“Please follow me Mr. Walker.”
The woman turned and walked back down the hallway from which she had emerged, her steps quick and confident, requiring Mac to move swiftly to catch up. She opened the second door they passed on the right side of the hallway and entered what appeared to be a conference room. It contained a long black metallic desk with a glass top, and several matching black chairs. Unlike the reception area, no other furnishings were in the room, and no artwork hung from the walls.
“Take a seat Mr. Walker.”
Mac sat on one side of the table as the woman took a seat opposite him.
“Do you know who I am?”
Mac shook his head.
“No idea – just following the directions Tilley gave me. Care to say how much you know about me?”
The woman’s mouth curled into a slight smile. Though her features were somewhat hard, Mac found her attractive in a she-can-kick-the-shit-out-of-somebody kind of way.
“I know almost as little about you as you do me, Mr. Walker. What I do know is that you are in a bit of difficulty since arriving in Benghazi. I also know that I owe your Mr. Tilley a favor. This help I am now providing you is payment for that debt.”
Mac finally placed her accent – like the weapons in the reception room, she was Israeli.
“Whatever help you can provide is appreciated. Right now, we still don’t have any real idea what the hell we’re doing here.”
“As you were told, my name is Ella. This building you now sit in is a media center…of sorts.”
Mac smiled.
“Of course…of sorts.”
“We will provide you transport to your safe house Mr. Walker. What you find there, I cannot tell you. Once that transport has been completed, I ask that you not return here. Our business, such that it is, will have been completed. Do you understand?”
The door to the conference room opened, followed by one of the two armed men from the reception room stepping inside. Though the man’s voice remained calm and measured, Mac noted his eyes betrayed concern.
“Two vehicles outside Ella. Black SUVs. They appear to be securing the perimeter.”
Ella’s eyes burned into Mac.
“You were followed?”
Mac nodded.
“Yeah – thought we had lost them though.”
Ella tilted her head to the side as her eyebrows raised.
“It appears you didn’t do such a good job of that Mr. Walker. Do you have men outside?”
Mac glanced at the armed man and then looked back at Ella.
“Three. They’re armed with handguns.”
Ella leaned over the table, her voice coming out in a seething whisper.
“And are you better with a gun than you are at not attracting attention and leading trouble right to our door Mr. Walker?”
Mac’s eyes flashed indignation as he met Ella’s stare.
“I’d say I’m better than fair if it comes to that.”
Ella offered a cold smile in return.
“Well then, let’s see…if it comes to that.”
Ella rose from her chair and walked quickly toward a narrow door near the back left corner of the conference room. She opened it up and withdrew another of the X95 assault rifles and threw it to Mac.
“Mr. Walker, this is Udi. You will be accompanying him to the roof. You are to follow his lead Mr. Walker, not the other way around – do you understand?”
Mac looked at the armed man and then nodded back to Ella.
“Hey, your house – your rules. What are you doing?”
Ella calmly pulled her hair back into a pony tail and straightened her black blouse and matching skirt.
“I am going outside to see what these assholes want.”
Mac’s mouth dropped open in shock as he watched Ella make her way down the hall and back outside as Udi motioned for Mac to follow him further down the hallway which led to a narrow stairwell with steps leading up.
A few seconds later both Mac and Udi were lying atop the flat roof on their stomachs looking down at the two black SUVs as Ella approached three men who stood just outside the building’s entrance. Mac scanned the area for any sign of his men, but wherever they were, they remained hidden.
As Ella approached the three men, four more emerged from the SUVs, two of them armed with assault rifles. All of the men were casually dressed, and all appeared to be white. Mac’s eyes strained to make out the face of the man Ella was speaking with, a short, balding man who was familiar to him.
Densmore. Mark Densmore.
Mark Densmore was FBI. Mac had crossed paths with him almost ten years ago when Mac was still doing Project Icon work out of the Department of Defense.
What the hell is FBI doing in Benghazi?
Maybe Densmore had transferred over to CIA or NSA. That kind of transfer wasn’t common, but it did happen.
“Company.”
Udi had spotted a large military transport truck carrying what appeared to be at least twenty armed Libyan militia approaching the SUVs. Densmore’s men noticed the truck soon after Udi did, and moved quickly to the other side of their SUVs.
“Get Ella back inside. Now!”
Udi had spoken into a small handheld communicator to the other armed Israeli man who stood just inside the building entrance. One of Densmore’s men grabbed Ella’s right arm and was attempting to push her toward one of their vehicles. Mac watched in admiration as Ella’s left palm smoothly smashed into the lower part of the man’s nose, sending him reeling backward. The other armed Israeli who Udi had just communicated with, reached Ella and placed himself between her and the SUVs.
Mac counted up Densmore’s men – they totaled seven. Two were armed with assault rifles, the remaining five were holding handguns. The military transport truck now sat twenty yards from the SUVs as its occupants jumped out onto the ground. Mac quickly counted twenty three of them – all carrying assault rifles. Their behavior, the way they walked so casually toward Densmore’s men, indicated the Libyan militants were not well trained, as was so often the case in this part of the world. They may have had numbers, but they knew fuck-all about tactics.
Interestingly, Ella stood her own ground as she began to yell out in Arabic at the approaching militants.
“We want no trouble here! These men were just about to leave. They were simply asking a few questions.”
One of the taller militants, a very thin and haggard looking older man began to approach Ella, but was stopped by the Israeli’s X95 pointing directly at him. The militant, armed with what Mac believed to be an older model AK-47, lifted his weapon to the side with his right hand while holding up his left hand palm forward.
“We are not here about you. Your news articles are of no interest to us. But these Americans, hiding like dogs, driving around our city, stirring up trouble, thinking they are above our laws, we have no use for them. Come out from behind your cars coward Americans. Come out so that we can see your faces.”
Ella stepped toward the older militant leader with both of her hands held up in front of her.
“Nobody wants any trouble here. Hasn’t Libya seen enough of that kind of trouble? These men were just leaving, and I think it would be a very good idea if you and your men did the same.”
“What does the Jewish bitch know about Libya’s troubles? Go back to Jew hell bitch!”
The comment was shouted by a large, heavy set militant with a massive dark beard and an unruly head of black and grey hair. Mac noted murmuring from other militia – they had not known that Ella was Israeli.
“Kill the Jewish pig bitch! Cut out her tongue for thinking she can tell Muslim men what to do!”
Several of the Libyans cheered the comment. Mac sensed the situation was reaching critical. He saw several other vehicles slowing down as their drivers leaned out to see what was going on. Within minutes, they would be dealing with much more than the twenty odd armed militia members – they could have an enraged Muslim mob on their hands.
/> Ella, also sensing the heightened danger she was now in, began to back slowly toward the building’s entrance.
“Where are you going Jew bitch?”
Mac watched as Densmore and two of his men cut off Ella’s path back to the building. Udi was now pointing his gun into Densmore’s back.
“Easy there – we ain’t quite at the point of no return just yet.”
Udi glared back at Mac as he continued to point his weapon at Densmore.
“I don’t take orders from you. You’re supposed to follow my lead – remember?”
The older Libyan who had first spoken to Ella turned around, trying to calm his men.
“We are not here for bloodshed. We are here to tell the Americans to get out of our country. To go back home and leave Libya to Libyans.”
“Fuck the Americans and fuck the Jews!”
Others among the Libyans began to repeat the words.
“Fuck the Americans and fuck the Jews!”
Densmore finally appeared to realize he was in just as much danger as Ella and her men were, as he trotted back behind one of the SUV’s, yelling into a cell phone that he needed help. Mac wondered who the FBI agent was talking to.
Several more Libyans had stopped their cars and were now walking toward the military transport truck, some of them already repeating the newly introduced mantra.
“Fuck the Americans and fuck the Jews!”
Mac spotted Jack moving slowly behind a row of palm trees as the sound of approaching sirens could be heard in the distance while Densmore and his men quickly jumped back into their vehicles and began to slowly drive away, leaving the growing and increasingly angry mob of Libyans to gather in front of Ella’s building. The bearded militant who had first shouted out that Ella was Jewish, pointed his assault rifle into the air and fired off several rounds. Several others among the armed Libyans were soon doing the same. Mac knew it would not be long before one of them pointed a weapon and fired it at the building itself.
The sound of the sirens grew closer as a Benghazi police car pulled in behind the gathering mob. A few of the militia members approached the police officer, firing their guns into the air while screaming for him to leave them alone. Mac watched as the police car quickly backed up and drove away.
So much for the cowardly cavalry…
Udi put his communicator to his ear, listening as he was told Ella was back inside the building.
As many as seventy Libyans were now gathered at the building entrance.
“Kill the Americans and kill the Jews!”
Mac looked over at Udi and winked.
“Hey, the good news is they changed their minds about fucking us!”
Ella approached from behind both Mac and Udi as they continued to lie on their stomachs peeking out at the Libyans below.
“So very glad you were sent to me Mr. Walker. I just love dealing with this kind of trouble so early in the day. You know, life’s just so boringly simple when you’re a Jewish woman in the middle of a city run by Muslim men who are born to hate everything about you.”
Mac looked back to reply to Ella’s words, but paused as he watched her moving forward along the roof, crouched low and carrying in both hands a World War Two era MG-42 machine gun.
“Udi, after I get this set up, I want you to yell out to those assholes down there that we mean business. If they don’t disperse, we are going to cut them into ribbons.”
Udi smiled back at Ella as she expertly extended the doubled legged base of the MG-42 and positioned its barrel to point just above the heads of the Libyans below.
“Mr. Walker, you can make yourself useful by helping to feed the ammo. That is, if you know how to do that.”
Mac grabbed onto the ammo belt.
“Oh, I think I can manage.”
Udi stood up and looked down at the Libyans gathered in front of the building and shouted down to them in Arabic.
“Hey! Hey! We are going to ask you to leave this area now! If you fail to do so, we are prepared to defend ourselves. We are well armed. Do you understand?”
“Send out the Jew bitch!”
The Libyans cheered the suggestion as they fired more rounds into the air.
Ella’s jaw clamped down as she moved the MG-42’s barrel several more inches higher to ensure she wouldn’t hit anyone below or away from the building. Mac knew the gun was rated to fire at a thousand yards.
The sound of the MG-42 in action was similar to that of an incredibly loud and violent chain saw. Within a few seconds Ella had unleashed a barrage of over sixty rounds, the results of which were instantaneous.
Bellow them, the Libyans scattered, their eyes wide in terror of the death that could rain down from above. Again Ella pulled the trigger, and again the MG-42 snarled its menacing warning.
A mere minute later and no sign of the gathering Libyan mob remained. They were a people well versed in the sound of a deadly weapon, and knew when it was time to move and move fast.
Ella stood up and brushed off the dust from the front of her skirt and blouse and then looked back down at Mac.
“Ok then Mr. Walker, I guess it’s time to get you to that safe house of yours. Please meet me downstairs as soon as possible.”
Mac watched the back of Ella as she made her way across the rooftop, not aware of the wide smile that crossed his face – that is until Udi’s fist punched him in the shoulder.
“Not for you to look at Mr. Walker.”
Mac looked back at Udi, the smile still on his face.
“Are all Israeli women like that?”
Udi’s face was again expressionless as he stood up.
“It is often said Mr. Walker, that it is not the Israeli men the Muslim radicals should fear, but rather our women. That said, Ella is something…special. That can be both a good thing, and a bad thing. You would do well to know that. She is not to be trifled with Mr. Walker.”
Mac looked down to see Jack staring back up at him from the ground, his head shaking from side to side.
“Told you Mac – fucking Benghazi.”
Mac looked out across the city streets, thinking he could just catch a glimpse of the blue watered Mediterranean Sea. The temperature already felt to be nearing ninety. They had been in Benghazi for less than twelve hours.
X.
…Mac’s phone rang. It was Tilley.
Mac hesitated answering, still uncertain whether the man could be trusted. By the fourth ring he decided to hear what Tilley had to say.
“Mac – you there? I was able to get a hold of someone I know in State who has been hunkered down in Benghazi for the last few months. They said they would send out someone to help you get settled in over there. Have they arrived at Ella’s location yet?”
Again Mac found himself trying to quickly process the information Tilley was giving him. Tilley must have been referring to Densmore who, the last time Mac checked, was FBI, not State Department.
“I saw a guy named Mark Densmore and a few other men show up here. I know of Densmore – he’s FBI. Or he was. Is that who you’re talking about?”
Tilley went silent, and Mac knew he had just surprised him with his knowledge of Densmore’s FBI connection, and was likely also shocked that Mac had spoken the name over the phone. Good, if Tilley was lying to him, Mac had to rattle the other man to improve his chances of catching him in a lie.
“Did you say FBI, Mac? That this Densmore is…FBI?”
“That’s right – we ran in the same circles about ten years ago. I don’t know the man well, but I do know him.”
Mac could hear Tilley clearing his throat, a sign he was considering what he had just been told. Perhaps Tilley was as surprised to learn of FBI being in Benghazi as Mac was.
‘You sound surprised Tilley, and given you’re supposed to be the one who brought my team this assignment, that don’t sit real well with me, you know? We just sent home one pissed off mob of Muslims here, and I’m sure they’ll be back as soon as they clean the shit from their p
ants, so how about you tell me straight up what the fuck is going on? Why the hell do we have FBI in Benghazi?”
Tilley’s reply came back slow – he was being very careful of the words he used.
“Mac, I know I have to be looking pretty suspicious to you right now. I get it, and at this point, all I can do is apologize and do my best for you to keep the assignment proceeding so you stay safe and eventually we all get paid. I have no idea on the FBI information…if you saw who you say you saw, then the first thing I’m going to do after talking to you is confirm that information here on my end. My contact is with the State Department – at least officially. That is who was supposed to send you some help out there. And I trust him one hundred percent Mac. I really do. I know at this point you don’t trust me, and that’s ok, but hopefully after Ella gets you set up, I’ll start to earn that trust back.”
Mac sensed Tilley was being sincere, though he also had to consider the man was likely at this point in his career, an exceptionally proficient liar.
“Who is this Ella? How do you know her?”
Tilley’s tone was slightly more relaxed.
“Ella Lerner is top tier Mac. That’s all I want to say over the phone. You’re in very good hands. She owed me one, and her helping you and your team out is payment for that debt. She’s nobody you want to fuck with though, so don’t even think about it.”
Mac grunted, remembering Ella’s recent display with the MG-42 machine gun.
“Yeah – saw a bit of that already. She’s not so bad on the eyes too.”
Tilley chuckled. He was becoming more relaxed – more like his usual self.
“I need you to stay focused Mac. Plus, word is, you already had a bit of down time with a certain attractive and very wealthy someone right before you flew out of D.C. I figure you should have that kind of thing out of your system for at least a few days, right? Just let Ella get you to the safe house and then we can confirm your assignment details once you’re settled in.”
Mac saw Udi motioning for him to follow him down from the roof and back into the building’s interior.
“Ok Tilley – I’ll let you know when we are at the safe house.”
MAC WALKER'S BENGHAZI: The Complete Collection Page 6
