Infringement

by Benjamin Westbrook

  “I’m Al Rawlins. Here, warm up and make yourselves at home,” the man said, motioning toward the warm yellow glow emanating from the living room fireplace.

  Evan and Jessica moved cautiously away from the foyer toward the fire, desperate for the heat, but still somewhat leery of Mr. Rawlins. “Thank you,” Evan replied. “We won’t stay long.”

  “No trouble. Did y’all escape from the camp over the way?”

  Neither answered.

  “Don’t worry. I can tell just by lookin’ at you. I saw the others running through here all day. They were shootin’ ’em in the streets earlier. Not even botherin’ to take ’em back alive, even when they’d surrendered.”

  Rawlins locked the front door and walked toward the fireplace, where Evan and Jessica stood trying to get warm. “Here,” he said to Evan, “That fire’s getting a bit low. Move over for a sec and let me stoke it and get another log or two on.”

  Evan moved back a few feet, toward a light-blue upholstered sofa that looked like it had seen better days. Rawlins picked up a metal fireplace poker and leaned over toward the fire. With a surprising burst of quickness and power for a man his age, he turned and swung the heavy metal poker at Evan’s head. The heaviest section of the poker, the end, went a few inches past the left side of his head, but the metal pole hit Evan squarely just above the ear. Evan toppled over, hitting a wooden coffee table on the way down, and landing unconscious on the taupe-carpeted floor.

  Rawlins turned back to face a stunned Jessica and said, “Don’t you even think about it, sweetie. The troopers are givin’ five hundred bucks a piece for you jail breakers. I already made a thousand bucks today. I’m gonna make another thousand with you two, but first, we’re going to get you out of all those dirty wet clothes. You can make it easy or hard. I’ll like it either way.”

  The initial shock vanished from Jessica’s face quickly. Her eyes, locked onto Rawlins, burned with anger; however, her face went stoic, giving an almost resigned appearance.

  “Let’s just get it over with,” she replied flatly.

  Rawlins kicked Evan over to make sure he was still out. Satisfied, he looked Jessica over and motioned her toward a matching light-blue loveseat, opposite the sofa. Making sure to keep Rawlins in front of her, Jessica backed toward the loveseat.

  “Now, get those pants off.”

  “Why don’t you get them off me,” she replied. “Or are you too old to do it yourself?”

  “Oh, I’ll do it alright,” Rawlins said, moving toward her with the metal poker still in hand.

  He came face to face with her. Jessica could feel his breath on her face, taking in the medicinal minty scent of mouthwash, as he grabbed the front of her jeans with one hand and pulled her up against him. She looked down as he smiled widely, dropped the fireplace poker and began to unbutton her jeans. The top button undone, Rawlins’ eyes betrayed the giddiness of a teenage boy setting his eyes on a naked woman for the first time.

  “Oh yea, I’m gonna give it to you good,” he blurted.

  Jessica looked back up, directly into Rawlins’ overeager eyes. Her own eyes were aflame with rage. The wooden handle of the barbeque fork ground into her vice-like grip and, channeling her ferocious venom, she struck. In a split second, before Rawlins could even take his hands off her unbuttoned jeans, she’d buried all three inches of the two-pronged barbeque fork like a viper into the right side of his neck. The idiotic smile fled from his face as his eyes shot wide open, trying to understand what had just happened. Gasping for air and throwing up blood, Rawlins’ hands finally pried themselves from Jessica’s jeans and vainly attempted to pull the fork from the fatal wound. He staggered backward as he tugged on the barbeque fork and, a few seconds later, the fork still in his neck, Rawlins fell to the floor a few feet from Evan, dead.

  Chapter 61

  Louis made his way back to Jerusalem with another IDF unit. He’d been unable to sleep and unable to write, and had spent most of the ride back from Nazareth staring off into the diminishing darkness, taking in the odd juxtaposition of a pink and orange sunrise against the still blazing fires, smoke, and damaged buildings visible in many of the Israeli towns along the route. Louis couldn’t count the number of sirens he’d heard, or flashing lights he’d seen. Buildings were crumbling and rubble from the blasts filled entire streets. Cars and busses were bombed out and the hospitals were teeming with the injured.

  The true toll of war, of large scale violence, stood manifested before him in the waning hours of darkness. Israel may have “won” the conflict, he thought, but she and her people were surely not victors. They’d merely survived.

  _______________________

  Evan woke up around midnight to find himself lying under a flannel blanket on the light-blue sofa. He looked to his left and saw Jessica, who had pulled the loveseat over next to him and sat looking blankly into the fire’s yellow flames.

  “It seems like we’re making a habit of this,” he said, wincing from the throbbing pain in his head.

  “Making a habit of what?”

  “Of me waking up from being sick or hurt and you being the first person I see. What happened?”

  “Our gracious host knocked you out so he could sell us to the Homeland troopers for five hundred dollars apiece after he’d had a chance to rape me.”

  Evan shot up from the sofa. “He didn’t…”

  “No, he didn’t,” Jessica replied looking over to Evan thoughtfully. “That will never happen to me again. He’s over there on the floor.”

  Evan looked behind him to find Rawlins’ body lying on the carpet with a navy blue sheet covering it.

  “I’m sorry,” Evan replied. “It was a mistake to come in here. Something didn’t feel right, but I didn’t know what else to do.”

  “It’s just the world we live in. At least now we have a place to stay warm until morning. We have food, dry clothes, jackets, and a truck to get us to Denton as soon as the curfew lifts.”

  Evan sat upright, gently rubbing the large knot on the side of his head. He asked, “How are you? Are you okay?”

  Jessica sat silently, staring into the flames. Her unaffected demeanor finally cracked and tears began to stream from her eyes down onto her cheeks. She turned to Evan and threw herself against him, burying her face in his chest. Evan took the flannel blanket, wrapped it around Jessica, and held her tight in his arms, letting each pain-filled tear roll down her cheeks onto his blood-stained and tattered shirt. Holding her made him long even more desperately for home.

  _______________________

  After hearing the initial reports about Damascus on the radio, Michelle and Mrs. Parker had put Will and Charlotte to bed and sat listening for more news, trying to take in the enormity of what had taken place. They sat up late into the night, fully cognizant that they were indirect witnesses to the undeniable fulfillment of God’s Word. They cried, and they prayed, for their family, for Israel, for the people of Syria, and for the survivors.

  _______________________

  After arriving back in Jerusalem, Louis split from the IDF unit he’d hitched a ride with and ran to his hotel. The hotel had suffered moderate damage, but was still operating, and he was able to change clothes and grab the rest of his belongings. The water was out, so he wasn’t able to shower or wash his face, but the fresh clothes provided him with a little boost of energy, as did an application of deodorant and quick spray of cologne.

  The Israeli Prime Minister was scheduled to speak from an undisclosed location at 8:30 a.m. No press were allowed to be present, but the speech was to be broadcast live on television, the radio and the internet. Louis, like the vast majority of the foreign press in Jerusalem, made his way to a conference room set up to receive the live feed at the largely unscathed King David Hotel. There were throngs of press present from all over the world. The room was crowded, standing room only, and loud, with often heated debates raging in twenty different languages about the nuclear reprisal against Damascus.

  Before
leaving for Israel, Louis had contacted his former college roommate, Adam Benjamin, who served as a staff assistant to the Prime Minister. As a favor, Adam had obtained Louis’ necessary press credentials and authorizations for Louis to be imbedded with Sgt. Ya’alon’s unit on the Golan Heights. Upon arriving at the King David, Louis again sought Adam out.

  “Louis, you’re back,” Adam exclaimed upon seeing his friend. “Knowing where you were, I was a bit worried I wouldn’t see you again.”

  “I was worried about that myself at times.”

  “Where were you during the blast?”

  “Nazareth. We were at a safe distance, but I was on a rooftop with Ya’alon and could see the flash and the mushroom cloud. It was horrifying, knowing what was happening to anyone on the ground in Damascus.”

  “It was not a decision the Prime Minister had ever hoped to make, I assure you. It literally came down to that, or facing the eradication of Israel.”

  “I could see that in the damage all over the place on my way back here. It’s certainly not a position I’d want to be put in, not a decision I’d want to face. Frankly, I still can’t get the images out of my head.”

  “I imagine that will take some time. It’s not the type of thing we’re used to seeing back in the States. I’m glad I didn’t witness the strike.”

  “Have you watched any of the coverage?”

  “No. Honestly, it’s not something I ever want to see. The lives of so many lost so quickly.”

  “I understand. I spent the entire night awake trying to get the image out of my head.”

  “Here,” Adam said, taking his clearly shaken friend gently by the arm. “There’s a reserved row up front, I’ll get you a space.”

  “Thanks,” Louis replied as they walked toward the front of the conference room. “What’s the word out the Prime Minister’s office? Anything you can share?”

  “His speech will be brief, to the point. As I said, this was not a decision that was reached lightly, and that point will be made abundantly clear. In truth, he’s been under fire from all sides. Off the record, the U.S. and the E.U. have all but abandoned us entirely. The word is they’ll be issuing formal condemnations of the action immediately after the speech in rebuttal, and I understand there’s a congressional vote scheduled for later today that would immediately halt all financial and military assistance to Israel and potentially implement economic sanctions.”

  “Given the general animosity coming from Washington since the failed peace plans and the Iran negotiations, that couldn’t have been entirely unexpected.”

  “No, not entirely,” Adam answered. “We were prepared for backlash. Russia, China, India, Turkey and the Iranians have been vehement and antagonistic in their condemnation, in a significantly greater degree than the rest of the world. Russia and Turkey have already summoned their diplomats home and closed their embassies in Tel-Aviv, and we expect China and India to follow suit any moment now. Here, here’s a seat for you.”

  “Thank you, Adam. I’m really sorry to see you, to see this country in this position. I saw firsthand the pressure you were coming under on the Golan.”

  “Sadly, it came down to a matter of survival. Better to have the whole world mad at the State of Israel than to have no State of Israel at all. How much longer are you staying?”

  “I’m headed to the airport right after the Prime Minister’s address. I need to get home and try to get recharged, let what happened sink in. I hope to be back within a week or so. There’s just too much going on here to stay away.”

  “Well, let me know when you’re back and we’ll see each other again then. And, Louis, just give it time.”

  “Thanks, Adam. I’ll email when I’m headed back.”

  “Safe travels, my friend.”

  Louis took his seat and at exactly 8:30, the enormous video monitor came to life. The noise in the room immediately died to the point where one could hear his or her own breath. The Prime Minister appeared on the screen and began:

  “Israelis, friends, it is with a solemn heart that I stand before you this morning. This is a moment, a speech, I’d prayed I’d never need to make. This is, admittedly, a dark moment in not only our history, but the history of humanity as a whole. When we returned to this land, the land of Abraham and Jacob, and were reborn as a nation in 1948, it was with the hope of a peaceful and fruitful future. As we know, while we have been fruitful and prospered greatly in our land, our journey has been anything but peaceful.

  At nearly every turn, from our return to our ancestral homeland through today, we have faced aggression and violence. In every instance, we have persevered and prevailed. Conflict, war, violence, these were not our choices, these were not our desires. However, we have not and will not shy away from those who long to destroy us, to remove us from our land, our homes, to wipe us from the face of the earth. Never Again, we say. Never Again.

  I will not stand before you and recite the entire history of our struggles or the chain of events leading to the extremely difficult decision that was thrust upon us. I’ve said, as have my predecessors, that a nuclear Iran is entirely unacceptable. A regime whose stated goal is the destruction of the Jewish State and the eradication of the Jewish people, cannot be allowed to possess a weapon capable of bringing about that heinous objective.

  Thus, in the face of opposition to our right to security and appeasement by the various world powers toward the Iranian regime, we, the Israeli people, took the necessary steps to ensure our security. As with any nation, that is our right. We struck the heart of the Iranian nuclear program, disabling the regime’s unimpeded run toward nuclear weapons. In reprisal for this action, we were mercilessly attacked on all sides by Iran’s proxies and the radical Islamists whose common goal is our eradication. This was not unexpected. What was, however, unexpected, was the unprovoked use of chemical and biological weapons on our people.

  Our intelligence, in which I trust completely, pinpointed the source of the chemical and biological attack to Damascus. Whether the attack was initiated by the Assad government, or by The Islamic State which currently controls large portions of Syria, matters not.

  We have always stated, unequivocally, that such an attack, an attack which threatens our very existence, would be viewed as a nuclear attack, as an attempt to eradicate the Jewish State, and would be responded to accordingly. Last night, with heavy hearts, we stood firm to our word and retaliated only against source of the heinous attack, Damascus.

  Let me be clear, Israel did not start this aggression. Israel did not want this conflict, nor did we want to respond the way we have; however, backed into a corner and with the fate of our nation on the line, with our very existence in the balance, we did what needed to be done.

  While I am greatly grieved by the loss of life on both sides of the conflict, I shall not, nor will I ever, apologize for doing my duty and for protecting the State of Israel and ensuring its continued existence.

  Not surprisingly, the nations of the world are coming out in strong condemnation of our action. By doing so, the nations of the world, including many of our closest allies up to this point, are condemning, in effect, our right to exist. It has been said by our ancient prophets, that a day will come when Israel will stand alone, that Israel will be shunned and reviled by the nations of the world. If this is that day, so be it. If we must, Israel will stand alone, but, make no mistake, Israel will stand.”

  Chapter 62

  “Declan, wake up,” Megan said, nudging him. “Wake up.”

  “What’s going on?”

  “I got an email from Louis.”

  “What did he say?”

  “He was passing a message from Kevin Cameron. It says, ‘Dr. Evan was picked. All others are near, hid. All okay. I’m keeping eyes on children, mom. Will use secure mail. Lines knocked out and maybe off electric turns. Back on next week.’ He wants to know how we want him to respond, but aside from what he says about Evan and the children, I don’t even know what it means.”
<
br />   “Can I see it?”

  Megan handed her laptop to Declan, who sat up and wiped the sleep from his eyes. “Can you get me a pen and paper, babe?”

  “Thanks,” Declan responded as she handed them to him. “We’ll see if this is really from Kevin.”

  “How can you tell?”

  “If it is, it’ll be coded. Kevin started at the Bureau when my dad was still there. My dad had a special coding system which he taught me and Evan when we were kids. He apparently also showed it to Kevin once. If this is from Kevin, it’ll utilize my dad’s code and we’ll get the real message.”

  Declan began scanning the message and writing down letters as Megan looked over his shoulder nervously. “What does it say?”

  “It says, ‘Declan, lake house, Cameron.’”

  “How’d you get that?”

  “If you know the key, it’s easy. Start with the first letter in the first two words, D and E.”

  “Okay.”

  “Then the next word has three letters, so you look at the third letter in each of the next two words, which are C and L. You skip the next word and go back to the first letter in each of the next two words, which are A and N. Thus, you get, Declan.”

  “It’s a pattern.”

  “Exactly. It’ not complicated. The next word, hid, is three letters long again, so you look to the third letter in the next two words: L and A. Skip the next word and revert back to the first letter in the next two words: K and E. Now you have Lake. The next word, on, only has two letters…”

  “So you look to the second letter in the next two words, H and O.”

  “Precisely. The sequence continues and you come up with Declan, lake house, Cameron.”

  “What does it mean?”

  “In connection with the surface text, I’d guess it means my family is hiding out at our lake house. I also think it means Evan was picked up, based on the first line.”

  “We’ve gotta do something to get them out,” Megan responded. “If Evan got arrested, it was for helping us, and if your family’s in trouble, we can’t just leave them there.”