other-side-of-deception-victor-ostrovsky

I was extremely tense and found it very difficult to concentrate. Ihad a sense that I was being followed, yet I couldn't quite pin it down.I told myself it would make little difference if I was, since the fact thatso many people were involved by now should function as a kind ofshield.The meeting with Tom was very pleasant. He asked some toughquestions, but since there was really nothing to hide, they were fairlyeasy to deal with. Tom was very relaxed and created a good feelingwith his biting sense of humor and his very low and deep voice. Billhad brought him the galleys wrapped in a cover sheet from anotherbook, one by Pierre Elliott Trudeau-a precaution Bill thought necessary.I found the choice of camouflage rather amusing.Almost two hours later, I left the meeting. Bill stayed behind totalk business. Although I had no definite answer, I had a good feelingas I headed back to the hotel.We checked out and left town. I called Bill from a roadside restaurant,and he gave me the good news: St. Martin's was in. I informedEphraim of the news once I got back to Ottawa, and he was ecstatic."This will do it! I have no doubt that this will bring them down," hesaid.I was not so sure. "They can say they don't know me. They cansay it's all lies, as they have in the past.""Not if I can help it, they won't. You're not Vanunu, and theyknow it. We'll just have to play it one day at a time.""Do you know if any word has already reached them?""As far as I can tell. it hasn't. But vou must be verv careful andwatch your back until the book comes out and you're shielded by themedia.""What you're telling me is that you have no idea if they know ornot.""That's about the size of it," he said, "but don't worry. If theywere going to do something drastic, I'd hear about it for sure."I had known very well what I was getting into the moment I'ddecided to write the book. But his last statement did give me somepeace of mind."It's out of the bag," Ephraim said over the phone. "They have adisk of the book and are now printing a copy of it. From what I hear,things are not looking too good. It's now in the hands of the primeminister.""The little bastard will tell them to have me killed," I said, and Iwasn't laughing."1 had someone give him a better idea, and I think he has takenthe bait.""Can you be more specific?""1 would prefer not to, at the moment. But I want you to knowthat you'll have a visitor in the next few days.""Anyone I know?""I'm not sure, but I think that it will be."Nothing more was said. Claire and I made one more trip toToronto. We had a meeting with representatives of St. Martin's Press,and we decided to postpone the ~ublication of the book for a month,as they said they needed the time to come out with the book. At thesame time, Stoddart's copies were coming off the press fast. They werestored in an empty warehouse adjacent to the publisher's building, anda special guard was placed on them. The tension was mounting; wewere ready to go. I felt like someone about to jump from a very highcliff, and I sure hoped that there was a parachute in whatever I hadstrapped on my back.Before we left Stoddart's, Jack Stoddart, owner and president ofStoddart Publishing, came to tell us that something very strange hadhappened. He'd just received an anonymous call from someone whosaid that Israel had hired the law firm of Goodman and Carr inToronto to stop the publication of our book.Jack was not sure whether this was for real or whether someone inthe publishing house was pulling a prank. I had no doubt it was not ajoke, but with nothing to go on besides this call, I could do very little.We drove back to Ottawa. I knew we were not being followed.At that point, Bella was aware of what was in the book althoughshe hadn't read it. Some days earlier, we'd taken the girls to an Italianrestaurant in Ottawa, and I'd given them a condensed explanation ofwhat was going on. I explained to them why I was taking this step andbraced them for the fury that might be ahead.The evening following my return from Toronto, Bella and I wentover to the Bayshore shopping mall. I needed a breather, and knowingthe genie that was about to be let out of the bottle, I wanted to takeadvantage of the last few hours of anonymity I still had.I spotted them when I made a call from the pay phone at the mall:a team of at least five people, following us at all times. I knew that thiswas it, and tonight was going to be the night. We left the mall andheaded home. Several days previously, I'd stopped at the Nepeanpolice station with a book jacket. I'd had a talk with the top cop at the