Alia thought that she would be safer in Tucson than in the Los Angeles area and decided to abide her time and make the last leg of her trip just three or four days before Labor Day of September 2nd. She reckoned that she would have time to go to the Pakistani Consulate, collect the luggage and find a hotel. That would also enable her to case the target area – a large shopping mall in the greater Los Angeles area, buy clothes that will help her blend in with the shoppers, plan where to leave the suitcase and decide on her escape route.
August 28th, Amman, Jordan
Nagib spent almost a whole month in a safe-house in the midst of the Amman New Camp among Palestinian refugees. There were very few original refugees from 1948 – most of the old generation had passed away during the last seven decades – there were many more from 1967 but the majority of the camp's population consisted of their second, third and even fourth generation descendents. There were much larger newly created refugee camps in the north of Jordan that were populated by refugees from Syria that managed to escape the ongoing conflict there that indiscriminately persecuted Syrians of all classes and religious beliefs. These camps were in much worse shape than the more established Palestinian camps, and there was no UNRWA to come to their relief only a few volunteers and some contributions from European countries.
Nagib spent most of his days studying the Koran and praying – something he had never devoted time to do in the US or in Palestine – and also studied the potential targets in Israel. He decided that a nuclear strike in the heart of Tel-Aviv would bring the Zionist state to the verge of annihilation as it was the commercial dynamo and cultural center of the country. Furthermore, a similar strike in Jerusalem or Haifa was bound to include many Arabs in the death toll, while in Tel-Aviv there were only a few Muslims and he believed that Jaffa, in which many Arabs resided, would not be heavily affected by the blast or fallout. He focused on the beachfront as it was always crowded and close to the American embassy. This would be like killing two birds with one stone. He noted that there were many hotels along Yarkon Street and some of them less than 50 meters from the American embassy and decided that he would check into one of those, arm the bomb and try to get away from Tel-Aviv. However, when he checked the availability of rooms in his selected hotels he found that there were no vacancies in most of them, so he decided to take a calculated risk and reserve a room at the Lusky Suites Hotel that was just across the narrow road from the embassy. He used his American credit card to make the reservation believing that it was no longer under surveillance.
He had made a quick trip to Cairo to retrieve his suitcase from the Pakistani embassy there. The Cultural attaché, Sadiq Ul-Haq, told him that they had almost given up on him and that he had consulted General Masood and asked him what to do with the weird suitcase. The general had told him to wait until after Eid al-Fitr and send it back to Islamabad if it was not claimed by then. Nagib smiled apologetically and said that the timing was crucial and that he wanted to stay below the radar of the US and Israeli intelligence agencies for as long as possible. Sadiq led him to the basement, handed him the suitcase and wished him luck, adding that he had already forgotten about the suitcase and Nagib…
The journey back to Jordan was uneventful – no friendly German girls on the bus this time and no fun and games in Nuweiba port. No one took a special interest in his suitcase and he made his way back to the Amman New Camp with no hassle from Egyptian or Jordanian authorities. Sheik Tawfiq's people waited for him and told him that everything was set for crossing the border into Israel the following night. They also informed him that the Sheik had arranged for the suitcase to be carried through the King Hussein Bridge (that was also known as the Allenby Bridge) terminal in broad daylight by the driver of a tour group of Christian pilgrims on their way to the holy sites in Jerusalem. The driver, who was generously paid, didn't know what the suitcase contained and was led to believe that it was just another load of illicit drugs.
Nagib didn't ask any questions and said he would be ready for the journey. The following evening, four Arab youths arrived in a four-wheel drive Land Cruiser and unceremoniously told Nagib to put on the dark clothes they had brought with them and sit quietly in the back of the car. They drove for a couple of hours along paved highways until they reached an area on the west side of the Balqa district, close to the border with Israel. The lights of the car were switched off and it slowly approached a deserted area near the low cliffs overhanging the Jordan River. They got out of the car and walked quietly to the edge of the cliff. The leader looked at his watch and told Nagib to get ready for a short sprint in fifteen minutes. Exactly fifteen minutes later a series of detonations was heard from positions north of their location. Several flares were launched from the Israeli side of the border in the vicinity of the detonations. The leader grabbed Nagib's arm and told him to hurry and the small group waded across the shallow waters of the Jordan River, cut a small hole in the security fence on the Israeli side and quickly dashed to Highway 90 on the Israeli side of the border where a truck loaded with chicken cages was waiting. A clearing was prepared in the middle of the chicken cages and although the stench was overbearing Nagib was glad to be sitting down between walls of cages filled with chickens that were furious about being disturbed in their sleep. The truck headed south and within 20 minutes they were on the highway leading from Jericho to Jerusalem. The sleepy Israeli soldier at the roadblock checked the driver's papers, took a cursory glance at the cages, wrinkled his nose at the stench and waved the truck through. Thirty minutes later the truck came to a halt in an enclosed yard and the human cargo was unloaded from the truck while the chickens were taken directly to a slaughterhouse. Nagib said that he needed a shower and fresh clothes and his wish was fulfilled by the attendant Palestinian host. He was told that he had time for a short nap and that in the morning he would be driven to the hotel in Jerusalem where his suitcase was already waiting to be picked up.
Chapter 17
August 30th, Los Angeles
Alia managed to find a small local car rental agency run by women in Tucson that accepted her New Mexico driver's license without triggering an alarm. She knew that presenting that document at any national car rental agency would be flagged immediately so she avoided those. Using her credit card would have surely also caused problems so she was pleased to pay a substantial cash deposit to the local agency in lieu of a credit card. She once again used the excuse that her estranged husband was stalking her and that he had private detectives tracking her movements so she couldn't use a credit card. A sympathetic woman at the rental agency accepted the story and even upgraded her car.
She enjoyed the drive along the I-10 through Phoenix, Palm Springs and San Bernardino and took her time, stopping for gas, food and coffee. She arrived in downtown Los Angeles and didn't like the area so she continued west to Santa Monica and found a reasonable motel that was only a few blocks from the Pakistani Consulate. After a good night's sleep she searched the web for shopping malls in southern California. There were several places that looked as attractive targets but she liked the Costa Mesa mall that looked suitable for her purpose.
The next morning she drove down there to take a look at the place. The traffic moved slowly at first but once she was out of the center the pace picked up and it took her about one hour to get to the mall. Its location in the heart of Orange County, a well known stronghold of conservatives who had a reputation for not being great lovers of Arabs and Muslims, gave her another reason to select this shopping mall. However, she was surprised by the number of women wearing Hijabs and Abayas and some even covered their face with Khimars. Alia found it quite amusing to see that these fully covered women were accompanied by men in jeans or teenagers in shorts, tee-shirts and sandals. She was impressed by the size of the mall and the number of shoppers who were taking advantage of the pre-Labor Day sales. There were several hotels nearby so she presumed that a woman with a large suitcase would not raise suspicion. She noticed that there were no special secur
ity arrangements at the entrance to the mall and it looked as if the shop owners were more concerned with shoplifting than with security. In short, she thought, this would be an ideal target for her deadly cargo.
She suddenly realized that the Pakistani Consulate would probably be closed from Saturday to Monday due to the Labor Day vacation and that meant that she had to rush to the consulate on Friday to collect the suitcase. She did see that there was an option for emergency services on week-ends and wrote down the telephone numbers, but preferred not to stand out and bring too much attention to herself. So she rushed back to Santa Monica and got to the consulate just in time before it closed. It turned out that due to Ramadan office hours were shorter than usual and the visa section closed at 3:30 pm.
She presented her Pakistani passport and was admitted into Suite #211. As in Brussels, there were not many people waiting in line for visas. She was asked what business she had at the consulate and when she stated that she needed to see the scientific attaché she was directed to a small office. A young man, in his early twenties evidently attempting to grow a virginal mustache, was seated at a desk and she saw that he was furiously clicking the mouse and watching the computer screen with such great interest that he didn't notice her. She coughed gently and he looked up with surprise and apprehension. She then realized that he had been playing some computer game and didn't want anyone to see what he was doing. He smiled shyly and asked her in Urdu what she wanted. She answered in English that she had come to pick up her suitcase and said "Do you remember my cousin Junaid?" The young man looked flabbergasted and then a large smile crossed his face and answered "She just married Rahman". She knew that he probably worked for the Pakistani intelligence services but to her he looked just like a highly confused young man and she asked him if he was really the scientific attaché. He laughed and said that the attaché was on vacation and he was a novice administrative assistant that was instructed to sit in the office just in case someone like her turned up with the correct password. He added that the attaché had expected her more than a month earlier and they were all getting concerned that they would be stuck with this strange suitcase, and she explained that there was no reason for concern. He told her to follow him and they took the elevator to the basement of the building where there were several locked storerooms. He entered a code on the panel beside the door and then took a large key out of his pocket and unlocked the door. She saw the suitcase stacked on a low shelf and when she had trouble lifting it the young man helped her. He was dying to ask her what was in the suitcase but knew that he shouldn't. They took the elevator to the ground floor and he offered to load it into her car. She thanked him and when she saw that he was in no rush to leave her she asked if he could help her further with the luggage.
He looked at her and saw a woman a few years older than him. She was by no means good looking but after losing some weight in the last month she was now slim with a nice figure, and she had an intelligent face and pleasant manners. He got the impression that she appeared to be yearning for human contact and as he had nothing better to do he gladly agreed to help her. Alia had not really spoken to anyone, man or woman, since she left Islamabad more than a month earlier and had not gone out or even shared dinner or a drink with another soul. Indeed she wanted some company and the young Pakistani man was very pleasant in his shy way that she found attractive. She was pleased that he agreed to help her and asked him if he had a car. He said that it was undergoing repairs after a fender-bender accident so she invited him to get into her car and join her for the ride to her motel. When they arrived at the motel he helped her carry the suitcase up to her room and place it in the corner of the room. He stood up and looked at her and she looked at him and said "You didn't tell me your name"
He replied "My name is Salim, what's yours?"
Alia said "Please just call me Fatima".
Salim gathered his courage and with a slightly blushed face asked her if she would like to join him for dinner, after sunset of course when the Ramadan daytime fast ended.
She saw how embarrassed he was and smiled "I would like this very much. Could I drive you to pick up your car from the shop?"
He thanked her and asked "Aren't you worried that someone may break into your room and steal the suitcase?"
She shrugged and said "If it is Allah's will it will disappear, but I trust that it will be safe here".
During dinner Salim and Alia shared a bottle of California red wine and talked about themselves. Alia said that she was separated from her husband, a true geographical fact but a complete fallacy from any other aspect. Salim confided that he was too shy to approach the California girls with their free spirits and was waiting for some good traditional Muslim girl to come on to him as he lost his last shred of self-confidence in the company of women. It was obvious that each yearned for the other's company, although for different reasons. Alia felt that this could well be the last opportunity in her life to spend time with a man while for Salim this would be the first opportunity in his life to be with a woman. So, they left the restaurant and without any further words, by mutual consent they drove to Alia's motel and quietly entered her room and switched the light on. The first thing they saw was the suitcase and both pointed at it with a sigh of relief and then she took the initiative, switched off the light and put her hands on Salim's shoulders looking up to him and parting her lips. As he had seen in many TV shows he knew what to do and crushed her lips with his with so much force that she recoiled in surprise, and seeing the look on his face, told him to relax and kissed him very gently with their lips barely touching. He was a quick study and when she guided his hand to her breast he caressed it gently while she unbuttoned his shirt and stroked his bare chest. Her hands moved a little lower and he almost stopped breathing. Alia could feel his heart beating a storm and for a moment worried he would pass out when she touched his erection with the back of her hand. She liked the fact that he was so inexperienced and continued to guide him to undress her slowly. By now Salim was trembling with desire and she ordered him to stand still while she finished removing his clothes and let her hands ramble over his body, rubbing her breasts over his chest and abdomen and moving lower making him utter low moaning sounds. It was over before she could get him to lie on the bed. He wanted to run away or bury himself under the shabby carpet but she took a towel from the bathroom and cleaned him telling him that she was proud of him and that the night was still young.
September 1st, Jerusalem
Nagib celebrated the first days of Eid al-Fitr with his hosts in East Jerusalem. He was sure this would be his last chance to rejoice in the festivity and did his utmost to enjoy it. He had collected his suitcase from the bus driver three days earlier and had checked that everything was intact despite the rigors of the trips from Cairo to Amman and then to Jerusalem. He was a bit amazed how easy it was for him and his escort to penetrate the supposedly impenetrable Israeli border and even more surprised by the fact that a nuclear device could be smuggled in broad daylight into the country. He hoped that the final stage of his mission will also go smoothly. He wondered how Alia was doing and if she would be able to stick to the schedule they had arranged but he had no means of contacting her. He regretted that they had not purchased prepaid cellphones for communication as they had done in Europe or enlisted the help of the Pakistani intelligence service to serve as mediator between them. He reckoned that he would hear on the news if she had succeeded and hoped that she would hear of his own accomplishment. He told his hosts that he would be leaving for Tel-Aviv in the next day and thanked them for their help, saying that perhaps one day they will meet under the grace of Allah.
September 2nd, Costa Mesa shopping mall, California
Indeed as the night progressed Alia coaxed Salim to take his time and attend to her needs, so by the time the long weekend was almost over he felt like an accomplished Don Juan and she felt that perhaps she had missed her calling as a teacher. They only got out of bed to have some fast food and she was
amused to see that the stupid smile would not leave his face even for a minute. On Monday morning she told Salim that he had to leave because she had some business to attend to. He had a mournful look on his face but without saying anything he helped her carry the suitcase and put it in the trunk of her car and then drove off in his car. She returned to the room, put on an elegant maternity dress and stuffed a pillow under it. She packed spare clothes in her handbag and made sure she had the small set of tools she had prepared.
The drive to Costa Mesa mall was slow because the highways were full of holiday shoppers, but she parked in the handicap spot closest to the main entrance and opened the car's trunk to unload the suitcase. A guard came up to her to ask her if she had a permit but when he saw her large extended belly he simply helped her take the suitcase out of the trunk. She thanked him and headed to the mall. The time was just before noon in California and Alia hoped that Nagib was all set for his part of the mission in Tel-Aviv where the time was close to 10 pm.
***
The large innocent looking suitcase was pushed slowly on its four wheels by an elegantly dressed young woman whose bulging belly announced to the whole world that she was carrying a baby, or perhaps even twins. Gentlemen who offered to help her were repelled by her fierce look and those bold enough to try and actually take hold of the suitcase handle were shooed away by a loud hissing sound emitted through thin lips enclosing her small mouth. She struggled with the wheels that appeared to have a will of their own and looked as if they were arguing with one another about the direction in which to move. Finally she reached the escalator leading to the second level of the large shopping center and realized that the suitcase was too wide for the escalator stairs. She turned around abruptly knocking over a toddler that was holding his mother's hand and without an apology headed toward the wide elevator. The toddler's mother barely managed to hold back the curse that came to her mind and settled for a drop-dead look that she sent to the receding back of the woman who was just entering the elevator. If radiation detectors had been mounted in the elevator they would be chirping like crazy with flashing lights indicating a deadly level of radiation, but none were installed so no one was the wiser about the imminent danger. The woman entered the ladies restroom and barely squeezed with her suitcase into the stall reserved for the handicapped. She quickly removed the pillow that made her midsection bulge, changed her clothes into nondescript jeans and a tightly fitting top that accentuated her slim figure, removed the blond wig she had been wearing and passed a comb through her jet black short hair. She placed the pillow and old clothes in a plastic bag that she left in the corner of the stall next to her suitcase. She then set the combination locks on both sides of the suitcase to the code that would give her 30 minutes to get far enough from the shopping center. She waited until she was certain that the restroom was empty, opened the booth's door and exited. With a small screwdriver she pulled out of her purse she set the sign on the door to "occupied" and entered the next stall to relieve herself from the sudden urge to urinate. She made her way to the parking lot, went straight to her car that was still parked in the spot reserved for handicapped drivers and without any visible signs of being in a hurry merged with the traffic on highway 55 and then headed north on the I-5, trying to get as far away as possible from Costa Mesa.
The Dreadful Renegade: A Thrilling Espionage Novel (Techno thriller, Mystery & Suspense) Page 25