The Meeting in the Park
公園での接触
Three days later, a plain white arrived at Mira's flat.
Inside was a single line: "You are right. We should talk."
There was no name, only a time and the name of a small park.
Mira knew that it was dangerous to trust an unknown message.
Still, she needed an , so she agreed to meet the .
She chose to arrive early in order to watch the whole park.
As soon as she reached the gate, she felt a hundred eyes upon her.
She sat on a cold bench and pretended to feed the pigeons.
When the clock struck four, a woman in a brown coat sat down.
"Don't look at me," the woman said before Mira could speak.
She introduced herself as Sofia, a who studied the agency.
Sofia had wanted to its secrets for several years.
She explained that she had followed the same money for months.
The moment Mira mentioned the payment, Sofia's eyes grew sharp.
"That number," she whispered, "is only the smallest of it."
She told Mira that the agency had been selling secrets to foreign buyers.
Once the money left the account, it disappeared beyond any .
Sofia needed real proof before she could ever print the story.
Mira hesitated to hand her fate to a woman she had just met.
"I have a copy of the deleted file," she finally decided to .
Sofia's face went pale, then filled with careful hope.
" it with your life until we meet again," she said.
Before they parted, Sofia gave her a number to call from a phone.
As Mira walked home, the grey coat appeared once more behind her.
Whoever they were, they had watched the meeting from the start.
Mira now had an , but she also had one more enemy who knew her face.