by Dana Arama
“Passenger airlines. They need to be cleaned before each flight and after every flight, right? They now have a company that provides this service.” She passed over the piece of paper with the company logo on it. “I think we should notify the Israelis about this company.”
I thought of Gideoni’s warning that Yassin had arrived in the United States eight months ago on a borrowed identity. I wondered if it all had begun then. “Before we report this to the Israelis, I need to notify my superiors. Do you understand the meaning of all this?”
“That they have access?”
“Not only access…” I was suffocating. I wanted to open a window, but they were sealed, so I took a deep breath and explained, “If he started planning this whole attack eight months ago, then the order has already been given and we can’t stop it.”
“How can I help?”
“I need to know immediately which airlines this company works with and in which airports they have concession. Also, is this company local or is it national?”
Melissa got up from her seat and announced, “It’ll take a few minutes. I’ll be back.” She hadn’t had time to leave the room when the head of a young guy appeared around the door. “May I interrupt?” he asked.
Melissa introduced him, “This is Ron, my right-hand man.”
“Hi Ron,” I said, giving him a distortion of what would be called a smile on better days. “What do you have to add?”
“The cleaning company we found; it appears to be one of many. A few years back they acquired a bigger company than this one, a European company which became international. In fact, the bigger company paved the way to acquire this American company, which I think supplies cleaning facilities for the Israeli airlines.”
I sat, frozen. The scope of it all had become clear to me. “We thought something big was going to happen. I think that a catastrophic international attack is about to occur.”
They were both silent and stared at me. I looked deeply into their eyes and said, “The real meaning of your finding is that the instructions have been given and they are only waiting for the order. The only person that could prevent the disaster is Yassin Graham himself. If we don’t find Yassin Graham soon, and if he doesn’t cancel the mission, planes will start exploding above every plaza in the city.”
Guy Niava
“Look, I have good news and bad news,” Gideoni said.
“Start with the good news,” I requested.
“The Mexican bugging device bore fruit. There was contact on a disposable phone from the New Jersey area.”
“Did you manage to catch him in New Jersey?”
“Unfortunately, no. It only gave us a location.”
“If that is the good news, what is the bad news?”
He sighed, then answered, “That this whole ordeal is much bigger than we imagined.”
“Wait a minute,” I answered him, “I’m stopping on the side of the road.” If I took into account the operation in Mexico and back, then it had been more than 48 hours since I’d had a good night’s sleep, and hours since I had eaten anything. To concentrate on the bigger problem while driving seemed to be a bit much at the moment.
I stopped, took off my helmet and wiped my sweaty brow with my glove. “What happened?” I asked.
“Laura’s team discovered that Yassin Graham has international companies which clean airplanes. One of them even passed our security check and works for the Israeli airlines. Which means that at any given moment an Israeli plane could be hit. If we understand his plan correctly -- and from the profiling we have done, which shows he is a megalomaniac -- this guy is planning a large-scale, attack and it could bring down a number of planes simultaneously.”
“Another American 9/11?” I asked, tiredly.
“I think that this time it is going to be even bigger. Who can say that they won’t crash on the Israeli consulates and embassies?” The tenseness in his voice alerted me to the seriousness of the situation. I had never heard him sound so worried.
“What are our options?”
“To continue to follow the wife and the child. The only way to stop this series of attacks is to stop him.”
“I thought she had decided not to get on the flight.”
“She thought that she wouldn’t get on the flight, but the wife and child disappeared. Someone has made them disappear.”
“Maybe killed them?”
“That certainly is a possibility, but the GPS signal we put in the bags has disappeared as well, so it is more likely she was forced to get on the flight. If that actually happened, we should receive a signal in a few hours. I have put people at all the airports in the New Jersey and New York areas. From the moment they land and until they meet up with Yassin, at any point in the United States, we will be watching them. We cannot allow them to slip from our sights.”
“We are actually praying for a signal. If the GPS sends us a signal, we’re in a good place.”
“We are also pursuing other leads to try to find out which plane they got on. All the forces are with you but praying has never killed anyone. To be on the safe side, if God is too busy, we will be listening round the clock. In any case, don’t let the professor get away from you.”
“I am back on his trail. There are already forces here which have been diverted south. Besides the helicopter, a couple of teams in vans have joined the search and quite a number of agents. If they can’t manage to control the car, they will stop him another way.” On one hand, I wanted to be in the north where all the action was starting. On the other hand, I was the only one who could take the place of my brother, the professor.
“Hang in there,” Gideoni said, and disconnected the call.
I choked back a yawn, put the helmet on my head and begun the last stretch necessary to catch my brother, before beginning the game of my life.
Laura Ashton
Even before the most important competitions in my life, I’d never felt such adrenaline before. It was what had been keeping me going in the last few hours. That and the coffee, because when I thought about it, I should have collapsed already. Maybe it was the adrenaline that caused me to jump when I heard the phone ring. Beyond the glass wall, Linda looked at me in surprise, and her lips mouthed, “Is everything okay?” I raised my hand in assent, and then answered, “Laura Ashton.”
“It’s David Gideoni. I have good news. Yassin is in New York.”
I sat, dumbfounded, and thought, ‘How dare he admit that he is working on US soil!?’ Instead of jumping at his throat, I asked, “What brings you to such a conclusion?”
“An informant in England told us that Yassin demanded his wife and son join him. They flew out of England and are about to land in New York.”
The information came from the Continent, which slightly calmed me. “He is on his way south,” I answered with certainty. “Yassin Graham is on his way to Florida.”
“He won’t get there. His wife and child are supposed to land in New York, and they need to be followed!” He repeated his words in the same hoarse, serene voice.
I got up from my chair and it rolled back until it hit the wall behind me, “You are out of line here,” I said tersely, into the phone. “I can’t move my forces at the drop of a hat from one place to another. This is the United States. Cities are hours apart! And I don’t have unlimited manpower. Also, people have been asking if this whole attack is just an Israeli fairy tale.”
“Listen to me,” he sounded relaxed, and I wished I could be just as laid-back. My recent conversations had disrupted all my plans. But Gideoni continued along the same line. “If Yassin is not involved, and, taking into consideration that he has a few private jets, why would he fly his wife and child in a plane owned by someone else? The answer is that he is afraid of being traced.”
“Who is the friend?” I asked and, knowing the answer he would give me before he spoke, I
listened to him say “Swenson” in a funny kind of accent. But it wasn’t funny at all.
“Of Swenson shipping? There was no connection between them the first time we looked, and now you’re saying there is a connection.”
“How far back did you look? Because Colin Swenson, the grandson of Mudrich Swenson, is one of Yassin’s groupies. Another bored kid with a personality disorder and too much money.” There was revulsion in his voice.
“Too much money means another team to check more commercial ties.” Despite the physical distance between us, his feeling of revulsion was contagious.
“You can rely on this connection. It is a waste of personnel. You only need one team now to go south to help Guy and the rest need to be in New York.”
“Guy can’t operate here. He is on a tourist visa. The only reason I allowed him to participate up till now is because of his similarity to the professor. He is not --”
“You are right, of course,” he interrupted my words, and the argument that may have arisen. “He won’t operate on US soil beyond the task you assigned him to, which is to take the professor’s place. But I would be happy if there was someone close by that both of us could reply upon.”
I thought about Jonathan Niava and how happy he would be to see Guy. In fact, I would be happy to see him too, but he was needed down south. I asked, “What do we do with the professor? He is getting closer to his destination.”
“Pick him up. Stop him. Don’t let him meet with anybody. Yassin Graham is not on his way down south, but it doesn’t mean that your assumption was wrong. He really could have malicious intent with the Israeli satellite or with our scientists.”
I waved Linda over. She had been watching me intently on the other side of the glass wall. She walked over, and I said, “Notify the helicopter team that they need to make the switch over immediately.”
She opened her eyes wide in astonishment. “Aren’t we going to wait to hack his systems to make the switch?”
I signaled no and continued my conversation with David Gideoni. “Tell me all the things the Mossad has cooked up and how you know the wife and child are on their way here.”
“Not only are they on their way to Yassin, but they have a flu virus incubating in their bodies. By the time they arrive, they will have become patient zero, and the flu will spread to whoever is in contact with them. Hopefully that includes Yassin and his team.”
“And then? How will that help? The flu will pass on and…? What about Jonathan Niava? Who is going to take care of him when he gets infected?”
“When that happens, Yassin will look for a doctor to care for them all and we will make sure it is one of our own men.”
“And if he has a doctor of his own?”
“Then we will contact Yassin through his double, through his social media profiles. Something or someone will reach him, and that certain person will tell him that this is no ordinary flu, and that he is about to die. He will also tell him that we have the antidote. The price will be Jonathan Niava.”
“You are assuming quite a number of things. If only one of them is wrong we’re in trouble. The assumption he has a double, the assumption he will see the wife and child and the assumption that that is what is going to stop him”
“I am sure it will stop him. Because death from the flu is not the kind of death Yassin sees for himself.”
“How long will it take before we know?”
“Because you don’t have the manpower…” I thought I heard sarcasm in his voice, “You will have to wait until I notify you. I will be in touch.”
“Forward the flight details. We will take it from here.” After an unhappy thought I said, almost to myself, “It will only work if he hasn’t given the order yet. What will happen if nothing will deter him and he dies in front of our eyes without stopping his people? Then what will happen?”
“If he has given them the green light, we have no way of stopping them. But if not, you, will enjoy the fruit of victory. You will have stopped a massive terror attack, with zero casualties to your side. Planes will fly safely because of you. You’ll have all the glory. We won’t even get a line in the newspaper, but we will get our boy back.”
We were both silent. After a moment I heard him say, “The flight details are waiting for you in your incoming mail.”
“We’ll get right on it,” I answered.
He hung up and I was left with bureaucratic questions. Had I just been told that the Israeli Mossad has been working on US soil? That was what I was ordered to prevent. On the other hand, without the Mossad, the situation would have been much worse. All the clues had been meticulously checked out and they had amounted to nothing. We needed to think outside the box. With the decision to do what I could to prevent the attacks, knowing that when it was all over I would pay the price, I got up from my seat and went out to organize a team to follow up on the flight details Gideoni had sent me.
I walked out of the operations room feeling satisfied at the progress, no matter how slight. A waft of pizza reached my nostrils, reminding me I hadn’t eaten anything in hours.
“I saved you some pizza. It’s in the fridge. I want you to go and eat. You’ve been running on coffee since yesterday,” Linda ordered with a smile.
“Great idea. What about the helicopter? Are they on their way back?”
“No.” She got up from her seat and we both walked into the kitchen. “They were surprised, but they will do it and will be here within the hour.” While talking to me, she took the flat box out of the fridge and slipped it in the microwave.
“Who is trailing after the professor?” I asked as I sat down heavily next to the round metal table.
“We have two teams in vehicles. Another will join them, once they arrive in Florida.”
“That’s good.” The microwave oven beeped, and Linda laid the pizza in front of me. I cut it into four and took a bite out of one of the slices. “Despite the fact that Guy Niava is the type of person who can take care of himself, I don’t want anything to happen to him.”
She sat opposite me and continued, “The Barkley team who went to look for the pilot found a body. Someone arrived there before us.”
“Who is following up on that inquiry?”
“New York City Police. I am in direct communication with them, and with the person in charge of this investigation. I will let you know all the information once I have it.”
I didn’t answer her. For a moment, just for a moment, I closed my eyes. I rested my head on the wall and let the taste of the melted cheese fill my mouth. Linda was silent too. After a moment, when I opened my eyes, I saw her looking thoughtfully up at the ceiling.
“You know what,” she whispered, “I get the feeling that we are dealing with an organization a whole lot more sophisticated than we have ever known.” She shuddered. “It scares me to think what they can do. My parents don’t live far away from the airport… I used to spend hours staring at planes flying over my head. How many will fall over neighborhoods?”
“I hope not even one. This is exactly why we must think outside the box.” I wanted to add that this was the exact reason why I’d accepted Gideoni’s offer. But on second thought, it was information best kept to myself. If the operation brought me down, there was no reason to bring Linda down as well.
I couldn’t manage more than two slices of pizza. I wanted to get back to my room and see if there was any news. The phone rang just as I opened the door. I rushed inside, lifted the receiver and answered, “Ashton.”
“You have two hours till landing.” Gideoni’s hoarse voice was like music to my ears. “It’s a private airstrip so it will be a bit of a problem but find a way to stick a tail on them.”
“We will get organized accordingly,” I answered and we both hung up at the same time.
Murat Lenika,
November 15, 2015, 4:16 p.m.
I
sat in an armchair on the side while Yassin’s men got to work unpacking the crates, dismantling the rifles and putting them in other bags. There were men’s purses, stiff, black bags that looked like ninja bags, and Bond-like briefcases. The skillfulness and speed with which they did all this was quite frightening. If I’d had any doubt about the capabilities of these hitmen, it dissipated after watching them at work. They were quiet and serious, like gravediggers, and their silence was broken only by the metal clinking of the firearms being taken apart.
Yassin’s men left, one by one. First, two pale men went into the next room to change clothes. They came out dressed in three-piece suits with modern ties, looking like ad men or Wall Street brokers. They each took a briefcase, hugged Yassin, kissed his cheeks, and walked out to their deaths, which would cause the death of others. Then, the ones dressed as musicians slung their appropriate bags over their shoulders, and, after another short farewell ceremony, left too. Slowly, more and more left, until there was but a small group: Yassin’s most trusted men, and, in the closet, almost forgotten, the boy.
Yassin ordered, “Connect the computers!”
“I don’t think this is the right place,” answered the soft voice. He stopped mid-sentence when he saw Yassin’s glare. Without another word, he dealt with the cables on the computers. Within minutes, all the computers had been turned on and different pictures began to appear on the screens.
“Now that the key people are present there is no need for compartmentalization. I can now reveal the big picture. Look at the problems with this kind of operation,” he said and pointed at a white building surrounded by a fence patrolled by guards. “Notice how they guard the Israeli embassy in Washington. Besides the fact that it is all well protected, every window, every door… Beyond the pathway, the entrance is closed and even beyond the entrance there are guards 24/7. What we have in this area are more and more embassies. Even those that I have no intention of harming, like the Pakistani embassy, which is situated one block away. Right behind the Israeli building is the Malaysian embassy.”
