by Bryan Murray
Unaware of this, inside the board room, Heinrich Kloss and his loyal staff, were watching the TV newscast from Jerusalem. Kloss had a look of demented enthusiasm on his wizened face. He turned to his equally fanatical followers. “The moment is getting near, my dear friends, when all our plans will start to come to a perfect ending and the misery of the Jews will begin!” he looked at the peaceful scene on the TV. “Such peace and serenity will soon be shattered forever!” he raised his glass of champagne and the rest did likewise. “Lady and Gentlemen, I give you the Fourth Reich!”
They all stood and clicked their heels, holding up their glasses. “The Fourth Reich!”
* * *
In Jerusalem, the Easter crowds of many religions and nationalities, were milling around enthusiastically. Among the crowds, discreetly stationed Israeli troops and plain clothes Mossad operatives, the latter communicating with wrist microphones, were carefully monitoring the scene inside the city gates. Around the area, the TV cameras were already in place to record the joyful pastime of the year for both Jewish and Christian visitors from around the world.
Up above the milling crowds, the Mossad chopper was monitoring the scene from a distance as Akeem’s convoy was getting closer and closer. From above, Jerusalem, the ancient city on the banks of the Sea of Galilee, looked spectacular as the crowds of tourists and pilgrims continued to arrive. Around by the Western Wall and the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo, the crowds were milling around, anxious to absorb a piece of incredible biblical history.
In the largest security operation ever organized by the Mossad, every available agent was on duty, all in plain clothes, ably supported by thousands of soldiers as the visitors were made to feel totally relaxed.
At the check points into the city, the security crews had big smiles on their faces, as they meticulously searched all people entering the many historic gates, all anxious to give the impression that everything was totally safe. As Akeem and his men left their vehicles and approached the timeless Zion Gate on foot, they were also treated cordially, carefully searched, like everybody else and passed through, totally unaware that their every move was being monitored.
This part of Akeem’s master plan, had been the most expensive to set up and if the people who had provided the guns, now hidden away at the location of the bomb, together with the getaway, high-speed chopper at another location nearby, had even a clue concerning the world-shattering event that they were abetting, none of it would have been ready to go down in the next hour. Such was the power of the money and the persuasion of Heinrich Kloss and his team!
* * *
Inside Jake’s vehicle, an operative came on the intercom to Joseph. “Subjects have cleared security at the Zion Gate and they are now on foot in the city!”
Joseph acknowledged the message. “Roger that, keep constant surveillance on them, we’re right behind you.”
Joseph clicked on his intercom again. “Come in, Chopper?”
The Pilot came on the line. “They’re moving towards the center of the city, sir. It’s getting hard to follow them in these huge crowds.”
Joseph responded. “I agree, just stand by and stay tuned to the ground crew we now have in place!”
The Pilot replied. “Roger that, over.”
Jake, Sarah and Joseph, with a supporting crew of Mossad agents, all fully armed, also made their way on foot through the Zion Gate.
CHAPTER 42
On an outer runway of Ben Gurion International Airport, serving both Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, Air Force One, carrying President Parker came in to land, followed closely by a British Airways Airbus, bringing the British Prime Minister to the peace conference. They taxied to a heavily guarded remote hangar where they were quickly followed by the large jets bringing in the other Arab heads of state for the historical signing of the peace accord. As the foreign dignitaries deplaned, they were surrounded by Mossad security personnel and Israeli soldiers, before being escorted into the large hangar reception area.
Inside the hangar, the delegates for the peace accord signing were rushed through immigration and into a rest area for refreshments, prior to their drive into the city.
Parked to one side, with Mossad drivers at each wheel, was a long line of limos, each with the national flag on the front of the country of each delegate arriving, the first two proudly showing the Stars and Stripes and the Union Jack. The entire area was surrounded by Mossad security personnel.
Some twenty minutes later, the impressive convoy rolled out of the far end of the hangar, on its way into the city, a military motor cycle escort in front, behind and on each side of it.
On the outskirts of the airport, an Arab was sitting at a roadside café, drinking coffee as the escorted motorcade droned past. He finished his coffee and clicked on his phone, dialling a number. A voice answered. “Yes?”
The Arab replied. “The lambs are on the way!” he clicked his phone closed and walked to his car at the curb. He climbed in and drove down the highway towards the city at a discreet distance behind the convoy ahead.
* * *
In the Austrian mountains, the Interpol vehicles were now all finally in place, surrounding the Nayra Global complex.
* * *
In sharp contrast to the tranquility of the alpine scenery, back in the bustling city, Jake, Sarah and Joseph and their team, were nervously following Akeem, Gunther and five others as they made their way through the crowds, obviously with a location in mind. Each corner they passed, Mossad agents could be seen whispering into wrist microphones, keeping Joseph up to speed.
Jake’s cell phone rang and it was Nick on the line from LA. He sounded very concerned. “Jake, its Nick, are you ready for this?”
Jake looked suddenly alert. “What’s going on, Nick?”
Nick gave Jake the shattering news. “We’ve found him and he’s dead!”
Jake was confused. “Found who?”
“The Arab!” Nick replied.
Jake was in shock. “What the hell you talking about, Nick? I’m following him through the streets of Jerusalem as we speak!”
Nick was trying to get Jake focussed. “Well, old buddy, I think you could be chasing the wrong guy!”
Jake was stressed and concerned. “What the hell’s goin’ on, Nick?”
Nick explained. “We had a John Doe picked up in a deserted warehouse in LA and when we saw his face, it was the goddamned Arab that you’re looking for!”
Jake was now even more confused. “Say what?”
Nick continued. “We checked on missing person reports that had been filed and we came up with a picture of this guy. He’s Lebanese, his name is Akeem Haddam and his family were expecting him to arrive days ago to start a new job running the family restaurant!”
Jake interrupted. “Hang on a second, you mean this guy is a restaurateur and not a terrorist?”
“You’ve got it, buddy!”
“So, who the fuck is this guy I’m tracking now?”
“I don’t know, Jake, but I wanted to give you this heads up quickly,” Nick replied. “And there’s some additional information that may or may not mean something.”
“Such as?”
Nick explained quickly. “This guy had been shot through the head, single bullet. But when forensics examined him closely, they found traces in his hair.”
“Traces of what?” Jake was getting more and more tense.
Nick continued. “This was what got my attention. There were traces in the stiff’s hair, ears and nostrils of what looked like a fast setting cement.”
“What kinda cement?” Jake was getting exasperated.
Nick explained. “The kind you use to make a plastic mold of a person’s face!”
Jake was now getting the picture. “So, what you’re saying is that this guy we’re chasing here could be anybody, he just wanted to look like a goddamned Arab?”
“Exactly!”
Jake was in a daze. “Thanks, Nick, I’ll be in touch.” he rang off.
Sarah h
ad been watching Jake closely. “What’s going on?” she asked.
Jake explained. “That was Nick in LA. They found the Arab we’re supposed to be chasing, dead in LA. The guy we’ve been looking for is not a terrorist, he’s a Lebanese restaurateur, who was apparently coming to the US to run the family restaurant!”
Both Sarah and Joseph were in shock. Sarah was the first to speak. “So, who the heck is this guy we’re chasing?”
“My guess, from what Nick just said, is that the bastard we are chasing has assumed the physical identity of the dead guy, as well as stealing all his documents. He probably sandbagged the guy as he came into LAX, where his family didn’t hear from him, and it sounds like he fitted the bill.” Jake replied.
Sarah looked confused. “Fitted the bill for what?”
“As a typical, non-descript Arab,” Jake replied. “But why would they do that?”
Sarah thought for a moment and then slapped her forehead in recognition. “For two reasons. The first, easy travel. Nobody’s going to take a second look at a Lebanese restaurant owner, he would slide under the radar no problem!”
“And the second reason?” Jake asked.
“To make sure the terrorist looked like an Arab!” she replied.
Jake nodded. “Right, these bastards wanted us to see an Arab at each attack. And that’s probably why the computer scans of known bad guys wouldn’t have had this guy’s face on file!”
“Exactly!” she replied
Joseph had been listening to their conversation, when a voice came through on his intercom. “Joseph, they’ve stopped at a building 200 yards ahead on the right. The two terrorists and the five men are going down the alleyway to the side entrance.”
Joseph spoke to the back-up team. “Okay, attention all units. Close down, out of sight around this building. Nobody moves until we give the order.”
Jake and Sarah, still with a confused look on their faces, checked their Glocks and spare ammo and hurried along behind Joseph and his men.
Sarah looked at Jake and gave a wry smile. “Like old times. These are some devious villains we’re dealing with. Take care of yourself, okay?”
He nodded. “You too.”
She was thinking out loud as she turned to Joseph. “Things are suddenly going to go down fast in there, Joseph, so we need a plan?”
Joseph gave a wry smile. “Do we ever!”
Jake was already ahead of them. “Exactly, once we get them away from the bomb, if they’ve already activated the timer, Joseph you get the technician safely disarming it and take out the five Arabs, because I know the other two will make a run for it, thinking they can still get away before the blast, so they must have a chopper hidden reasonably close by.”
Joseph nodded in agreement as Jake continued. “I’ll go after the Arab.”
Sarah jumped in quickly. “And I’ll go after Gunther, he’s mine!” they all agreed as they neared the building on the corner. The alleyway at the side of the building was deserted as Jake, Sarah, Joseph and five agents, including the bomb disposal technician, made their way stealthily down the alley to the rear door of the building.
Joseph whispered into his intercom. “We’re going in. Nobody make a move until I say so, over,” he looked around. “Where’s the bomb disposal guy?’
Agent Liebowitz answered from the rear of the group. “Here, sir.”
Joseph nodded. “Okay, stay close and keep your head down. Do not get shot, understand?” The young man nodded as Joseph continued. “We may only have seconds once we get our hands on the device, so be ready!”
The streets of the city close by were still crowded with unsuspecting citizens and visitors as Jake tried the door to the warehouse, which was locked. He quickly used his tools and they quietly moved inside the building.
* * *
Out on the freeway, the convoy of limos was getting closer to the city, passing signs pointing towards the city center ahead. Each limo, with smoked glass windows, was sporting a different flag as the rumble of the motor cycle escort reverberated through the narrow streets. Akeem and his men, would have been seriously shocked to see that each vehicle contained only a driver, a Mossad agent, as the decoy convoy continued on its way!
As they passed another intersection, the Arab seen on the phone earlier, was sitting in his car at the intersection, already on the phone. “They are still on schedule!” he reported before gunning the engine and driving off in the opposite direction, as fast as he could, away from the anticipated mayhem to follow.
* * *
Back inside the old warehouse, Jake, Sarah and the Mossad team, moved along stealthily behind stacked packing cases as they came closer to the far end of the building. Jake suddenly held up his hand holding the Glock and they all stopped and looked ahead.
Further down the warehouse, they could now see Akeem and Gunther with their men, all now armed after picking up their hidden weapons and in the process of arming the nuclear device. As the bomb expert had previously described to Jake, Akeem and Gunther were already punching the different codes into the twin control console.
Jake had already seen enough. He motioned to Joseph to make his move as the Mossad agent broke from cover, gun at the ready. He screamed at the surprised terrorists. “Hold it right there! This is the Mossad, get your hands in the air!”
Akeem’s men immediately started shooting and Akeem and Gunther grabbed the briefcase and dived for cover. Their men continued to fire on the Mossad, who were returning fire.
Behind a packing case, Akeem’s hands were flying across the keyboard of the device as he confirmed activation of the bomb and the green light came on. He immediately typed in 5.00 minutes and pressed the timer as the red, digital read out immediately began to tick down to 4.59 and counting.
Out in the warehouse, the Mossad were winning the shoot-out decisively as all but two of Akeem’s gunmen were dead and the last two was fighting on gamely to buy Akeem and Gunther the time they needed to escape. Akeem signalled to Gunther that the bomb was ticking and they both dashed towards another rear exit.
Jake had already spotted them and he signalled to Sarah that the two of them were getting away before they in turn also waved to Joseph to indicate that they were going in pursuit of the two terrorists.
Two well-placed final shots took out the two remaining Arabs before Joseph waved Jake and Sarah to head out as he and Agent Liebowitz quickly moved over to the ticking bomb.
Joseph was holding his other men back. “Stand back! Stand back!” he screamed. “Give the man room!” they all looked on as Liebowitz got to work.
Across the warehouse, Jake and Sarah exited through the same door as Akeem and Gunther, who turned and fired a shot at them as they raced away. Sarah was hit in the left arm, but kept on running as she and Jake raced along after the two men ahead. Akeem looked over his shoulder and signalled to Gunther to split up as they continued to sprint towards a corner where they went in separate directions.
Jake saw what was happening and screamed at Sarah. “You get Gunther!”
She smiled back. “No sweat, see you in hell!”
He grinned back. “If not sooner!” as they both rushed after their separate prey.
Up ahead, with Jake in pursuit, Akeem spotted a ladder up to a roof and he let go a burst of fire at Jake who dodged back before Akeem scrambled up the ladder, firing as he went. Jake went after him and started to climb the same ladder to the roof. When he reached the roof level, a burst of fire from Akeem spattered against the rail next to him and he fired back, scrambling onto the roof where he continued in pursuit.
Akeem was now sprinting across the roof top with Jake still after him. Jake fired a burst that hit the Arab in the leg and he almost fell over the edge of the roof, before grabbing the rail of a ladder leading to the ground. He scrambled out of sight down the ladder as Jake continued the chase.
Two buildings over, Gunther was running at full speed in the general direction of the chopper that they had waiting two blocks
away, with the pilot ready for a quick take-off the second they were on board. He looked over his shoulder to see Sarah rushing along behind him and he fired a burst that spattered on the ground in front of her but she continued undaunted.
Gunther came rushing round a corner at full speed, looked quickly ahead and suddenly realized that he had taken a wrong turn and he was heading down a blind alley with a six foot high wall at the far end. He fired another burst at Sarah, but she kept coming before he started to scramble up to the wall at the far end. She was already getting within firing range.
* * *
Back in the warehouse, the timer on the bomb was down to 1.5 minutes as the young technician, sweat dripping off his brow, was methodically disconnecting wires, but the red light was still blinking and the timer was running down at what seemed an alarming rate. Joseph and his men looked on nervously, glancing skywards, praying they would be in time.
The technician snipped a yellow wire and heaved a huge sigh of relief when nothing happened as he then looked at the two final wires that were still connected.
The timer was now down to less than 10 seconds as Liebowitz nervously grabbed a blue wire and snipped through it, his eyes closed in hope. Miraculously, the flashing red light went out and the green light came back on.
Joseph heaved a huge sigh of relief, quickly getting back on the intercom. He screamed. “Jake, Sarah, the bomb’s defused! Repeat, the bomb’s defused!” They all relaxed and hugged the young technician, his shirt bathed in perspiration.
* * *
Jake and Sarah heard the good news on their intercoms as they continued to pursue their respective targets, In the blind alley, Gunther was just getting a grip on the top of the wall, as Sarah took careful aim and hit him between the shoulders as he screamed and fell back on the ground, dropping his gun in the fall. Sarah was on him in a flash and before he could struggle to grab his gun, she kicked it away.
