Local time – 8:15pm, Saturday 16th June, 2011.
Prague, Czechoslovakia.
Alex had spent only a few minutes at her hotel that morning, but after her incredibly long and stressful day, the warmth of the little reception foyer felt like home. The flight had been uneventful; no police and no questioning of Henry’s French passport or her fake ID. Alex wore her shawl over her head as a disguise all the way back to her hotel. She still wasn’t sure anyone was really looking for her, but Henry continued to argue it was best to err on the safe side. She checked her Gmail on the iPad and strangely there were two worrisome messages from Gerome, which he had sent to her work email. Both requested she phone him urgently as a man had phoned him twice, looking for her. She didn’t call back.
They were now waiting for the hotelier, who Alex had chatted with that morning, so they could put their bugging plan into action. Henry casually scanned the tourist brochures like a patient boyfriend, while Alex waited at the desk. The short, cheerful woman bustled into the cramped space and greeted Alex like an old friend.
‘Hello dear. Back from your sight seeing in perfect timing. Dinner is served in fifteen minutes’.
‘Oh, I won’t be eating, thank you anyway. I’m going to go out again.’
‘Oh, OK OK. Is there some other else I help you with?’
‘I’m just interested, you mentioned this morning, your son plays in a quartet?’
‘Oh, yes yes dear. Vlady is such a talent. Do you want tickets to concert? I tell you this morning, no tickets tonight. He play at the castle. Very important concert, not public tickets’.
‘Oh, yes, that’s right, I forgot. Very disappointing. Is he playing anywhere else this weekend? I would so love to hear his quartet. He’s a cellist, isn’t he?’
‘Oh, you are a very sweet girl. He would be very happy to have a, what would you call it, a fan? I not know his program this weekend. He is getting ready to go. He live on top floor. Should I ask him for you?’
‘That would be fantastic, if it’s not too much trouble’. The woman picked up the phone and spoke in Czech. The conversation was short. Alex recognised the tone of a mother scolding her son. But the woman was still smiling when she hung up.
‘He running late tonight. He give me concert tickets for tomorrow night, you pick them up here tomorrow. Yes?’
‘Oh thank you. That’s fantastic.’ With that, Alex had all the information she needed. She picked up her satchel and moved towards the stairs to her room, followed by Henry. The woman called after them.
‘Your other friend, he have other key.’
‘Pardon?’
‘Bernie, he not get in contact with you. I give him other key.’ Alex’s heart skipped a beat. Henry’s face told her to play it cool.
‘Oh, yes, we’re meeting him for dinner.’ Alex hurried up the stairs to her room. She sternly dismissed the sudden surge of hope that Bernie was still alive, and instead tried to resist a terror she had been trying to avoid all afternoon. Reaching the second floor, she was a few steps ahead of Henry and about to unlock her door, when he gently pulled her hand from the lock.
‘Wait a sec. Let me go first, in case someone’s there.’
He slid the key into the lock and slowly pushed the heavy wooden door open with his shoulder, standing to one side so as not to present a target to anyone in the room. Alex held her breath. The tiny room offered no hiding places, so it only took a second to confirm there was no one there. It also didn’t appear that anyone had been there. Henry looked worried.
‘Why would they come here? And why say they are Bernie?’
‘My room was booked under his name. It’s someone who knows him.’ Alex felt sick with fear. ‘I think they want his iPad.’ She said it before she had time to consider whether it was a good idea. Henry didn’t react well.
‘How on earth could you know that?’
‘I didn’t tell you because I didn’t know if it was true. But I think it must be.’ Alex paced the short distance between the bed and the wall. She told Henry about her phone call to Laura, about the possibility of murder, Bernie’s mention of his iPad and Gerome’s phone messages. She left out the note in Bernie’s pocket. Henry was angry enough as it was. Alex noticed him staring at her satchel, as if searching for the shape of the iPad. She wanted to snatch the bag off the bed and never let it out of her sight.
‘I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before. It’s just, all the things you’ve been telling me, I’ve got no idea what it’s all about. Whether it’s true, whether it’s real. And when Laura told me about Bernie, I didn’t want to believe that either.’
‘Why?’
‘Because it made everything you told me, more, more... ’
‘Likely to be true?’
‘Yes.’ Alex wanted more than anything else in the world for Henry to stop glaring at her. She was terrified he was about to abandon her in this small room. Leave her to be stalked by faceless murderers. A tense silence took hold and Alex stopped pacing, standing inches from Henry as if proximity might fix things. He finally spoke.
‘I’ve been honest with you from the start.’ She resisted the urge to protest. This was the man who said he was a tourist, then a researcher, and now an ex-CIA spy. But perhaps he told her everything he could, when he could. And she hadn’t done that.
‘If it helps, I believe you now.’
‘That does help. Except that I thought you believed me before.’ It was a strange moment to smile, but Alex couldn’t help but be slightly amused by Henry’s devastation. She kept reminding herself they were strangers. But there was one thing she was sure of; she felt much safer with him than without.
‘Sorry Henry. I’m really sorry. This has just been such a crazy day. You can’t blame me for being sceptical. That’s my job! And you’re used to this whole awful situation, but it’s brand new to me.’
‘I know. And it is hard to believe. But the bomb, the army facilities, your friend’s murder. Don’t you see they’re all linked?’
‘Look, there’s definitely something going on. I don’t understand how Bernie is involved. Maybe he was too close to writing an article about them or something. We need to find out what these Bilderbergers are up to. If they are planning a nuclear attack, there’s no way we can stand by and let it happen.’ She shrugged helplessly. ‘Come on, we’ll miss our meeting with Vlady.’ Henry finally let his shoulders relax.
‘You know, you’re really hard to impress,’ Henry said. Alex grabbed his hand and squeezed it.
‘That’s not true. I’m impressed you’ve noticed that.’