Assignment - Sorrento Siren [antikvár]

IT STARTED out all wrong.The westbound plane was four hours late, with a twenty-minute hold at Istanbul on Pan Am Flight 204 from Bangkok. By the time Durell arrived in Geneva, it was eight o'clock in the evening.Then, coming in off the passenger ramp and having his passport stampedthere had been no time to establish a cover and he was using his diplomatic passport as an economic attachéhe literally ran into Anton Pacek.It couldn't be avoided. It was one of those things that just happened, and no amount of careful planning could avoid it. Pacek seemed as surprised as Durell, although he was too professional to give anything away. Durell walked through the crowded air terminal as if nothing had happened, and although he was late and his orders had been marked with urgency, he took the time for a cup of coffee and then walked over to the kiosk to buy a pack of American cigarettes.He did not have to look around to know that Pacek was still with him. The Czech had decided to follow along.He wondered if the KGU man had actually been waiting for him at the airport. Durrell did not think so, because Pacek would have been more careful about bumping into him and allowing that startled, face-to-face meeting. But obviously Pacek had recognized himafter all, they both had been in the business for a long timeand Pacek was an expert, able to improvise a spot decision when necessary. Equally obvious, Pacek's discovery of Durell's arrival in Geneva had required a quick change in KGU plans.He chose a public telephone at random and called 61-51-61. The lights were coming on in the terminal building and the booth felt hot, although it was early September and there was a cool wind off Lake Geneva at this time of year."Gallerie Chez Ellen," a woman's voice said."The package is here from Bangkok," Durell said.There was a small silence, an exhalation. "Sam?""Right.""Your plane was late?"7