by Bryan Murray
Jake was also relieved to see Joseph and his detachment approaching from the fortress that was still a pile of smoke, flames and dust. He gave Jake the quick thumbs up sign to show that the hit had been a huge success.
Jake pushed Jamal over to a couple of Mossad agents. “Hang on to him!” he requested before turning to the general who was watching him with venomous eyes.
Jake smiled. “How do you do, General,” he began. “Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Jake Harrigan and I’m sorry to say that this is not your lucky day!”
The general looked at him “I know who you are, infidel!”
Jake smiled again. “You do? In that case it will make things a lot easier, because this little meeting is all about revenge, are you familiar with the word?”
The general nodded. He spoke excellent English. “Rot in hell, infidel” he snarled.
Jake didn’t comment, he simply beckoned Adila over. She had been standing safely in the background next to Ephraim. She looked quickly at Ephraim who motioned her to go ahead as the rest of the armed Mossad agents looked on. She walked across to Jake timidly and Jake motioned to her as he continued to speak to the general.
“Do you recognize this young lady?” he asked Al-Amabakhu.
“Why, should I?” the general snarled.
“Oh, I don’t know,” Jake replied. “Maybe because this mongrel, mad dog of a brother of yours killed both her brothers, just because they wouldn’t join your band of cutthroats!”
To one side, Jamal was already sweating, desperate not to die. He pointed at the general. “He is not my brother!” he bleated.
Without warning, Jake took his trusted Glock and shot Jamal in the foot as he fell to the ground, howling in pain.
“I beg your pardon?” Jake asked the Arab who was already bleeding.
“He is not my brother!” Jamal gasped, for some obscure reason thinking that this would lessen the punishment that was looming ahead.
Jake sighed. “Really. Well, you hyena, I’m going to ask you one more time. “Is this man your brother?”
When Jamal started to nod his head negatively, Jake immediately shot him in the other foot as the terrorist screamed again in pain.
“I’m sorry, I can’t hear you?” Jake continued.
Slowly, Jamal realized that he couldn’t win as everyone was watching and he nodded sadly that he was the brother of the general who was looking at him as if he could kill him himself.
“You see, General,” Jake began. “Some people have brothers and sisters who really love them and are loyal to them, like this young lady here, until this jackal killed both of her brothers that she loved. Yes, this pig,” he looked down at Jamal. “He was a real big man that day, frightened people were watching, it made him feel really important, you know what I mean?”
The general was looking venomously at Jake. “And your point is, infidel?”
Jake smiled. “Well, this young lady’s name is Adila, and it stands for justice as you should know, so now I guess it’s time for a little desert justice!”
Without warning he shot Jamal between the eyes and he dropped like a stone. Jake looked at the general. “Looks like justice was served!”
The general, tears in his eyes, limped across to the body of his brother and Jake turned to Joseph. “He’s all yours, Joseph!”
When the general turned to look at Jake, naked venom in his eyes, Jake smiled at him.
“So, now you barbarian, you get to enjoy a visit with our friends from the Mossad and after they’ve finished with you, the Americans will be happy to offer you our hospitality as their special guest for rest and relaxation at a little oceanfront resort in Guantanamo, Cuba!”
The general snarled at him. “This is not over, infidel!”
“Oh, but I think it is!” Jake replied. He turned to Joseph. “Great job, guys. Let’s go home!”
They all came over and shook hands with Jake and Steve. Adila went over to Ephraim and shook his hand.
“Thank you from my family!” she whispered.
He smiled. “And thanks for your help.”
They all moved away towards their vehicles, the general, under close guard, moving a little slower than usual.
CHAPTER 42
When Sarah answered the phone back in DC, she was delighted to hear Jake on the line.
“Hi, Baby, miss me?” he joked.
“Naw, of course I did! How did it go?”
“Went great. We took out the entire top brass of JOD, the Death Darts were awesome and we also captured the general who organized their little stunt at Winston. What a piece of work! Now he’s getting room and board with the Israelis after which he’ll be our guest at Gitmo!”
“That’s wonderful, Jake. So, where are you now?”
“We’re heading back into Tel Aviv, meeting with Zeke Ephron later and then flying back to DC tomorrow!”
“Great, can’t wait to get you back.”
“Me too. How’s business?” he asked
“Writing the Winston report is a bit like ‘War and Peace’, but other than that, the phone’s been ringing off the wall.”
“Great, see you soon, miss you.”
“You too.” she rang off.
* * *
In Tel Aviv, Zeke Ephron was already on the video link with the Israeli Prime Minister David Meissner in Jerusalem, both ecstatic at the conquest of the Jihad of Death.
Meissner was curious. “And who were the Americans working with the Mossad, Zeke?” he asked.
“An old acquaintance of yours, Prime Minister. Jake Harrigan and his team.”
“Smart move, Zeke! As you well remember, Mr. Harrigan did an outstanding job when we were tracking down those Neo-Nazis!”
“Absolutely, sir, I’ll be seeing him later today before he returns to the US tomorrow.”
“Give him my regards and our thanks for his help, Zeke.”
“I will, sir.” they both closed the video link.
* * *
John Mulroney was at his desk early in the White House when a call came through from Jake.
“Yes, Jake?” he inquired. “How did it go?”
“Well, sir,” Jake replied. “The entire hierarchy of the JOD were wiped out, with the exception of the general who planned the recent attack in the US.”
“And where is he?” Mulroney was curious.
“In custody with the Israelis for interrogation and when they’re done with him, they’ll let us have a crack at him.”
“That’s excellent, Jake. Maybe then we’ll get his links to Al-Qaeda.”
“Exactly, sir.”
“So, where are you now?”
“We just finished wrapping up with the Mossad and we’ll be heading back to the US in the morning, sir.”
“Great, keep in touch, I’ll brief the President with the latest situation.”
Jake chuckled. “Maybe CNN are already ahead of us, sir. The Israelis have already released the story and at my request they have excluded specific mention of our involvement.”
“Excellent, stay in touch, Jake. Good job!”
“Thank you, sir.” he rang off.
* * *
While they were waiting to board their flight in Tel Aviv, Jake’s final call was to Winston and Doug Mulgrave. When Jake got through on the line, Doug and Roddy were already watching the CNN broadcast on the TV.
“Hi, Jake, what’s going on?” Mulgrave asked.
“It’s going great, Doug. No doubt you’ve already seen the situation in Israel on CNN?”
“Roddy and I were just watching it. I take it you had a hand in what went down?” he inquired.
“Just a little.” Jake replied.
“CNN are calling this the biggest terrorist take down since Bin Laden was snuffed out!”
“That’s really why I’m calling, Doug,” Jake replied. “I was actually on the ground watching when the three Death Darts delivered a full payload of six DM4’s on the old fortress where the top JOD brass were gathered. I
t was an amazing sight.”
“Quite a weapon, isn’t it, Jake?”
“Exactly. It’s ironic when you think about it, that the weapon that Ben created to take out the US hierarchy ended up taking out the would-be attackers themselves!”
“I agree,” Doug replied.”
“So, I guess we’ll finish your report and get that to you as quickly as possible, Doug and then hopefully we can take it easy for a while!”
“Right, chill out, Jake and stay in touch, again thanks for everything, bye.”
“Bye, guys!” Jake rang off.
EPILOGUE
The news of the successful Israeli attack on the JOD was met with very different reactions around the world.
Amongst the allied countries who were constantly battling with terrorism alongside the USA, such as Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the Emirates, there was a feeling of relief that a major emerging threat had all but been extinguished.
In other far flung countries, the fact that they had seen other responsible countries of the world using technology to good advantage to fight terrorism, had helped to stabilize various stumbling national economies.
In sharp contrast, in the ranks of Al-Qaeda, the attack on the JOD had clearly been a major shock and the fact that the Israelis and the Americans now had a senior JOD general in custody, was also a serious concern.
With the allied, non-militant Muslim/Christian countries of the world now appearing to meet terrorism head on, this had also not helped in the new recruitment of terrorists, all of which had at least given the world a breather from the daily reporting of heinous atrocities by the jihadists.
* * *
Things had also settled down in H & S and Jake and Sarah had decided to take Steve and Angela to dinner now that the Winston report was finally complete and a hefty invoice for their services had not only been submitted, but also very quickly paid by a grateful Doug Mulgrave.
The meal at the outstanding fine dining restaurant ‘Alessandro’s Repast’ had been incredible and they were all relaxing over coffee. Sarah and Angela looked gorgeous in a stylish outfit and for the first time since the second visit to the White House, Jake and Steve were actually wearing a suit.
Jake was the first to speak. “Well, guys, we finally get to relax and take it easy.”
Sarah smiled. “Yes and I wonder for how long?”
Jake topped up their wine glasses. “So, here’s a toast to an incredible team. This was perhaps our biggest job yet, guys and we managed to keep the lid on things once again.” he raised his glass in a toast.
“Here’s to us, may our shots keep hitting and the enemy’s keep missing. Cheers!”
They all raised their glasses.
* * *
Across the elegant restaurant, at a table in the corner, a man and a woman, both elegantly dressed, were watching the scene across the room where Jake and his friends were clinking their glasses in a toast.
The man, swarthy-looking and dangerously handsome, was already on the phone to a third party.
“We found them and it looks like Harrigan and the woman have another couple with them. Do you want us to take care of this tonight?”
The voice on the other end of the phone had a Latino accent. “No, wait until you can get them alone and let me know when it is taken care of!”
