… under the poplars beside Starbucks. He’d acclimatised to the tension of being a traitor to his country; waiting for an unscheduled, authoritative knock on the door (“Kyle Mitchem? I am placing you under…”), or a sudden, permanent escort taking him from his office in the embassy, past his friends, his dupes…

But a white chalk square on a lamp post can bring that all back.

Emergency, meet at rendezvous 2

A jogger in a green t-shirt passes him and clutching his little netbook (in clammy, no, wet hands and wishing he’d got a satchel for it) Kyle now walks to the taxis; he gets into a car two from the front.

The driver is Vekler who takes the ‘book and Kyle takes a fat envelope, now pissing himself. He didn’t tell Kyle when they’d meet next – this is goodbye.

Vekler eases onto a roundabout and tells Kyle to dissolve his documents in his bath. Kyle’s medals await him in Moscow, but he has to get there himself.

Kyle’s pretty sure Vekler is Mossad.

Vekler recruits under a false flag and so does Kyle.