Jerusalem
Seven days after Assassinations
Four days to Announcement
Magal had reached Jerusalem early in the morning. He was surprisingly refreshed. He had slept on the flight from Moscow to Amman and then through the lengthy taxi rides.
It’s probably the high from the killing as well. But I can’t tell Shiri that. He’ll blow a fuse.
He had freshened in a canteen’s bathroom and then headed to Romema, where he sat across from a swarthy man who had introduced himself only as Karim.
Magal compared the man to the picture on his cell, sent by the handler. He asked him a few key questions and checked the answers against the handler’s message. Karim passed.
There was a final security question. One that he hadn’t agreed on with the handler.
‘Give me your cell phone,’ he told the man.
Karim hesitated.
Magal leaned forward till his jacket opened wider. His gun was visible to the man opposite him.
‘This isn’t negotiable.’
‘It isn’t what I agreed with our common friend.’
‘You’ll agree with me now.’
Karim reluctantly handed over the device. Magal swiped through it rapidly and checked the call log. All of them to a number in the Middle East. No other calls. It’s a burner phone. He called the number. It rang several times.
‘Why are you calling me?’ the handler picked up angrily. ‘You’re supposed to meet the man in Jerusalem.’
‘This is the man in Jerusalem,’ Magal replied. ‘I wanted to check that Karim is who he says.’
‘Satisfied?’
‘Yes.’
‘How many men do you have?’ he asked the swarthy man as he ended the call and drew out a burner from his go-bag. He simultaneously palmed a spare battery.
He called his cell from Karim’s and hung up when his phone rang. ‘Now you have my number. And I have yours.’
He reached across to hand over Karim’s device. Fumbled while doing so, and it fell to the floor and slid under the table. Magal swooped before the other man could react. He kneeled on the floor and switched batteries swiftly. He got up and handed the cell back to its owner.
Karim didn’t look suspicious. Accidents happened. He took his phone, checked that it worked and pocketed it.
‘Fourteen,’ he said, answering Magal’s question. He half-turned toward the back of the eatery. Three men sat at a table, drinking coffee, talking occasionally, the way long-time friends do.
‘Your men?’
‘Yes,’ Karim replied. ‘Eleven more.’
‘They can shoot?’
‘Very well.’
‘Criminal records?’
‘None of us are known to police. We wouldn’t be in Israel this long if we were.’
‘You can get rocket launchers?’
‘Yes.’ Karim didn’t blink. ‘Won’t be the best in the market.’
‘As long as they can be pointed at a building and shot.’
‘They will do that.’
Magal was once again impressed by the handler’s network and resources. The man had never let the kidon down, either with his intel or his logistics support.
Still, taking on contractors at such short notice wasn’t something he was comfortable with.
But we don’t have a choice. The negotiators will leave for the camp in two days.
‘Many of your men will die.’
Karim smiled unpleasantly. ‘That is part of the job. What is your plan?’
Magal told him.
‘When is go?’
‘Today. Evening.’
That surprised the man. He chewed his lip and drummed his fingers on the table.
‘Is there a problem?’
‘No …’ Karim finished his drink and stood up. ‘The rocket launchers. I will need to leave right now if you want them by evening.’
‘Attack when I give you the word.’
‘Yes.’
Magal circled the Jerusalem Galaxy in a taxi, wearing his cap low over his head. He checked his cell and saw the green dot for Karim. The battery he had inserted in the man’s phone was both a tracker and an explosive device. Magal would set it off at the right time. Karim couldn’t live. Not after seeing his face.
Magal, too, had studied the hotel’s plans. He recollected all that Shiri had told him.
With that amount of security, Shiri and I will have to use our insider status.
He grinned suddenly. He loved the challenge. He knew his partner would be feeling the same, too. It was possible that both would die that evening.
But if they pulled it off … heck, there would be a long list of callers once they became international assassins.
He got the cab to drive to the rear of the hotel, and as they were driving down the street a kite, high up, caught his eye. He tried to see who was flying it, but there were too many structures in the way.
His eyes lingered on the Galaxy’s roof and that of another hotel across the street from it. About two hundred feet across. The negotiators’ hotel is taller. It could work!
‘Let’s go to that hotel,’ he told the driver.
Forty minutes later, he emerged, satisfied. He had rented a room on the second hotel’s highest floor, facing the Galaxy. He would have to make one more trip to leave some gear in it, but his escape plan was ready.
His attack was already mapped out. It drew heavily on surprise and diversionary tactics. Now that their getaway was sorted out, all that was required was Carmel’s cooperation.
She needed to be amenable to a particular request.