The Increment: A Novel - By David Ignatius Page 0,68

Iraq only deepened his sense of shame about Alex.

Harry always called him “Mr. Hoffman.” Never by his first name. He had the manner of a retired Mafia don. He was tough, and talked even tougher, but he kept the secrets. If they told him to go down with the ship, down he went. That was the deal. Harry called him that morning at his home in McLean. He was gardening, he said. Sure, he would be happy to see Harry. He suggested that they meet at a coffeehouse in Tyson’s Corner, near a string of fancy women’s clothing stores. They could talk there with reasonable confidence that nobody would be listening.

Jack Hoffman was waiting for Harry. He had come early to size up the place. Good tradecraft, as ever. He was seated in a corner, with a view of the door and the Louis Vuitton salon next door. He had an unlit cigar in his hand. Harry took a seat next to his former boss. The chairs were small, designed for ladies who shop, and Harry’s large body spilled over the frame.

Hoffman motioned to the waiter and ordered two coffees and a donut. The waiter said they didn’t carry donuts, but that they did have viennoiseries. Hoffman said he’d take one of those.

“And there’s no smoking,” said the waiter, pointing to the cigar.

“I’m not smoking. I’m remembering. Now, go away.” He made a little shooing motion with his hand, as if he were flicking away a bug.

The waiter was going to protest, but something in Hoffman’s manner deterred him. Two ladies who were seated several tables away were looking at the cigar. They whispered to each other and moved to another table across the café. Hoffman turned to Harry.

“What’s up, Harry? You don’t look so good.”

“I’m worried about Iran.”

“You got me out of my garden to tell me that?”

Harry started to apologize, but Hoffman punched him gently on the shoulder.

“Just joking with you, Harry boy. Lighten up. Tell me what’s bothering you. You look like shit.”

“I’m getting squeezed. The White House wants to hit Tehran. They don’t know how yet, but they’re looking at options. They think the Iranians are about to break out. They’re preparing a dossier, just like Iraq. But the intel doesn’t show that. It’s crap. They think we’ve got hard facts, but we don’t. The truth is, I’m not sure what we have. I’m trying to find out, but it takes time, and this crowd is impatient.”

“You think?” said Hoffman sardonically. He had his own scars to show on that account. He put the cigar in his mouth and bit down on it.

“So I don’t know what to do. I’m trying to unravel this ball of string, you know. I’m talking to the Brits, who have a station there. But it makes me nervous. I worry that I’m going to do something wrong. You understand? I worry that I am being disloyal to the White House if I don’t do what they want. But I’m being disloyal to myself if I do. See what I mean?”

“Honestly, Harry, I have no fucking idea what you’re talking about. You better start at the beginning.”

“Okay, okay.” The waiter brought the coffees and a sad-looking little bun with a crown of spun sugar.

Harry took a breath. Normally he wasn’t nervous, but he found Hoffman intimidating. He started again, lowering his voice.

“Here’s what it’s about, Mr. Hoffman. We have an agent inside the nuclear program. He came in as a VW, and we haven’t met him face-to-face yet. But he has sent us a couple of documents, and they look totally legit to me. The question is figuring out what they mean. The first was a readout on their enrichment program; it says they’re at thirty-five percent, which is close to a bomb, but not there yet. We don’t know how long it will take to get the rest of the way.”

“You need to debrief the agent.”

“Exactly. But that will take some time, and some help from London. And the White House says we don’t have time.”

“Well, tell them to piss off.” Hoffman winked. He knew as well as Harry that defiance was not an option. If you couldn’t do what they told you to do, you were supposed to quit.

“It gets more complicated,” continued Harry. “The Iranian sent us another document. This one was about a triggering mechanism for an actual bomb.”

“No shit! The Holy Grail.”

“Looks like it. The weapons program is back on, for sure. But this second document