The Red Cell by André Le Gallo

Author:André Le Gallo [Le Gallo, André]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: D Street Books, a division of Mountain Lake Press
Published: 2021-05-05T22:00:00+00:00

24. Aisha’s Apartment

She always thought of herself as Aisha when she was with her husband. She reminded herself of that, as she took a cab back from the Iranian Embassy to her apartment, not wishing to attract attention by getting out of an embassy car. She looked at her watch, wondering what time Ghassem, whom she had just left, would come tonight.

She also worried about her negotiation initiative. Was her idea too transparent? So far, she had not detected any suspicion of her true role. Although she often worried about it as well, she felt confident she was much too smart to be caught, and too intimidating in her role for her actions to be questioned.

But how much longer could she play this dangerous game? Despite her confidence, it was beginning to wear on her nerves, particularly when she thought of the highly placed spies who had been exposed in the past. The KGB had executed more than a dozen CIA spies because Robert Hanssen, an FBI agent, had turned traitor. A KGB officer working for the CIA had uncovered his activities. And Aldrich Ames, a CIA officer working for the KGB, was now in a maximum-security federal prison for life, because he had not exercised the operational precautions taught him in basic CIA training.

What if a high-level Iranian official revealed her true status? Although there was no official American presence in Tehran, there were Western embassies. What if an Iranian official revealed her role to the British, for example? Ghassem had assured her that initially only the Supreme Leader and President Rouhani knew her true identity, and she trusted him to make sure her secret would be tightly held. But she also knew knowledge is power, and secrets are often shared in return for a favor, or for leverage. Washington politics could not function without quid pro quos, and she well knew the same was true in Tehran.

During her service to the Islamic Republic, she had occasionally entertained the idea of simplifying her life and returning to Tehran. But her vow as a child to devote her life to the Shiite nation had always buried the instinct. Now, this furtive conjugal visit with her husband had brought her life commitment to the forefront again. She could board the next Iran Air flight. A year ago, she had slipped on a plane to Tehran from Brussels, staying long enough to receive praise from the Supreme Leader and from the previous president. The Minister of Intelligence, although not on the shortlist to be informed of her allegiance, was waiting to see the president when she emerged from his office, and so Ghassem was forced to brief him. At his request, she had also met the head of the Republican Guard. Had any of these people confided in their second in command, their family, their wives, their mistresses?

Ghassem had told her long ago she could return home at any time, that they could have a good life in Tehran. His first wife had died two years before and was not around to see Karim, her son, graduate and make his own life.

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