Galia opened her eyes wide. He was so close. His heart was beating wildly, or was it hers? Once again, his eyes looked deeply into hers, into her very soul. She shut them. No, she couldn’t do this! She couldn’t let him see how desperately she needed him! Her mind said that, at least, but her body was not listening at all. Now all she could think was: How did I live all these months without him? — as his hands slowly pushed her legs apart and he dove between them.
“You’re so ready for me…” he whispered before he thrust into her slowly, teasing her as he looked at her, proving how good they were together, how much they needed each other, that there was no chance that he would ever give her up.
Her body arched to meet Doron, clinging to him as if there were no tomorrow, seeking to satisfy his desires. They moved in perfect harmony, as if it had not been four months since they had touched each other. Four months of real hunger. Four months in which they tried to ignore what their hearts told them.
They were drenched in sweat, she under him, he inside her, insisting on showing her how natural it was, how right and undeniable and compelling. Her moans told him everything he needed to know. Finally, they came to rest, she in his arms, listening to his heart as he fell asleep.
“I love you, Doron,” she whispered. She realized she could never free herself from him, but she could never live with him peacefully either. She fell asleep in tears, dreading the morning which would arrive and bring with it the unbearable routine.
Indeed, when dawn broke, reality hit her with full force. On the pillow next to her sat a note from Doron, explaining that he had to leave early. His provocative postscript read: “So you still want to divorce me?”
Galia crumpled it up angrily. “Asshole!” she cried, but her anger was directed at herself. What did you think? she reproached herself. Did you think Doron would stay and cook you breakfast? She threw the crumpled note as far as she could, swearing that she would not give in to her emotions again.
Reluctantly, she rolled out of bed and looked at the clock as she dashed into the hallway towards Shir’s room. It was much too early. Her body ached, and the pain was twofold: the burning ache from last night and the ache of disappointment this morning. She needed a quick shower; hot water could always soothe her troubled soul.
As she stepped out of the shower, Galia turned on her cell phone. As she got ready, she could hear the pings of all the texts which had arrived since the previous evening. This time, for a change, she would ignore them, instead focusing on getting ready for the work day.
As she drove to Shir’s kindergarten class, her cell phone pinged again. The traffic was atypically horrible today, so she let her glance wander to the cell phone. She noted the shocking number of texts, all from Daniel.
Once she had dropped off Shir, she hurried to the offices of Our Haifa. Only as the elevator ascended did she have time to read the messages from Daniel. Why hadn’t he just tried to call her at home and left it at that? The texts were very repetitive, as he kept asking her to respond ASAP. They started in the wee hours of the morning.
What had Daniel been doing so early in the newsroom? she wondered. She hurried to her office. A number of reporters immediately tried to get her attention, but she signaled that she was busy. A few moments later, Daniel appeared.
“Good morning, Daniel,” she said. “I’m sorry, but I didn’t have a chance to read all those messages. What’s all this hubbub about? What were you doing here so early?” she asked as she consulted her planner.
There was cynicism in his voice as Daniel replied, “I can’t understand how you missed the news. You really don’t know what happened yesterday?”
Impatiently, Galia fired back, “What happened?! I have no time for games today, just tell me.”
“Well, last night someone tried to assassinate the Minister of Infrastructure, Avshalom Ettinger, while he was eating with his aide at Maxim.” He shut her office door behind him and stood in front of her desk. “I say ‘tried’ because her aim was off, or the gun jammed — we don’t quite know yet. Anyway, Ettinger and some others were injured by shards from the broken dishes, but his aide caught a bullet trying to protect his boss. The news is saying that there were eyewitnesses who heard her screaming about treason and the Disengagement. Then the hammer in the gun jammed or something like that, so she ran away.”
All the blood drained from Galia’s face as she stood up and looked out the window. A bad feeling gripped her. She recalled all the discussions she’d had with the foggy realization that an assassination attempt like this was possible. She had never believed it would happen, though.
Daniel moved to her side and put his hands on her shoulders.
“She? So it was a woman? Have they identified her? Have they caught her?” She could not mask the tremor in her voice.
“No, not yet. Galia, you look very pale. Are you all right?” His look hinted that there was something else beyond his words, more than just concern for her welfare.
“Yes, I just… I’m just shocked. Think about it: a few hours before, we were sitting right there.” It was a lie, but what else could she do? She couldn’t tell him what her real suspicions were. “We could have been injured too. Think about all the people we know who would be so worried about us…”
Daniel stepped back and looked at her. “Ah, Shir and Doron, you mean.”
“And the rest.” She nodded.
“So I passed by your place early this morning, once I knew what had happened and where. I saw Doron’s car parked in front of your place, so I didn’t go up to the apartment. I thought maybe you called him after you found out about what happened. But wait a second, if you didn’t know about it, why was he there so early?”
His tone of voice was starting to piss her off. Daniel had to know, as she did, that he had no right to ask this question. The look in his eyes was one of cold fury. Galia shrugged her shoulders. She didn’t need to say anything. Daniel knew her well, and her reddened cheeks said it all. Was this the reason Doron had left her bed so early this morning? she asked herself.
“Hey, look, it’s none of my business. But I get that instead of answering my texts, you were having a night of fun.” Daniel shrugged and turned his back to leave the office. He had still not given up hope.
“You’re right, Daniel, it is none of your business what happens between me and my husband.” She lit a cigarette and sat down to consult her planner again, trying to regain her composure.
“Your husband who you’re separated from, Galia. Don’t forget that,” he turned and shot back at her. He looked different, with his eyes expressing something new — Anger? Jealousy? She couldn’t say. His words hit her hard. That, after all, had been his intention.
“No, I haven’t forgotten. And I certainly don’t need you to remind me,” she called, then stormed out of the office herself.
She briskly made her way to the luxurious executive bathroom, hoping no one could see how much she was rattled. There she washed her face and looked in the mirror. Look at yourself! she thought. One night with Doron, and you’ve forgotten that he’s history? Think about how good you could have it! A new life, relaxing nights, new suitors. What’s wrong with you? Daniel is right.
A tear rolled down her cheek. What’s wrong with me? she thought again. What’s wrong is that I love my husband so much, but we’re still living separate lives. Galia tried to calm herself again. She straightened her hair, cleared her throat. She decided that now there was no reason to dwell on it. There were other burning issues.
Yael joined her as she walked back to her office.
“Galia, all the television stations are doing reports about what happened yesterday. Daniel sent some reporters over there early in the morning, but the facts are still very fuzzy. The police and the GSS are not volunteering any details to the public. Daniel is trying with his police contacts, and we both know that he’s not going to press you to
get some details from Doron. I think you should call a meeting, urgently.”
Galia shook her head to banish all distractions. “Yes, tell everyone to be in the conference room in fifteen minutes.”
“Yes, ma’am!” Yael smiled and went to gather the troops.
Chapter Three
Meanwhile
Department of Investigations and Intelligence
Israel Police National Headquarters
A small figure flickered on the screen. All the investigators were intrigued, unable to believe their good fortune. The security camera installed in the corner of the restaurant to capture break-ins at night had recorded the incident. Officers and detectives were tense, despite their exhaustion, having waited most of the night for Commander Doron Yellin, who had been appointed by HQ to oversee the investigation. In the morning, they gathered in the conference room. It was crowded with officers and personnel from the Northern District, from the National Headquarters and even from the Shin Bet. Together, they watched the video.
The small figure, a woman with her hair covered by a baseball cap, entered the restaurant, pulled out a handgun and fired at the minister and his aide while they were sitting nonchalantly in the restaurant, on their way back to Jerusalem from inspecting the northern border. The minister’s bodyguards were in the car outside, watching in horror. It seemed that the figure was familiar with the location; immediately, after the assassination attempt the figure disappeared out the back door, leaving no trace but its indistinct image on the security camera.
“Play it again,” Doron ordered. “Yeah, yeah, right here. Look, the perp turns to see what’s going on and definitely notices the camera. Enlarge the image, focus on her face.”
The forensics technician did as he was asked, and a clear picture of the perpetrator appeared on the screen. The silence in the room was absolute, as every investigator’s jaw dropped.
“What?” barked Doron as he rose to his feet. “What is this supposed to be? Is this some sort of joke?” He gazed at the screen and couldn’t believe his eyes. The face staring back at him was that of Gali, his daughter’s mother, the love of his life, the woman with whom he’d spent the previous night, the scent of whose body he could still smell…
“Sir, it’s not a joke. I retrieved the video myself, and it was with me all night, while we were at the crime scene, and looking for you. I can promise you that I haven’t taken my eyes off it the whole way from Haifa to here this morning.”
Doron paled. His head was pounding briskly as he tried to find some explanation for this absolute insanity. He thought about the previous day, at the time of the incident. Where had he been? With Shir, at the movies in the mall in Haifa; they had watched Shrek 2. Before that, they’d had pizza. But what about Gali?
We tried to call her, he thought. Shir wanted Mommy to come meet us at the mall, but Gali didn’t answer — neither her cell phone nor her landline at home. It was strange. Then I turned off my cell phone for the movie, and I forgot to turn it back on until early this morning, when I woke up next to her, after our night of amazing, mad lovemaking. It doesn’t make sense, I would have felt something different.
Yes, Gali said she had a crazy hard day, and that we have no future together. But the leap from that to accepting her as an assassin? It’s inconceivable.
He looked around, the room spinning. Everyone else was looking to him, as if to ask, Now what? He found his voice: “Guys, let’s calm down. There must be a logical explanation. My wife is no assassin, no killer… Something’s wrong here, and I will get to the bottom of it.” He stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him with such force that it drew the startled attention of everyone on the floor. He ignored the glances and hurried to his own office.
“Orna, get me Galia. Do it now!” he demanded fiercely. He still felt dizzy. He closed his eyes, recalling his wife’s beautiful face.
“Doron, Galia is on the line.”
He lifted the phone and harshly asked, “Galia?”
Her heart skipped a beat. If he was calling her Galia, that meant something had happened at the police station, something important, something messy. It was a signal that he couldn’t share the details with her. Had he looked back on the previous night with regret? Had he decided it had been a mistake?
“Hi, Doron, good morning.” She hoped she could delay the inevitable conversation. She had some thinking to do about the previous night, and she just didn’t have the time for it right now.
“There’s nothing good about it,” he replied pointedly.
Galia was shocked that he had found the time to call her this morning; he had to be quite busy with what had happened yesterday.
“I can’t talk with you right now. I have a meeting. I—”
“Galia, I don’t care about your meeting. We have to talk about yesterday.”
Galia’s heart trembled. “You’re right, but we’ll have to talk later. I’m sure you’re even more busy than I am.” She did not consider for a moment that the subject he wanted to talk about was the assassination attempt at Maxim.
Doron could not believe his ears. The anger permeated his heart, but it was mitigated by a bit of hope. “Galia, I have to talk to you urgently, face-to-face. At home would be better.” He was certain that if he looked in her eyes, he would know the truth. “I’m on my way,” he said and hung up.
“What? What? Hello? Doron?” But the line was dead.
Galia’s face wrinkled in confusion. Doron sounded very stressed, but what about? In her heart, she hoped that the previous night had given him the impression that the two of them could be together again. In front of the mirror that morning, she had finally admitted to herself that there was no chance that she would be able to resist any future attempt by Doron to demonstrate his love for her as he had only a few hours earlier.
“Sir, there are procedures we have to follow. This is unacceptable,” Shuki, Doron’s aide, objected. He was shocked by his superior’s conduct. Doron had broken all the rules and was about to leave, on his own, to interrogate the prime suspect before the investigative unit had convened to decide on a strategy.
“Sorry, Shuki, but you can shove those procedures up any hole you like! I need—”
“Sir, I also think there’s something here that makes no sense, but you have to take a moment to think. A temporary arrest warrant would allow you to ask all the questions we have without jeopardizing — Doron, wait, wait a second!”
Doron was already on his way to his car. It would take an hour to drive to Haifa. That would be enough time to issue an arrest warrant, but he hoped that no one would have the audacity to execute it without his direct order. By then, he would know all the details. He could correct all their misconceptions and end this madness.
***
Every paper in the country had the same headline that morning, covering the attempted assassination of a government minister. Senior GSS officials were quoted, but the explanations in the media were short on evidence. Some pointed the finger at the Palestinian Authority, blaming it for trying to influence internal politics in Israel, as it was a tumultuous time before the referendum over the Disengagement. Other commentators blamed right-wing extremists, who had threatened to stop the Disengagement by any means possible. Still others named names, pointing to settlements, towns, and yeshivas which they saw as responsible for inciting the crime.
Television newsmagazines also covered the story, and every morning show was filled with reporters, commentators, and representatives of the left-wing and the right-wing, their common denominator being denouncing the act and calling on the GSS to find the guilty parties quickly.
The newsroom of Our Haifa was in an uproar as well. The incident had roused the Haifa populace from their winter sleep. In the conference room, reporters and photographers were shouting as they waited for some editorial guidance. Where were Daniel and Galia?
Gal
ia was about to leave her office for the conference room when her telephone rang. She ignored it, shut the door behind her and straightened her outfit.
“Galia, I just transferred an urgent call to your office,” Yael told her.
“Yeah, I heard the ring. But do me a favor, just take a message. I have to run to this meeting.”
“It’s urgent, Galia, from Shir’s kindergarten,” Yael explained.
“Shir’s kindergarten?” Galia was shocked. The kindergarten staff never called her office, as she called them at the same time every day in order to hear that everything was all right with her daughter.
She quickly re-entered the office, sat down and picked up the telephone. “Hello?”
“Galia, how are you?”
For a moment, Galia couldn’t breathe. Then she said, “Naama, what’s this about? I was so worried. They said that they were calling from my daughter’s kindergarten. What do you want? I already transferred the money yesterday.”
“Yeah, I know, but that’s not why I called.”
Galia was impatient, but a bit curious despite herself. Their telephone calls were never about anything else; her sister’s interest in her was financial only. Sure, sometimes they argued and taunted each other about political issues, but… she suddenly wondered if her sister had some connection to the incident last night.
Chapter Four
1974
Haya and Baruch Cohen married at the Haifa Rabbinate, after two years of dating. She was the only child of a well-established family from the agricultural town of Binyamina, with only her father still alive. His family had deep roots in Jerusalem, but had moved to Haifa after the great siege during the War of Attrition.
They were young and in love but poor, so they moved into a small seaside apartment in Haifa’s Kiryat Shprintzak neighborhood. Haya was self-educated and worked in a legal office on Allenby Street. Baruch, with his golden hands, went from house to house fixing electrical appliances. Eventually, their hard work, day in and day out, allowed them to purchase the apartment they had been renting. Now that they owned a home, they could focus on expanding their family.
Forced Silence Page 5
