“That’s quite a promise. Last year’s will be tough to top.”
“I have some surprises in store for you. I don’t want to go into too much detail, but I need approval for the budget.” She gave him a two-minute rundown on the high points of the planned spectacle, and then told him what it would cost.
Nahir’s eyebrows rose when he heard the number. He took another swallow of champagne and smiled. “Good lord. What do you think I have on this island, an oil well?”
“You’re richer than Croesus. And it is your birthday.”
“Are you sure you need that much? I don’t want to buy my own country.”
“It depends on whether you want something truly memorable or not. With over a hundred guests, chefs to fly in, delicacies to source, rare wines to acquire, entertainment, technicians…well, love, I won’t bore you with the minutiae. Just say yes, spend the money, and I’ll go away and make all your dreams come true.”
Nahir shrugged. “Put that way, how can I refuse?”
Carla patted his hand and grinned before finishing her champagne. “It’s too bad you’re such an inveterate playboy, because with that attitude you could be my fourth husband.”
“I’m not sure my heart could take it.”
“I don’t require them to be healthy. Just rich and accommodating.”
He closed his eyes as a mild sea breeze ruffled his hair.
“Don’t ever change, Carla.”
Chapter 26
Tel Aviv, Israel
Cars whizzed by the small café near the commercial port in Tel Aviv, where Maya sat at one of the wooden tables, sipping a cup of hot tea as she read the newspaper. She’d gotten back the day prior after forty-eight endless hours in Jordan, waiting for orders following her signal to Lev that they needed a skilled medical team; her primitive efforts had only been sufficient to stabilize Rudi.
Lev entered through the front door and made directly for Maya, a fatigued expression on his face. The barista took his order and returned with it in moments: coffee of the day, black. He took a long taste before addressing her, his voice low.
“Welcome back. You had an eventful trip.”
“It was certainly interesting.”
“Rudi’s in guarded condition, but it looks like he’ll pull through. The doctor said you did a good job.”
“He’s exaggerating. I just did what I could.”
Lev studied her. “Peter indicated that you disobeyed a direct order when you went after Rudi.”
Maya leveled a blank stare at him. “He must have misunderstood.”
“I’m sure Rudi will corroborate your take when he’s in any condition to talk.”
“I didn’t see the wisdom of allowing Rudi to die in the dirt in the middle of nowhere. I can’t understand where that would have been a good call. But all’s well that ends well, right?”
“Not exactly. The mission was a failure.”
Maya took a sip of her tea. “I know. Truthfully, I would have handled it differently. I’d have certainly been sensitive to the presence of motion detectors. These days, even in rural areas, they’re an issue if the target’s technically savvy. You can even buy them online.” She paused. “But nobody asked. I was just a lookout, and I figured the experienced operatives knew what they were doing.”
“From all accounts, you handled yourself well.”
“Thank you. I did what I was trained to do.”
Lev looked at her over the rim of his cup. “Hmm. Well, your training is about to get another test, if you’re up for it. Meet me in the back parking lot. We can talk in my car. I’ll fill you in. Have you paid?”
She shook her head. He rose and went to the counter and gave the barista money and, after getting his change, exited without looking back. After a reasonable delay, Maya finished her tea and followed him out. His black sedan was backed into a spot next to a rusting dumpster. When she slipped into the passenger seat, he wordlessly removed an envelope from his jacket pocket and handed it to her. She opened it and gazed at the contents as Lev eyed the empty lot. It took five minutes to read the entire report.
“Indonesia?” she asked.
“Correct. You’ll be one of two female operatives going in.”
“Posing as prostitutes,” Maya said flatly.
“It’s the only way to get you onto the island. We’ve been trying to come up with a way for months, but the security is locked down tight. The de facto owner of the island has his own armed force, and he apparently values his privacy.”
She glanced at the name. “Nahir al Farooq.”
“Correct. He’s an arms dealer. He’ll sell to anyone. Terrorists, cartels, rogue states, it doesn’t matter. But he’s careful, so the evidence is always anecdotal. We’ve never been able to get the Indonesian military to move against him. As far as they’re concerned, he’s a wealthy recluse who prefers a secluded lifestyle and in their eyes has done nothing wrong.”
“Convenient for him.”
“Yes, but if we have anything to do with it, that’s all about to change. Word recently reached us that he’s marketing a chemical weapon – a nerve agent, which is a WMD, as the Americans are fond of saying. But we have no proof other than hearsay. Like I said, he’s smart, so he works through intermediaries.”
“How did you hear about the agent?”
“One of our operatives posed as a potential buyer. During the negotiations, we learned that it’s probably in his possession, which means on the island.”
“Then why don’t you have your operative buy it and hang Mr. al Farooq with the proof?”
Lev shifted uncomfortably. “That won’t be possible. Our operative suffered a hit-and-run accident last month. Killed instantly.”
“You think it was connected to this?”
“Hard to say for sure. Of course, we suspect it is, but there’s no way to know. He had several other operations going concurrently. And he lived in Estonia, where traffic fatalities aren’t exactly unknown. So it could have been his bad day, or it could have been related. Unfortunately, we don’t have anyone else with a sufficiently developed cover to resume the discussion, which leaves us with plan B. Which is you.”
“Me.”
“Our dealer has a big party every year for his birthday and likes to ship in hired talent. Prostitutes with a penchant for sadomasochism. He also appreciates beauty. We originally had a more seasoned agent going in with the other operative we’ve managed to slip in, but she met with an accident as well, so she’s unavailable.”
Maya frowned. “Those are a lot of accidents.”
“We’re sure this was unrelated.” Lev didn’t elaborate, and Maya knew better than to push.
“What’s the assignment?”
“You’ll fly to Rome, where you’ll meet the woman who coordinates things for him. From there, you’ll go to Singapore and then travel by boat for the party on the island. Actually, you’ll arrive the day before. We’re hoping you’ll be able to search the grounds, and if you can locate the agent, destroy it.”
“What if we don’t find anything, or don’t have free access?”
Lev ignored the question. “We’ve got satellite footage of the complex, and there are a number of buildings on the periphery of his property. We believe that’s where he stores his weapons. Your job will be to get into those buildings, search them, and if you locate anything suspicious, blow it up.”
“And then how do we make it out of there alive?”
“That’s where the local navy will come into play. You’ll have satellite communications gear. When you need them to send in the cavalry, send the coded message to our team, which will be in the area, and they’ll see to it that the navy’s there within half an hour.”
“Again, what if there’s nothing to find?”
“Then you fly out several days after the party, and nobody’s the wiser.”
“Right. But we’ll be prostitutes. Am I correct that I’m being asked by the Mossad to have sex, probably twisted sex at that, in order to provide a cov
er story for a fishing expedition?”
Lev sighed. “I’m not going to lie to you. Nothing about this is going to be easy or pleasant. And I’m not going to demand that you go. In the end, you have to decide. I’d suggest that if it goes down that way, you develop severe food poisoning. That should dissuade even the most determined pervert.”
“Why me and not someone more seasoned?”
“The arms dealer likes young women with a certain quality. Exotic beauty. Mystery. We have any number of operatives, but few that would qualify as international beauties. You’re one of them.”
“So this is based on how I look?”
“Partially. They won’t be expecting you to be a covert operative.”
“No, just a whore.”
“Look, you signed up for this duty. We got you out of a hell of a jam, and now we’re suggesting that it’s time to pay it back. If anyone could do this, we’d send anyone, not be asking you to do it.” Lev took a deep breath, and his expression softened. “If you locate the agent in the first day or two, you might well be able to avoid the more…distasteful aspects of the assignment.”
Maya blinked. “Tell me what this nerve agent does. What will I be looking for?”
“It’s dispersed as an aerosol – airborne. It results in paralysis of the respiratory system, hemorrhaging, and death. Victims drown in their own blood as their lungs give out. If it was to be used in a crowded area…our experts tell me that we could expect hundreds, or even thousands, of casualties. It would be in a canister, or canisters. Metal. Pressurized.”
“Is there an antidote?”
Lev shook his head. “Not that we’ve been able to find.”
“Where did it come from?”
“We have our suspicions, but nothing concrete.” He pointed to two black-and-white photographs, one of them blurry. Asian men standing by a truck, talking, taken with a telephoto lens. “We got word that these two are negotiating a deal for the gas.”
“Who are they?”
“Indonesian separatists with a healthy hatred for Israel and her supporters. They claimed responsibility for the recent bus bombing in Bali. Killed an entire Jewish tour group from New York. A massacre. We also believe they’re responsible for the botched attack in Singapore on the synagogue, although, not surprisingly, nobody’s taking credit for the failed ones.” Lev paused. “These are very ugly players, and if they have access to the resources that would enable them to buy the agent, it could only mean a major strike. I don’t need to tell you how serious this is. The stakes are off the charts.”
She sat in silence, considering the assignment, and then turned to Lev. “When’s the party?”
“In three days. You’d need to fly out tomorrow, after getting an orientation on the satellite system and the incendiary devices we’ll send you in with.”
“Through airport security,” she reminded him.
“Don’t worry about that. You’ll be equipped with thermite grenades disguised as cosmetics. The other operative will transport the satcomm gear. Everything will be undetectable.”
Maya gazed through the window at the dumpster, where a line of ants was climbing the side. “What happens if I say no?”
“Then we’ll have to go with only one operative. I won’t mislead you – that will seriously diminish our chances. But I’ll understand.”
“And it will increase the risk to the other operative – another young woman like myself,” Maya stated flatly.
“Yes.”
She closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the seat. “How long do I have to think about it?”
“I need to know before you get out of the car.”
Chapter 27
Jakarta, Indonesia
Putra and Wira were sitting in a run-down restaurant near the waterfront, populated by sailors, working girls, and the riffraff that preyed on the unsuspecting in ports the world over. Wira patted his stomach after finishing his feast of greasy cui mie and belched softly while Putra picked at his gado-gado. Wira glanced at the adjacent empty tables and hunched forward.
“The funds are ready to be transferred. They are sitting in a bank in Singapore awaiting my instruction.”
“Our brothers in America are a wonderful resource. But how did you get it to Singapore without triggering the anti-money-laundering alarms? I thought it was impossible to divert large sums anymore,” Putra whispered.
“No, it was actually very easy. Our American partners took in the donations using their charity. Then the charity invested the proceeds with a sympathetic hedge fund located in the British Virgin Islands. That fund purchased five million dollars of derivatives contracts from another hedge fund located in Hong Kong. The contracts were options that were fixed around the price of crude oil, and when the price failed to drop, they expired worthless.”
“I don’t understand.”
“To the outside world it was an investment – a bet gone wrong. And the contra-party just happened to be a friendly Hong Kong hedge fund, which then took the five million and distributed it to the account of a group in Singapore that specializes in high-risk investments, among other things.”
“Ah. So our group.”
“Exactly. The source of the money is above reproach, so there is no question about where it came from. Because it was commingled with the rest of the Hong Kong firm’s funds, there is no way to make a direct connection, even if you understood what to look for, which nobody does. And the transfer mechanism – the derivatives contracts – are not regulated, so we are home free. Trillions of dollars’ worth of derivatives change hands every day. It is the perfect washing mechanism.”
To Putra it all sounded like gibberish. He marveled at how Wira could master so many disciplines with such apparent ease, and shook his head. “When do we make the transfer to the dealer?”
“I have arranged for half the money to be wired tomorrow and the rest when we have the gas in our possession.”
Putra checked the time. “Then we are set. The boat is waiting for us in the harbor. I told the captain to expect to leave within the hour.”
“You have everything? The guns?”
“In my bag. Although from what I understand, the island is heavily guarded, so we shouldn’t need them.”
Wira barked a dry laugh. “That will be the day.”
“We’ll be at sea for the better part of forty-eight hours. I hope the waters are calm.”
“As do I. But you have to admit, a commercial fishing boat is a masterful way to transport the canister. Nobody looks twice at them. It is perfect for our purposes.” Wira gestured to the waiter, who approached and cleared the plates away.
“I hope so.”
“My friend, this is the big step we’ve been waiting to take. With this weapon, we will be able to send the dogs running in fear. Their world will never be the same. It is the culmination of a lifetime of battling an oppressive regime, and our names will be spoken in hushed tones through the ages, as are those of other heroes of the struggle.”
Putra smiled. “It is an honor to be involved.”
Wira stood. “Come. We must get to the boat. For the beginning of a journey that will change the world as we know it.”
They departed the restaurant, two unremarkable men wearing shabby clothes, anonymous in the most populous city in Java. But both had a swagger to their step, an importance born of their mission and the knowledge that they would soon be on the front page of every newspaper on Earth.
Chapter 28
Rome, Italy
Maya met her counterpart Natasha at Leonardo da Vinci Airport in Rome, as Lev had arranged, in the business class lounge of Alitalia. She was a stunning beauty from Latvia, her midnight-black hair complementing slate-gray eyes, her poise far beyond that of a woman of twenty-two years old. She wore stylish black Jimmy Choo pumps and form-fitting Prada slacks that made Maya feel like a poor relation in her summer dress, jean jacket, and cowboy boots – part of the wardrobe that the invisible Mossad fashion elves had
chosen for her look.
“We’ve got three hours before we’re supposed to meet this Carla woman,” Natasha said as she plucked a cherry from her soda and placed it carefully on the napkin by the side of the sweating glass.
“Do you have any more information than what was in the briefing?” Maya asked.
“No. I’ve been nosing around with some of my contacts in the escort world, but haven’t been able to find anything that could help us.”
“What’s your plan for locating the gas?”
“I have none, other than to get to the suspicious buildings as soon as possible and nose around.”
Maya frowned. “How do you want to work this?”
“No offense, but I do better alone. Your role is as more of a backup. Which if we’re lucky, we won’t need.”
“This wasn’t really explained to me in those terms. I got the impression we’d be working together.”
Natasha’s face softened. “We will. But we have to be careful about alerting them that we’re there for any reason other than to be sexual playthings for a rich sadist, and if we’re obviously tag-teaming, it could look suspicious. I say we get a sense of the lay of the land, and then we make it up as we go along. I don’t know what to expect any more than you do, but our best option is to be flexible. And Sonya, there can only be one mission leader, so I’m afraid my word goes on this.”
Maya had been given the name Sonya for the trip, replete with French passport and driver’s license.
“I’m not trying to butt heads.” Maya paused, remembering her only other operation and how that had gone, but bit back the urge to comment. “Do you have the satellite gear?”
“Of course. It’s built into my carry-on bag. Looks like part of the carriage system on the scanners, or even with a physical inspection.”
“I have the thermite. Same thing – disguised, along with a knife. You’d never guess looking at the containers. But some assembly required.”
“Let’s hope we get a chance to use them. How much did they tell you about the nerve agent?”
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