by Ty Patterson
‘Those fighters? The ones the handler arranged?’
‘Yes, they will help, but not in the way you think.’ Magal glanced at his watch. It was twelve pm. ‘Come on. I’ll explain as we work.’
He shoved the zipline equipment and the crossbow beneath the tank. He removed an AK from his backpack and added it to the pile on the roof. He then lugged his bag and gestured at Shiri to follow suit.
The two men went to the elevator room, to the concealed door in it, and went down the stairs. They nodded at the IDF men on the nineteenth floor and similarly greeted all the guards they encountered as they moved down.
There were two flights of stairs between each floor, with a landing in between flights. No security team had sight of another, even if they leaned over the railings. That suited the two kidon.
‘Making him familiar with the layout,’ Shiri told the three soldiers at the fifth floor. Carmel had let all the personnel know that Magal was joining the team; that ensured they encountered no awkward questions.
Magal opened the door to the fifth and peered out. The two guards at the elevator stiffened, then relaxed when they recognized him. He looked down the hallway and waved at the two in front of the conference room. They waved back.
‘You’ve seen the negotiators?’ he asked Shiri when they were back on the stairs, in between the fourth and fifth.
‘No one has. They are escorted from the twelfth to the fifth by IDF. They have their own elevator. The American ambassador comes every day, however. She joins them in the morning and leaves in the evening.’
He watched Magal remove several smoke bombs and hide them beneath a fire hose box. His partner added two flashbangs and a small amount of explosive to the bombs.
‘That’s your plan? Take them all out? I thought we were only interested in the Palestinians.’
Magal connected a remote detonator to the bombs and synced it to his cell. Satisfied, he looked up. ‘We will use the handler’s men to create panic. What will happen when the hotel is under attack?’
‘Evac procedure,’ Shiri responded automatically. ‘The guards will bring the negotiators out. Surround them and take them down these stairs. Which is why we are on the fifth floor. It’s not a long way down to the basement. And this time, there’s no chance of a surprise attack by someone like Masih. The entire street has IDF and cops, some in uniform and some in plain clothes.’
‘When they are on the stairs,’ Magal pointed to the red box that housed the hose, ‘I’ll detonate those.’
Shiri’s eyes widened when Magal finished briefing him.
‘It will work,’ he said in a hushed voice.
‘Of course, it will,’ Magal scoffed. ‘We have the element of surprise. No one is expecting us.’
‘We may not be able to take out all the Palestinians.’
‘We don’t have to. We need to kill just a few, not all six.’
‘The handler—’
‘Is not here,’ Magal interrupted him irritably. ‘We can’t kill them all. We aren’t going to risk our lives on this mission.’
Shiri chewed his lip as he looked up the stairs, past the three soldiers there, toward the door. He let it unfold in his mind, how it would go down.
* * *
Magal and he would race down from the roof at the first signs of attack. ‘Nothing up there,’ he would yell over his comms. ‘We’re going to the fifth to provide more support.’
He knew Carmel and Abhyan would remonstrate, would ask them not to leave their positions. They would ignore those commands.
‘Are they here?’ he would gasp at the guards on the negotiators’ floor.
‘No. Floor’s clear. Stand back!’ a guard might cry out. ‘Negotiators coming.’
Shiri would help him hold the floor’s door open as the Palestinians and Israelis surged inside, with IDF soldiers at the front and rear.
‘Go! Go! Go!’ he would yell as the hotel shook and shuddered and sounds of firing echoed.
‘You too!’ he would tell the three guards when the crowd was descending down the stairs. ‘Magal and I have got this. Get them to safety.’
The guards might argue, but just then, his partner would detonate the explosives.
‘Boobytrap!’ he would yell, and he was sure that would be enough incentive. ‘Take them away!’
Distance would open up. There would be shouting and screaming and swearing. No one would be looking at them.
Magal would fire at the soldiers in the rear and then at the Palestinians—whose details the handler had sent.
Shiri had seen his friend work with a gun. He hadn’t seen a better shot maker. Magal could take out the soldiers and a few Palestinians, even through the smoke and panic.
They would have just a couple of seconds, however, before the soldiers at the front looked back.
Shiri would fire a burst at the door and push against it as if there were shooters on the other side.
‘Move!’ he would yell. ‘Magal and I will keep them at bay. For as long as we can.’
Magal and he would race to the roof as soon as the soldiers and survivors were out of sight.
‘Keep a watch,’ they would yell at the guards on each floor. ‘We’ve been breached. The stairs could have explosives. Magal and I will check, upwards.’
The comms channel would be flooded with noise. There would be multiple orders, and with their inputs, there would be confusion.
Enough time for them to reach the roof and zipline away to the neighboring hotel, where they would change into their police uniforms and rush out to the street to support the security personnel.
* * *
‘Let’s do it,’ he told Magal.
‘There’s one more thing.’
‘What?’
‘It’s not happening tomorrow.’
Shiri had had enough of suspense and surprises. He gripped his friend’s shoulder tightly and snarled, ‘When?’
‘It’s going down today. In a few hours.’
Chapter Fifty-Five
Jerusalem Galaxy
Seven days after Assassinations
Four days to Announcement
* * *
At two pm, Zeb was at what was now becoming his familiar location. Hunched over the balcony rails of the third floor, looking down at the lobby.
‘How do you think it will go down?’ Meghan approached from behind and joined him.
‘I have no clue,’ he admitted. ‘I don’t think the killers will replicate Masih’s attack. Abhyan has prepared for that. A stealth approach … frankly, there are so many soldiers and police around that I can’t see how they could carry out an attack.’
‘What if it nothing happens?’
‘Then we are back to square one. Anything on the screens?’
‘Nope,’ Beth sidled up next to him and mimicked his posture. ‘There’s enough on social media to reinforce the message that the negotiators will be moved the day after tomorrow. If the killers are checking the hotel out,’ she blew hair out of her face, ‘we haven’t found them.’
‘No strange vehicles? No repeat passes?’
‘Oh,’ she snorted, ‘there are enough of those. This place has turned into a visitor attraction. Cabs have circled the hotel several times. A few tour buses have swung this way as well. We have been able to eliminate most such vehicles. A few cabs remain. They aren’t able to confirm their passengers’ identities.’
‘They could be—’
‘Yeah. Abhyan’s people are checking.’
Carmel arrived, along with Dalia. ‘I have reassigned all the kidon. The majority are around the lobby and ground floor. Eliel and Navon are on the roof.’
‘Makes sense,’ Zeb nodded. ‘The drones will warn us of any attack from the top. How are they feeling?’
‘Bored,’ Dalia laughed. The smile faded away fast. ‘They don’t believe any kidon could be the killer.’
‘I hope they are right.’
Carmel nodded gravely. ‘I hope so too.’
Levin will have to rebuild Mossad if it turns out his kidon have gone rogue, Zeb thought bleakly. That’s assuming he still has the job.
‘Tell them,’ Dalia hissed, nudging her partner.
Meghan looked at her and then Carmel. ‘Tell us what?’
The team leader’s cheeks burned, ‘I ... we … Dalia and me, we plan to get … once this is over …’ her voice trailed off.
Zeb frowned when Beth launched herself at the kidon and hugged them. ‘You two …’ he struggled to make sense of Carmel’s words. Just what does she want to say?
Meghan rolled her eyes, ‘That’s just like him. Late on the uptake as always. They’re engaged, Zeb!’
‘Yes,’ Dalia’s eyes sparkled. ‘We’ve had enough of living in the shadows.’
‘Does Levin know?’
She shook her head. ‘No. You are the first. We’ll tell him—’
Zeb wasn’t paying attention. He was looking at the Galaxy’s entrance, where a car was turning up. It was some distance away, but he could see it was packed.
He started moving unconsciously toward the stairs, his sixth sense warning him.
The vehicle’s doors opened. Bodies fell out.
‘ATTACK!’ he roared in his comms unit.
He burst into a sprint, Carmel and Meghan ahead of him, Dalia and Beth a step behind.
Rifle fire broke out as they clattered down the stairs.
‘Everyone at their positions. Be prepared. Hostiles on the radar,’ Abhyan announced calmly.
Once in the lounge, Zeb dived toward the concierge’s desk. Sandbags were piled behind it to provide protection from incoming rounds. Small holes had been carefully bored to enable sight and shooting windows.
‘In position,’ Carmel checked in. Dalia followed.
‘We’re on the screens,’ Meghan told Zeb. ‘One vehicle in the driveway. Gunmen inside the car. No other vehicle nearby.’
Zeb peered through the eyehole. IDF soldiers were firing at the vehicle, tearing it to ribbons. There was returning fire, but it was sporadic.
Those shooters didn’t have a chance. Surely, they knew that. Unless …
Something slammed into the hotel, making it tremble. The lights flickered.
‘ROCKETS!’ he yelled. ‘That first car was a decoy.’
‘Copy,’ Abhyan acknowledged. ‘Screen report!’
‘A bus,’ Meghan’s voice was momentarily drowned as another missile crashed into the hotel and the intensity of firing increased. Glass shattered.
‘More shooters behind that bus,’ the elder twin continued in a clipped voice. ‘Hundred yards away. No sight of the launchers. Abhyan, the drones need to widen their arc.’
‘Move the negotiators,’ Yakov shouted just as another rocket smashed into the building.
‘Stay in your positions,’ Carmel ordered.
‘The hotel will come down!’ Magal yelled from the rooftop. ‘We have to move them.’
‘Negative,’ Carmel was firm.
Shiri ran toward the parapet and peered over it cautiously. He could see the bus. Tiny. To its left and a street away, he saw a trail of smoke. Something streaked as he watched and the building shuddered again.
‘Carmel,’ Magal screamed, ‘You’ll kill all of us. Navon and I are going down. We need to evac!’
He ignored the commands that came through his earbud. Smiled briefly when the other kidon echoed his words. He fired another message to Karim.
More. Now!
An instant later, he and Shiri were racing down the stairs. ‘It’s us,’ he told the guards on the nineteenth. ‘We’re going to the fifth.’
‘They said—’
‘I know what they said,’ he cut off the soldier angrily. The Galaxy rocked on its foundation before he could finish. Metal tore and glass shattered.
‘You, stay in your position,’ he snapped and carried on running down.
* * *
‘One rocket launcher in sight,’ said Beth. Cool. Collected. ‘A street behind the bus. Hostiles firing from the back of a truck.’ She gave coordinates, to which Abhyan reacted instantly. He deployed one team of outside soldiers to tackle the truck.
‘There should be more,’ Zeb replied. ‘Check for ground entry as well. Attackers on foot.’
‘Checking. No sign of it at the moment.’
Zeb looked up as a beam crashed to the floor, tearing down several wall hangings. The guests in the lobby had taken cover. No screaming. No panic.
Why would they? They’re experienced soldiers and cops. He grinned in spite of himself, acknowledging Abhyan’s genius in that deployment.
‘I’m joining Eliel and Navon,’ Yakov shrieked over the comms. Several kidon joined in. ‘To the fifth floor. To escort the negotiators down.’
Carmel looked at Zeb from behind her cover.
Let them go, he mouthed. She nodded.
He hadn’t factored in the possibility that the kidon would break away from their positions. I should have. They weren’t clued in to the plan. Their reaction is understandable.
He stopped thinking when more missiles landed and rifle fire increased.
* * *
‘Yakov, don’t come up,’ Magal grunted as he took the steps two at a time. ‘You’ll get in our way.’
‘I am coming,’ the kidon shouted angrily. ‘Nachman, too.’
We’ll have to kill the idiots.
‘Carmel, are the evac vehicles ready?’
Her reply was drowned out in another burst of sound.
He winced even as he ran. Karim was throwing everything that he had at the hotel. I hope it stays standing. The building was rocking and shuddering, but so far, no cracks had appeared in the walls.
They reached the sixth floor, warned the guards to stay put and rushed down.
Fifth floor. Magal halted for a second, sweat streaming down his face. He gulped air, Shiri beside him. The three soldiers on the landing looked at them impassively. From below, footsteps pounded.
‘Eliel!’ Nachman and Yakov called out.
Magal didn’t reply. ‘Where are the negotiators?’ he grated. The soldiers didn’t answer. They didn’t stop him when he flung the door open and raced inside the floor.
‘Stop!’ the IDF guards at the elevator commanded.
‘Stop for what?’ Magal growled. ‘The hotel to come down on us?’
He ran toward the conference room with Shiri. A door slammed behind them. He snatched a glance behind. Nachman, Yakov, Uzziah and two other kidon were joining them.
‘We’ll have to deal with them,’ Shiri whispered.
‘We will,’ Magal said grimly as he moved, ‘but why aren’t the negotiators moving out?’
The sounds of battle were muted by the thickly carpeted floor. No windows had shattered on this floor.
I asked Karim to stay away from the fifth. A rocket could take out all the negotiators. That isn’t what the handler wants. Only Palestinians should die.
He approached the conference room, the guards straightening, looking at them. ‘Stand back!’ they ordered.
‘Use your brains, you fool,’ Magal swore. ‘We need to move those people to safety.’
‘We have our orders—’
‘Screw your orders!’ Yakov shouted, his face red with rage. ‘Their safety comes first. This hotel is going down. We need to evac. Right now!’
The soldiers looked at each other uncertainly. Magal took that opportunity to barge through them and push the door open.
What he saw shocked him.
Thirteen people on the floor, prone. His brains caught up with what his eyes saw.
Twelve of them in IDF uniform, surrounding the American ambassador. Each soldier in the room had a weapon trained on Magal and the other kidon.
A missile hit the hotel, but no one flinched.
‘You’ve come to kill us?’ a female soldier asked sardonically.
Chapter Fifty-Six
Jerusalem Galaxy
Seven days after Assassinations
Fou
r days to Announcement
* * *
Abhyan’s soldiers were responding efficiently, even as Magal and Shiri entered the conference room.
Three IDF platoons deployed to take out the missile launchers. The sisters had located two more rocket-wielding hostiles at the two sides of the hotel.
A fourth team of soldiers approached the bus.
The attackers managed to fire one more missile, which sailed high over the hotel and vanished in the sky.
The firefight was intense but brief on the four fronts. In half an hour, all the attackers were either killed or captured. A bunch of soldiers and police went on a combing operation in the surrounding streets and the wider neighborhood. They didn’t find any more hostiles.
Back at the hotel, Zeb and the sisters were surrounded by the kidon.
‘You didn’t think of telling us?’ Yakov spat. ‘All along, we thought the negotiators were in the hotel!’
‘Why did you bring us here if you didn’t trust us?’ Nachman asked, more calmly. ‘There’s not a single civilian in this hotel, is there?’
‘There are a few,’ Zeb admitted. ‘The hotel staff. The manager. They volunteered. We swore them to silence.’
He crossed his arms and let the kidon vent. Carmel and Dalia were at the rear. He shook his head imperceptibly when the two made a move to join him.
My plan. I’ll take the heat.
Uzziah picked up his signal, however.
‘And you!’ He swung on the team leader. ‘You are one of us. You should have told us.’
Carmel was up for the challenge. ‘There’s no us or them. We are one team. We are here to protect the negotiators—’
‘There are no negotiators here,’ Yakov shouted.
‘Yes, but flushing out the killers is protecting them, too.’
‘Why didn’t you tell us? What difference would it have made?’
‘They don’t trust us,’ Nachman snarled. ‘That’s why.’
‘If none of us were trusted, why would Zeb bring us here? Need to know. We have that in our missions. Do any of you question the ramsad when he keeps details from us?’
