“Yes?” I said, waiting for the punch line. “Explain the connection.”
“Well,” said Benny, “you went searching for the security breach and found the real Madani.”
“Does that make me king?” I asked ironically.
“No, just our hero for the day.”
That was good enough for me.
“Dan,” said Paul, as if he’d just remembered, after listening to Benny, “I also want to thank you.”
“Oh, it was my duty,” I said in an atypical modesty.
Paul smiled, “Let me finish. There were plenty of things you did right—and a few that you did wrong, but the second most important achievement was retrieving the fake credit card, while the first was of course discovering where Madani was held.”
I’d almost forgotten about the credit card.
“Was it valuable?”
“Definitely. You assumed, correctly, that the card’s supposed account number was a key—a parameter that determines the functional output of a cryptographic cipher. Without it, the cipher cannot be broken.
“Here it seems that the Iranian mathematicians used the numbers they imprinted on the fake card. They built in a formula as an encryption key. However, they made two mistakes. One, by hiding it in a credit card with a combination of numbers that do not exist in a genuine card. They should have known better. Second, by not generating a truly random sequence of numbers, but by following the credit company’s formula. And then they misdid it.
“It took NSA’s cryptology experts just a few hours to run the number crunchers, break the code, and use the key to decrypt crucial communications between Tehran and its agents throughout the Middle East and Europe. It took Ali Akbar Kamrani a full day to report to Tehran that the card had been taken, and they immediately changed the key.
“But since NASA already had on its computers thousands of encrypted messages that could not be broken without the key. Now they were able to crack these messages and the intelligence fruits derived were abundant, and… juicy.” He smiled.
I knew I couldn’t ask what they were. But the pat on the back was pleasant. Eric, on the hand, just smiled—a rare occasion—and said, “So much for the Stimson dictum.”
We all laughed. In 1929, during the administration of President Herbert Hoover, Secretary of State Henry Stimson had closed down the State Department’s cryptanalytic office. “Gentlemen do not read each other’s mail,” he reasoned.
“What about the BVI account?” I asked. It all sounded like ancient history now.
“There was no need to go to a BVI court,” said Benny. “Once we broke the cipher with the key you brought, we had all the information. The account’s ultimate beneficiary was a high-ranking Iranian politician who benefited from each sale of equipment to Iran. Ali Akbar wanted Madani to give him a portion of the commissions Madani was earning from Shestakov. Madani refused. Therefore, Ali Akbar tried to blackmail Madani by threatening to tell the Iranians about the commissions Madani was receiving from Shestakov.
“So, as a precautionary countermeasure, Madani decided to defect. He had to choose between us and Shestakov before he was arrested by VEVAK. He chose Shestakov, and with the help of Shestakov’s men, he was smuggled out of his house arrest.”
“How could they do it?” I asked.
“Remember that Shestakov was highly esteemed by the Iranian regime because he was such an important figure supplying them with nuclear reactor components. Therefore, his men could roam in Tehran without any problem. I’m sure they found a hole in the security detail that was watching Madani and hoisted him out to Dubai.” He paused.
“I’m listening,” I said. “Please continue.” In fact, I was extremely eager.
“We think that Madani escaped from his house arrest very close to the time of your arrival, which he wanted to avoid, due to his earlier agreement to side with Shestakov. However, VEVAK knew you were coming. Madani told us that he confided to Shestakov that we were about to extricate him from Iran, but that he—Madani—preferred to go with Shestakov, who promised him a European passport and asylum.
“By that time, Madani had amassed a fortune from commissions paid to him by Shestakov, and therefore giving up the three million dollars we promised was not that difficult.”
“How did VEVAK know I was coming?” I asked.
“First, they control all airline traffic in and out of Iran. Second, Shestakov tipped them off, hoping that they would take care of you.”
“The son of a bitch,” I said, thinking of Madani. Well, at the last moment I also added Shestakov.
“Anyway, where are Shestakov and Chennault?”
“We know that Shestakov managed to flee Dubai. He was not in the villa during the raid. We think he might be hiding in Russia. We’ve asked for the Russians’ help. However, the list of countries that want to ‘talk’ to him is rather long, and I’m not sure we are anywhere near the top. We do have Christian Chennault, though. He’s a small fish and we’ll soon release him to whoever wants him enough to extradite him. We are consulting with INTERPOL.”
I poured myself some water from a bottle that was on the table. But the taste was stale. There was also a bowl of apples. Benny took one, and bit into it.
Eric continued, “VEVAK therefore had a problem. The real Madani had disappeared and you were coming to meet him. The plan was to arrest you both and try you as spies. Without the real Madani, however, they turned the problem into an opportunity to fool us again. They located a former major in the Revolutionary Guard who has some physical resemblance to Madani and placed him in the high-rise apartment in Tehran to pose as Madani, to make you escort him out of Iran.”
“Aha,” I said, “Now things fall into place. Do you know if Hammed, the Kurdish Mossad contact that I met in Damascus, was bona fide?”
“We don’t know, but assume he was,” answered Eric.
“He connected me with his cousin Khader in Tehran, and Khader was holding the fake Madani who I escorted out of Iran.” I was still unsure of who was good and who was bad in the scenario I’d just heard. “Where is Khader?”
“The Khader you met in Tehran was fake,” said Benny.
“And where is the real Khader?”
“Sad,” said Benny. “VEVAK apprehended him and we don’t know what happened to him, or whether he’s even still alive. He was an important link threatening the success of the VEVAK ploy operation. He knew you were coming, and he knew Madani; therefore, he had to be removed from the scene one way or another. Instead, VEVAK placed one of their men, called him Khader, and instructed him on how to treat you.
“That’s why they moved me to the apartment,” I said.
“Right, because VEVAK didn’t know what arrangements we had made for you at the hotel.”
“And they were angry when I returned to the hotel once without their permission,” I said.
“Exactly. You’d never met Madani before; you only had his photos. The Mossad combatants who were in contact with Madani had left Iran immediately after he disappeared, fearing that a mega-search by VEVAK for Madani could uncover them. Therefore, it was easy to introduce the new face of the fake Madani.”
“That explains also the bizarre incident on the train when he disappeared.”
“Right,” said Paul. “While you were asleep, he went to report to a VEVAK agent on the train.”
There was a tad of criticism in his tone. I chose to ignore it. The final successful result is what should count. You’re wrong, said my inner little devil, but I ignored him too.
“And even stranger was what happened after he was taken off the train, and then released on one hundred dollars bail. Was that part of the charade?” I asked.
“Of course,” said Benny. “Madani had to be inspected by the police to increase his bona fide appearance, and taken off the train for some reason. But the stupid cop at the police station didn’t realize that the one million rials that he asked as bail—to him a huge amount—would translate to a mere one hundred dol
lars, and so that backfired, because it made you suspicious. He should have asked for an amount a thousand times bigger to force you to seek help and enable them to follow your steps to more of our operatives.”
“What about the Iranian politician who was bribed as well?” I asked, sensing it’d soon be a new case for us.
“We are working on it,” said Benny with his signature sly-fox smile.
“Anyway,” said Paul, “Good job, Dan. The Iranians are still in the dark regarding the whereabouts of Madani.”
“You said that before, but how come? Didn’t the Dubai intelligence services help them discover what happened?” I asked.
“They tried, but got nowhere, because even they are in the dark,” Benny chuckled. “The Dubai border control records cannot show whether Madani is still in Dubai. When Dubai offered that explanation to the Iranians, it created friction with Iran, which questioned whether Dubai was hiding Madani, or, worse, selling Iran out to the US for some unknown benefit.”
I smiled. “Iran and Dubai are neighbors, and you sowed suspicion between them.”
“It’s never a bad move. They shouldn’t get too chummy,” concluded Benny. He took another bite of the apple, and winked.
Acknowledgments
The publication of Defection Games coincides with news of clandestine operations—attributed to the CIA and the Mossad—to identify and block Iranian efforts to develop a nuclear bomb. In Defection Games, Iran is a key player in the roster of bad guys and rogue states operating in the murky world of international espionage and terrorism.
Dan Gordon, an Israeli lawyer and a former Mossad agent, is now working for the US government in foreign intelligence gathering. Gordon faces sinister plots, corruption, intrigue from a power-hungry, manipulative rogue government that constantly threatens his life—and the national security of the US.
Gordon faces multiple layers of secrecy, subterfuge, and treachery, which are not the exception. They are the rule.
But Gordon is no team player. He’s an indefatigable lone wolf, alert to hostile moves even by those he should be able to trust. Therefore, he must sleep with one eye open. Always.
Like all of the other thrillers in the series—Triple Identity, The Red Syndrome, The Chameleon Conspiracy, and Triangle of Deception—Defection Games was inspired by my twenty years of intelligence-gathering for the US government, performed undercover in more than thirty foreign countries. Obviously, in my years working for the US government, I could not share the spine-tingling aspects of my work with anyone but my supervisors, and in some adventures, not even with them. Sadly, these events, which are sometimes more intriguing and thrilling than the best fiction I have ever read, are buried in reports submitted throughout the years. The story of Dan Gordon and his battle against the invisibles is my idea of the next best thing. However, Defection Games is not an autobiography, but a novel. Apart from historic events, all names, characters, personal histories, and events described in this book have never existed and are purely works of fiction.
During the past three years, I found it increasingly difficult to find time to complete Defection Games, the fifth installment in the Dan Gordon Thriller® series. With a demanding international legal practice that included a complex litigation schedule, and a big family, the mission looked almost impossible. During those years I also researched, wrote and completed a legal textbook in international law, Foreign Judgments in Israel: Recognition and Enforcement, published by the Israel Bar Association. I also wrote dozens of op-ed articles for the Huffington Post and the International Herald Tribune. However, with the tenacity usually attributed to Dan Gordon, the fictional protagonist of the series, I completed Defection Games.
Many thanks to hundreds of readers who repeatedly asked me when the new Dan Gordon thriller would be released. These consistent inquiries were the fuel that moved me to continue writing, my busy schedule notwithstanding. Special thanks to Sarah McKee, the former general counsel of INTERPOL’s United States National Central Bureau, who, as always, was gracious enough to read the manuscript and make important comments. She is not only an astute lawyer but an excellent reviewer. I am grateful for the special efforts she made, and for her unfailing grace, professionalism, and friendship.
I am eternally grateful to David Epstein, who for almost two decades was my supervisor while he headed the Office of Foreign Litigation at the US Department of Justice. His trust and support were an important motivating factor in my work. With utmost professionalism and the long leash he allowed me, he became a major partner in the successful results of my work for the US government. During the earlier stages of writing Defection Games, Sharon Lintz and Tova Piha made important suggestions and amendments. I am indebted for their efforts.
The time I spent writing this book was taken from my wife and law partner, Rakeffet, and our five children; and my everlasting gratitude is the least I can offer for their sacrifice.
Haggai Carmon
About the Author
Haggai Carmon is an international attorney sharing his time and practice between the United States, Israel, and the rest of the world. Since 1985, several US federal agencies have given him worldwide responsibility for legal intelligence-gathering outside the United States in complex, multimillion-dollar cases, mostly involving money laundering and megafraud. He has performed this sensitive investigative work undercover in more than thirty foreign countries. He has also represented the US Department of Justice in its Israeli litigation, and acts as legal counsel to the US Embassy in Israel.
Carmon was born in Israel, where he graduated cum laude from the Tel Aviv University Faculty of Law. He earned a certificate in international law and diplomacy as well as a master’s degree in government and politics from St. John’s University in New York. He is married to Rakeffet, who is also his law partner, and they have five children.
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