In Tel Aviv, after the plane came to a stop on the tarmac at Ben Gurion International Airport, she reached up into the overhead bins to get her carry-on bag. Just another few minutes going through customs, wait patiently at the baggage carousel for her bags, and she would be home again in Yisra’el - - - first though, at hotel King Saul, just around the corner from “The Office,” where Levi said a room would be waiting when she came home. Then after a long hot shower and a good night sleep, Matso Meal Pancakes, fresh squeezed Jaffa orange juice and a cup of strong black coffee in her favorite little café, just down the street. Later in the day, she could begin looking for a suitable apartment. Levi had offered to find her one, but she told him she’d do it herself. She had better taste that he did, if his office was any indication. That was the main reason she had arrived two weeks early: to go visit her brother and his family in their kibbutz near Hebron and get re-adjusted back into the Israeli way of life, without interference from anyone from the Office. She would only communicate via the Rome office, a system she set up before she left - - - no one would know where she was, even Levi. Then on the first Monday in May, she would make her grand entrance, and walk into Levi’s office unannounced, just to see that look of surprise on his face, his green eyes questioning.
Levi knew he should be preparing David for Miriam’s return. She had not told him the exact date of her arrival, just that she would notify him when she was back. He needed to figure out a way to get his best team back together. He would spring it on them rather than announce it as a pending assignment, otherwise it would give them time to think up excuses why they couldn’t work together again. They worked so well together before, but were too proud to overcome their past disagreements, whatever they were. That had to come to a halt because he needed them desperately for this case. Servette agreed. If they could be re-united to pull off this new Munich assignment in a couple of weeks, then they could head the Klement Compound case, since that the kill and slash maniac in Europe had evidently gone underground. Nothing had been heard from him for four or five months, so it was time to tackle another case. Communiqués from Buenos Aries, had convinced Levi that steps should now be taken to find out what was going on there. The Buenos Aries office seemed to feel that there could be a connection with the killings in Europe. No longer could the compound simply be under casual surveillance, it required some more action, and he knew just the best team to do that.
When Miriam walked into Levi’s office without being announced by Mirtha he was filled with joy and he hugged Miriam warmly. He told Miriam she looked wonderful and with a glow about her that he had never seen before. The Rome assignment had obviously done her good. Levi also realized how much he had missed her. He was hoping David would feel the same.
The two of them spent the morning debriefing and catching up. Then Levi took Miriam to lunch, leaving shortly before eleven so David would not run into them. This had to be handled carefully, Levi knew. Miriam had not mentioned David, and neither had he. Tomorrow, he would get them together and proceed as planned.
Dr. Chen Yang sat at his desk and signed the documents that would start construction on his Yang Life Institute on the land he had purchased six months ago at the eastern edge of Munich. This was a private moment he needed because soon much talk and construction activity would commence. But, for now no one knew his intentions. The public believed the new buildings would house classrooms and laboratories that would eventually become a medical college. That’s the way he had explained his project to investors and the press. Only five more months and the Whittelsbach Emerald would come up for auction again. When he had that healing gem in his possession he would unveil his emerald miracle healing techniques and his fame would spread world wide. He knew that when everything was in place, people would make pilgrimages to Munich for his emerald treatments and he would be famous and rich beyond his wildest dreams.
Dr. Yang was fully aware of the tricks the brain played on most people and he planned to exploit them to the fullest extent. Nevertheless, his intentions were mostly honorable for he knew that the most stubborn ailments, the ones where cures could not be found through traditional means, would respond to his emerald treatments. This was really not a trick - - - the process of helping people believe that they felt happy or sad, well or ill. His techniques would close the gap between medical science and belief. He had the training and respect already in the European Medical profession, so would never be accused of being a charlatan. This would be his most daring medical experiment, and he damned well planned on succeeding.
The new building would be completed in about a year, and in another six months the facility would be in full service, established on the trendy European treatment center scene, full of well-heeled customers hungry for his break-through treatments. In the meantime, Yang set to working out the details of those treatments. It provided a mental rest from his laboratory experiments and the heavy load of surgical patients. He also continued investigating backgrounds and recruiting every qualified individual from the University Hospital staff that he felt might add to his new center.
The plans he had for the emerald could be known to no one. Not even his wife knew about them, and he planned to keep it that way. He knew there would be difficulties in obtaining the emerald via an auction, because he could not attend himself to bid on the gem. A trusted emissary would be required on his behalf. However, he must have the Wittlesbach Emerald, for it was to be the centerpiece of his entire healing center.
The loud ringing of the phone on the nightstand woke David. Who would call at this ungodly hour? The clock’s red digital glow showed five in the morning.
“David, get here as soon as possible! I have an assignment for you in Munich. You have been anxious to get back in the field, haven’t you? Well, here’s your chance.” Without waiting for a reply, Levi hung up the phone. He’d already told Miriam yesterday to be here at six for her next assignment.
As David’s feet hit the floor, he groped for the switch on the bedside lamp before aiming for the shower. Minutes later, he pulled on his chinos, donned a tee shirt and baseball-cap and left his apartment. Taking the elevator down to the underground parking lot, he headed toward his beat-up jeep, climbed in and started the engine. The roar echoed through the cavernous garage. Time to get up everyone, he thought and smiled. He pulled out in the pre-dawn light, the commuters not yet clogging the highways, and took his well dissected short-cut to the steely-grey Mossad building on King Saul Boulevard. There was little traffic on the streets still silver from the late night rain. Waving at the guard at the entrance to the parking garage who nodded his head, then started the heavy steel barrier dropping slowly into the driveway. Spinning the Jeep’s tires as he always did, he drove down to the lower level to a parking spot near building’s garage entrance. Retrieving his pass-card out of his battered wallet, he slid it through the magnetic slot, waited for the electronic recognition to open the bomb-proof door, walked passed the elevator and bounded up the stairs three at a time. It felt great to have his energy back. Stair-bounding had always been part of his daily workout at the Office, and he never took the elevator except when he had been on crutches. The bastard who shot me, thought David, when I catch him…, if Levi is sending me to Munich… I wonder what’s up…another slash murder?
Slightly out of breath, he entered Levi’s office. David was looking forward to the assignment whatever it might be, but when his eyes fell on Miriam, sitting on Levi’s couch facing away from him, he almost stopped breathing. He stared speechless, then walked past her quickly over to the window and stared out, seeing nothing. If this was some kind of joke that Levi was playing on him… He tried to calm himself, his back to both Levi and Miriam, but instead felt his apprehension and blood pressure rising. The atmosphere in the office was like a courtroom just before the jury returned with its verdict.
Levi noted that Miriam did not look at David until he walked to the window. “Come on you two! Say hello! It’s been a quite a while since you sa
w each other, so whatever happened, this is a new day, and I need you both for an important mission in back in Munich. You get to go in disguise! Now say hello. Let’s get this awkward moment over with.”
“Hello, David,” Miriam said with no feeling what so ever. Just saying the words she realized she could handle the situation, that she was over him. “How have you been?”
David knew anything more than a casual reply would reveal his feelings. She was being pretty calm about this, so why couldn’t he be that way also? “The body is fine, Miriam, thank you. How are you?”
“Couldn’t be better.” Now all she had to do was stick with the party line and everything would be fine.
“How was retirement? You get bored and decide to come back? Were you living in your brother’s kibbutz, that one you tried to get me into?”
“Retirement?” She started laughing, “Levi, you old goat, did you say I was retired?” They both looked at Levi.
“David, I didn’t want you knowing about Miriam’s assignment, and Miriam, I didn’t want you knowing what David was doing either. So there! I can be devious, too. You can tell each other anything you want now. I’m going to step out and get us all some coffee. I’ll be right back.” He left, hoping that while he was gone they would find a way to communicate again.
After a long silence David asked, “So where were you?” Just being able to speak to her again seemed to calm him down a bit.
“Rome. I worked at the Rome station. I really liked the work, had a great crew, but there wasn’t any field action. I missed that. Now, I hope Levi has something for us. You don’t have to worry about me, David. I’m not the same person I was.
David focused on the job she did in Rome and asked more questions. By the time Levi finally returned with the coffee, they had relaxed a little more. Levi took the floor.
“Are things a little better now?” Levi inquired, looking between the two of them. Then he realized that wasn’t what he should have said. “Look, I have a very important assignment in Munich and only you two can pull it off. You both know the city, you both know Chief Beinschmidt and I damned well know you can work together like no other team I’ve had before.”
David was angry that Levi would simply assume he could work again with Miriam. How could he show so little respect for his feelings? He glanced over at Miriam sitting there looking like she owned the world. There was a tranquility about her that he’d never seen before. Yes, she had changed, and, maybe it was time for him to change, too. Reluctantly he began to focus on what Levi was saying.
“On this trip to Munich you are going to see if you can get the goods on Chief Beinschmidt.”
“Good old Bruno?” asked Miriam, shocked. “What’s he done?”
Levi and David filled her in, including details about the SS-slashing deaths of the couple who owned the safe house where she and David had stayed. Miriam said it had been her fault then because Bruno had followed her home from the hospital, and thus he knew the address, but they reassured her that he could have found that out easily from the phone number and that was some time ago, when they still trusted him. Levi told her that Inspector Servette sent Max to Munich over a year ago and once when he was in the Chief’s office questioning him he noticed Hans’ file half hidden on the Chief’s desk, even though Bruno had made no mention either to Piet or me he even knew anything about Hans when he spoke to us. Then the chief suddenly dropped all talk about Hans, making all of us suspicious. No suspects for the SS slasher killings had ever been picked up for questioning as far as we know.
“Beinschmidt has some files, including Hans’, and I want to get my hands on that. I want a copy of that file, and I need anything on the two officers who replaced Marvin and Herzog, you know, anything that would show us that there was a connection between Hans and their deaths It’s beginning to look like there might be a connection between Hans and Beinschmidt.” When David and Miriam started to break in Levi held up his hands. “I know…I felt the same way when I first heard. Bruno is more closed off than ever before, and we’re determined to get to the root of it before we share any more information with him. It will be tough to break into the Munich police station, but that’s exactly what I need you two to do. David, Malcolm tells me that you are a wiz at copying documents with that new miniature camera you’ve been working with.”
Levi had their attention now. “We’ll do a broad daylight maneuver. You will come to Munich as Mr. and Mrs. Phillipe Sanchez from Madrid. Miriam, you name is Maria. I believe you both can pass as Spaniards with no problem, and I know you can speak the language pretty well.”
David looked at Miriam. Of all the roles Levi could have cast them in, being a married couple was the worst and they both knew it. Could this be some game Levi was playing? They became suspicious. Was he serious? They began to protest.
Levi was expecting this response and had it covered. There was no choice in the matter he said. This was business, very serious business, their futures were on the line, and if they pulled this off, he had an even more critical assignment in Buenos Aries for them. They had once proven to be the best team in the Mossad. It was about time they proved they still were. Too much time had been spent lately in front of computers and too little out in the field. If there was a problem he wanted to know, but only if it was one that could affect the success of the assignment. He hadn’t the time or the patience to deal with any petty personal matters now.
David and Miriam fell silent as he continued to fill them in, then Levi gave them airline tickets for next Monday.
Mirtha brought in lunch on a tray, and they spent the rest of the day being briefed. They were told to report back at five the next morning. Levi wasn’t going to allow them time to talk amongst themselves and mess up this assignment. Before they left back to Munich on Monday, he had every hour filled.
CHAPTER 27
Munich
Back in Munich, as the bellhop opened the door to the suite for the Spanish couple at the Hotel Haverling, David realized there was only one queen size bed. The entry room was furnished with a large couch and a table with two matching chairs. At least they could sit and be comfortable and have a place for Miriam to put her laptop. However, the sleeping arrangements…what was Levi thinking? After the bellhop left them, Miriam stood staring at the bed. She had a funny look on her face.
“There must be some mistake,” David said before she could respond. “Levi would never get us a room like this. I’ll be right back.” David went down to the front desk to inquire.
“We didn’t have a room with twin beds, Mr. Sanchez, so we upgraded you to a suite, at no extra charge. I hope everything is fine.”
“I have a snoring problem and must have my own bed. Is there a chance the room next door is unoccupied?”
The clerk looked through his records and smiled, “Yes, as a matter of fact it is, but that room is also a suite with living room and queen size bed, identical to the one you have, sir.”
“Let me have it then.”
“Do you want two suites, sir?”
“Yes. Is there a connecting door we might use?”
“Of course, but the price will be doubled, sir.”
“That’s all right; give me the two suites then.”
When he returned and told Miriam of the change, she said the Office was paying for their trip anyway, so do not worry about it. Why was she being so reasonable? Maybe she really was over him completely. Was he the only one with a problem? He had to make sure. Since they had the rest of the evening free, why couldn’t they have a nice dinner and enjoy being friends again, she suggested. David figured that he would look like a fool if he declined, so he agreed. During dinner, in the hotel dining room, they filled each other in on all that had transpired since their separation. David told her he had become proficient at the graphics program, spent too much time on the shooting range and working out to get back in shape and generally vegetating hoping for another assignment. Now he knew who had taken that mysterious photo, the one that
only had “Hans” written on the back, which had been mailed from Rome. She had taken the shot the night they were at the Zebra Club, the night he was shot. He told her they could not make out enough details in the picture even though they had tried for quite a while, probably because of the strobe lightning in the club. Servette had later sent a photo he thought might be Hans taken at the Swiss border around the time they had been visiting with Servette and Max in Geneva. That would explain why there had been no more killings in Geneva after that. At the crossing, Hans had auburn hair and freckles and claimed to be a college student. David had worked that picture over, with Malcolm’s help, changing the hair, nose, and mouth to see how he might appear sans disguise. They needed a basic picture that they could depend so they could apply any disguise. That was the reason he had insisted on Miriam putting that picture file into her laptop. They might run into Hans, even though their assignment was only about the Chief and getting his files.
The conversation turned to what they were to achieve while here in Munich. According to Levi, evidently, the police had netted scores of people from the local nightclubs, and one might be Hans. According to one of Max’s sources, close to the Munich police department, that dragnet was to try to capture the killer known as “The Dagger.” Now they were charged with finding out if those suspects had been photographed, and if so, Levi wanted the pictures, names, and addresses of any who could possibly be Hans. The Chief had not shared his information freely, with either Levi or Inspector Servette, thus it would be imperative to get to his files and see what he really knew.
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