Jerusalem Galaxy
Seven days after Assassinations
Four days to Announcement
At two pm, Zeb was at what was now becoming his familiar location. Hunched over the balcony rails of the third floor, looking down at the lobby.
‘How do you think it will go down?’ Meghan approached from behind and joined him.
‘I have no clue,’ he admitted. ‘I don’t think the killers will replicate Masih’s attack. Abhyan has prepared for that. A stealth approach … frankly, there are so many soldiers and police around that I can’t see how they could carry out an attack.’
‘What if it nothing happens?’
‘Then we are back to square one. Anything on the screens?’
‘Nope,’ Beth sidled up next to him and mimicked his posture. ‘There’s enough on social media to reinforce the message that the negotiators will be moved the day after tomorrow. If the killers are checking the hotel out,’ she blew hair out of her face, ‘we haven’t found them.’
‘No strange vehicles? No repeat passes?’
‘Oh,’ she snorted, ‘there are enough of those. This place has turned into a visitor attraction. Cabs have circled the hotel several times. A few tour buses have swung this way as well. We have been able to eliminate most such vehicles. A few cabs remain. They aren’t able to confirm their passengers’ identities.’
‘They could be—’
‘Yeah. Abhyan’s people are checking.’
Carmel arrived, along with Dalia. ‘I have reassigned all the kidon. The majority are around the lobby and ground floor. Eliel and Navon are on the roof.’
‘Makes sense,’ Zeb nodded. ‘The drones will warn us of any attack from the top. How are they feeling?’
‘Bored,’ Dalia laughed. The smile faded away fast. ‘They don’t believe any kidon could be the killer.’
‘I hope they are right.’
Carmel nodded gravely. ‘I hope so too.’
Levin will have to rebuild Mossad if it turns out his kidon have gone rogue, Zeb thought bleakly. That’s assuming he still has the job.
‘Tell them,’ Dalia hissed, nudging her partner.
Meghan looked at her and then Carmel. ‘Tell us what?’
The team leader’s cheeks burned, ‘I ... we … Dalia and me, we plan to get … once this is over …’ her voice trailed off.
Zeb frowned when Beth launched herself at the kidon and hugged them. ‘You two …’ he struggled to make sense of Carmel’s words. Just what does she want to say?
Meghan rolled her eyes, ‘That’s just like him. Late on the uptake as always. They’re engaged, Zeb!’
‘Yes,’ Dalia’s eyes sparkled. ‘We’ve had enough of living in the shadows.’
‘Does Levin know?’
She shook her head. ‘No. You are the first. We’ll tell him—’
Zeb wasn’t paying attention. He was looking at the Galaxy’s entrance, where a car was turning up. It was some distance away, but he could see it was packed.
He started moving unconsciously toward the stairs, his sixth sense warning him.
The vehicle’s doors opened. Bodies fell out.
‘ATTACK!’ he roared in his comms unit.
He burst into a sprint, Carmel and Meghan ahead of him, Dalia and Beth a step behind.
Rifle fire broke out as they clattered down the stairs.
‘Everyone at their positions. Be prepared. Hostiles on the radar,’ Abhyan announced calmly.
Once in the lounge, Zeb dived toward the concierge’s desk. Sandbags were piled behind it to provide protection from incoming rounds. Small holes had been carefully bored to enable sight and shooting windows.
‘In position,’ Carmel checked in. Dalia followed.
‘We’re on the screens,’ Meghan told Zeb. ‘One vehicle in the driveway. Gunmen inside the car. No other vehicle nearby.’
Zeb peered through the eyehole. IDF soldiers were firing at the vehicle, tearing it to ribbons. There was returning fire, but it was sporadic.
Those shooters didn’t have a chance. Surely, they knew that. Unless …
Something slammed into the hotel, making it tremble. The lights flickered.
‘ROCKETS!’ he yelled. ‘That first car was a decoy.’
‘Copy,’ Abhyan acknowledged. ‘Screen report!’
‘A bus,’ Meghan’s voice was momentarily drowned as another missile crashed into the hotel and the intensity of firing increased. Glass shattered.
‘More shooters behind that bus,’ the elder twin continued in a clipped voice. ‘Hundred yards away. No sight of the launchers. Abhyan, the drones need to widen their arc.’
‘Move the negotiators,’ Yakov shouted just as another rocket smashed into the building.
‘Stay in your positions,’ Carmel ordered.
‘The hotel will come down!’ Magal yelled from the rooftop. ‘We have to move them.’
‘Negative,’ Carmel was firm.
Shiri ran toward the parapet and peered over it cautiously. He could see the bus. Tiny. To its left and a street away, he saw a trail of smoke. Something streaked as he watched and the building shuddered again.
‘Carmel,’ Magal screamed, ‘You’ll kill all of us. Navon and I are going down. We need to evac!’
He ignored the commands that came through his earbud. Smiled briefly when the other kidon echoed his words. He fired another message to Karim.
More. Now!
An instant later, he and Shiri were racing down the stairs. ‘It’s us,’ he told the guards on the nineteenth. ‘We’re going to the fifth.’
‘They said—’
‘I know what they said,’ he cut off the soldier angrily. The Galaxy rocked on its foundation before he could finish. Metal tore and glass shattered.
‘You, stay in your position,’ he snapped and carried on running down.
‘One rocket launcher in sight,’ said Beth. Cool. Collected. ‘A street behind the bus. Hostiles firing from the back of a truck.’ She gave coordinates, to which Abhyan reacted instantly. He deployed one team of outside soldiers to tackle the truck.
‘There should be more,’ Zeb replied. ‘Check for ground entry as well. Attackers on foot.’
‘Checking. No sign of it at the moment.’
Zeb looked up as a beam crashed to the floor, tearing down several wall hangings. The guests in the lobby had taken cover. No screaming. No panic.
Why would they? They’re experienced soldiers and cops. He grinned in spite of himself, acknowledging Abhyan’s genius in that deployment.
‘I’m joining Eliel and Navon,’ Yakov shrieked over the comms. Several kidon joined in. ‘To the fifth floor. To escort the negotiators down.’
Carmel looked at Zeb from behind her cover.
Let them go, he mouthed. She nodded.
He hadn’t factored in the possibility that the kidon would break away from their positions. I should have. They weren’t clued in to the plan. Their reaction is understandable.
He stopped thinking when more missiles landed and rifle fire increased.
‘Yakov, don’t come up,’ Magal grunted as he took the steps two at a time. ‘You’ll get in our way.’
‘I am coming,’ the kidon shouted angrily. ‘Nachman, too.’
We’ll have to kill the idiots.
‘Carmel, are the evac vehicles ready?’
Her reply was drowned out in another burst of sound.
He winced even as he ran. Karim was throwing everything that he had at the hotel. I hope it stays standing. The building was rocking and shuddering, but so far, no cracks had appeared in the walls.
They reached the sixth floor, warned the guards to stay put and rushed down.
Fifth floor. Magal halted for a second, sweat streaming down his face. He gulped air, Shiri beside him. The three soldiers on the landing looked at them impassively. From below, footsteps pounded.
‘Eliel!’ Nachman and Yakov called out.
Magal didn’t reply. ‘Where are the negotiators?’ he grated. The soldiers didn’t answer. They didn’t stop him when he flung the door open and raced inside the floor.
‘Stop!’ the IDF guards at the elevator commanded.
‘Stop for what?’ Magal growled. ‘The hotel to come down on us?’
He ran toward the conference room with Shiri. A door slammed behind them. He snatched a glance behind. Nachman, Yakov, Uzziah and two other kidon were joining them.
‘We’ll have to deal with them,’ Shiri whispered.
‘We will,’ Magal said grimly as he moved, ‘but why aren’t the negotiators moving out?’
The sounds of battle were muted by the thickly carpeted floor. No windows had shattered on this floor.
I asked Karim to stay away from the fifth. A rocket could take out all the negotiators. That isn’t what the handler wants. Only Palestinians should die.
He approached the conference room, the guards straightening, looking at them. ‘Stand back!’ they ordered.
‘Use your brains, you fool,’ Magal swore. ‘We need to move those people to safety.’
‘We have our orders—’
‘Screw your orders!’ Yakov shouted, his face red with rage. ‘Their safety comes first. This hotel is going down. We need to evac. Right now!’
The soldiers looked at each other uncertainly. Magal took that opportunity to barge through them and push the door open.
What he saw shocked him.
Thirteen people on the floor, prone. His brains caught up with what his eyes saw.
Twelve of them in IDF uniform, surrounding the American ambassador. Each soldier in the room had a weapon trained on Magal and the other kidon.
A missile hit the hotel, but no one flinched.
‘You’ve come to kill us?’ a female soldier asked sardonically.