Zip — 116099

Leo, a mail clerk who had spent three years looking at the same grey walls, scanned the box. It was addressed to a woman in a small town in Nebraska. The sender’s name was "Elena," written in a shaky hand that didn't match the crisp, bureaucratic efficiency of the building.

The zip code belongs to a specific, high-security area: the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, Russia . 116099 zip

To the outside world, the Embassy was a fortress of limestone and antennas. But inside, it was a bubble of Americana—smelling of industrial carpet and lukewarm coffee. Leo, a mail clerk who had spent three