
“Arabs who walk on two legs. Arabs from Arab countries.”
“You’re more sophisticated than that, Sarah.”
“Lebanese. Palestinians. Jordanians. Egyptians.”
“What about Saudis? Did you ever go to school with Saudis?”
“There were a couple of Saudi girls at my school in Switzerland.”
“They were rich, these Saudi girls?”
“We were all rich.”
“Were you friends with them?”
“They were hard to get to know. They were standoffish. They kept to themselves.”
“And what about Arab boys?”
“What about them?”
“Were you ever friends with any of them?”
“I suppose.”
“Ever date any of them? Ever sleep with any of them?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“I guess my taste didn’t run to Arab men.”
“You had French boyfriends?”
“A couple.”
“British?”
“Sure.”
“But no Arabs?”
“No Arabs.”
“Are you prejudiced against Arabs?”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“So it’s conceivable you could have dated an Arab. You just didn’t.”
“I hope you’re not going to ask me to serve as bait in a honey trap because-”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Then why are you asking me these questions?”
“Because I want to know whether you’d be comfortable in a social and professional setting with Arab men.”
“The answer is yes.”
“You don’t automatically see a terrorist when you see an Arab man?”
“No.”
“Are you sure about that, Sarah?”
“I suppose it depends on the sort of Arab you have in mind.”
He looked at his watch. “It’s getting late,” he said to no one in particular. “I’m sure poor Sarah is famished.” He drew a heavy red line across his page of hieroglyphics. “Let’s order some food, shall we? Sarah will feel better after she has something to eat.”
THEY ORDERED KEBABS from a carryout in the heart of Georgetown. The food came twenty minutes later, delivered by the same black Suburban that had brought Sarah to the town house three hours earlier. Gabriel treated its arrival as a signal to begin the night session. For the next ninety minutes he focused on her education and her knowledge of art history. His questions came at such a rapid-fire pace she scarcely had time for her food. As for his own, it sat untouched next to his yellow legal pad. He’s an ascetic, she thought. He can’t be bothered with food. He lives in a bare room and subsists on coarse bread and a few drops of water a day. Shortly after midnight he carried his plate into the kitchen and deposited it on the counter. When he returned to the dining room he stood for a moment behind his chair, with one hand pressed to his chin and his head tilted slightly to one side. The light from the chandelier had turned his eyes to emerald, and they were flashing restlessly over her like searchlights. He can see the summit, she thought. He’s preparing himself for the final assault.
“I SEE FROM YOUR file that you’re unmarried.”
“Correct.”
“Are you involved with anyone at the moment?”
“No.”
“Sleeping with anyone?”
She looked at Carter, who gazed sadly back at her, as if to say, I told you things might get personal.
“No, I’m not sleeping with anyone.”
“Why not?”
“Have you ever lost someone close to you?”
The dark look that came suddenly over his face, combined with Carter’s restless shifting in his chair, alerted her that she had strayed into some forbidden zone.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t-”
“It’s Ben, I take it? Ben is the reason you’re not involved with anyone?”
“Yes, it’s Ben. Of course it’s Ben.”
“Tell me about him.”
She shook her head. “No,” she said softly. “You don’t get to know about Ben. Ben is mine. Ben isn’t part of the deal.”
“How long did you date?”
“I told you-”
“How long did you see him, Sarah? It’s important, or I wouldn’t be asking.”
“About nine months.”
“And then it ended?”
“Yes, it ended.”