“It has nothing to do with it. A truck collided with me.”
“Do you have its details?”
“It drove off.”
“You’ve never had an accident, and suddenly a truck rams into you and flees? And you think I haven’t noticed the new tires and the scratches to the paint underneath the polish? Sally, this is getting serious. I demand that you stop. Let Marin know you’re quitting this whole thing.” He slid his phone to her. “Now!”
“You know I won’t do it. I’ve never run away from something because of threats.”
“These aren’t threats, don’t you get it? They may have already switched to actions without you knowing. Following my conversation with Aaron I checked up on Ben David in the police database and other sources I have access to. He’s linked to a criminal organization based in the south, and I’m sure they’re using him to get to Marin’s money.”
“In that case, I’m even more essential. I’m saving Marin from a criminal organization. Give me the details and I’ll send them to Jacob.”
“I’ll give you no details. Stop this at once! I know these types of people. They’ll give you no notice before they start hitting. One day you’ll come home and find everything destroyed, or worse, someone will harm Michael on his way to school. What will you say then? That you did the right thing for Marin?”
“I won’t say anything because nothing will happen. I will take Michael to school every day and bring him back, and—”
“I’ll take him. You, with your reckless behavior, have become a target. You’re endangering everyone around you.”
“The target is Marin, not me. And that’s also the reason that even if I stop all my activity today, they won’t believe I retired and will continue to threaten me. After all, they won’t give up Marin’s money. So there’s no choice. I have to go all the way.”
“What is this ‘way’ exactly? How will you persuade Ben David and the criminal organization behind him to let go of Marin? You don’t realize the kind of swamp you’ve entered.” Jerry pointed at the phone again. “Call him,” he ordered.
“I will not call him, and I won’t stop this work. I’ve never told you to stop your work.”
“I’ve never endangered my family.”
“Really? Weren’t we all at risk when we went to Pakistan?”
“That was unnecessary. You insisted on joining the project—”
“And I passed all the necessary tests, and your bosses authorized me joining. If I was good enough to take the risk back then, why not now when I’m doing a mitzvah, a good deed?”
Jerry stood up, angry. “You and your mitzvahs and beliefs.” He took his phone. “Don’t bother saying a word to me until you tell Marin you’re stopping this.”
That was his custom every time they fought, to take a vow of silence. Sally couldn’t stand the quiet that would spread through the house. “In that case, I’ll go visit my parents. At least they’ll speak to me.”
Jerry didn’t answer.
Sally prepared dinner, as well as breakfast for the following morning, covering it in cling wrap and placing it in the refrigerator. She went to Michael’s room, passing by the closed door of Jerry’s study. “I’m going to stay with Grandma and Grandpa. I’ve left food,” she told her son, who was preoccupied with his computer. “If you need anything from me, just call. I’ll be in touch. Dad will take you to school.”
Michael turned around and looked at her with astonishment. “Why Dad? I take the bus for five stops. No big deal.”
Sally sat down on his bed and took his hand. “Do you remember how, when you were a child, we lived in Pakistan and we all had to be careful?”
“You know I only have faint memories from that time.”
“Anyway, we’re in the same situation now. Something in my work forces us all to be very alert. The entire family. I’ve already told you I’m helping a good man escape from the clutches of someone evil, and the evil person is trying to fight back.”
Michael smiled. “You’re always fighting evil people.”
“Right. I can’t stand injustice, and I hope you can’t either.”
He nodded. “I can’t either,” he said solemnly, “and neither can Roy, I think. That’s why he joined the special unit.”
She kissed him on the cheek and left the room.
32.
The familiar smells of the fields dulled the stormy quarrel with Jerry, and Sally’s fear of Ben David’s long arm. She went off the main road and slowly drove through dirt roads, absorbing the calm of the ancient orchards, the crows of the chickens in their coops, the green surroundings. The back gate of her parents’ plot of land was open and inviting. Her father stood there, short and stout, hoeing around the trees. He didn’t believe in automatic irrigation or in drip systems, and instead quenched the thirst of his trees with water he poured into trenches he dug around them, as he’d done for fifty years.
Sally tooted lightly. Her father stood up, a smile spreading across his face. She got out of the car and hugged him, soaking up the strength she inherited from him. “What’s wrong, Sallinka?” he asked.
“Wrong?” Sally played stupid.
“You know I can feel you…”
Her mother came out of the house and walked over to them with open arms. Sally hugged her, kissed her soft face, and placed her head on her shoulder, seeking solace. Her father walked them both inside to the kitchen. On the large wooden table, where her mother used to serve her sumptuous feasts, a freshly baked cake miraculously appeared next to the ancient coffee pot and three porcelain mugs. “Dad, Mom, I want to tell you something and I’d like your advice.”
“Does it have to do with that bandit Dadoshvili?” her father asked.
“Yes,” said Sally, and recounted everything that took place in her life recently. When she was done, night had fallen and the sound of crickets was all around them. Her father, as usual, let her mother answer first. “What do you say, Mother?” he asked.
“Don’t give up,” answered her mother decisively. “You will fight and succeed, bringing nothing but blessings to your family.”
“You have the great privilege of stopping the villain,” added her father.
“And what about the threats?” Sally asked.
“Once,” her father answered calmly, “a rancher had a strong, fast horse that won races and received many prizes.”
Sally sat back in her chair. Her father almost always answered people seeking his advice with tales, and as a child she used to love hiding in the corner of the living room and listening to them. Now his voice filled her with a confidence she hadn’t known in years.
“One day,” he continued, “the horse was lazy leaving the stable and pretended to be ill. The same thing happened the next day, and the day after. Finally, the farmer called a veterinarian to examine the horse. When he left the farm with the farmer he said, ‘I’m not sure what’s wrong with him, but I’ll try to cure him. I’ll give him a few injections, and if he doesn’t recover, I’ll shoot him.’
“As though by demand, a horse neighed in one of the neighboring farms.” They both burst out laughing.
“The farmer had a sheep that heard their conversation,” her father continued. “After the doctor had gone, the sheep went to the horse and told him everything. Naturally terrified, the horse jumped out of the stable and galloped around the farm. The farmer was very happy. So happy, in fact, that he said, ‘This is a wonderful day. We must celebrate! Let’s slaughter a lamb.’”
“So you agree with Jerry—that I shouldn’t meddle in this business lest I get slaughtered?”
“Yes, if you consider yourself a sheep,” her father said. “But since you’re no sheep but my daughter, you won’t run. You’ll do the opposite. You’ll fight and win. I believe in you and know you believe in yourself.”
Sally’s eyes welled up with tears of
excitement. “May I stay here?” she asked.
“No,” he said, patting her hair. “Shalom bayit, peace in the household, may not be mentioned in the Torah, but it’s a commandment and should be obeyed. Go back to your husband, cook a good meal, hug and kiss him, and say, ‘I’m your loving wife and also my father’s daughter. Father said that a believer should have no fear, and I trust him.’”
“You know Jerry. He’s stubborn and doesn’t believe in anything. He will be mad and won’t speak to me.”
“He may not speak on the first day or the second, but he will on the third. The important thing is that you remain near him when he does, and don’t hide here.”
Later that evening, when she returned home carrying fresh fruits and vegetables with the smell of earth still clinging to them, she found Jerry’s study shut and the bedroom empty. She lay down on the bed in her clothes, too tired to undress, feeling endlessly lonely and tired. Her mobile phone rang. She answered immediately, expecting to hear Jacob’s voice. “Sally Amir,” a man said. “I’m warning you. If you don’t stop harassing the honorable Rabbi Ben David you won’t see the light of day. You have two days left to live.”
Sally felt the strength bestowed upon her by her father. “We’ll see who has two days left,” she said in a harsh voice, and he hung up.
The last thought to cross her mind before falling asleep was that she had forgotten to check if cameras had been installed in her apartment.
33.
Jacob and Sally usually met in a giant parking lot near the national park in Ramat Gan. Jacob, as usual, arrived a little early. Sally recognized his black Jeep and pulled over next to him. Jacob moved into his car’s passenger seat and opened the window. Sally’s window also slid down. They were now side by side. “We checked out the mailman,” said Jacob immediately. “As you suspected, he doesn’t work for the postal service. He’s just an unemployed man who received a uniform from a woman he didn’t know, one hundred euros, and instructions to arrive at a café in central Gstaad, take an envelope, and deliver it to Muriel’s home. Every three days, the woman promised, another envelope would await him in the café containing another hundred euros.”
“How did you find out about this?”
Jacob laughed. “A good investigator and free beer at the bar.”
“And who’s the woman?”
“He didn’t know. He met her once and she vanished. I placed an investigator at the café and he discovered the letter arrives by fax, and the owner puts it in an envelope. It was only a matter of time before someone came to pay him, and also leave money for the mailman. Yesterday, the woman arrived, but she entered the café through the kitchen, looked over the counter, handed something to the owner and disappeared. My investigator was able to take a blurry photo.” He tapped on his phone and Sally’s mobile let out a loud ring as the shadow of a woman appeared on her screen. She wore a kerchief over her hair, another scarf covering her neck and part of her face. Something about her seemed familiar to Sally. Ben David’s wife? The woman in the photo was too tall. Vivian Moyal? Too thin.
“She’s very good,” said Jacob apologetically. “What’s the chance that some intelligence agency is involved?”
Sally shrugged. “Marin’s companies are active in fields that could definitely interest certain countries, but I fail to see how this all relates to Muriel. More likely the letters are Ben David’s means of communication. Could you intercept the letters by any chance?”
Jacob shook his head. “We can’t do that without exposing ourselves,” he said, his voice turning businesslike. “Now tell me, what did you want to talk about?”
“Firstly, send someone over to my house to check that no video equipment was installed there.”
“Jerry can’t ask his colleagues to take care of that?”
The mention of Jerry’s name and the thought of their fight made Sally emotional. “I’d rather he not get involved.” She tightened her lips so as not to burst into tears, and told Jacob of the cameras she had found at Marin’s house, of the followers in the café, of the threats, and of the truck accident that may or may not have been related.
Jacob remained businesslike. “What would you like to do?”
“There’s no choice, sometimes you need to fight back that same way.”
“You want me to run Ben David over with a truck?” Jacob’s eyes were amused.
Sally didn’t laugh. “No, but there are a few other things I’d like you to do.” She pulled out a handwritten list of instructions from her handbag, similar to the one she had given Diana, and gave it to Jacob. He took one look at it and said, “These are very serious actions. I’ll need to add a risk fee.”
“I understand. Tomorrow I’ll transfer you another fifty thousand dollars.”
“Did Marin give you money?”
“No, Ben David did.”
He reacted with surprise, but asked nothing more. Instead he asked, “And you really believe Jerry knows nothing about this?”
“He prefers not to know. He’d like me to stop all of this. He believes I’m dealing with a criminal organization here.” Her tone became more impassioned. “You realize there’s no way I’m stopping, right? I’ve come too far not to win. Otherwise it would have all been in vain.”
Jacob fixed his eyes on her. “Sally, were I your husband, I’d pressure you to stop.”
“He really is pressuring. We’re quarreling.”
Jacob’s face soured. “Too bad. Is Marin worth a fight with Jerry?”
“Not at all, but the fight won’t last long. Jerry will come around. I know him.”
“I think you should stop here. Everything’s becoming too dangerous.” Jacob looked at her glumly. “Every war has goals. What are your objectives? Where do you want to go with this? What do you want to achieve?”
“As it seems at the moment, I’d like Ben David to release Muriel from his grasp right after Joel’s bar mitzvah. He should also leave Marin alone and return his money.”
“What if he is connected to a criminal organization, and worse things happen than your encounter with the truck?”
“There’s still a chance it was only an accident. In any event, if a criminal organization is involved, I’ll file a complaint with the police.”
Jacob burst out laughing. “You’re so naïve, Sally. The police can’t catch murderers and you expect them to cope with criminal gangs?”
“I’ll make them act. I have good friends and connections.”
“I don’t know how many friends you’ll have left after you separate from Jerry.” Jacob breathed in deeply and sighed. “Well, it’s your project. Or, as Jerry would always tell me when we worked together, it’s your funeral.”
34.
Loud music greeted Sally when she returned home. It came from Michael’s room, but this time she did not knock on his door and ask him to turn it down. She switched into house clothes, entered the kitchen, and opened her private cookbook. It was divided into sections including the best dishes from the countries where the family had served. In the Pakistan section she found the recipes she was looking for, and started to cook. In the afternoon, when Jacob’s technician arrived to check for the existence of surveillance equipment in the apartment, her clothes had already absorbed the smells of Jerry’s favorite foods: chicken curry, rice with garam masala, and a yellow lentil dahl in a special sauce.
Michael devoured the food and left for his boy scouts meeting. The technician also enjoyed some dinner after declaring the apartment clear of eavesdropping equipment. When Jerry arrived, the table was already set and a chilled bottle of wine was placed on it. He put his briefcase down and sat at his regular seat. Sally served the food and he breathed its aroma in deeply and said, “Curry. Terrific. Thanks.”
Those were the only words uttered during the meal. Jerry kept silent and Sally knew there was no point starting a conversation unless
it was to tell Jerry she had decided to stop her activities for Marin. Jerry’s face was tense and severe, and he ate slowly, as usual. “Very tasty,” he said finally, wiped his mouth with a napkin, and repeated his thanks.. On his way to the study he blurted out, “And you shouldn’t mislead the children with your tales of heroism. Michael talks about you as though you were Superwoman.”
“I did no such thing. I simply shared what’s happening with them.”
“There are things you shouldn’t share with children,” he said.
“As far as you’re concerned, you should share nothing with children. Let me remind you that our lifestyle was never normal, and my way of integrating the children was through full involvement. Michael even joined me when I bought my BMW, and then came on a Jeep trip with me.”
“I objected to that too. That’s all we needed, four-wheel drive cars and Jeep treks.”
“You oppose anything slightly out of the ordinary. Such a stick in the mud.”
Sally’s phone rang. “Hi Sally,” Diana’s voice roared. “The cook resigned after the kids complained about her food and she was insulted. I’ve hired another cook who used to work at a restaurant in Lausanne and came highly recommended.”
“All right, I’d like to meet her when I arrive.”
“I’ve also cut the nanny’s expenses. We don’t need her here when the children are at school. She leaves in the morning when the children leave, and returns in the afternoon.”
“Excellent,” Sally replied. Every Swiss franc saved to Marin felt as though it was saved to her.
During Roy’s visit on the weekend, Sally projected business as usual. She prepared the food he liked, tidied the house, baked, and watched over the maid. Like after every quarrel, relations with Jerry remained cordial but chilly. But this time, the fight lasted longer than usual, perhaps longer than ever. Jerry wasn’t planning to relent in his demand, and Sally, for her part, couldn’t obey it. She continued to manage the surveillance of Muriel’s home from afar, oversee the secret assignments she asked Jacob to carry out, and discuss various issues with Marin at least once a day.
Married to the Mossad Page 14