英語沙龍十年合集珍藏版第三輯Double Cross

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Double Cross

Janet pulled the page from her typewriter and looked nervously at her wrist－watch．It was almost time．From the inner－office came sounds of her boss preparing to leave．The sounds of doors opening and closing．These sounds were well－known to her after eight years as his secretary．

“Good－night，Janet．I‘ll see you Monday morning as usual．”He was quick and friendly．

“Good－night，Mr．Mason，”she said with a weak smile．

Perhaps she only imagined the look of concern in his eyes as he walked out．Janet covered her typewriter．She pulled a lipstick^1）and a mirror from her purse．Her hands were cold and shaky when she began to redden her lips and run a comb through her hair．There would be no time to stop at the women’s restroom this evening to do this．She felt a terror slowly rising up inside herself．How could she ever go through with it？But she knew she must．It was too late to retreat．She reached into a drawer and pulled out a knitting basket and a ball of wool with needles sticking out．At the bottom of the basket lay three microfilms²⁾，each in a metal case．She stared at them，feeling guilty．She felt a nervous shock as the whistle blew．She stuffed the wool back into the basket．She seized her purse and took a last look a round the office．Then she walked into the hall，filled with secretaries and clerks hurrying home．Click of high－heels made the pounding of Janet’ s heart seem louder，as she moved along with the crowd．It was like every Friday．There was a noisy excitement in the air．

Janet held her purse in one hand with the knitting basket hooked over her wrist．As she looked ahead down the long ramp leading to the guard’s gate，her heart sank．Beside the regular guard Scotty there was a guard she never saw before．He was helping Scotty inspect the people moving through the gate．He looked at their passes and badges．He peered into their purses³⁾ and lunch－pails．More carefully than Scotty，it seemed．Janet retreated to the doorway of the building．As a rule，she did not leave so early and had forgotten that an extra guard was stationed at the gate at this hour．“Be calm，”she said to herself．“Be natural。Everything depends on getting through that gate．”Getting the microfilm had been easy enough with her security clearance．But getting them past the guard would be the test．

She remembered how she and her husband Charles had gone over，step by step，what she was to do．They had prepared for months．He had worked it all out even before he to ld her what he wanted her to do．It was well known that Janet was still a young bride．It seemed natural，therefore，to use a knitting basket to smuggle⁴⁾ the films out of the plant．They chose the night when her old friend Scotty，a senior guard on the force，took his turn at the gate．She had spent the whole past month working on him．She often left the plant late and stopped at the gate to chat with him．She talked a bout his boy who was in the navy．And she spoke about the little things she was knitting．A few times，she tested him by being chatty，saying nothing about the knitting，and then passing the knitting through without inspection．

The crowd at the gate got thin，and the extra guard waved to Scotty as he moved off in the opposite direction．Janet closed her eyes a second and took a deep breath．Now。As naturally as possible，she moved down the ramp．She hoped the smile on her face did not appear as stiff as it felt．She swallowed twice before she greeted her friend，“Hello，Scooty，how are you？”She felt a rush of guilt as a smile broke across his face browned by the sun．

“Good evening，Mrs．Heath．You are early tonight．”

“Yes，my husband is meeting me，Scotty．”She held out her pass with her picture on it and pulled back her coat so he could see her badge pinned to her dress．

Scotty nodded，“How’s the knitting？”

This was it．She removed a baby‘s woolen bootee⁵⁾ and held it out for his inspection．“I’ve finished this one but haven’ t done much on the other．”A horn honked．“Oh，there’ s my husband，I have to run．Good－night，Scotty。”She wondered if her voice sounded as shaky to him as it did to her own ears．She crushed the bootee back into the basket and squeezed past the guard house．She half ran along the sidewalk．She forced herself to remain calm and slowed down．She walked toward the green car parked at the curb．She was shaking so much that she could not turn the handle of the door．Charles reached over to open it for her and she slid into the seat beside him．

He looked at her．“Did you get them？”His voice was tense．He showed pressure he must have been feeling while sitting there waiting for her to come through the gate．

“Yes，”she nodded with a dead feeling．

“Good girl，I know you could do it．”The car moved off into the traffic．“Did you have any trouble getting the stuff？”Charles was pleasant again and gave her a cigarette．“Just try to relax，”he said．“Everything is all right．”

At last the car turned into a quiet street．Charles reached into the knitting basket and took the three shiny discs．He put them inside his coat pocket，then handed her the bask et．He kissed her．“See you later．”

She entered her apartment like a person in a fog．She crossed to the wide window and looked out．Her husband’s green car was pulling away from the stop－light at the end of the street．She looked up and down the street then saw what she was looking for．A black car moved out from the driveway beyond the apartment house and followed her husband．Behind the black car was another one．Inside the car was her boss．“Well，”she said to the empty room，“That’ s that．”But she continued standing，looking out into the street，long after the three cars had disappeared from sigh．

She still felt numb⁶⁾，dead．She wondered when she would begin to feel something，the pain and guilt of a wife who had betrayed her husband．She thought back over every thing that led up to that betrayal――the night less than six weeks after their marriage．She lay with her head on his arm and his hand gently stroked her hair．He confessed to her his connections and told her what he expected her to do．She remembered the horror she felt over this terrible request，the shock and disbelief．Her instinct had been to cry out，to rebel．But some inner voice had warned her to be careful．This was something bigger than just herself and her marriage，a marriage now broken into little pieces．And it had been something bigger than herself which made her tell her boss the facts．His calmness quieted her．She was able later to listen to a plan he developed together with the FBI  for her to go along with her husband’s plans．

It was almost dark outside when she turned from the window and reached for a table－lamp．She crossed the room and opened a door to the clothes－closet．She reached for a clothes hanger．Suddenly she stopped．One side of the closet was empty．All his clothes were gone．She looked around the room．All his things were gone，as if there never had been such a person as Charles Heath．She was sharply hit by the whole meaning of the situation．Charles had never meant to return．She had just been his tool ――he married her for his purpose．She wondered how many other tools there had been before her．She started to laugh．Then her laughter turned into sobs，great heaving sobs．And she threw herself across the bed．As she gave in to her misery⁷⁾，there was a fleeting thought：“I’ll cry tonight．Tomorrow，I‘ll call my lawyer．”

圈 套

簡尼特從她的打字機里抽出紙，緊張地看了看手表。差不多到時間了。從里面的辦公室傳來她的老板準(zhǔn)備離開的聲音。門一開一關(guān)的聲音。給他做了８年的秘書，她很熟悉這些聲音。

“再見，簡尼特。星期一早上見。”他說話又快又友好。

“再見，梅森先生。”她回答說，臉上帶著無力的笑容。

他走出去時眼中帶著關(guān)切---這也許只是她的想像。簡尼特蓋好打字機，從錢夾里拿出口紅和鏡子。當(dāng)她開始涂口紅和梳理頭發(fā)時，她的雙手冰冷發(fā)抖。今晚沒時間上洗手間去做這些了。她感到一種恐懼正慢慢地在心里升起。她怎么能夠闖過這些？但她知道她必須這樣做。要退縮已經(jīng)來不及了。她把手伸進抽屜，拉出一個編織筐和一團帶著針的毛線。在筐子底下藏著三卷微縮膠卷，都用鐵盒子裝著。她凝視著膠卷，深感愧疚。聽到哨子聲，她緊張地抖了一下，把毛線塞進筐子。緊抓著錢夾子，她最后環(huán)視了一下辦公室。之后她走進大廳，廳里滿是匆忙回家的秘書和職員。隨著人群往外走，高跟鞋的嗒嗒聲似乎使她的心跳聲顯得更大了。與每個星期五一樣，空氣中彌漫著喧鬧和興奮。

簡尼特手里握著錢夾子，手腕上套著編織筐。低頭看著前面通往安檢門的坡道，她的心沉了下去。除了平常的保安員司各迪之外，還有一個她從沒見過的保安員。他在幫著司各迪檢查通過門口的人們。他看著人們的通行證和徽章，仔細看人們的錢夾子和午餐盒?？雌饋硭人靖鞯细屑?。簡尼特退到房子的門邊。她一般不會走這么早，忘了這個時候門口會另外布置一個保安員。“鎮(zhèn)靜點，”她對自己說。“自然點。一切都靠通過這扇門了。”憑著她的安全卡，微縮膠卷很容易就到手了。但把它們帶過這扇門將是一個考驗。

她想起她和丈夫如何一步一步練習(xí)她要做的事。他們準(zhǔn)備了好幾個月。在開口告訴她之前，他已經(jīng)把一切都計劃好了。大家都知道簡尼特剛做新娘，所以用編織筐把膠卷從工廠里偷帶出來顯得是很自然的事。他們選擇了她的老朋友司各迪，一個老資格的保安員當(dāng)班的晚上。過去的一整個月她都為此在他身上費心思。她經(jīng)常很晚離開工廠，并在門口停下來和他聊天。她和他談他那當(dāng)海軍的兒子，談她在編織的小東西。有幾次，她試著和他閑聊，不提編織的事，然后未經(jīng)檢查就把編織的東西帶了出來。

門口的人越來越少了，另外那個保安員朝司各迪揮了揮手往相反的方向走了。簡尼特把眼閉了一秒鐘，深呼了一口氣。好了。盡量裝出一副自然的樣子，她朝坡道走下去。她希望自己臉上的笑容看起來不像她感到的那樣的僵硬。她咽了兩口唾沫，然后才向她的老朋友打招呼。“你好，司各迪，你好嗎？”看著他那被太陽曬成了棕色的臉上綻開的笑容，她感到一股強烈的愧疚之情。

“晚上好，西斯夫人。你今晚比平常早。”

“是的，我丈夫在等著我，司各迪。”她拿出貼著她照片的通行證，把大衣往后拉了拉讓他看別在身上的徽章。

司各迪點了點頭。“東西織得怎么樣啦？”

考驗的時候到了。她拿出一個嬰兒的毛線靴，遞過去讓他檢查。“這個織完了，另一個還沒織多少。”車?yán)软懥恕?ldquo;噢，那是我丈夫。我得趕緊走了。再見，司各迪。”她聽到自己的聲音在發(fā)抖，不知道司各迪聽出來沒有。她把毛線靴塞進筐子，從安檢所擠了出去。她半跑著走過人行道。她強迫自己保持鎮(zhèn)定，放慢步伐。她走向停在路邊的綠色小車。她全身抖得太厲害了，連車門的把手都打不開。查爾斯側(cè)過身來給她打開門，她在他旁邊的座位上坐了下來。

他看著她。“拿到了嗎？”他的聲音很緊張，顯露出他坐在這里等她通過安檢門時所感到的壓力。

“對。”她點了點頭，帶著怕得要死的神情。

“好，我知道你行的。”車駛?cè)胝馈?ldquo;拿東西時碰到什么麻煩了嗎？”查爾斯又變得高興起來，遞給她一支香煙。“盡量放松一點，一切正常。”

最后車開到一條僻靜的街上。查爾斯把手伸進編織筐拿出三個閃亮的碟。他把碟放進大衣口袋，然后把編織筐遞給她。他吻了吻她，說“再見”。

她回到公寓，像置身云霧之中。她穿過房間走到大窗子前朝外看。她丈夫的綠色小車正從街道盡頭的停車燈處往外開。上下巡視街頭，她看到了自己在尋找的東西。一輛黑色的小車從公寓樓外的車道開了出來，尾隨著她丈夫。黑色的車后還有一輛車，里面坐著她的老板。“好了，”她對著空空的房間說，“就這樣了。”但她繼續(xù)站著，凝視著街頭，那三輛車早已消失不見了。

她還是覺得死一般的麻木。她不知道自己什么時候才會恢復(fù)感覺，感覺到一個妻子背叛她丈夫的痛苦和愧疚。她回憶著那些導(dǎo)致這個背叛的點點滴滴。結(jié)婚不到６個星期的一個晚上，她躺著，頭枕在他的手臂上，他的手溫柔地撫弄著她的頭發(fā)。他向她講述了他的身份，并告訴她自己對她的期望。還記得聽到那個可怕的請求時她感到的恐懼、震驚和難以置信。她本能地想大哭、抗議，但某個內(nèi)在的聲音警告她要謹(jǐn)慎從事。這件事比她本人、比她的婚姻要重要得多，而她的婚姻現(xiàn)在已支離破碎。正是因為這事要比她本人更重要她才告訴了她的老板。老板的鎮(zhèn)靜使她也平靜了下來。她還聽取了她老板和聯(lián)邦調(diào)查局共同策劃