City of Secrets Read Online Free Page B

new arrival he grew more impatient.
    What kept him from leaving? There was a whole queue of taxis down the street. She could just as easily take one of them instead of wasting his time. He made nothing chauffeuring her around, hated it.
    As he pointlessly sharpened his argument, a grand Daimler from before the war pulled up, a car Brand associated with the German High Command, a particularly perverse affront here, though no one else seemed to notice. The doorman hurried to free its occupants. The blonde who ducked out and unfolded herself was slim and long-limbed as a ballerina, carrying a sequined clutch purse. The man behind her, silver-haired, in tails, complete with kid gloves as if they were attending the opera, was Asher.
    Brand had never seen him in anything but khakis and a rough work shirt, his sleeves rolled to his elbows. He’d just assumed Asher was like himself, a tradesman of some kind, a mason or plumber, practical, good with his hands. Now, in the immaculate suit of a diplomat, there was something unnatural about him. Brand stared as if he were seeing a doppelgänger.
    Without a glance in Brand’s direction, Asher offered the woman his arm and ushered her inside.
    Brand’s first thought was that he’d stumbled into an operation.The Irgun were famous for their disguises, using Ben Yehuda Street tailors to copy British uniforms. The accursed car might be a message, rigged with TNT, Asher and the blonde agent packing Mausers. A Christmas party was the perfect setup for an assassination. Shots, then panic, an escape route through the kitchen, another car waiting out back.
    He wondered if Eva knew and hadn’t told him, if right now she was holding a deputy minister at gunpoint upstairs, the appointment a ruse.
    He started the car. Any second he expected gunfire, the windows exploding in a spray of glass.
    The Daimler tooled off and another limousine took its place, delivering another couple, older, the wife white-haired and stick-thin, the man rotund and red-faced, some sort of bureaucrat, though, Brand conceded with a scowl, they might be Irgun as well. For all he knew it could be the Irgun Christmas party.
    After they’d disappeared, the doorman held the door open an extra moment and out came Eva. She turned to find him right where he said he’d be and smiled. Reliable Brand.
    â€œSorry,” she said. “I ran into an old friend.”
    â€œDid you see Asher?”
    She looked puzzled, as if she’d missed something.
    â€œHe just walked in.”
    â€œWhat’s he doing here?”
    â€œHe was dressed for the big party. Any idea who it’s for?”
    â€œI can go back in and check.”
    â€œThat’s all right.”
    â€œAsk him.” She pointed to the doorman.
    Brand pulled forward and casually leaned across the seat. He made as if he were asking on her behalf.
    The man poked his head in the window to address her. While he looked Arab, to Brand’s surprise, like the soldier the other night, he spoke perfect Hebrew. “Every year the hospital has a party for the orphans. It’s very nice.”
    â€œThank you,” Eva said, and then, when they were clear, “Hadassah Hospital.”
    â€œMaybe he works there.”
    â€œOr at the orphanage.”
    â€œHe seemed to know what to do the other night.”
    â€œYou think he’s a doctor?”
    â€œYou know him better than I do.”
    â€œHe’s your contact,” she said, “not mine.”
    â€œYou’ve known him longer.” Another surprise. Who was hers—Fein, maybe? Yellin? Lipschitz joined around the same time he did. Maybe it was someone from before, someone he’d never met. She didn’t like to talk about her past, and he was afraid to guess at it. He didn’t like to think about her present.
    â€œI know he’s married.”
    â€œBecause of the ring?”
    â€œBecause of how he acts.”
    â€œYou can tell