The Pure

about a Primitivo?’ he said. ‘2005?’
    With a nod, Liberty dismissed the sommelier and they were left alone. ‘You know your wines,’ she said, ‘and presumably your food as well. I’ve always been impressed by Israeli spies.’
    ‘We practise at the PM’s dining table.’
    ‘I know. I know all about the Mossad.’
    She leaned closer, smiling at the expression that flicked across his face at her open use of the word. ‘Don’t worry,’ she said. ‘This room is completely clean. The waiters will only come when I call them. We can say whatever we want. Total privacy. It’s what we need – it’s what I can guarantee – if we’re going to work together.’
    ‘How do I know what your guarantees are worth?’
    ‘It’s clean. That’s all you need to know.’
    ‘I’m beyond caring, anyway.’
    ‘Of course.’ She sat back.
    ‘I was expecting you to have security,’ said Uzi.
    ‘Oh they’re here,’ said Liberty casually. ‘You just can’t see them.’
    Uzi watched her face and still could not discern whether she was telling the truth. ‘Well,’ he said, ‘since we can talk openly here, I might as well say this. You seem to know all about me. But I also know about you.’ He had seized the initiative. He watched her face, looking for any telltale signs. There were none.
    ‘Am I supposed to be alarmed?’ she said.
    ‘Good,’ he said, pressing his advantage. ‘Then before we talk about working together, why don’t you tell me why a nice Jewish girl like you left the CIA?’
    ‘You know all about me, but you don’t know that?’
    ‘I asked you a question,’ said Uzi. ‘I want to hear the reply.’
    ‘What really happened to your face? These are nasty bruises.’
    ‘Never mind my bruises. Why did you leave the CIA?’
    She sighed. ‘The same reason you left the Mossad.’
    He shook his head. ‘You can do better than that.’
    There was a pause.
    ‘Do you want the real reason, or the one I gave the Agency?’
    ‘Which do you think?’
    ‘Fine, I don’t mind playing kiss-and-tell.’
    ‘You approached me,’ said Uzi, blowing smoke into the air. ‘Remember?’
    ‘Of course.’ She nodded to the corner of the room. Instantly a waiter appeared, holding a bottle of wine like a baby. The bloody liquid slipped into the glass. Uzi considered the colour, the body; he smelled it, tasted it, aerated it in his mouth. He nodded. The waiter filled their glasses. They were alone again.
    ‘What do you make of it?’ said Liberty.
    ‘What?’
    ‘The wine.’
    ‘Lots of secondary flavours but still coherent. Typical of the region. Not bad at all.’
    Liberty smiled. ‘Sometimes I think men are like robots. Especially spies.’
    Uzi felt his temper rising. Then he realised that was precisely what Liberty was trying to achieve. ‘Remind me,’ he said evenly, ‘what were we talking about again? Before we were interrupted?’
    ‘You’re good,’ said Liberty, taking a sip of wine. ‘You’re good.’
    They drank for a few moments. Then she began to speak.
    ‘OK. The reasons I left. Number one: Iraq. Is that not a good enough reason in itself? Oil, arms and drugs. Do you know how much American arms companies made out of the war? And American mercenaries? Do you? Billions of tax dollars going straight to private contractors. I gathered the intel, for Christ’s sake. Blackwater. I’d gladly shoot anybody who worked for Blackwater.’
    ‘Xe.’
    ‘Whatever. Different name, same evil. When I first joined, the CIA was the CIA. These days, the Agency recruits people from Blackwater, and vice versa. It goes both ways; there’s no difference between fighting for your country and fighting for a buck.’
    ‘OK. What else?’
    ‘Don’t dismiss what I’m saying, Adam.’
    ‘Uzi. Call me Uzi.’
    ‘OK, OK. But don’t dismiss what I’m saying. I’m serious. I worked in Iraq. I worked in Afghanistan. I know what’s happening on the ground. The more fighting we do, the more money is made by special interest groups. The more drone strikes we carry out, the more terrorists we create. A few hundred thousand people die – so what? It’s worth it to generate the cash. But al-Qaeda isn’t broken, even post-Bin Laden. It’s just moving its centre of gravity.’
    ‘Africa? Southeast Asia?’
    ‘Obvious, isn’t it? Obvious to everyone but the US fucking government. Or so it seems. In reality they know it only too well. For the people who count, war is much more lucrative than peace.’