“ Your deal with Rabin is off, Weiss-if there ever was a deal, which is in question.”
“ I accept my defeat,” Elie said. “That’s life. You lose some, you win some.”
“ Good,” Rabbi Gerster said. “Let’s all go home now.”
“ Not so fast,” Number One said. “We’ve shut down your ILOT scheme, got you locked up, and are closing in on your financial sources in Zurich. Why should we give up a perfect set of cards?”
“ What about your agents here?”
Number One chuckled. “You won’t take another Jew’s life.”
“ But I’ll take another Jew’s marriage.” Elie slipped his pinky out of Agent Cohen’s eye socket, making him cry out and cover his eye.
The line from Paris was quiet.
Elie wiped his pinky on a napkin. “How is Madame de Chevallier?”
Again, no answer.
“ I hear she’s satisfied with your new implant.”
“ Weiss! ”
“ But she complains that it makes you cocky.”
Everyone burst out laughing, even the housekeeper in the kitchen.
“ I guess the free rent balances it out for her.”
“ I’m warning you,” Number One shouted, “shut up!”
“Don’t take it personally, but I believe in wearing a belt and suspenders. To defend SOD’s independence in any confrontation with our sister agencies, I’ve formed solid political bonds and collected sordid personal secrets about every one of my opponents. Push me any farther, and there’s going to be a frightful surge in business for divorce lawyers, not to mention the media frenzy.”
Number One’s voice was deep with hate. “You wouldn’t dare!”
“ That’s enough,” Rabbi Gerster interjected. “Do we have an agreement?”
“ I can’t let you go,” Number One said. “The peace rally on Saturday night is crucial for Rabin’s government. We’ve detained hundreds of troublemakers and shut down provocative schemes, including yours. I won’t risk setting you free to pursue your crazy plots again.”
“ Take me back to Hadassah,” Elie said. “They were going to fix my lungs. I’m operating on reserves.”
“ Fine, as long as you remain in isolation. No outside contacts until after the rally.”
“ Agreed,” Rabbi Gerster said in Elie’s stead. “I’ll stay with him at Hadassah.”
“ And I’m staying here,” Gideon said from the kitchen. “The views are breathtaking.”
“ Excuse me,” the nurse said, “but where’s Itah Orr?”
There was a long silence as everyone looked around.
“ She’s not my agent,” Elie said. “Feel free to send your dogs after her.”
“ Wait.” Agent Cohen was pale as the wall. “What about the Zurich shooter?”
“ There’s new information,” the nurse said. “He arrived on a KLM flight yesterday. We traced his entry record. He is travelling under the name Baruch Spinoza.”
Rabbi Gerster barely managed to suppress a smile-Lemmy had assumed the name of another young Jew who, over a century earlier, had been excommunicated by his congregation.
“ Only a matter of time,” the nurse said. “His name will pop up somewhere, and we’ll take him down.”
The comment made Rabbi Gerster cringe. The powerful Shin Bet was chasing after his son with the intent to kill! He cleared his throat and asked, “Doesn’t the stand-down agreement extend to all SOD agents?”
But the phone line had already gone dead.
*
Itah Orr changed taxis three times before reaching the central bus station in southern Tel Aviv. The evening rush was peaking, thousands of office workers and day laborers heading home. She lingered at shop windows, but no one was following her.
At a secondhand clothing store, she exchanged her outfit for a long-sleeved dress that reached down to her shoes and a dark-gray headdress, which she tied in the ultra-Orthodox style, hiding all her hair. She bought basic toiletries at a pharmacy, as well as a note pad, sunglasses, and a fresh can of pepper spray to replace the one confiscated by Shin Bet.
She paid cash for a room at a seedy motel. Against the background noise of hookers and their eager customers, she sat at a rickety desk and wrote down the events of the last few days.
*
Part Six
The Understanding
Thursday, November 2, 1995
The van left Meah Shearim after morning prayers with the same dozen black-garbed men whom Benjamin had brought along yesterday. They obeyed him without question, treating him with a reverence that astonished Lemmy. His childhood study-companion had come a long way.
As they had planned, the van parked in front of a phone booth on a busy street, and Lemmy stepped out. He placed a collect call to Zurich, and Christopher accepted it.
“Any news?”
“Yes,” Christopher said. “I received a call from Prince Abusalim’s father, Sheik Da’ood az-Zubayr. He demanded full accounting of his late son’s dealings with the bank. I explained that you’re away on business.”
“Call him back and extend my deepest condolences. Tell him that I plan to personally travel to the az-Zubayr oasis at a time of his convenience to assist him with the transition of the account and any other service that he would require.”
“Understood. Also, Herr Hoffgeitz regained consciousness last night. He asked for Klaus V.K. and had to be reminded that his son had been dead for a long time. He then asked for Klaus Junior. Paula brought your son, and Herr Hoffgeitz told him to learn from you how to run the bank.”
“He said that?”
“Yes. The doctors decided to sedate him again, give his heart a chance to heal.”
“ Anything else?”
“ A personal message from Paula. I don’t understand it. She said to tell you that she’s still late.”
“Still late?” Lemmy laughed. “That’s good! That’s very good!”
*
Itah Orr took the bus from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. On the way to Meah Shearim, she stopped at a vegetable stand and filled up two shopping bags, paying in cash. On Shivtay Israel Street she joined a group of ultra-Orthodox women.
A white Subaru sedan parked on the pavement near the gate. As the cluster of women approached, two men emerged from the car and ambled over. Their presence, though impolite, achieved the desired effect. The women stopped, afraid to risk even accidental body contact with the strangers, which would constitute a sin under Talmud’s strict chastity rules.
“Shalom!” One of the men held up a silver, feline-shaped keychain. “Any of you girls lost this?”
Itah recognized the spare keys to her car, which she had parked nearby last Friday. The thought that these men had invaded her home and rummaged through her personal possessions made her see red, which was probably what they were hoping for. She kept her head up, her eyes hidden by the sunglasses.
“Anyone?” He dangled the keys. “Come on, ladies!”
None of the women responded.
“How about this?” The other agent held a short piece of gray, hairy rope. “Anyone?”
It took Itah a moment to realize it wasn’t a rope. It was her cat’s tail. As the agent shook it, she could see the clipped end, red with blood.
Biting her lips to block a scream, she reached into her purse for the pepper spray.
*
With Elie Weiss and Rabbi Gerster gone to Hadassah Hospital, the apartment felt big and empty. Gideon settled to watch CNN while the housekeeper set the breakfast table for two.
Agent Cohen showed up with warm pastries and a bandage over his eye. He held up his finger, which was taped to a short stick. “I’m filing a disability claim, maybe an early retirement.” His joviality didn’t mask the jittery tremor at the corner of his mouth.
“ You shouldn’t feel embarrassed about what happened yesterday,” Gideon said. “Even your Number One is no match for Elie Weiss.”
The housekeeper served coffee and set the pastries on a plate.
“Fact is, I failed,” Agent Cohen said. “I underestimated him, and this debacle will haunt me for the rest of my career. Especially if the situation turns into a real disaster.”
“What do you mean? I thought it’s over. Didn’t SOD and Shin Bet agree to a truce?”
“That’s the least of our worries.” The agent bit into a chocolate-filled croissant.
“What else is there to worry about?”