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He sits down in a wooden kitchen chair, starts undoing the clasp to the manila envelope. “Nope, want to keep a clear mind.”
Aldo spots the Beefeater gin bottle on the kitchen table and says, “How clear are you, Noa?”
She sits down. “I’m at that weird place where I think I could polish off that entire goddamn bottle and not slur a word. But don’t test me. Show me what you got.”
Aldo slides out a thick file folder, with the appropriate red slashes andTOP SECRETandNOFORNand Noa feels unease at seeing such confidential material out of a secure area. An immediate firing offense if caught. Aldo seems to notice her attitude and says, “I wouldn’t have gone out on such thin ice if this wasn’t important, Noa.”
“Show me,” she says.
He opens the folder. Noa recognizes the documents and color photos on Donna Otterson that she got from POTUS.
“This is what we worked from, right? And he … where did he get this information?”
“Don’t know,” she says. “It must be his own contacts and friends back in the Agency. He’s pretty close-mouth as to sourcing.”
She looks down at the surveillance reports, the photos of Donna Otterson going to Cherry Hill Park on three separate occasions. The photos show Donna walking to the park’s sign, looking over it, and with a quick move, marking the lowest part of the wooden sign with blue chalk.
The photos shift.
She’s sitting on a park bench.
Bends over like she’s adjusting a shoe.
Sticky-tapes an envelope to the bottom of the bench.
The next photo shows Donna getting up, walking away.
The next series of photos show a young Chinese woman approaching the bench.
She’s pushing a baby carriage.
She sits down on the bench and then retrieves the envelope.
Two other sets of photos show young Chinese males making similar pickups.
Aldo says, “About as clear as it can be, right?”
Noa nods.
He goes back to the envelope, pulls out a similar manila file folder, with the same letters and markings. Aldo says, “This is where it gets interesting, Noa.”
“I hate interesting,” she says. “I prefer clear-cut and to the point.”
“Well, prepare to be disappointed, Noa,” Aldo says. “I have a friend who works in the Counterintelligence Mission Center. During my training module, I gave this friend some … extra guidance to pass the course.”
Noa says, “Female friend, perhaps?”
Aldo says, “Please, stay focused. I asked him about Donna Otterson. He didn’t recognize the name. I said Donna Otterson,financial resource officer, who had been dealing with the Chinese. That confused the crap out of him and did some digging, and sure, Donna Otterson was under investigation. For this.”
The same photos from before are spread out, showing Donna marking the sign with chalk.
Aldo waits, and then spreads out a new sheaf of photos.
In each photo, the same envelope was being retrieved from under the park bench.
But not by a Chinese resident spy.
“Aldo …”