by Niv Kaplan
She preferred Walker being there, he being the nicest of the bunch. It was Walker who had pleaded with Hasson to let her keep the horse at the ranch they had stayed in, and if there was ever a time she considered escaping, that horse would have been the star accomplice, only they never allowed her near the animal without a close escort.
Not allowed in the living room, the nerve center of operations where the gang normally hung around glued to the tube which was off limits to her as well, she skipped back up to her room and her books.
Lately she had begun a small diary, putting some of her thoughts on paper. She took it out and began writing, describing the morning's events, giving her own interpretations to the standoff at the front door. She wrote as if she was writing to her mother not knowing if she will ever get to watch her read it.
"...Christmas and Hanukah are just around the corner and I guess I'll be celebrating them alone once again. I light all eight candles for Hanukah and I decorate my bed on Christmas Day. It's lonely here, Mom, it has been for a long time. I just pray they let me see you before next Christmas comes around.”
CHAPTER 49
The phone ringing at two in the morning did not wake Stana up. He was awake.
He and the fraulein had been to a Brahms concert, then went for a nightcap at a local brasserie before ending up in his bed for another stimulating session of passion, as he liked to put it.
Never having been married, Fraulein Muller had been the closest thing he ever had to a commitment. They were in the midst of after-play when the nagging ring forced Stana to slip from within her grasp and roll over to pick up the phone.
"Karl, it's Ed," said the familiar voice without apologizing for the imprudent hour. "There's trouble. We need to talk.”
"So talk Edgar. I'm listening," Stana said irritably, straightening up against the pillow and reaching out a hand to caress the fraulein's back.
"It looks like Glass broke. The Feds picked up Kumar for questioning and it seems he talked then went to see Hasson.”
The hand on the fraulein’s back froze and she turned sensing the mood change.
"I'm listening," Stana said icily, already envisioning possible scenarios.
"Hasson just called me. Kumar informed him the Feds want to negotiate a deal for the girl's release."
"What do they know?"
"Not sure. Only what I heard from Hasson and he was pretty vague himself.”
"Tell me exactly what he said.”
"Said Glass gave them Kumar and the location of the house…"
"But Glass does not know the location of this house!" Stana interrupted.
Fraulein Muller perked up and there was a silent pause on the other end before Langone went on.
"They ambushed Kumar at his hotel and took him in for questioning, then released him without filing charges. He went straight to Hasson.”
"Why did he not call us?" Stana queried.
"I've been wondering about that myself," Langone said. "Do you know where he is now?"
"Not in his room, I can tell you that much. So far, I can't find him anywhere.”
"What about Glass. Do you know where he is?"
"I… I didn't bother to check.”
"What does Hasson think?"
"He wants to negotiate a deal.”
"Is he mad?" Stana exclaimed, shooting up in bed, letting the covers slip off his body.
"Says if we give her up they'll let us alone.”
"Utter nonsense. Nobody will let us get away with anything, primarily because of what was done to those two executives.”
Fraulein Muller began caressing his taut stomach removing the sheets, exposing his manhood.
Langone was once again silent on the other end.
"I don't think Hasson is aware of those assassinations," he finally said, thoughtfully.
"And why should he be if Kumar never told him," Stana complained.
The fraulein had by now grasped him in her hand and was attempting to stroke him erect, caressing his testicles for added effect.
"If he thinks he can strike up a deal, he's crazy," Stana continued moving his buttocks in an attempt to shake free.
"And what about the project? Do we just give it up as well?"
Again there was a pause. "It all makes sense now," he heard Langone say dispiritedly.
The fraulein was now licking him with her tongue, crawling over him like a lizard.
The backhand slap hit her square on the cheek then his knee jerked her aside, sending her sprawling on her back. She put a hand to her face in shock, turning to face him, her white naked frame curled up in pain. Then their eyes locked and she quickly retreated to the bathroom.
"What makes sense, Edgar? Is there something I don't know?" Stana asked, his eyes following the fraulein's withdrawal.
"Yeah, Karl, there is," Langone admitted wearily. "I had Bradley in here yesterday chewin' my ass about that Vitcon guy threatening Matlock to give up the deal. I tried to have Kumar look into it but I guess it must've been too late.”
"Vitcon? What's he got to…?"
"They're on to us, Karl," Langone said in a belligerent voice. "Somebody broke and now they're out to get us. Vitcon is part of a setup. He scares Matlock into breaking ties with us threatening to unleash Customs after him with a list of export violations. Meanwhile Glass talks and Kumar gets trapped by the Feds. Now you tell me what this all means!"
"Why didn't you call me yesterday Edgar?" Stana insisted.
"What difference does that make anymore, Karl? For God's sake, let’s deal with what we have here.”
"It makes a hell of a difference, Edgar, because it makes you the number one accomplice.”
"Is that what you think? You son-of-a-bitch…"
"Swear all you want, but you have the most to gain and nothing to lose. You invested nothing and you can still make money selling the damn missiles for Matlock in the States.”
"It could be true Karl, but it ain't, and if I'd wanted you cut out of the deal I'd have gone about it a whole different way. Now either you stick to our pact and trust me as your friend or we part ways right here and now.”
Now it was Stana's turn to pause. Silently berating himself he heard the shower being turned off. He did not really think it was Langone who had turned but the American should have been aware of the danger and should have been the one to eliminate it.
"Sorry, Edgar, I was out of line," he said rigidly, swinging his feet to the carpet and turning his back to the bathroom. "But we can't afford to hand over the girl.”
"It may be out of our hands," Langone remarked. "If Hasson wants to deal we may not be able to stop him.”
"Can you still sway Matlock?"
"I've got until today. Bradley's still in New York waiting to hear from me.”
"Stall him. Make up something but give me some time.”
"What have you got in mind, Karl?"
"The weak link must be Kumar," Stana said resolutely. "The Feds got him hinging on the girl and he's selling us out. That's why he never called. He most likely got offered a state witness deal then went over to recruit Hasson.”
"What about Glass?"
"Glass might have given them Kumar but he did not give them the house. He had no way of knowing about it and neither did you. The only ones who knew about it were Kumar and myself. We purchased it as a fallback and Kumar had needed my personal consent to use it. He had called about the Cascade setup being jeopardized and I authorized the use of the house. He tried to resolve his mess but failed; now he's scrambling to save his own skin.”
"What are you going to do, Karl?"
"Give me an extra day and I'll have Schultz take care of them all," Stana said watching the fraulein head out the door.
-------
Mikki found the two engrossed in conversation, a collection of paper coffee cups set aside on their lobby table. He had driven all night and was gratified to find them waiting and alert at such hour.
"Don't you people ever sleep?" he
said flashing a weary smile as the two turned in surprise.
"Mikki!" they said in unison, Lisa getting up for a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
"Hi, Sarah," Mikki said in Hebrew as he slumped down on a vacant chair, "haven't seen you in a while.”
Sarah extended her hand, taking his and squeezing it lightly.
"We were starting to worry about you," she said in English.
"Yeah, Mikki," Lisa pitched in, "how long does it take to get here from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania?"
"Quite a while if they make you go through Philadelphia for questioning.”
"Who did that?"
"The FBI! Those damned agents couldn't catch the guy so they made me go with them to their office in Philadelphia and kept me there 'till one in the morning.”
"What for?"
"Wanted more details, more descriptions, more of everything I guess…"
"Incompetents," Lisa said with contempt. "They never do anything right. Want some coffee Mikki? There's some at the next door deli.”
"I'd love some, Lisa.”
"Let me get it," she said getting up, gathering loose coins off the table. "Want some more, Sarah?"
"Love some Lisa, thanks.”
"How's she holding up?" Mikki asked, returning to Hebrew, watching Lisa exit the hotel lobby.
"Now that Karen's within reach, extremely on edge," Sarah said then briefly described the latest developments.
"Yossi's been on the phone with Israel all day. Agent Wilkins and he met with Kumar again. Yossi says they have some demands. Nothing that can't be handled but it'll take another day to secure.”
"That's a damned eternity," Mikki fretted. "Why not get Nadav pushing this?"
"Yossi said to leave him out of it. He's still military and he can't get openly involved, plus he can't do much, not with the kind of people Yossi's dealing with.”
"Who's he dealing with?"
"He went straight to the top; got them to back the deal; now Hasson wants it in writing.”
Looking at Sarah with tired eyes, Mikki shook his head and sighed.
"Heard anything from Eitan? How's he doing?"
"All's quiet so far but he's worried. There are a couple of agents with him but he thinks there are a lot more hanging around there. Says they're all anxious to storm the place.”
"That's all we need…"
Lisa was making her way back with a carton tray stacked with three cups of steaming coffee. Through the large glass windows behind her, a grayish dawn was just beginning to light up the deserted New York streets.
"Shoot, it's freezing out there," Lisa said as she sat down, distributing the coffee with packets of sugar and cream. "I don't know how people live in this kind of weather."
"You should be used to this by now," Mikki said, realizing the irony too late.
"You are tired my boy," Lisa said affectionately. "Drink up, it'll keep you going.”
"I think I will," Mikki said grinning at her, pouring three packets of sugar in his cup and stirring vigorously.
"Sarah fill you in on all the latest?"
Mikki nodded gulping his coffee.
"She did and I think this extra day is a disaster.”
"So do we but what can we do?"
"There isn’t much we can do to push the bureaucrats in Israel. They can drag this thing out forever if they feel like it.”
"Agent Wilkins will only be able to hold those hot head agents of hers for so long," Sarah added.
Lisa's expression became troubled. "Why would they want to jeopardize everything now that we're so close?"
"They have this policy never to concede to terrorist demands so as not to encourage more terrorism," Mikki explained, mockingly clarifying the official stand. "It's a farce but they all like to use it. Makes them feel more in control. Truth is, if you're aiming to keep hostages alive, it's far more effective to negotiate a deal than use force, but when both sides stick to their principles, somehow or another they end up in a duel.”
"Sounds encouraging, Mikki," Sarah said ironically, seeing Lisa on the verge of tears.
"But this here is different," Mikki went on, pleading his case, "and we need to try and explain this because if we play our cards right it should be in both sides’ best interests to negotiate a deal.”
"Explain to whom, Mikki?" Sarah inquired. "They all know this. That was our original premise. We explicitly stipulated they were not to alert anyone and give us enough time to arrange the deal. They were to keep it out of the press at all cost and finally they, along with Yossi, were to do the negotiating. Lisa heard Agent Wilkins address her crew. They know what this is all about yet they still don't endorse patience.”
"It's their ego," Lisa remarked. "Who are we telling them what to do? I bet they can't stand that.”
"I bet you're right," Mikki said. "Yossi better get those assurances quick.”
"Let's think positive here, guys," Sarah said. "We've come all this way, it's bound to go right.”
"And what if it doesn't?" Lisa said. "What if something goes wrong and I never get to see Karen just because some hot head federal agent can't keep his…”
She burst into tears laying her forehead on the table suppressing the sobbing with her hands, her body trembling.
Sarah and Mikki exchanged glances but remained uncomfortably idle waiting for the emotion to subside. The change in Lisa was quite evident, Mikki thought. No longer the level headed person who had been exuberantly working by his side, she was now quite nervous and distraught, prone to unforeseen bursts of emotion. Sarah told him about Lisa's reaction to the encounter in the interrogation room and now he could see it for himself.
"She took it quite hard," Sarah had said when Lisa was out getting the coffee, "not because of her own safety being suddenly threatened, but because it made her realize what her sister must have had to deal with all these years.”
For the first time since their encounter at the Geffen Inn, when her father had stormed out of the conference room and she had cried, did he feel sorry for her. He knew she had kept strong throughout the ordeal by always keeping a shadow of doubt as to the odds, but now, with her sister being only an arrangement away, she could no longer control the emotion.
He realized he too was much more high-strung about everything, attributing it to the frustration of having to let other people complete what he had started, but watching Lisa, he knew he must be suffering from many of the same jitters.
"Let's go for a walk," he suggested as Lisa raised her head from the table, wiping the tears from her cheeks. "It'll do all of us some good.”
"I need to get to my apartment," she said in a quivering voice.
"Great, then we'll walk you," Mikki suggested trying to sound cheerful.
"Why don't you two go," Sarah interjected, "I'll go up to my room; there's a few things I need to do.”
"What about you Mikki?" Lisa inquired. "You should check in and get some rest. You've been up and driving all night.”
"Nonsense Lisa. I couldn't sleep now even if I wanted, but I might throw my stuff in Sarah’s room.” He pointed to the backpack he had brought in with him. “Meanwhile, I'll see if they have a room available.”
He got up and went to the reception, startling the weary attendant who was dozing by the counter.
"Will you be OK?" Sarah asked gently. "I'll join you if you want."
"Nah, Mikki's fine," Lisa said, smiling weakly. "He and this weather ought to keep me from crying.”
"Will you call me later?" Sarah asked. "I may have word from Yossi.”
"I'll certainly do that and… thanks for everything Sarah. I'm sorry you had to put up with my outbursts…"
Sarah got up and circled the table, extending her hands to Lisa. "I couldn't have done it for a more deserving person," she said as Lisa stood up and they embraced.
She was waiting by the elevators as Mikki approached with his luggage. They went up to her room; Mikki quickly brushed his teeth, washed his face and returned to the lobby, f
inding Lisa waiting by the entrance, and the two of them exited into the icy New York air and its awakening streets.
They crossed Central Park, west to east, stopping for a breather in a secluded corner by a frozen little pond amidst an untarnished, snow-covered expanse.
"We must be real tired," Mikki said as they sat down, removing the accumulated snow from a coated bench, "figuring we could be going anywhere near your apartment.”
"Why not Mikki? I thought we got rid of Square Jaw and those fellows.”
"Yeah, but there may be others."
"What difference does it make now?"
"Probably not much but I'd hate to have them pick up our trail again.”
She considered it a while, her face flushed pink from the cold air, glancing at the serene backdrop of the majestic display of nature amidst the crude city walls.
"Then where should we go?" she finally said, raising the collar of her coat up against her ears.
"We could go back to the hotel or we could stay here."
"How about we stop a taxi and go help Eitan.”
"We can't do that Lisa…"
"Then tell me something we can do," she snapped, her crimson lips barely moving. "I can't just sit here doing nothing with my sister so close," she said, demonstrating the negligible distance with her thumb and index finger.
"The thing to do is get some sleep," Mikki said levelly. "Yossi's bound to have some news later on and we’d best be rested.”
Lisa put her hands across her body rubbing her sides for circulation.
"You're right Mikki. Forgive me I'm just…"
"I know, me too," he said, turning to her, "but if there's one thing I learned from my military service is that you sometimes have to take things at face value and hope for the best. You must keep prepared but you can never anticipate everything and there's no point worrying about things that are out of your control. I'm just as wary of all those things that can go wrong but we've done our best and right now and there’s not much more we can do. We need to remain positive and keep from making careless mistakes.”