by Bryan Murray
Daniel was anxious to get the game plan right. “And our role when we get there, Minister?”
Ari was already ahead of him. “It is to protect our interests, first and foremost, Daniel. This happened on US soil and so our American friends must take the lead. They will appreciate our input and liaison, but be most tactful in our involvement,” he turned to Jake and Sarah. “Is that clear?”
They both nodded and replied in chorus. “Yes, Minister.”
Ari ended the meeting as others were waiting to meet him. “Thank you and keep the Prime Minister and myself fully up to speed on every detail of the trip.”
Daniel ushered Jake and Sarah to the door as he replied. “Yes, sir.” As the three of them walked across the parking lot, Daniel was thinking out loud. “So, I’ll drop you off at your hotel and pick you up at 10.30 to go get the flight?”
Jake nodded. “Great, we’ll see you then,” he put his hand gently on Daniel’s arm, a serious look in his eye. “And we just wanted to make sure we all fully understand, Daniel. This is your mission, you call the shots, and we’re just here to help you all we can.”
Daniel smiled. “Thanks, guys!”
CHAPTER 10
Jake was packing for a two or three day trip, his mind racing ahead. All of a sudden, two major things were happening. The first was that what had started as a routine training assignment had suddenly escalated into a high profile anti-terrorist role with one of the top intelligence units in the world.
The second was less high profile, but strangely ominous in that Jake and Sarah, and more particularly Jake, were now being thrust back into possible close collaboration with the very agencies that they had previously left. In Jake’s case, not on the very best of terms, even though he had always acted with the best of patriotic motives. It would be interesting to see who in the agency had been assigned to work with them, when they got to LA.
Daniel picked them up as arranged and on the chartered flight into LA, the three of them were able to review all the intel to date on what had happened to the passengers and crew of the ill-fated Flight 169. Recovery crews were still actively combing the debris up in the San Bernardino Mountains and from eye witness accounts, many of whom had already had their moment of fame on CNN, the aircraft had been torn apart by a massive explosion shortly after take-off. No black box or explosive device debris had yet been located, but so far, the general public had no idea that terrorist claims of responsibility were a factor.
Jake, Sarah and Daniel were now getting to know each other much better and they were discussing their agenda in more detail by the time they arrived in LA.
Daniel was looking through documents passed to him from the flight deck. “Looks like we will have three contacts to work with.” he began. “Nick Peters of the LA Counter-Terrorism and Criminal Intelligence Bureau, Peter Davies of the FBI.”
Sarah smiled as she interrupted him. “Great, he’s my ex-boss.”
Daniel continued. “And the CIA contact will be their West Coast Regional Director, Dave Bostwick.”
Jake was relieved that he didn’t know Bostwick, so that they could perhaps get off to a good start with no old hang-ups in the way. He was also pleased that they would be working with Peter Davies of the FBI, a straight shooter, even though he tended towards fantasy at times in his damage control statements with his buddy Senator Johnson.
On arrival in LAX, they were whisked through security, past reporters and cameramen and taken to the security center in the airport. They were met by Peter Davies and his colleagues.
Davies had a surprised look on his face when he saw Jake and Sarah. Daniel introduced himself and explained that Jake and Sarah were in his team at the request of the Israeli Government, causing a momentary raising of the eyebrows from Davies and Bostwick. Clearly, neither of them knew of the connection between Sarah and the defense minister. Davies smiled and shook hands. “Welcome, all of you.” he began. “This is Nick Peters of CTCIB. I’m FBI Deputy Director Peter Davies, and this is David Bostwick, West Coast Regional Director of the CIA.”
They all shook hands and Davies smiled, turning to Daniel. “I’ve worked with Sarah and Jake before, and believe me, Daniel, you’ve got two top operatives in your corner.”
Daniel smiled. “I’m beginning to realize,” he added. “So, gentlemen, thank you for letting us get involved in your country, we have full authority from Prime Minister Mischner to do what it takes from our people in the Mossad, to help you bring these terrorists to justice, and I’m sure you have the same commitment from your President?”
“Yes, indeed!” Davies replied. “May we call you Daniel?”
Daniel smiled. “Of course.”
Davies continued. “Great. You said bring the terrorists to justice, Daniel?”
Daniel apologized. “I’m sorry, Peter, I thought you already knew. It’s my fault. I should have sent you a message before we arrived. We’ve already had a claim of responsibility.”
Bostwick spoke for the first time. “Who was it from, Daniel?”
Daniel replied. “Hands of Allah!”
Bostwick obviously knew of them. “A real bunch of whackos!”
Sarah, commented. “Yes, Dave, I agree, and the way that they communicated the claim was unusual to say the least.”
“Unusual?” Bostwick asked.
“Yes, it came by e-mail!”
Bostwick looked surprised. “Usually these characters use a TV station like Al Jazeera.”
“Exactly.” Sarah added.
To this point, Jake had been keeping a tactful silence, particularly until he got the feel of his former colleague from the CIA, sitting across the table. He need not have worried as Bostwick turned to him. “So, Jake, what will your role be in helping Daniel?”
Here it was, the first dig from the old gang. He was totally unfazed by the question and answered with a friendly smile. “That’s a good question, Dave,” he began. “I’m sure at some stage in this investigation, even if not here on US soil, whoever committed this heinous crime, will eventually surface.”
Bostwick was still curious. “So, where will that leave you, Jake?”
Tactfully refraining from telling the CIA guy to go screw himself, Jake gave a smiling, friendly reply. “Well, Dave, Daniel and I are from very similar backgrounds, searching out the bad guys and taking them out,” he gave Bostwick a knowing look. “You know how that goes, Dave, and at that time, hopefully I can help Daniel get the job done.”
Davies could sense the tension between the two men and he kept the discussion going. “Exactly, and as you guys can imagine, information is still coming in from the field, but the sad news is that there were no survivors. We send our deepest sympathies to Prime Minister Mischner, not just for the loss of his brother, the Israeli dignitaries and industrialists, but also for the loss of all the other passengers and crew on the flight.”
Daniel was courteous. “Thank you, and who is running the investigation for the US, Peter?”
Davies replied quickly. “President Parker himself!”
Daniel looked confused as Davies corrected himself. “Well, not exactly, but he spelled it out clearly that we’re all in it together. Nick here and his team will cover any local terrorist involvement in LA, the FBI will cover all the domestic aspects and Dave and the CIA will continue to work with you internationally.”
Nick, the only man in the room with a conventional police background, was curious. “I have a question, Daniel. Isn’t this the second incident of an attack on an Air Israel plane in the past months?”
Daniel nodded. “Correct, Nick. The last time was a bombing of an Air Israel jet in Turkey, three months ago.”
Nick thought for a moment. “And who claimed responsibility then?” he asked.
Daniel thought back. “In that case it was ‘Jihad of Freedom’.”
Sarah jumped in. “And how did that claim come in?”
Daniel hesitated for a moment, racking his brain. “I think it was called into Al Jazeera.�
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Sarah was thinking out loud. “That sounds more like par for the course.”
Nick looked confused. “So, what you’re saying is that these terrorists can’t make up their minds how they claim responsibility?”
Sarah gave a wry smile. “I’m just a behaviour analyst, Nick, but what you just said could be the whole key to the puzzle. Why did they suddenly change their pattern of jumping in to claim responsibility?”
The meeting continued in a constructive way, with Daniel, Jake and Sarah now on a common footing with the top agencies in the US. With little time to spare, the trio shook hands with Nick who had escorted them to their gate for the immediate return flight back to Tel Aviv. Daniel turned to Nick. “Thanks for bringing us up to speed, Nick, we have a de-briefing with the Defense Minister and Air Israel tomorrow and we’ll stay in touch.”
Nick smiled. “Hang in there, guys, have a good trip.” The three of them headed for the gate.
When they were seated in the first class section of the charter flight, Daniel turned to Jake, a smile on his face. “Did I detect a little testiness between you and your ex-colleague, Jake?”
Jake gave a wry smile. “Well spotted, Daniel. It’s a long story.”
Daniel smiled. “It’s a long flight!”
* * *
In the White House, President Parker, a tall, distinguished-looking man in his 60’s, was being briefed by his chief-of-staff, John Mulroney, a dark-haired, thin- featured man, also in his 60’s, concerning the status of the air disaster.
Mulroney continued the briefing. “So, with the list of casualties now complete, Mr. President, it seems the Israelis took a real beating, all the way down from the Prime Minister’s brother to a bunch of leading Israeli industrialists!”
Parker thought for a moment. “I need to speak to Prime Minister Mischner. Can you get him for me, please?”
Mulroney nodded. “Of course, sir. These are our key allies and we certainly don’t want to jeopardize the upcoming peace accord after all the work we’ve done, both here and in Jerusalem.”
Parker nodded. “Exactly. And our combined team are on top of this, right, John?” he asked.
“Yes, sir, we now have a link with the Mossad in place as well as two consultants working for them.” The President looked curious. “Consultants?”
“Yes, sir, a former FBI and CIA operative.”
The President seemed satisfied. “Good!”
CHAPTER 11
It was a beautiful day for a soccer game in Southern California. The temperature was in the mid-seventies and under a cloudless, azure blue sky, the crowds were already filing into the large stadium in readiness for the international friendly soccer game between the national teams of the USA and Israel.
In recent years, Israel had progressed steadily from being a remote prospect for winning international games, to a team with drive and skills, with the scalps on their belt already of other more established international teams, some of whom they had beaten quite convincingly.
It was about ten minutes to kick-off and in the TV booth for the game that was being televised live, back to Israel, the network commentator Jacob Wallstein was doing the warm-up for the viewing audience, for what looked like a really entertaining game in prospect.
As the camera panned across the crowd, setting the scene, it stayed inadvertently for a brief second on a particular spectator. Not a special person from the point of view of the viewing audience, or indeed the spectators sitting around him. Akeem sat there with a smile on his face, like the typical spectator, waiting for the game to start. He was sitting next to a fat guy in a red shirt with his young son, the latter eating a giant ice cream cone.
Suddenly, across the stadium, in the far corner, a massive explosion rocked the underside of the grandstand and people started to scream as smoke and debris shot out onto the corner of the field. Spectators nearby started to panic, many of them running away from the area, along rows of almost empty seats, while others were already spilling onto the playing field in an attempt to get away from the smoke and flames.
In the commentary box, with the camera still rolling, Jacob Wallstein was also in deep shock. He remembered to keep talking into his hand mike, explaining that he had just witnessed a massive explosion in the corner of the stadium, adding that people were injured and the spectators were rushing to get away from the scene of the blast. He stopped speaking as an assistant came over and whispered in his ear.
Wallstein looked devastated as he then explained to his audience that the explosion was in the area of the dressing room of the Israeli National Team!
* * *
Back in LA, Nick, a big soccer fan, was watching the game telecast on the TV running in the background in the CTCIB office. He looked on in amazement as Wallstein continued to describe the horrendous scene at the stadium.
Nick turned to his buddy Steve. “Sweet Jesus! Check this out!” he shook his head in amazement “I don’t believe this! Another hit on the Israelis! Get the car, Steve, we need to get over there!”
* * *
At the other end of the soccer stadium, the crowds who were sitting away from the blast were looking on in awe. Next to the fat guy in the red shirt and his son, the seat was now empty!
Outside the stadium, Akeem walked casually to his car, climbed in and drove away. Before he moved off, the first fire trucks and ambulances, sirens blaring, passed him from the opposite direction.
* * *
Back in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, the news broke fast in view of the thousands of Israelis watching the blast live on TV. The saddest part of such news was that the entire Israeli National Soccer Team and their coaching staff, had all been killed.
David Mischner and Ari Golchen were already back on the video link and they were both devastated.
The Prime Minister was clearly in shock. “What on earth is going on, Ari?” he asked the Defense Minister. “This also smells of terrorism and if so, that’s two events, just hours apart in the same US city!”
Golchen nodded. “I agree, Prime Minister and I’ve just had some additional sad news that strikes close to home!”
Mischner was curious. “Like what, Ari?”
Ari took a breath before replying. “My people just told me that the nephew of Daniel Weismann, our lead Mossad agent we sent to LA, was a member of the slain Israeli men’s soccer team!”
Mischner was clearly saddened. “My goodness! Does he know?”
Ari was sad. “I’m afraid not. He’s in the air at the moment. On his way back from LA for a de-briefing.”
Mischner ran his hand up and down his face. “Well, give him my sincerest condolences when he gets back. What do you think we should do next, Ari?”
Golchen thought for a moment. “Well, we have no claim of responsibility as yet, Prime Minister, so until then we need to take a breath and decide what to do when our investigation team gets back from LA.”
Mischner nodded. “I agree, keep me posted.” he went off the screen.
Ari shook his head sadly. “This is horrendous!” he whispered to himself.
Totally unaware of what had happened back in LA, Daniel, Jake and Sarah were comparing notes on the return flight as it was coming in to land in Tel Aviv.
Jake was now having serious misgivings about the way that things had started to escalate against the Israelis since he and Sarah had arrived in Israel. Sarah had told him about the movie star assassinations on the Star of David Productions set and with the attack on the airline so soon afterwards, those hairs on the back of his neck were rising again and he wasn’t sure why. Maybe he was being paranoid, but two anti-Israeli attacks within hours in the same US city, seemed just too much of a coincidence to him.
He looked across at Daniel, a man with a huge responsibility on his shoulders that seemed to be growing by the minute. “So, what d’you think we should tell Minister Golchen, Daniel?” he asked.
The young Israeli thought for a moment. “All we can tell him is what we learned in
LA. From what the FBI told us, whoever did it, certainly knew how to smuggle the bomb on board the aircraft and get away undetected. After finding the tortured and murdered maintenance employee at his apartment, when they checked up later, we must assume that the terrorist was posing as the same person, using all the right entry codes and procedures to give him access to all the baggage conveyors.”
Jake agreed. “Correct, and all he had to do was slip the explosives into any checked bag heading for Flight 169!”
Sarah nodded in agreement. “Right, maybe the CCTV of personnel involved in and around the gate area before the flight left, will bring up something, but one thing’s for sure, they must have had excellent intel to know what a devastating death toll they could cause among the special people on board.”
Daniel nodded. “I agree, hopefully the Americans will uncover other leads soon.”
When the flight arrived in Tel Aviv, they were quickly escorted to an armored convoy that rushed them direct to the defense ministry and into Golchen’s office.
He looked up from the papers he was studying as they entered. “Welcome back,” he began. “I wanted to speak to you the second you got off the plane, and particularly to you, Daniel.”
Daniel looked confused. “To me, Minister?”
Ari took a breath. “Yes, Daniel, I’m afraid there’s been another incident.”
Jake and Sarah looked at each other immediately.
Daniel was curious. “Incident, Minister?”
Ari chose his words carefully. “Yes, there’s been another attack in LA!”
Daniel looked stressed. “Attack on what, sir?”
“Someone set off a bomb that killed the entire Israeli men’s soccer team and their coaching staff!”
Daniel understood immediately what the Minister was saying. “Oh, my goodness! My nephew Joseph was.......!” his voice trailed away as Jake and Sarah realized the significance of what Daniel was saying.
Ari came over and put his hand on Daniel’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry, Daniel.”
