Anna stretched up on her toes and gave Benjamin a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you,” she said, “for everything.”
Benjamin blushed a little and said, “Don’t thank me, dear. I’m only doing what God would have me do.”
Jason and Anna turned to enter the tunnel.
“Wait! I almost forgot!” Benjamin had a horror-stricken look. “Good grief! What was I thinking?”
“What? What is it?” Anna and Jason asked together.
“Here, take these.”
He pulled a ziplock bag from his pocket. Inside were two canisters about the size of a hairspray bottle and glow sticks. Each canister had a mouthpiece attached to it.
“These are air tanks. You stick them in your mouth and turn the knob, here at the top, like this.” He turned one of them on quickly and then shut it off again.
Anna and Jason stared blankly at him.
Benjamin continued. “I nearly forgot to tell you. The northern end of the wall contains a channel that fed water into the Temple Mount. It was believed to have been stopped when Herod did his ‘remodel.’ This, however, is not the case. I have also learned that
directly behind the Holy of Holies there is a cavelike tunnel that leads down into an underground stream. I won’t lie to you. As far as anyone knows, it is completely underground. There is no open air above it for the entire length of the Western Gate. But it does finally end. It eventually dumps you out in the Stroutioun Pool at the northern exit, where you will find yourselves on the Via Dolorosa. It will be dark, and you will be swimming downstream. The current will be moving fast. These canisters have enough air in them to last you an hour each. That’s it. After that you’d better hope you can hold your breath.”
“Why on earth would we have to swim?” Jason asked dumbfounded.
“Because when they realize the gate’s been blown down here—and they will eventually realize it—there will be at least fifty guards down here waiting for whoever it was to come back. Meanwhile, there probably will be more than fifty working their way down from the top of the mosque, trying to flush you out. You have no choice. It’s the only way you can escape with your life.”
“I was on the swim team in school,” Anna said nonchalantly. “I can do it.”
“Good, good. Glad to hear it!” Jason said. “‘Cause I was worried you might be claustrophobic!” He threw his hands up in the air. “Are you kidding me? We’re supposed to swim in the dark into some pool to get out of there?”
“Precisely,” Benjamin said.
Anna smiled and put her arm around Jason. “You told me you asked God for something big. Well, I’d say this is it. Remember those drawings my grandfather had with the tunnels and the stream that led to a pool? This answers that question.”
He took a deep breath and nodded. “Yeah, I’d say so. Okay, let’s do it.”
Benjamin took both of their hands and asked if he could pray for them. They both agreed and bowed their heads.
As soon as the prayer was said, Benjamin left and Anna and Jason headed down the tunnel, all keeping a close eye on their stopwatches.
They had twelve minutes.
CHAPTER 60
Jerusalem, outside the Dome of the Rock
Their disguises were good. Jonathan had to give them that. They looked exactly like two young Muslim men. He’d almost missed them, actually. It was the girl who gave them away.
Jonathan had been around plenty of Muslims in his life. He’d interacted with them on several occasions. Even had sat at the same table and shared a meal or two with several of them. And in all his experiences with them, he never saw one walking that gracefully in his life. All the Muslim men he’d ever seen walked with a purpose, a strong cadence to their steps. And that was the tell.
This young, short Muslim he was watching just kind of sauntered down the street. Like a lady. Not to mention the fact that “his” backside was swaying back and forth. That was not a man’s walk. And it definitely wasn’t a Muslim man’s walk.
He watched from the vehicle as the girl and her boyfriend, or whatever he was, followed another strangely dressed individual. This one was dressed as a rabbi, in full regalia, carrying a large duffel bag.
He had a bead on all four of the security team. They were spread out in two-hundred-yard perimeters. He had watched them move when Anna and her friend left the hotel. They were good. Not obvious, but not hard to find if you knew what you were looking for. Maybe they weren’t as good as he’d thought. Boy, wouldn’t that be nice. Regardless, he wasn’t taking any chances. He waited until Anna and her friends moved from the wall and went into an abandoned building. It was time to take out the security.
He left Waukeem stationed at the building and told him to let him know if anything happened. He was fairly sure nothing would. Whatever they were doing inside that building, they were probably going to be in there for a while. If everything went smoothly, he would take out the security and then go in after them.
He checked out his ammo and his “toys” and patted Waukeem on the shoulder.
“I’ll be back in less than ten minutes,” he said. “If they move, give me two clicks on the radio.
“Will do, mon,” Waukeem said with a nod. “Happy hunting.”
Jonathan smiled and crept away as quiet as a church mouse.
Jerusalem, outside the Wailing Wall
Benjamin made his way back up through the building and out the back door. He was sure they hadn’t been followed in. He wanted to make sure he wasn’t seen coming out. This back alley exit emptied directly behind a dumpster. Unless you knew the building, you wouldn’t even know about it.
He checked his watch. He had seven minutes. More than enough time. He just needed to get into place. The trigger needed to be within a hundred meters in order to transmit.
He had called in some big favors for this one. For thirty years he’d served his country flawlessly. He had the ear of the prime minister, as well as numerous other powerful people throughout the state of Israel. And it was many of them who had set up this covert operation. Of course, he’d not been fully honest with them. As far as they knew, he was orchestrating one of the most brilliant “snatch-and-grabs” in the Mossad’s history. As far as any of his contacts knew, he was working with a black-ops CIA team to take into possession a ruthless terrorist responsible for the deaths of over a thousand Israelis. What the powers-that-be didn’t know is that the infamous terrorist Shaliek Arsowie Mohamed had been in custody for six days now. And it hadn’t been as hard as anyone thought it would be. The Muslim killer had a weakness for American women. Funny, Benjamin thought. If Shaliek had been successful in his grandiose schemes, every American woman would be dead.
What Benjamin looked at now was no terrorist. It was, in fact, a row of six cars parked one in front of the other along the side of a street, rigged with explosives, and set to go off at the push of a button. A button that Benjamin held loosely in his left hand. The cars were all lined up against the curb along Bab Alsilsileh Street. He checked his watch. Three minutes. He crouched behind another car a safe distance away from the line of rigged cars. He bowed his head and said a little prayer for Anna and Jason. If everything went right, very little damage would occur. The charges were shape charges developed by the US Navy. The best in the world. Unless someone was standing within ten meters of the cars, the only thing that person would feel would be immense heat and the concussion of the explosion. It may knock them down, but that was it. No death and dismemberment.
One thing would happen though, he was sure. An explosion
this close to the wall, and at this hour of night, would definitely be seen as an attack on the mosque. Tonight was a special night for the Muslims in Jerusalem. The Imam had called a special prayer session in honor of the Hamas leader’s birthday. The mosque would be full for the next three hours. The moment the explosion was heard, there would be chaos. Every Muslim inside that mosque would come running out, probably armed and taking aim at the first threat they saw. It w
ould hopefully, buy Anna and Jason the time they needed to get inside. And hopefully, more importantly, mask the sound of the explosion Anna and Jason were about to set off themselves.
His watch began to beep short bursts of tone. Twenty seconds. Fifteen. Ten. He raised the cap over the button. Five. He shielded his eyes and crouched down as low as he could get. Three. He placed his thumb over the button. One.
Jerusalem, the Wailing Wall
Patrice sat on the bench two hundred yards away from her nearest team member. Standard procedure. She could hear the static over her earpiece from her radio. There were some clouds out tonight, and it was affecting the reception of the satellite radios. She had been trying to convince Christopher for six months now to go back to the normal radios. They didn’t have the same range that the satellite radios had, but at least they didn’t glitch and cut out anytime a big cloud passed over. Christopher, being a huge proponent of technology, wanted to give them more of a chance.
The radios weren’t the only thing bothering her tonight. Call it women’s intuition or whatever you want, but something didn’t feel right. Something bad was about to happen. And most of
the time that feeling paid off.
Breaking protocol, she stood from the bench and decided to walk around a bit. Check out the area. She still had her radio on. What could it hurt? She would still be within her area of watch.
Nothing was happening at her end of the street. Anna, Jason, and the old man had gone completely to the other end of the neighborhood and into an abandoned building. So she decided to head that way. She knew that Christopher would probably grump at her, but oh well. She had that feeling. And this was the only thing that would make her feel halfway better.
She hadn’t gone far when she heard a bizarre sound shoot through her earpiece. She stopped dead in her tracks. What was that? It wasn’t normal, that she was sure of.
They were on complete radio silence, the only exception being an emergency. Still, she thought about calling for a radio check. She contemplated it for a few seconds, waiting to hear the sound again. She didn’t, so she dismissed it and continued on another twenty yards or so.
There it was again. She stopped. Now she was concerned. The same sound twice in three minutes. And it wasn’t normal. She decided not to break radio silence just yet. Instead, she thought about the stage plot for their positions. Ramon would be closest to her. She headed that way.
He wasn’t there.
Now she wasn’t just concerned. She was worried. While she was one of the most skilled people on Christopher’s team, she wasn’t one who necessarily always followed the rules. Christopher would get on her case about it all the time. The fact that she was better than anyone else on the team gained her some leeway. Ramon, on the other hand, was mister rules-and-regulations. There’s no way he’d leave his post unless he had a direct order from Christopher
or received a code red on the radio. And he wasn’t here. That was it. Time to break radio silence.
She reached at her waist to press the radio. She stopped. There it was again. That sound. It was just a quick squeal. She’d heard it before. And not just the two previous times in the last ten minutes. She reached for the button. She stopped. She felt the blood drain from her face. She knew where she’d heard that sound before. It was the sound of the transmitter cord being ripped out of the radio.
She found cover and drew her weapon. Her entire body tensed, fully alert. She swept the area around her. Nothing.
She crouched behind a parked car and keyed her radio. “Command, this is Bravo One. Check in. Over.” Nothing.
“Bravo Two, this is One. Check in. Over.”
Nothing.
“Three, check in.”
Nothing.
She pinched the bridge of her nose. This was bad. No one was checking in. She knew they were dead. How, she didn’t know. She only knew that it was true. Otherwise, someone would have found her or contacted her by now. When one of the team broke radio silence, it was understood that no matter what the circumstance was, you always checked in. That was the rule.
She moved from behind the parked car to check out the other posts and confirm her suspicions.
Twenty feet away she spotted a dumpster tucked back in an alley. Something stuck out from the other side. She hugged the wall and moved in, all the while sweeping her weapon from side to side and up and down.
Ramon was slumped over, soaked with blood. His throat had been cut from ear to ear.
Quickly she made her way back out the alley and headed toward the Dome of the Rock. That’s where Christopher was supposed to be.
She hadn’t gone very far when she saw a brilliant flash light up the night sky no more than a hundred yards in front of her.
Immediately, she heard people screaming. Seconds later she was thrown backward as the concussion from the bomb threw her against the brick wall.
CHAPTER 61
Jerusalem, the Abandoned Building
Five … four … three … two … Jason pushed the button as he and Anna shielded themselves behind the door opening. They felt the ground tremble and heard the explosion. Dust and heat flew at them from the cavern behind the door.
They flipped on their flashlights and hurried into the dark passageway. The gate had blown, exactly as Benjamin said it would. There was an opening large enough for a single adult to crawl through.
Jason readied his pistol and poked his head through the opening, sure that he was about to be fired upon.
Nothing. He could make out the outline of a small room with a hallway that led upward in the back. It was the hallway that Benjamin told them would lead them to the Holy of Holies.
Jason and Anna quickly stepped into a room that was really nothing more than a cellar. The walls were rock and the floor was dirt. A few boxes were strewn about, making it look more like a storage closet than anything else. They pushed a few of them out
of their way and slipped into the hallway.
As they crept up the winding path, they could hear muffled voices coming from above, along with the sound of many feet running. Obviously, Benjamin’s distraction was working. It sounded like total chaos above.
Less than twenty meters up the hallway, they were met with another door. This is where it would get tricky. Benjamin had told them that this door led to the main underground tunnel network. Not even Benjamin knew what would be waiting for them on the other side of the door. The only thing he did know was how to get to the Holy of Holies from here. If they ran into any worshippers—or worse, guards—they would have to decide for themselves how to proceed.
Jason tried the door, he and Anna both poised with their pistols outstretched. The knob turned easily, and the door opened a crack. He could see a dimly lit open area, not very big, that looked a lot like the cellar they had just come from. This one, however, had a set of stairs at one end and two other tunnels on either side of the stairs. He could see two people standing with their backs to him just a few feet away. Both held AK-47 rifles.
Jason silently closed the door and whispered to Anna, “Two guys, both armed with automatic rifles—backs to us. Here’s what we’re going to do.” He finished telling Anna his plan and then opened the door again.
This time it was Anna who took the lead. She stumbled out of the door, holding her side and coughing as if she were injured. She was doubled over with her head down. She was motioning to the two guards to come to her, as if she needed help.
They reacted in shock. They didn’t expect someone to come in from behind them. As far as they had known, the only thing down there was some storage cellar and no entrance into it, except from
their end. And they hadn’t seen anyone come down those stairs since the explosion just a few minutes ago.
As Anna looked like a fellow Arab in her disguise, they quickly took the five or so steps over to her as she continued to cough and convulse. They let their assault rifles drop to their side, hanging from the shoulder strap. As they did, she straightened
up just as Jason flung open the door and knocked one of them over the head with his 9mm. The man instantly fell to the floor, limp. The other was fumbling with his robe, trying to get a hold of his own weapon. Since he was already caught off guard, it was easy for Anna to step around him and knock him in the back of the head as well. Both men now lay unconscious on the floor.
“Quick,” Jason said, “let’s get these guys out of the way.”
They each grabbed a man and dragged him through the door that they had come through. Anna retrieved a small roll of duct tape from the backpack she had concealed under her robe and quickly taped the men’s hands, feet, and mouths. The only way these guys were going to get any help was if someone found them. She hoped someone would find them—eventually. While she didn’t want them hindering what she and Jason were trying to do, she certainly didn’t want the men to come to any harm. Someone would find them. She was sure of it.
Back in the tunnel network, the noise above was getting more intense. It had only been three minutes since they entered the room below them. They needed to find the Holy of Holies fast. Another group of armed guards could come down here any second. What then? Would they be forced to shoot someone? Anna pushed that thought out of her mind.
“Come on,” she said. “Benjamin said it’s down this hall.” She grabbed Jason’s hand and they entered the tunnel.
The tunnel wound down and around a good twenty or so
meters. The last few or so, they were met with a set of seven steps made of marble. They were lined with what looked like solid gold. And inside the solid gold lining there were rubies and diamonds. At the bottom of the steps stood a great curtain, which looked like it was made of a very thick wool. It stood every bit of twelve feet in the air and was hung by bronze curtain rings. And last but most exciting to Anna and Jason, it was torn from top to bottom and was parted down the middle.
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