Chapter

2 The first signs It was 4 AM, for two long hours Jason Brown had been packing all of his stuff, 2 large boxes and 3 suitcases. At first it seemed too little to fit 1 and a half years abroad, but by the end, everything went it. Why had he been summoned with such short notice? Why now when he was so close to accomplishing his mission? He looked out the window; it was raining. The steady warm weather along with the humidity rising from Lake Victoria made it a paradise for mosquitoes. He was not going to miss the buzzing sounds at night and the heavy itching, but somehow he was feeling melancholic about leaving this place. According to his instructions, a transport will pick him up at 5 AM. He assumed that the airport would be the destination, since the message he got on his secure system just instructed him to get ready for relocation and no more information. This was awkward but he was used to it, thats a soldiers life, he tried to remind him constantly. Once again he check his code book and it was consistent, it was as code blue alert, no questions asked, top priority, top secret. Even though he was trained not to think and not to feel, just to act, he was feeling an empty stomach sensation. It was as if he had a big hole in his solar plexus and it was growing and growing, expanding, consuming him. He had not received a code blue alert since September 11 2001, but in that particular case, it was all over the news. This was different, no news, everything was so calm that he felt anxious. He went into the kitchen to make some coffee. After a few seconds, the smell of the Ugandan coffee filled the room, Oh Boy! Im sure going to miss this he thought to himself! He poured some and took a sip. The strong flavor and rich body created a great sensation on his mouth, and as the caffeine entered his blood stream he started feeling calm again. The quietness of the room was interrupted by three soft knocks on the door, slowly; he left the cup on the kitchen table, unlocked the door and opened it to find 2 tall blond gentlemen wearing military uniforms. Agent Brown- one of them said on a very strong British accent, he nodded. The transport is ready Sir! - As he exited the room toward the street, he saw them checking the apartment exactly as the standard protocol mandates. The cleaning procedure was a very special one, he saw them using ultraviolet light to check for fingerprints. As the sound of the paper shredder motors started to roar, he closed the door behind him leaving just a deaf sound outside. His apartment was located in downtown Kampala on a three story building. His flat was west oriented with a good view of the market. The smell of the Matooke (a dish made with fresh bananas, sweet potatoes and chicken) was filling the streets. On his right hand side was a small dark sedan about 5 years old with the windows down. In the drivers seat he saw a man looking at him through the rear mirror. He approached the vehicle, opened the passenger door and sat down. The vehicle started moving at a

slow speed. The driver was in his mid thirties, he was wearing civilian clothes. His eyes were dark blue, his hair chestnut. They drove for 20 minutes in complete silence until Jason decided to break it with a question By air or by land? The driver took a few seconds before answering my instructions are to take you to the Entebbe Airport Sir with a clear air of sarcasm Jason said. Great, Im flying commercial. The driver opened the glove compartment and gave Jason a yellow envelop, he tore the sealing slip and inside he found a passport and airplane ticket. He was traveling under the name of Erwin Snoap with a Dutch passport you have to be kidding be he thought for himself; his destination, London. British Airways flight 112 was scheduled to depart Uganda at 11 AM. First class passengers began boarding, a few minutes later PA system called Mr. Snoap, Mr. Erwin Snoap, please approach the British Airways counter for a message. He approached the bench, to find a male airline personnel; softening his marked British accent and while handing over his passport said Im Mr. Snoap the gentlemen kindly told him that his wife called to inform him that shell be waiting for him at the Garfunkels restaurant located on the mezzanine of the Heathrow Airport. It was part of the standard protocol to use the term Wife as a code name to meet with a superior ranking agent to get briefed, but it was uncommon to get Wife meetings on the main land especially when the agency head quarters were there. Jason boarded the plane, while walking through the jet way, he felt the humid air on his face. The kind stewardess helped him find his seat: 13 A. He was not superstitious but this time he felt a little uncomfortable with the plane. But he was so tired; he took his seat, and leaned on the window with the pillow on his head. As the powerful engines of the 747 started to roar, he fell into a deep sleep. The plane arrived on schedule, the airport was busy and the immigration queue was very long. After a 20 minute wait, Jason finally got his turn with the agent what is the purpose of your trip Mr. Snoap? said the agent of a very strong British accent. Visiting some old friends said Jason. The agent stamped his passport and said Welcome to the United Kingdom! - Garfunkels restaurant was on the other side of the airport, he rushed his pace in order to arrive on time, while he was walking, his vision narrowed as if he was walking into a tunnel, he was not paying attention to any events on the surroundings, his mind was full of questions; who he was about to meet with? Why in an airport? Why a code blue alert? When arriving, he approached the hostess Hello, my name is Erwin Snoap good evening Mr. Snoap. Weve been expecting you, your table is ready, please follow me the restaurant was completely full, his table was in the far right corner of the restaurant were a young woman on her mid 30s was sited facing the window. Erwin my darling! She said in a euphoric tone, while standing up, kissing him on the lips and giving him a warm hug how was your trip?

Jason was completely shocked, he was expecting a Wife meeting, but as his training mandates, he decided to play along. It was fine honey, a little tiring but fine they both sat, Jason was really confused, he was staring at her trying to figure out what was happening. She reached for his hand, her skin was soft and warm We are having dinner a day after tomorrow at the Jeffersons, they have this beautiful house by the lake, I know you must be tired but they have insisted very much, I really hope you dont mind she said with a smile Not at all Jason replied theyve always been so nice to us This is really crazy, he said to himself, what was this? This kind of situation was not usual protocol, was she working for the same agency? Was she an agent at all? Why this kind of public encounter? Was this some kind of a test? They ordered food and ate, she was talking as if they really had a relationship for years, Jason was trying to focus and figure out the next move when her cell phone rang Pamela Hopkins Speaking. He paid great attention to her words, trying for catch any details, anything that might give him a hint into where all this was heading, after a few minutes of nonsense talk she finally hung up the phone. that was Allison Jefferson she said calmly, although it was the first time in his life Jason saw her, there was something familiar on her voice, something that made him feel safe shes coming back for her trip in Paris, you should check her Facebook page, there are some great pictures recently uploaded. By the way dont forget that she uses her family name on the net Jason opened his eyes as wide as he could trying to signal her for some help on that clue, he was about to say something when, as if they were communicating telepathically, she added My love, even though weve been married for 15 years sometimes I forget that your memory is not the reason why I fell for you she winked at him and with a big smile said her family name is Kelly. They ordered some desert and cappuccino; Jason was very comfortable speaking with her, deep inside, he was feeling lonely and the sensation of having a family to come to, even that he knew it was make believe, was a nice one. After a few laughs she looked at her watch and said it was nice to see you at least for a few hours, Im booked on a flight to Geneva to check on some office matters, I know that youve always hated my short trips, but the jobs the job. See you at Allisons they stood up almost at the same time, and when Jason was about to say something she kissed him goodbye and left the restaurant. For the first time since they met, Jason had the chance to take a good look at her, she was very attractive. He felt a little ashamed when while gazing at her hips moving, she turned back to look at him and send him a kiss. He thought for himself what the hell, weve been married for 15 years Jason arrived at his apartment at about 9pm; he pulled out the key out from his right pocket and opened the door. It was common for the agency to send somebody beforehand to clean it up, but this time it was all dusty, the furniture was covered with

white sheets and all the window shades where shut. He went into the kitchen and opened the fridge, it was completely empty. He started to fear that this will be a very short stay at the mainland. He pulled out his laptop and before placing it on the desk; he cleaned the dust with his hand. He powered it on and hooked it into the Wi-Fi network. At least they didnt forget to pay the phone bill he thought to himself as if he was trying to find an excuse for all the mess. He logged in, opened the browser and went directly to Facebook. He looked for Allison Kelly and got 492 results, after refining the search into the London network, he got four results; the last one had a picture of a woman on her mid 30s reading a book by a lake, he selected that one and requested to add her as a friend. A few minutes later the request was granted, he accessed her page and started reading. The website was a typical Facebook profile, stated the generals of Allison Kellys life, her interests and friends. It had in fact, as Pamela said, a bunch of pictures of a couple traveling around Paris, a classic photoset, the Eiffel tower, LArc de Triomphe, Muse du Louvre, and so on. There were some wall postings regarding how good the food was and a lot of recommendations for great restaurants. In the friends list there were about seven unknown men and women. As expected, Pamela and Erwin Snoap were there as well. He was trying to read the content as if some clues where hidden underneath; was there any pattern in the words, were the Paris pictures some kind of a Map? Do the restaurant recommendations have any meaning other than a good place to eat great Escargot? He started a review of the Friends list; perhaps he could find a connection there? Toms Kara Ann Allison Nicholas Ximena Arthur he was saying out loud the names, one time, and another, and another he noticed that five out of seven names where American or English used, six and seventh were Latin-American, circumstantial? It didnt fit. For a moment it was as if Jasons brain was running on auto pilot, running autonomously trying to find an answer, patterns, codes, meanings. Nothing there nothing. For eighty long minutes he was like a ghost; he started feeling strange, it was that sensation someone has when waking from a very profound dream. The quietness of the room was interrupted by the grumbling sound of his stomach begging for food. He looked at his watch, half passed eleven; his mind changed into finding a place that would deliver food that late. He was not in the mood for pizza and Chinese was not an option. He remembered that great restaurant list that was posted on Allisons Facebook website, perhaps browsing thru it might add simplicity to such a difficult task. The restaurant list was in a very clear format; it had the restaurant address, restaurant name, type of food, and a specific comment for each one recommending a special dish. Jason started to browse it finding mostly French food; there were also, some Vietnamese and Indian entries. The list read:

Chez Julien restaurant Parisrue - 5 J. P. Timbaud - 75011 Paris Finzi - 8 rue du Faubourg Saint-Martin - 75010 Paris Harold - 13 rue Jouffroy-d'Abbans - 75017 Le Diane - 21 boulevard Saint-Germain - 75005 Paris Le Rousseau - 34 rue du Dragon - 75006 Paris Restaurant la fayette - 55 rue Guillaume Tell - 75017 Paris Zo - 89 rue du Faubourg Saint-Honor - 75008 Paris . . . Even though he knew the restaurants where thousands of miles away, he started imagining how the experience would be. He imagined the smell, the test of the food, the crowd. It was a long time since he had fun, real fun. Going through the list from top to bottom, for each name he tried to figure how the place would be. Jasons grandmother used to say that a name defines the characteristics of people, that there are no equal names, each one adopts the personality of the bearer transforming into ones essence. While thinking on Harolds signature Quiche Lorraine he noticed something, as if this discovery had jumped from the nothing. The restaurant address numbers where sorted on an ascending sequence. 5,8,13,21,34,55,89 he has seen those numbers before, but where? 5,8,13,21,34,55,,89, 5,8,13,21,34,55,89,5,8,13,21,34,55,89 he was whispering the numbers trying to remember what they where, what they meant. After a while, he decided to Google them, maybe he could get some answers there. He opened the browser and tried; the browser took a few seconds to respond, for Jason, it felt like hours, finally the results came back. He could not believe his eyes, was this correct? He checked the list again, just to make sure he didnt make up any of the numbers on the list; no mistake, everything was accurate, was this just a crazy coincidence? After all, his day was so strange that he could expect anything. He immediately started looking for the restaurants web pages, the address was wrong! Street names where ok, but the street number where changed. Why did somebody write a restaurant list with wrong street numbers ordered on a special sequence? This had to be a code, a clue to whatever was happening, at that moment he understood that Pamela was not inviting him to a secret meeting, she was telling him to check Allisons Facebook page because it was a lead. Im sure shes lost he thought to himself. He turned off the computer, and went to bed, hoping that shell make contact in the morning.