De Niro took two ends of a rope from Ricci. The rope passed through a channel of a boom that could be swung out over the edge of the building. The boom was usually used to support the scaffolding for window washers. One end of the rope was tied into a noose. He slipped the noose around Zamani’s ankles and pulled it tightly, forcing Zamani to fall on his face. Then both he and Mugsy began to pull on the other side of the rope, reeling Zamani in towards the end of the boom, like a fish on a hook.
“What are you doing? You American pigs! You can do nothing to me … you hear me … NOTHING!”
They pulled Zamani up until he was hanging upside down from the boom, still positioned over the roof. The Iranian tried in vain to reach up and free his legs from the noose.
Still filled with fury, he spat his words at De Niro.
“So, what will you do, huh?! What will you do, drop me from this building? You want to kill me like your wife died, huh. What was her name … ah yes … Lisa! They say … those people died screaming in fear! We joked in Tehran that we could … hear their screams all the way in Iran as those towers fell!”
Ricci rushed over to kick Zamani in the face, but De Niro stopped him. Zamani saw that and laughed in scorn.
“I will not beg for my life as your wife did, Cris De Niro! Ah … and wasn’t she pregnant? Yes, I read somewhere where it said that she was—“
De Niro pushed on the boom. Zamani’s body swung upside down, out over the edge of the building. Zamani screamed involuntarily then tried to compose himself again. He ended up facing De Niro.
“GO AHEAD AND DROP ME … I only wish … I would have killed your other children, so they could have joined their mother and unborn brother!”
De Niro pulled on the boom just enough to swing Zamani close to the edge, but still hanging over it. He leaned his face as close as he could get it, to Zamani’s.
“My wife was carrying our 3rd son. His name was going to be Daniel.”
De Niro handed Zamani the end of the rope.
“I’m not going to drop you, Aref Zamani. You are going to drop yourself.”
De Niro pushed the boom out again until it hung perpendicular to the edge of the building.
Zamani grunted and whimpered as he struggled to hold the rope.
Ricci walked up next to his brother-in-law.
“Don’t worry, you can let go anytime you want. Cris and I made sure to barricade the street below you, just to make sure you don’t fall on someone.”
Zamani’s arms trembled as his muscles began to fatigue. He whimpered louder and louder each time another inch of the rope slipped through his hands, dropping him further from the boom. Both men stood there until he literally reached the end of his rope.
Delirious with fear, Zamani’s voice cackled in a higher pitch.
“YOU WILL … BE GUILTY OF MURDER … I KNOW YOUR BIBLE … YOU WILL NEVER ENTER YOUR KINGDOM!”
De Niro corrected him.
“Then you should know that it also says, ‘Do not let the sun go down on your wrath.’ You tried to murder me and my children early this morning and look Zamani, the sun hasn’t set yet!”
Zamani looked around … then turned back to look at De Niro. His face was covered with sweat and his muscles were trembling, about to give out. The terrorist’s attitude of defiance melted away and he began to cry.
“I … please … I can’t hold anymore ... please … I beg…”
De Niro squatted down and tilted his head so that his face was roughly in line with Zamani’s.
“You know, I’ve always believed that when those towers fell, my God sent Angels to comfort my wife and the others. In my dreams, I picture my beautiful wife Lisa falling asleep, nestled in the arms of an Angel before she felt any pain.”
Zamani’s arms started spasming wildly.
“Tell me Zamani, do you think your god will send a demon to comfort you … when you let go of that rope?”
De Niro stood up and walked away with Mugsy at his side. They didn’t turn around as they heard Zamani’s death shrill.
When they reached the street, a crowd had already gathered around the corner, along the barricades they had set up. Most of the people were talking on their cell phones. A few were even taking pictures with their phones of the morbidly contorted body of Aref Zamani. No one even noticed them as they started walking uptown.
Neither man talked. De Niro wiped a tear from his eye as thoughts and prayers filled his mind.
I love you, Lisa. I pray the day comes when I’ll see you again. Father, thank you for letting us defeat our enemies … and for protecting Ephraim! Please bless the family of Charlie Santappia.
De Niro’s cell phone rang.
“Daddy, its Richard, where are you? We have to leave to visit mommy soon!”
It would be a special 9/11 memorial they all were about to attend.
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
___________________________________________________________
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 11, 2011
ADDRESS FROM THE PRESIDENT ON NUCLEAR ATTACK
Good evening.
Today, on this 10th anniversary of the cowardly terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, we found ourselves under attack again.
Early this morning, a plot unfolded of incredible proportions, as Iranian nationals working in conjunction with former members of Russian Special Forces and the infamous Pacifico Mexican drug cartel -- smuggled a nuclear device into our country and attempted to detonate it over the city of Las Vegas, Nevada. They intended to fly a small, twin-engine aircraft over the city and detonate the bomb in flight, in order to maximize the destructive force of the blast. Our agencies were able to disrupt their plans and divert that aircraft. A number of Border Patrol Agents lost their lives in Arizona attempting to capture these terrorists and one American hero in particular, former Major Charles Santappia of the United States Marine Corps, attached to an anti-terrorism agency working for the Department of Homeland Security, sacrificed his life in order to fly that plane away from the city of Las Vegas and into the ground in a remote and unpopulated area.
Once again, America was targeted for attack because of our commitment to freedom and opportunity around the world. And once again, the vigilance of our country’s homeland defense and intelligence agencies has protected us from certain disaster and the evil forces of tyranny.
Our nation saw evil today and the very worst of human nature and we responded with the very best of America, with the daring and bravery of our nation’s border patrol agents and civilians who gave their lives to protect our citizens and our way of life.
Even before the bomb detonated, I implemented our government’s emergency response plans. Our military has sprung into action, securing our borders. Our emergency teams are working in and around the areas east of the blast zone, to help with local evacuation and potential rescue efforts from the resulting fallout.
Our first priority continues to be to take every precaution to protect our citizens at home and around the world from further attacks.
Some of the terrorists that have taken part in this heinous act have been killed while others have been taken into custody. But make no mistake -- our search is underway for anyone else who is behind this evil act and we will not stop until every individual is found. I have directed all of our intelligence and law enforcement agencies to find those responsible. Justice will be swift and terrible for the guilty.
Speaking directly to the leaders of the countries from which these terrorists arose, Iran, Russia, Mexico – The United States expects full cooperation in the apprehension of everyone involved. Anything less than full cooperation will be interpreted as hostility and in situations as grave as this, wars have started that way.
###
FOOTNOTES
1 Standard Operating Procedures
2 Located in North Carolina, Camp Lejeune is the largest Marine Corps Base on the East Coast.
3 A CWO is a Chief Warran
t Officer in the USMC.
4 The National Security Agency/Central Security Service (NSA/CSS) is a cryptologic intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense.
5 Skype® is a software application that allows users to make voice calls over the Internet. Skype uses proprietary encryption that, to date, the NSA has had difficulty cracking.
6 “Cordoba” or the Cordoba Project is the name given to the mosque planned to be built just blocks away from Ground Zero.
7 “Baibars” was the Sultan of Egypt and Syria.
8 (Gabrieli, 1984).
9 The New York State College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University located in Ithaca, New York.
10 Department of Homeland Security
11 Chinitas is another name for a female gaucho.
12 “Gallitos” means tough guy, commonly used in Mexico.
13 The Eurocopter EC135 is a twin-engine civil helicopter produced by Eurocopter, widely used amongst police and ambulance services and for executive transport.
14 The MEU (SOC) pistol, officially designated the M-45 MEUSOC, is a magazine-fed, recoil-operated, single-action, semiautomatic handgun chambered for the .45 ACP cartridge. Based on the original M1911 design by John Browning, the M-45 has been the standard-issue side arm for the Force Recon Element of the United States Marine Corps' Marine Expeditionary Units from 1985 to today.
15 The M40 is a bolt-action sniper rifle used by the United States Marine Corps.
16 The Auto Assault-12 (AA-12) is a 12 gauge shotgun capable of selective fire, operating as a semi-automatic, or in fully automatic mode at 300 rounds per minute. It is fed from either an 8-shell box magazine, or a 20 or 32-shell drum magazine.
17 The MPK-Ti is a titanium, light weight, non magnetic, non corrosive, and multi functional knife that can be used in all environments. It was designed to meet the requirements of the Navy SEAL's and has also been adopted and issued by the United States Marine Corps Recon personnel.
18 An improvised explosive device (IED), also known as a roadside bomb due to contemporary use, is a homemade bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action.
19 DHS-CBP stands for Department of Homeland Security Customs and Border Protection.
20 ICE stands for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
21 A coyote is a person who smuggles illegal immigrants into the United States, especially across the Mexican border.
22 The Gulfstream G550 is a business jet aircraft produced by General Dynamics' Gulfstream Aerospace unit, located in Savannah, Georgia, USA. It is a variant of the Gulfstream V with longer range.
23 Semper Fidelis is Latin for "Always Faithful". Well known in the United States as the motto of the U.S. Marine Corps (and often shortened to Semper Fi in Marine contexts).
24 The M4 carbine is a family of firearms tracing its lineage back to earlier carbine versions of the M16, all based on the original AR-15 designed by Eugene Stoner and made by ArmaLite. It is a shorter and lighter version of the M16A2 assault rifle, with 80% parts commonality.
25 The M4 has selective fire options including semi-automatic and three-round burst (like the M16A2), while the M4A1 has a "full auto" option instead of three-round burst.
26 Voice over Internet Protocol (Voice over IP, VoIP) is a general term for a family of methodologies, communication protocols, and transmission technologies for delivery of voice communications and multimedia sessions over Internet Protocol (IP) networks, such as the Internet.
27 FEMA stands for Federal Emergency Management Agency.
28 "Omaha" is the call sign used for all DHS-CBP aircraft (all types) including the UH-60-A Blackhawk helicopter.
29 Light to carry and easy to operate, the FIM-92 Stinger is a passive surface-to-air missile, shoulder-fired by a single operator, although officially it requires two. The FIM-92B can attack aircraft at a range of up to 15,700 feet (4,800 m) and at altitudes between 600 and 12,500 feet (180 and 3,800 m).
30 The Winchester® Model 1895 High Grade is patterned after the gun Theodore Roosevelt called his “Big Medicine,” the one he took on his famous safari in 1909. The rifle is chambered in the famous 405 Winchester caliber.
The Author
Gerard de Marigny (pronounced “de-Mar-E-nee”) has been a successful musician and entrepreneur and now intends to bring his passion for his faith and writing together, in his novels. During the 1980’s and 1990’s, Gerard was the lead guitarist for a rock band that sold many thousands of records all over the world. His band won the “Best New Video” award on MTV in1983, but a life-threatening illness (cancer, Hodgkin’s Lymphoma) and an epiphany of faith inspired him to leave that lifestyle and devote himself to “living his faith.”
Gerard continued writing music for TV and a movie, while branching out and starting his own businesses in the transportation and financial industries. Yet, his lifelong ambition was to bring to life righteous characters that would inspire others.
In 2007, Gerard was awarded the prestigious Fischer Family Scholarship for the Arts from Penn State University, for a 5,000-word autobiographical work he was commissioned to write. He has also recently been featured by Penn State in their “Be Exceptional” series, with full-page advertisements in U.S. News & World Report (September 2010) and the Penn Stater (July-August 2010) magazines.
In 2011, he completed his debut novel, THE WATCHMAN OF EPHRAIM, a political thriller which is book one of his WATCHMAN OF EPHRAIM series.
COMING SEPTEMBER 2011! _SIGNS OF WAR_
The second novel in THE WATCHMAN OF EPHRAIM series
Discover other titles by Gerard de Marigny at Smashwords.com
Smashwords author page: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/GerarddeMarigny
For all up-to-date info on Author Gerard de Marigny please visit:
My website & blog, “The World According to g”: www.GerarddeMarigny.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Gerarddem
Twitter: www.Twitter.com/GerarddeMarigny
LinkedIn: www.LinkedIn.com/in/GerarddeMarigny
MySpace: www.MySpace.com/GerarddeMarigny
My email: [email protected]
Book Club Guide
For the person who chose this book: What made you want to read it? What made you suggest it to the group for discussion? Did it live up to your expectations? Why or why not?
How is the book structured? Does the author use any narrative devices like flashbacks or multiple voices in telling the story? How did this affect your reading of the story and your appreciation of the book? Do you think the author did a good job with it?
Talk about the author's use of language/writing style. Have each member read his or her favorite passage out loud. (You might want to warn them ahead of time that they'll be doing this so they'll be prepared.) How does this particular passage relate to the story as a whole? Does it reveal anything specific about any of the characters or illuminate certain aspects of the story?
How effective is the author's use of plot twists and red herrings? Were you able to predict certain things before they happened, or did the author keep you guessing until the end of the story? Did you find that the novel held everyone's interest throughout the story, or were there times when it failed to totally engross members of the group?
How important is the setting to the story? If applicable, discuss the time period in which the book is set. Does the author provide enough background information for you to understand the events in the story?
What is the most important part of a thriller to each member of the group-characterization, action, dialogue, or setting? How does this book rate in each of these areas?
This novel is part of a series. Will your group read the series in order? Will the reading of the books in order, or not reading them in order, affected your group's enjoyment of each novel?
Is the author equally invested in both character and plot? Or did the author put more effort into developing the story than in creating compelling an
d believable characters? Were the motivations of the characters believable, or did their actions feel like a means to further the plot?
Would you recommend this work to a non thriller fan simply on the basis of its literary merit? Would you endorse it purely because of the skillful writing and the well-developed characters? Or do you think the work would strictly appeal to fans of the thriller genre.
Did this book live up to or exceed your expectations of the author?
What did you like or dislike about the book that hasn't been discussed already? Were you glad you read this book? Would you recommend it to a friend? Do you want to read more work by this author?
(The author would like to hear your views. Please share any/all of them with him by emailing him at: mailto:[email protected].)
The Watchman of Ephraim (Book Club Edition) Page 27
