“She looks so young,” Jacob said, his eyes filling with compassion.
The anchorwoman continued. “Iran’s president said Hirsh was being released as a humanitarian effort and to reach out to the West in a gesture of good will. U.S. Secretary of State, Merriam Hanover, in a statement released by her office, said that she’s cautiously optimistic that Hirsh will be released and would have more to offer when and if the young American boards the plane and leaves Iran.”
Alicia hugged her arms watching Brandi walk up the steps leading into the jetliner. When Brandi entered the plane and the portable ladder was rolled away, Alicia held her breath while the plane taxied down the runway and lifted off in the air over Iran. She turned to Marcus, tears rolling down her cheeks. “You did it, Paul. Brandi’s coming home.” She stepped to Marcus and hugged him. Jacob beamed.
Taheera’s cell phone buzzed in his left pocket.
He pulled it out and held it for a second. Alicia stared at the phone. “Don’t go. You don’t have to go now. Brandi’s gone from that damn hellhole of a country. Screw them! Don’t answer it.”
“I have to.”
“No you don’t!”
“Trust me, Alicia.” He answered the phone and touched the speakerphone button.
Rahim said, “Mr. Marcus, we assume you saw the girl board the plane. What you didn’t see was the package that boarded with her. It’s a bomb. We call it insurance. If you do not make our appointment, the plane will explode. You will be responsible for her death and the deaths of the other two hundred people aboard. Meet me in one hour at Emek HaMatsheva Park. It is called the Valley of the Cross, and the place is located off Lilyan Road near the Israel Museum. Bring the drive that will continue the protection of our operating systems. One hour or the plane will explode over the Mediterranean Sea, and your girlfriend will never find the smallest pieces of her niece’s body.”
NINETY-TWO
They entered the lobby, the large room drenched in a rainbow of colors filtered from sunlight through the Ardon Window. Alicia said, “We’ve got to reach Secretary Hanover!”
“And tell her what?” Marcus asked. “That the Iranians planted a bomb aboard a U.S. plane bound for London—”
“We have to do something!”
“We have to get that plane safely on the ground. They only way to do that is to meet the Iranians. Alicia, stay with Jacob.”
Jacob nodded. “Please, I will take you to my home—”
“I can’t! I have to go!”
Jacob turned his head to Alicia. “I wish you would come with me, but I do understand your need to go. I pray that your niece and the others on the plane will be safe.” Turning back to Marcus, he said, “Paul, where can you reveal your discoveries to a world that desperately needs to hear it? The information on that flash drive is God’s handwriting on earth’s wall…sealed by Daniel. The spear you carry in your pocket has been and now continues to be sought after by those who believe it delivers power to whoever possesses it. You must pass through the Iranian den of hate to continue this journey. Others will no doubt, hunt you, too. Where will you go?”
“I’m not sure yet, Jacob, but keep me in your prayers. The taxi we called should be here by now.”
Marcus and Alicia started toward the front door just as Jacob spotted a black Mercedes pulling into the lot.
Jacob held up his hand. “Wait!”
“What is it?” asked Alicia.
“I recognize one of them getting out of that car. He’s Nathan Levy’s associate. He’s Mossad! You must leave through the back way! Follow that corridor around to the exit where you will see my car — a black Honda. I will stall them in my office.” Jacob handed Marcus the key and pointed to a hallway. “Go!”
Marcus nodded, grabbed a roll of duct tape from a maintenance cart near the vacant reception desk, and ran with Alicia toward the exit.
“May God be with you,” whispered Jacob, watching the men in dark suits approach.
NINETY-THREE
Marcus drove east out of Jerusalem, surveying the earthquake damage, maneuvering the Honda down crowded streets. Alicia looked out the car window, her heart in her throat. “This is horrific. I think we—” Her phone buzzed. She looked at the ID and recognized the code. She glanced over to Marcus. “It’s Bill Gray.”
“Answer it.”
She inhaled deeply. “Hello, Bill.”
“Alicia, are you okay?”
“Yes.”
“Is Paul with you?”
“Yes.”
“Look, all hell is breaking lose over the channels. Something has happened to motivate the Iranians to deal — something, we believe coming out of Natanz. Brandi is on a plane. The Secretary of State’s office is out of the loop, other diplomatic channels are scratching their heads. What’s going on, Alicia. I need to know now!”
“Bill, no one in the State Department, NSA or the CIA could do shit. It’s that simple.”
“You’re not a damn field agent! Come in.”
“Until Brandi’s safe, that’s not going to happen.”
“Put Paul on the line.”
She handed the phone to Marcus. Gray said, “Paul, I need to know what you know about a Russian physicist named Abromov defecting to Israel.”
“What makes you think I know anything?”
“Your encryption is the best, but there’s always an Achilles heel, always a link. You know that.”
“Listen to me, Bill. Whoever gave you that information belongs to a very complex web of deceit. Who told you?”
Bill Gray was silent for a few seconds. “What can you tell me?”
Weighing his odds before answering, Marcus gave Gray a quick summary and added, “We don’t know how far the web stretches, and who the players are. I can tell you that there’s a bomb on Brandi’s plane. Courtesy, Tehran.”
“What!”
“Don’t rush the plane. Just watch it in London. I don’t know whom you can trust. I know whoever gave you that intel is someone you cannot trust.”
Gray said nothing for a moment. “Thank you, Paul.”
Marcus was quiet, driving through the traffic, a cloud passing over the midday sun causing a dark shadow to descend over Jerusalem. “Bill, has anyone made an effort to locate this assassin, the Lion? I could use some help here.”
“I wish I had better news. Too much is classified, and no one really knows who or where the Lion is because no one alive has seen him.”
“I’m alive. I’ve seen him. And I’ll see him again.” Marcus disconnected and punched numbers into his cell phone to call the personal line of Nathan Levy. Levy answered with an indistinct response. “Where are you, Paul?”
“I suspect you know where I am.”
“My men were ordered to find you so we can simply talk.”
“We can use a telephone for that. Where’s the Lion?”
“You made a foolish mistake meeting earlier with the Iranians. We know that because of the changes you made to their operating systems. You extricated or compromised the Myrtus device. The Iranians are resuming the operations of their centrifuges. Why did you succumb to them?”
“Listen to me, Levy. I did nothing to compromise the security of Israel, or the rest of the Middle East, for that matter.”
“How are we to believe you?”
“Because what I’m telling you is the damn truth. You may not recognize it in your line of work, but that’s what it’s supposed to look like.”