“What about the damage it’s doing to us right now?”
“It’s totally safe unless it’s ingested.”
“Did Moscow Center tell you that?”
Nikolai returned the vial to the pocket of his trousers.
“That’s the perfect place for it.”
Nikolai smiled in spite of himself. He had to admit, he admired the woman’s nerve.
“How long have you been carrying it around?” she asked.
“A week.”
“That would explain your peculiar greenish glow. You’re probably hotter than Chernobyl.”
“And now you are, too.” He examined the welt on her cheek. “Does it hurt?”
“Not as much as my head.”
“Take your wig off. I’ll have a look at it.”
“Thank you, but you’ve done enough already.”
“Perhaps you didn’t hear me.” Nikolai lowered his voice. “I said take it off.”
When she hesitated, he reached across the table and ripped the wig from her head. Her blond hair was in disarray and matted with dried blood above her right ear. Still, Nikolai realized he had seen the woman before. It was the night he had given a briefcase bomb to the halfwit head of security from the Geneva International School. The woman had been at a table under the awning, next to the tall Russian-looking man who had followed Nikolai from the café. A car had followed him, too. Nikolai had not recognized the man behind the wheel, the man with gray temples. But by the following evening, Moscow Center had managed to confirm his identity.
Gabriel Allon...
Nikolai tossed aside the wig. Without it, the woman was even more beautiful. He could only imagine the sort of jobs she had done for them. The Israelis used honey traps almost as much as the SVR.
“I thought you said you’re an American.”
“I am.”
“Jewish?”
“Episcopalian, actually.”
“You made aliyah?”
“To England?”
Nikolai hit her a third time. Hard enough for blood to flow from her nose. Hard enough to shut her up.
“I’m Nikolai,” he said after a moment. “Who are you?”
She hesitated, then said, “Allison.”
“Allison what?”
“Douglas.”
“Come now, Allison, you can do better than that.”
She didn’t look quite so brave any longer. “What are you going to do with me?” she asked.
