“Please don’t worry, Mr. President,” said Dato and placed a comforting hand on his president’s shoulder. “For the past five years, I’ve created, within the government, army and security forces, a network of people who are loyal to us, people I completely trust. They have all been rewarded for their loyalty in various ways, each according to his needs, and operate as a kind of government within the government. They are loyal only to us. Now please allow me to give you a pain relief injection.”
“You are also relieving the pains of my heart and my concerns,” Nur Sultan smiled at him before falling asleep.
After midnight, the plane landed at the Amman airport. A sedan transferred its passengers to a parking area reserved for King Abdullah’s private jet. An hour later, the plane landed at the military section of the Ben-Gurion Airport, where it was directed to Runway Three. An airport navigator waited for him there in a yellow vehicle with a sign saying: “Follow Me.” The plane kept rolling for long minutes until it reached a secret hangar. The moment it stopped, it was surrounded by a company of armed soldiers wearing gray uniforms and green berets. A ramp was attached to the front side of the plane and its door opened.
A tall, handsome man in his fifties came inside and said in English, “Welcome to Israel, Mr. President. My name is Arik Bar-Nathan, and I’m in charge of the operations division in the Israeli Mossad. I am honored to serve as the escort officer for your visit. The prime minister relays his warmest regards and wishes you a speedy recovery. He also wanted to thank you for placing your faith in our country’s medical services.”
“Thank you,” said Nur Sultan in English with a thick Russian accent. He shook Arik’s hand with some hesitation. “Please relay to your prime minister my deep appreciation and gratitude. I am completely in your hands.”
“Don’t worry, sir,” Arik said in an assured voice.
When they exited the air-conditioned plane, sweat immediately covered Babayev’s face. The weather wasn’t so warm and damp in his own country.
A black Mercedes limousine slid toward the foot of the ramp, and the president entered it and filled his lungs with cool, air-conditioned air. Dato sat to one side of him, and the Mossad officer, whose name he had already forgotten, sat on the other. The bodyguard took his place beside the driver, and the vehicle went on its way, two police motorcyclists racing ahead of it. Nur Sultan took a look at the changing views across the highway leading to the Israeli capital. In spite of the late hour, the road was illuminated, and the traffic was heavy.
Dato remained silent throughout the drive and so did the Mossad officer. The president trusted Dato, and now he had deposited his very life in the man’s hands. And yet, somewhere at the back of his mind, a suspicion arose. His instincts had saved him numerous times in the past. Now they were telling him there was a secret connection between the men sitting on both his sides.
For the first time in his life, Nur Sultan felt helpless.
Chapter 24
The Operating Room Floor, Hadassah Medical Center
The VIP protection unit transformed the urology ward of the Hadassah Medical Center into a sterile area. The president was taken to the examination room, and his groin was shaved. He lay, drifting in and out of sleep, and waited for the operation. Dato sat in an armchair close to the president, while the bodyguard waited outside with Arik and did his best not to fall asleep. Suddenly, the bodyguard erupted into a series of sneezes, not bothering to cover his nose.
“Bless you,” Arik said in English. The bodyguard didn’t reply. Arik examined the bodyguard’s heavy chin and huge body. He wondered if the bodyguard was smart enough to share the president’s secret or even knew where he was. Then his thoughts drifted to Eva. He had almost forgotten her at the moment he started taking care of “Operation Flower Bud.” He took his personal cell phone from his pocket, wondering whether he should call her, and at that same moment, his work phone rang.
“What’s happening?” Cornfield asked.
“Are we on a secure line?” Arik replied.
He heard Cornfield echoing the question to his driver, who curtly replied, “No.”
“Please place your cell phone in the scrambler, and use the red receiver in front of you to talk to me,” Arik explained patiently.
After a minute or two of rattling sounds and angry curses, Cornfield told his driver, “Do me a favor and connect the darned thing.”
“It’s connected,” the driver finally said, and Cornfield returned to speak with Arik.
“Well, how did it go? The…operation in the president’s balls?” Cornfield erupted into laughter.
“They’ve just started,” Arik said in a reserved tone. “The procedure is brief. They’ll be finishing in an hour. Then they’ll take him to the recovery room. After that, he asked to be taken to pray at the Al-Aqsa Mosque.”
“Did anyone recognize him in the hospital? Did anyone get suspicious?”
“Not at all. We registered him under a false name. The medical team thinks he’s an oligarch from an East Asian country. They’ve already learned not to ask too many questions, so we won’t need to lie to them.”
“All right, keep me posted,” Cornfield hung up without saying good-bye.
At nine AM, Dr. Jackie Maman, a silver-haired surgeon, came out of the operating room. “The operation has been completed successfully,” he said in a tranquil voice. “The patient was transferred to the recovery room for a few hours of rest and monitoring.”
Arik thanked him and called Cornfield again. “The operation was a success,” he said briefly.
Cornfield, as usual, became impatient. “So what do you think he’d feel about what I want to offer him?”
“I think he’ll agree. He’s going to be discharged in a few hours and then we’ll have two days to work him up to it, including the visit to al-Aqsa. I suggest that you talk to him in the presence of his bureau chief. If you recall, we gave you an update about him. He’s Georgian and has been a very important source for us in the Caucasus area for quite some time. We’ve invested a lot of resources on him.”
Cornfield muttered. “All right.”
Arik repeated everything he and Dato had agreed on during their meeting in Baku. “I assume he would agree to a deal that will include building a signals intelligence base in a location we’ve located in the southern part of his country, including leasing an Air Force base for our activities. To start with, we may need to operate through an English or an American shell company. That’s going to be his condition: that we leave no traceable fingerprints.”
“All right, we have such companies.”
“And another thing, he’s going to want an arms deal as well. They need UAVs and high-precision guided weapons to use against the Armenians. Finally, we’ll need to deposit something into his Swiss bank account, and, of course, bribe his bureau chief as well. His boss obviously doesn’t suspect he’s our man.”
“Great. In principle, the prime minister has already approved everything. Have him stay in the Presidential Suite at the King David Hotel, our treat. I’ll wait for you in the hotel’s lobby at fourteen hundred hours. Once he’s ready, I’ll go up to the suite. You’ll introduce me and then leave us to conduct a private conversation,” Cornfield instructed.
Arik was pleased and worried at the same time. So far, the plan had worked just as he’d hoped it would. Still, he feared Cornfield wasn’t sophisticated enough to handle the negotiations ahead.
Chapter 25
The British Military Cemetery—Mount Scopus, Jerusalem
As the doors of the recovery room closed behind Nur Sultan, a sense of restlessness overtook Arik. He had always been frustrated inactivity. Now he had a few hours to kill and wondered whether he should go home or head to the office. Then he recalled Eva once again.
Eva was hidden in a dark corner at the back of his mind, a corner he tried to erase so as not to expose his growing need of her. He hesitated a minute or two before actually taking courage and calling her.
&
nbsp; She answered immediately and whispered, “I’m in the middle of a lecture. Can I call you back?”
“Are you the lecturer or the audience?”
She suppressed a chuckle. “The audience this time.”
“I’m in Jerusalem. I’ll be with you in thirty minutes.”
“All right. I’ll come out to meet you. You don’t have an entry permit, but I’ll get one for you by the time you get here.”
“I don’t need entry permits.”
“Oh, yes. How could I forget?” Eva reacted sarcastically. In the background, Arik could heard the creaking of an opening door, the sounds of conversation, and music. “I’m in the corridor. There are a lot of people and much noise out here. How about meeting someplace quiet where we could actually talk? My hotel room, for example?”
Arik thought that was exactly the one place he was trying to avoid. There were many things he still needed to learn about Eva. “How about a special place, peaceful and secluded?”
“I’m open to suggestions.”
“Go on foot to the street that comes down from the campus, past the Hadassah Medical Center. To your right, you’ll see the British Military Cemetery for fallen servicemen in World War I. You’d be able to recognize it from afar because of the massive cross-shaped monument.”
“A cemetery?” She emitted a nervous laugh. “That’s where you bring all the women you meet?”
He ignored the jibe. “I’ll wait for you in half an hour on the stone bench at the footsteps of the chapel.”
“Sounds frightening, but actually, maybe it’s better this way. No one will be able to eavesdrop on our conversation.”
Arik stopped his car next to the open gate and sat at the rendezvous point. His suspicions grew. What secrets could she possibly have? Why didn’t she want anyone to eavesdrop on their conversation? He noticed her shapely profile coming down the road. Down in the valley, a view of the ancient city of Jerusalem spread before his eyes. On top of the mountain facing the cemetery, the dome of the Mosque of Omar twinkled with sunlight. He rose toward Eva and waved to her.
When she had reached him, she placed her lips against his in expectation. He turned her face gently, kissed her cheek, and invited her to sit beside him. She sat and placed her hand on his knee and then on the palm of his hand. He remained unmoving. “Are you angry at me? Your hand feels like a corpse’s. Cold and distant.”
He remained silent a few more seconds, then blurted, “Who are you, Eva?”
“What do you mean?” she asked with surprise.
“Exactly what I asked. Who are you?”
“After everything you and I shared and everything I’ve told you about myself, now you need to ask who I am? You know everything about me. I’m the one who knows nothing about you. Where exactly you work, why you keep popping in and out of my life…”
Arik interrupted her. “I have a feeling you’re not who you say you are.”
She removed her hand from his. “What makes you think that?”
“I have my reasons.”
“You think I’m a spy?” she asked and followed her question with what sounded like forced laughter to Arik’s ears.
“I don’t know,” said Arik. “Something about you makes me suspicious. Why did you say no one will be able to eavesdrop on our conversation here? Why would you care about that?”
“Because it’s true. Sometimes, a cigar is just a cigar.”
The warm sun flooded the bench. They retreated into the chapel, which enclosed and shaded them. “I feel like I can’t believe you,” said Arik.
“I think you’re nurturing your suspicions because you don’t want our relationship to develop. You’re afraid of intimacy. Perhaps even afraid of yourself?”
“Don’t change the subject. We’re talking about you, not about me.”
“We’re talking about both of us. About you interrogating me like I’m some sort of suspect and about me not understanding why. You keep rejecting all my attempts to get closer. You ran away from me in the Van Leer Institute, and now you can’t even bring yourself to kiss me. What happened? You don’t feel like sleeping with me anymore?”
“This has nothing to do with it.”
“So what is this all about?”
“I can’t quite figure you out. I can’t understand what you’re doing here and where you came from. And, worst of all, I keep seeing you every place I go, in places you can’t possibly be in, like a kind of paranoia.”
“This isn’t paranoia.” She placed her lips against his ear, filling it with her sweet breath. A shiver passed down Arik’s back.
“It’s called love, Arik.”
Arik looked deep into her eyes and found only softness and honesty there.
“So what’s next?” she asked.
“You’re still staying at the American Colony Hotel?”
“Yes.”
She looked into his face. Cracks showed in the mask of his tough demeanor. Suddenly, he appeared to her like a hunger-filled sparrow fluttering its wings against the bars of a cage containing a bowl of seeds, yearning for freedom yet terrified of it. “Do you have your car here?” she asked.
Arik took her hand and started walking.
Chapter 26
The American Colony Hotel—East Jerusalem
The American Colony Hotel’s parking lot was full. Arik reversed from its entrance and drove to the nearby Salah Eddin Street. He stopped right behind a “No Stopping” sign. Eva looked at him curiously. “I don’t pay parking tickets,” he stated, and her eyes silently scolded him.
A few minutes later, Eva stopped next to the gate leading to the hotel’s garden. “Wait five minutes, then come up to room two hundred and two.”
“Are you ashamed of me?”
“I’m concerned for you. All the foreign correspondents in Jerusalem live here. My guess is that you’re an important government official, and some of them might recognize you. If they see you coming into the hotel with a woman, they’ll try to find out who I am and discern the nature of our relationship.”
“All right.” Arik gave up. In his heart, he knew she was right. Another minute or two and the Mossad officer in him would probably have warned him about the unnecessary exposure. Still, was she thinking only about his benefit? Perhaps she had her own concerns.
He waited, leaning against the gate pillar. A tourist couple gave him suspicious glances, or at least that’s what he thought. He looked at his watch one last time and went inside.
A group of noisy, possibly drunk, UN officers sat in the middle of a manicured garden with a stone fountain at its center. He went inside the lobby and stopped for a moment to read the signs. As expected, Room 202 was located on the second floor. Arik used the stairs, walked down the carpeted floor with little footsteps, and lightly tapped Eva’s door.
Eva opened immediately, hiding behind the door. When she closed it, he saw she was completely naked. She clung to him and kissed his lips. He pulled her lower lip into his mouth. The softness he loved so much about women’s lips did not arouse him this time, and Eva noticed that.
“You look tired. Would you like to freshen up and take a shower?”
“Maybe…” he started, then immediately said with determination, “Yes.” The usual thought passed through his mind, One mustn’t demonstrate emotions or give himself completely to another. If I yield to her, I’d be lost. True, he was definitely attracted to her. He liked her smell, her taste, the intellect that made her think and form original ideas, but she demanded his independence as a price. He felt that without him noticing, or even wanting it, their relationship had drifted from an easygoing affair to uncharted territories. He had lost control.
When Arik stood under the stream of water, he heard the shower door open, then felt a hand covered in soap caressing his back. Eva went inside, shut off the water and pressed against his back, her erect nipples rubbing against him, lubricated by the soap. He felt her pubic hair tickling his buttocks, but still did not feel any arousal.
“Turn around,” she whispered, and he obeyed. She continued to rub against his body, trying to wake his limp member. “Come to bed,” she whispered and washed them both.
He followed her, feeling the coming retreat in his bones. The mattress was hard, just the way he liked it, and the sheet was cool and ironed. He lay on his back and allowed her to take care of him. Her tongue travelled along his member, and her warm mouth closed on it.
Nothing happened.
“It’s all right…” She traced a path of soft kisses to his face. “You must be tired.”
Her sympathy simply served to heighten his anxiety. Eva loved him, understood his failings, and accepted the odd hours he had to work. She had already prepared breakfast for them when they had been in his house. She had asked why he didn’t call her, and so, without even noticing, he was already in a relationship with her!
Eva placed her head on his shoulder and snuggled against his body. “That’s all we need in order to be together,” she said.
He closed his eyes and fell asleep almost immediately, dreaming of the both of them sitting in the kitchen of his house and watching television. It wouldn’t be such a bad dream if he hadn’t happened to catch a glimpse of their faces, reflected in the glass surface of the table. They were both old. Ancient.
The phone rang and Arik woke up with a start. “Your guest just woke up and asked about you.”
“I’m on my way!” said Arik and jumped up from bed.
Chapter 27
The Al-Aqsa Mosque, Temple Mount—East Jerusalem
“How do you feel, Mr. President? I have to say, you look much better.” Arik praised the president of Azerbaijan’s recovery process.
“Thank you,” Nur Sultan answered and immediately added excitedly, “Shall we go?”
“Go where?”
“To al-Masjid al-Aqsa al-Mubarak,” answered Nur Sultan as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
To Kill a Shadow Page 14