Nir stifled what Nicole was about to say by holding up his finger. “Hang on just a sec.”
Sliding his phone from his front pocket, Nir saw a message from Efraim:
Turn on the news
He thumbed back:
kinda hard. im at a bar
Dots appeared on his screen, which transformed into another message:
Put it on now!
There was a link attached to Efraim’s message.
“Who is it?”
“It’s Efraim. Who else? He wants us to watch this link.”
Nir pressed the link and his browser opened onto a news channel. Filling the screen was Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the president of Turkey. He was giving a speech, and he was in full lather. The link was from a Hebrew news station that was providing closed captioning at the bottom of the screen. Knowing that neither Turkish nor Hebrew was of any help to Nicole, Nir began to translate the captions into English.
“He’s saying, ‘They cannot say they weren’t warned. We told them to keep their assassins out of our country. We warned them that bloodshed on Turkish soil would not be tolerated. So, what do they do? They assassinate a Palestinian businessman, Khaled Mousa, while he was having a massage. What kind of people do that? A man comes to Turkey to do business, and when he seeks relief from his stressful life, the Jews strike.’”
A picture of Mousa appeared in the top corner of the screen. Even though it was too tiny to make out any details, Nir noticed Nicole turning away.
“Businessman, my safta’s tuches. He was a businessman as much as I’m a diplomat.”
“Just translate.”
“Right. Uh…‘They pretend to be the victims, but when we look at the violence in the Middle East, whose hand is always behind it? Look at the genocide they are perpetrating in Gaza. Look at the huge number of innocent women and children they have killed in pursuit of so-called terrorist tunnels. Look at the way they are starving the people and destroying all the hospitals so that the wounded can receive no medical care.’ Yeah, and why are we going after the hospitals? Because they’re being used as human shields.”
“Nir, please. I want to know what he is saying.”
“You’re right. You’re right. ‘In the north, there are constant airstrikes. The Lebanese, who have done nothing to Israel, are being slaughtered by the thousands due to their warplanes and missiles and killer drones. Yes, Hezbollah is there, but they are playing a defensive game against Israeli aggression.’”
Nir slammed the phone face down onto the table, took a long pull from his glass, and sucked in a deep breath. When he noticed that people at other tables were looking their way, he gave a polite wave and picked up the phone again.
“Uh, Damascus. Erdoğan’s talking about Damascus now. Hang on.” He slid the time bar back 15 seconds. “Okay. ‘There was no active tectonic fault that we are aware of in the Damascus area capable of the destruction that city suffered. Instead, there was another kind of disaster. Israel sent teams there in a futile search for weapons of mass destruction. None were found. Instead, there was a massive earthquake that leveled the city. Is that a coincidence? Can we really believe that? Did Israel set off an explosion of their own? Do they have secret weapons capable of that kind of devastation? Knowing their history, it all seems too coincidental to me.’ Oy. What a—”
“Nir, please. Stay on task for once,” Nicole chided. Looking at Nicole, he saw concern in her eyes. He realized that this was her life that this man was talking about. She had fronted the team. If they put her and Dima together with the assassination, she might have to look over her shoulder for the rest of her life.
“Sorry. He’s saying, ‘Now they’ve used their hyperbolized victim-hood as an excuse to ignore Turkish sovereignty. They shed blood on our soil—on my soil. We will not stand for this. They were warned. They ignored the warning, and now there will be retaliation. To you Israelis who are watching, your blood is on your own hands. Even more so, it is on the hands of your prime minister and his cabinet. When the time comes to pay the price, just know that you only have yourselves to blame. And to those of you who were involved in the killing of this innocent man, understand that we will hunt you down and bring you to a swift and certain justice.’”
Erdoğan continued to stand at the podium as his audience stood to applaud. The news service soon cut away to a panel of talking heads.
Nir clicked the phone off, but before he could return it to his pocket, another message appeared from Efraim.
Not just bluster real deal you
guys watch your backs
Nir replied:
any indication nicole cover blown?
Efraim’s message came through a moment later.
Not so far but can never know for sure
When Nir looked up, he saw Nicole was back to slowly spinning her three-quarters full glass. Her eyes were glistening as she stared at the brown liquid.
Nir reached over and gently lifted her chin. “You’re safe. Efraim said there is no indication that they have any idea about you.”
“As far as he knows.”
“Of course,” Nir admitted. He looked back outside at the fading winter sun, noticing the reflection of the full tables around him. Suddenly feeling a bit too out in the open, he said, “Let’s get over to my office. We can talk there.”
Nicole stood quickly, like she had been waiting for him to release them. He peeled off a 100-euro note from a stack in his pocket, slid it under his glass, and the two walked to the elevator.