The old man moved gingerly toward the table, sitting his delicate porcelain cup down on the table. He sensed the prime minister was trying to tell him something. “Guess he didn’t teach you how to be an American.” He grabbed the rifle a little too eagerly.
Micah entered the room and handed the prime minister the Tavor who cradled it like a baby. A thin, sinister smile appeared on his tan face. “Ever see one of these?”
Jake laid his rifle down across the tablecloth before reaching for his coffee. He shook his head as he leveled curious eyes over the edge of his porcelain cup.
Gilad stepped forward and offered him the weapon. “Have a look.”
He eyed him suspiciously before grasping the Tavor. A slow smile appeared as he examined the weapon from every angle then lifted it up to check the sight. He slowly turned it toward Gilad and held it steady.
“Do you know anything about the USS Liberty, Mr. Prime Minister?” Jake’s voice sounded raspy from years of smoking.
Micah took a step closer to the prime minister as David nervously sat the cup down on the buffet with one hand and reached inside his jacket with the other.
The old man chuckled as he lowered the weapon and handed it back to Gilad. His eyes went to the two other men in the room. “Relax boys. I might be from Tennessee but I’m no dummy. I know when I’m out gunned.”
Gilad smirked and handed off the Tavor to Micah. He nodded to follow him into a light-filled sitting room, where they could sit across from each other in winged back chairs. With a sigh, he crossed his legs and began tapping his index finger on the leather arm of the chair.
“Yes. I’m aware of the mistakes made concerning the USS Liberty, Jake. You have written us so many times about the mindless slaughter of Americans aboard that rust bucket that I can quote most of them by heart.” Jake remained quiet. “My father was serving on the Egyptian border at that time.” Jake narrowed his eyes in hatred. “He carried out orders that sickened him. Although he did not take part in the attack on the USS Liberty my father did…” Gilad stopped and turned his eyes upward thoughtfully before continuing slowly. “It was my father’s wish that someday he would be able to make amends to the Americans who were killed that day.”
“Then apologize for killing the thirty-four men on that ship. Admit that President Johnson helped hide your murderous deeds.” Jake had straightened in his chair and pointed a finger toward the prime minister.
Gilad nodded. “Agreed. There is one little thing I want you do for me first.”
“What is that?”
“Continue with your orders from the Egyptians.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Jake pushed out his lower lip as his eyes became hooded.
Gilad smiled cat-like. “You were told to kill the president.
Chapter 11
T he Museum of Natural History seemed to suck any kind of words from Tessa’s mouth as she walked into the grand foyer. Her eyes fell on an African bull elephant posed for confrontation to the world around him. The amusing thought of him coming to life after the last tourist left at night forced her eyes to slide around the upper balconies to wonder at the mysteries awaiting her. She hadn’t realized her lips were parted or that she stared in awe at the worlds displayed around her until Dr. Wu touched her elbow and gently moved her toward one of the halls coming off the grand foyer.
A narrow and ominous smile spread across Dr. Wu’s closed lips. Extending his hand toward a door that read Museum Personnel Only, the doctor nodded for her to move in that direction. With his side long glances, she felt he continued to evaluate her.
“Curious, suspicious and obstinate.” He spoke with the same interest a scientist might use looking at a lab rat.
She offered an exaggerated sigh of disgust as her feet turned toward the door and tried to open it without success.
He slipped in behind and reached around her, laying his hand over hers. Tessa became aware his face had touched her hair. For a moment she thought the doctor sniffed at her unruly curls. The attempt at withdrawing her hand forced him to step closer.
Tessa speculated, maybe Chase doesn’t like Dr. Wu because he is a little more than a mind bender. Or maybe he was just another reminder that Enigma agents were one step away from being just like the men they hunted. I would never fit in with this bunch.
“Allow me, Tessa. It seems to be stuck.” The lever pushed down as he pulled, forcing her to step back into him. He quickly stepped aside.
Without a word or a glance back, Tessa passed into the world of knowledge. She took no more than three steps when she halted. It looked like a lab and beyond that she could see shelves of artifacts. Moving forward, she couldn’t resist a smile at smelling the age of time that comes with old things. The hum of environmental controls and the quiet voices of people working reached her ears. She turned back to see if Dr. Wu strolled behind her with his smug, evaluating gaze. He imparted a feeling of standing naked before an audience of one, but he had vanished.
With nerves on end, Tessa turned around several times to see where he’d disappeared to. Aware she’d been left alone, behind the scenes of the Museum of Natural History, her imagination kicked into overdrive.
Maybe someone would now force her into submission with a coma inducing drug so that they could turn her into a mummy.
Or perhaps she’d accidently, on purpose, get bitten by some exotic beetle from a tropical rainforest.
Just as she thought about the poisonous bite of a Black Mamba she heard her name.
“Tessa! There you are!” came the jolly yet familiar voice of Dr. Frances Ervin. “Think you were lost?” He chuckled as he rushed up with his lab coat flapping. “I see Dr. Wu has just abandoned you. He likes to think of himself as a ghost, I think.” His smile reminded Tessa of a patient father. “I texted you last night but you were a no show, as they say.”
She blinked in confusion while eyeing the professor. Now she discovered the message had come from him?
“You have the USS Liberty as your screen saver. Why?” Her brain tried to sort this new turn of events into place.
He puffed out a sigh but continued to look jolly at her direct approach. “After the conference I’m due to speak at a hearing on the USS Liberty. Quite extraordinary really.” He smiled as he swiped a handkerchief across his forehead. “My oldest brother was killed on that ship. My mother was never the same after she got the news. I didn’t understand it all at the time because of my age. But in recent years I got curious and did a little digging.”
The tension began to ebb away as the professor looked at her with bewilderment. “My uncle was on that ship.” She tried to sound nonchalant.
“Yes, of course. He’s rather a loose cannon, I hear. Got Enigma and those Secret Service boys all in a twist. You have my card. Have him give me a call. I’m putting a book together for the families. I’d love to take a few pictures and get his story. They tried to get me to visit them at a reunion in Arizona last year, but I was in Jordan doing some work at Petra.”
“Dr. Ervin?” Tessa couldn’t resist showing surprise as her words spilled out in a stutter. “Why are you here?” She looked around her, wide eyed.
“To give you a behind the scenes tour, of course.” He smiled handing her a crisp white lab coat. “You’ll need to wear one of these.”
No Black Mamba bite, no tropical beetle or sarcophagus to lay her wrapped body? “I don’t understand.” He took back the coat and held it out for her to slip into, which she did slowly. “You knew I was coming?”
The professor jammed his hands into the pockets of his coat. “Yes, of course. The director set it up last night. Didn’t he tell you? I happily agreed to be your escort while things are getting sorted out.”
Her head shook in confusion. “Wait a minute. You know the director?” Maybe this was a trap to find out if she withheld information from Enigma. That whole mummy thing could still happen.
“Come this way, Tessa. I’m working on some things I brought bac
k from Petra. I could use a hand. We’re a little short staffed. So many people out in the field or helping with the conference this week. Understandable. I don’t mind.” He started to walk away then stopped when she didn’t follow. Walking back, he smiled and lowered his voice. “Yes. Director Clark calls upon me from time to time to assist Enigma. I’m a Biblical Archeologist that can come and go throughout the Middle East without much suspicion. Who would suspect a musty old man, like me, of being a spy? Chase calls it a ‘get out of jail free card’.” He shook his head and chuckled. “That boy has had me use it for him a time or two. Why just last year…”
Tessa grabbed his arm. “Are you telling me you work for Enigma?” She watched the jolly expression on his face turn cold and hard. “The truth.”
“Yes. Not full time. Getting too old for that sort of thing and Martha would put her foot down.”
“Does Martha know about your work?”
“Certainly.” He began to move down the narrow aisle of tables and shelving units as he motioned for her to follow. “She too, is on the payroll.”
Tessa was intrigued that someone actually had a spouse and knew of the secrets kept at Enigma. “What does she do?”
“Whatever is needed.” He pulled her forward as the room opened up. “Enough about all that…”
“Did you know who I was on the plane?”
“Yes.”
“Did you really need my help with the computer last night?”
“No.”
“You wanted me to see the picture of the USS Liberty?”
“Yes. I thought maybe your uncle had contacted you and I would find out.”
“Did you lie or just play me?”
“Yes. I’m afraid so. I’m not nearly as helpless as I appear.” He looked sheepishly at her and tried to smile. “I ask your forgiveness. I wanted to see how things played out. The director is a stickler for following his wishes. Now we have a lot to see and even more to do.”
Walking beside him, she eyed the surroundings for a hint of trouble. “Your opinion of Dr. Wu?”
“A mind bender, but an excellent therapist. He’s helped me on a number of occasions as I’m sure you’ll find out.”
“I don’t need a therapist,” she said confidently.
“You will, my dear. You will.”
~~~
Their first meeting at the White House the day before had been in secret. It had lasted less than two hours. The aides did most of the talking and planning. The president and the prime minister chose to stroll the vegetable garden the first lady had planted with their children. A few words about Iran and Syria passed between them only to be interrupted by Secret Service calling them back inside because of weather concerns.
Now on the second day with the luncheon concluded and the photo op with the press behind them, President Austin and Prime Minister Levi strolled back to the Oval Office for a meeting without aides, secretaries or advisors. Each had a security detail nearby, but not inside the walls of the most coveted space in the world. Both men selected a tightly upholstered chair in blue and gold with a small table between them. A coffee service rested on a serving cart near the leaders who sat down heavily.
Earlier they had joked openly with each other for the cameras and the small talk at lunch flowed easily as if all were right with the world. Two of the president’s children escaped their Secret Service agents and ran into the dining room to hide underneath the table.
“Children? What children?” Gilad openly lied to the agents about the whereabouts of the children with his own devious smirk. The giggle of small children will always give away a good hiding place and they were soon led from the room.
Now dead silence hung like the August humidity between them. All pretenses evaporated and both men seemed to ponder their agenda carefully before speaking.
With a light tap at the door before it opened, the president’s aide announced Director Clark from Enigma had arrived. The president nodded and held up a finger before waving him away.
“Your brother is concerned I’m going to get killed.”
Gilad crossed his legs and picked at a piece of lent from his pant leg. “As am I, Mr. President. There is always a risk.”
“It’s just us, Gilad so ‘Buck’ will be fine.” Gilad nodded and squared his shoulders. “This whole USS Liberty thing is going to be a problem. LBJ should have taken care of it when this whole thing started.”
“It was a different world then, Buck. Israel was so young and brash that we often tried to take two steps forward before anyone could knock us four steps back. The Holocaust was still so bitter in our mouths. We’d learned to be ruthless from the best. The Cold War raged between Russia and your country. Even though both countries promised to stay out of the Six Day War we feared the Egyptians would secure help from the Russians. I’m not sure we could have survived that.”
Gilad stood and reached for the coffee. He pointed at a second cup and the president declined with a nod. Sitting back down, Gilad took a sip and smiled. “I see my brother has tipped you off to the kind of coffee I enjoy.”
The president narrowed his eyes when he tried to smile. “Your brother is very devoted to me and this country.”
Gilad took another sip. “But you wonder if it came down to me or you would Benjamin be so loyal?”
The president leaned back in his chair, which he noticed was uncomfortable, and made a mental note to get rid of it. “No, I wonder if you could handle it if he took you to task and spanked your sorry ass for holding an American citizen hostage in your embassy.”
Gilad looked dangerously over the rim of his cup at the president. “A hostage, I might add, that has promised to kill both of us in revenge for the attack on the USS Liberty.”
“What are you going to do? Just make him disappear and expect the problem to go away? There are others just as determined to see this issue resolved.”
“Compensation was made several years after the fact. We thought that would be enough. Americans are very greedy.”
“And Israelis are as ruthless as we are greedy. What made you think this was about money? That pittance you gave the U.S. wouldn’t cover the cost of the paint and repairs made to the Liberty.”
“LBJ’s grandmother was very active for Jewish causes. Did you know that? He saved many of our people during World War II. He knew our potential and wanted to keep us as allies in the years to come.” His tone had become sharp.
“Keep your friends close and your enemies closer,” the president quipped.
“Israel is not your enemy, Buck. I love this country and the last administration nearly destroyed any layer of protection you had for the U.S., not to mention for Israel. The Six Day War turned Israel into a country to be reckoned with in spite of our lies and deception. Do you think Americans would have had any sympathy if they knew it was actually Israel that started that war? No. This country loves an underdog and will stand up and cheer every time someone like us is picked on.”
“That doesn’t excuse the cover up and dishonoring of those men on the Liberty. They were patriots for heaven’s sakes. That Jake fella was whisked away to Germany, sleep deprived and interrogated like an enemy combatant. And for what?” Before Gilad could speak the president continued, “So his recollection of the story would grow fuzzy, disjointed and unbelievable. By the time we got finished with him and the others their story was leaking like the bombed-out Liberty.” The president took a deep breath. “We need to own up, Gilad. These men, what’s left of them, deserve that.”
“Agreed.” Gilad sat his cup down with a frown. “The Egyptians are in it now. I’m sure the Muslim Brotherhood wants their own kind of revenge in this matter. Israel admits wrong doing and all hell could break loose on our borders. They’re waiting for a reason to invade. This time it will be their fault and we’ll finish what we started in 1967.”
“But if we’re both dead, chaos will plunge the world in such darkness that Egypt could easily take matters into their own hands.” The pre
sident’s frown deepened.
“The Egyptians will simply exploit the world’s outrage and capture what was once theirs. With me incapacitated…”
“Or dead,” the president smiled ruefully.
“Yes. Dead. The Palestinians would take advantage of the chaos and begin a bombardment of missiles into Israel. Since they possess little regard for human life they will ignore the real possibility that Israel holds the ultimate reason to finally wipe their miserable existence from the map. A definite upside to the whole scenario.”
Another light tap at the door came followed by the director of Enigma as he pushed into the room, with a hard look etched on his hawkish face. He seemed to unconsciously pull back his shoulders in the dark blue suit he wore when his eyes fell on his brother then the president.
“Mr. President.” The director outstretched his hand as Buck Austin stood. The two men grasped hands in a friendly manner, both aware of the other’s strength.
“Has the prime minister been playing the part of the bully again, Mr. President?”
The president looked over his shoulder at his guest with a smirk. “Actually, he’s been whining like a little girl. Very undignified for someone in his position.” He motioned for Ben to take a seat on the sofa across from them. “What have you got, Ben?”
The director opened his black leather notebook to retrieve several typed pages for each man. He waited for them to skim the contents before proceeding. “I’ve given copies to the FBI director, but held off on anyone else.”
The president raised his eyes sternly. “Are you aware your brother is holding Mr. Wakefield against his will at the embassy?” He watched Ben’s eyes shift to his brother and narrow with fury. “The question arises why you didn’t find him first? All those brains and muscle you claim to have at Enigma couldn’t find one hillbilly roaming the streets of Washington?” The president’s voice cut through the director’s calm.
“I assure you, Mr. President, we were aware of that. My brother’s gorillas were allowed to take him.”
The Enigma Series Boxed Set Page 48
