Body of Lies by David Ignatius Page B

would.
     
    F ERRIS CALLED Alice's cell-phone number once again, and on the fourth ring, she finally answered. It was a sleepy voice. She had been dozing, and at first she seemed to have forgotten who Ferris was. He tried not to sound peeved. He had no right; she didn't belong to him.
    "I've been trying to reach you," he said. "Where have you been?"
    "Here mostly, and I went to Damascus for a day. I don't answer my cell phone sometimes."
    "What were you doing in Damascus?"
    "Shopping," she answered curtly. "I was wondering what happened to you, actually. I thought maybe you didn't like me."
    "I was away. I had to leave the country, too."
    "Mmmmm," she said doubtfully.
    "I want to see you. Soon. Are you free tomorrow night?" The next evening was Thursday, the start of the Muslim weekend. There was a long pause.
    "I don't know...," she said.
    "What do you mean?" Ferris held his breath.
    "I don't know if I can wait that long." She laughed at the trick she had played on him.
    When he put down the phone, Ferris went back to the terrace. Night had fallen, bringing the sudden chill of the desert. Amman was a bowl of light against the black sky. He felt, if not quite good, certainly less bad.

7
    AMMAN
    F ERRIS PICKED A LICE M ELVILLE up at her apartment. It was down in the old quarter by the Roman amphitheater. Ferris didn't know any Americans who lived there. She was blond, wearing a sundress and sandals, with a sweater thrown over her shoulder. At first sight, her hair seemed to float in slow motion. "Hey, you," she said, bounding into the passenger seat and immediately changing the channel of the radio. God, she's beautiful, thought Ferris.
    He took her to dinner at the Italian restaurant at the Hyatt Hotel. It was the most romantic place he could think of. They sat outside under the stars, with a gas heater next to them to ward off the evening chill. It glowed yellow and blue, like the embers of a fire. Ferris ordered a bottle of wine, and when they finished that, another one. The wine made her talkative, although Ferris didn't think that would be a problem even if she were stone sober. She was describing her work with Palestinian refugees. That was her job; she worked with an NGO that did relief work in the camps that still housed many poor Palestinians. Ferris referred to it as "Save the Children," though it was actually called the Council for Near East Relief.
    "The refugees have no hope, Roger," she whispered, as if that were a secret. "What keeps them going is rage. They listen to the sheiks from Hamas and Islamic Jihad. They buy those bin Laden cassettes. When they go to sleep at night, I think they must dream about killing Israelis, and Americans. And now Italians, for heaven's sake."
    "But not you," said Ferris. "They don't want to kill you." She was being so serious, but all he could do was look at her. The light of the gas lamp was giving her hair a reddish glow. He leaned over the table toward her, as if to listen. When she talked, he could see her breasts rise and fall through the opening of her dress.
    "No, not me. They respect me...because I listen to them. Do you listen to them, Roger? Does the American government listen to them? Or do we just want to shoot them?" Ferris had told her that he worked in the political section at the embassy, which was his cover job.
    "Of course I listen to them. The ambassador listens to them. We all listen to them. I even talk to them." He rattled off a few sentences in fluent Arabic, telling her that she was very beautiful in the moonlight and that he hoped she would come back to his apartment that night.
    To his surprise, she answered in decent Arabic. She told him that he was handsome, but that his fate depended on the will of God. Then she added in English: "And don't try to sweet-talk me, Ali Baba. More people have tried to hit on me than..." She thought a moment. "Than Curt Schilling. And it won't work."
    "Red Sox fan?"
    "Of course."
    "I won't sweet-talk you. I just have this