The Apocalypse Watch Page 0,41

as a young entrepreneur in the diamond trade. Whenever our schedules permitted, we'd be together there, but I was always, shall we say, a far different woman from the one they saw at NATO .. . from the one you see here at the embassy. I dressed fashionably, even extravagantly, and wore a blond wig and a great deal of jewelry-"

"You were living a double life," interrupted Latham again, nodding, again impatient.

"It was obviously necessary."

"Conceded. And?"

"We entertained-not frequently, and only with Freddie's most vital contacts-but I was in evidence as his wife.. .. I must stop here and explain something to you, even though you undoubtedly know it. Whenever powerful government policing agencies are duped by externals, they will, of course, get rid of the penetrators by execution or by inverted compromise, thus causing them to be killed by their own people as double agents, do you agree?"

"I've heard about it, that's as far as I'll go."

But the one thing they will not suffer is embarrassment, the admission that they were penetrated; those occasions were kept intensely private, even within their own organizations."

"I've heard about that too."

"It happened in the Stasi. After Frederik was killed and the Wall came down, a number of his important East German contacts continuously left messages on our telephone answering machine, pleading for meetings with Freddie. I accepted several, in my role as his wife. TWO men, the first being the fourth highest ranking officer in the Stasi, and the other, a code breaker as well as a convicted rapist exonerated by his superiors, had been recruited by the Brotherhood. They came to see Frederik to reconvert their diamonds into currency. As with others, I dined them and filled them with alcohol-laced with powders Freddie always insisted I have in a sugar bowl-and as these two tried to make love to me, each telling me how important he was, they both drunkenly revealed why they were so important."

"My brother Harry," said Drew in a monotone.

"Yes. Under my prodding, each spoke of an American agent called Lassiter, whom the Brotherhood knew about and were prepared for."

"How did you know it was Harry?"

"The clearest way possible. My first questions were innocuous, but I grew more specific with time-Freddie always claimed that was the best way, especially with alcohol and the powders. Eventually, each man said essentially the same words. They were as follows:

"His real name is Harry Latham, Central Intelligence, Clandestine Operations, Project Time-two years plus, Code Sting, all information deleted from computers at Level AA-Zero."

"Jesus! That had to come from the top, the very top! AA-Zero doesn't go far down the hall from the director's office.. .. That's pretty outrageous, Mrs. de Vries."

"Since I had, and have, no idea what AA-Zero means, I submit it is the truth. Those were the words I heard, the reason I requested the transfer to Paris. Do I still have my job, monsieur?"

"It's solid as a rock. Only there's a new wrinkle."

"Wrinkle? I understand the word, but how do you apply it?"

"You'll remain in D and R, but you're now part of Consular Operations."

tiWhy?"

"Among other things, you'll have to sign a sworn a. davit that says you won't divulge the information you've just given me, and it also spells out thirty years in an American prison if you do."

"And if I refuse to sign such a document?"

"Then you're the enemy."

"Good! I like that. It is precise."

"Let's be more precise," said Latham, his eyes locked with Karin de Vries's.

"If you turn or you are turned, there's no appeal. Do you understand?"

"With all my intellect and with all my heart, monsieur."

"Now it's my turn to ask. Why?"

"It's really quite simple. For several years my marriage was a gift from God, a man I adored loved me as I loved him. Then I saw that man crippled by hatred, not blind hatred, but hate seen clearly with wide-open eyes, focused on a reemerging enemy that had destroyed his family-his parents and their parents before them.

That glorious, ebullient young man I married deserved far better than was meted out to him. It's now my turn to fight his enemy, the enemy of all of us."

"That's good enough for me, Mrs. de Vries. Welcome to our side."

"Then I shall join you in a drink, monsieur. There is a 'later' after all."

The American F-16 jet landed at the airport in Althem. The pilot, an air force colonel cleared by the CIA, requested immediate departure once his "package" was on board. Harry Latham was driven across the

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