"I understand, sir. I'll do my best."
Rice reached across the desk and shook his hand. "I know you will. I'm counting on it."
CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE
The dreary façade of the Jaffa Road Royal Arms in Tel Aviv would never find its way into the tourist brochures. A large, faded sign in Hebrew and English on the front of the building advertised "Furnished Rooms/Apartments To Let".
Ari wondered how he'd let himself be persuaded by Nick's phone call to mount this operation. He was beginning to think it was a good thing he had. Earlier his agents had checked out the building. A conversation with the manager and a look at the tenant list and Ari called in his teams.
The entire block was due to be leveled as part of a comprehensive program of urban renewal. Rents were cheap. All of the units except one in the Jaffa Arms were occupied by pensioners and older people down on their luck. Most had lived here for years. The one exception was a one bedroom unit rented only two months before by a middle-aged tourist couple from America. In this building, that rental stood out like a neon sign. The manager hadn't seen the tenants for a week. He did remember that several packages had arrived by private courier ten days before.
The street was sealed off. Anyone looking would see only the road barriers and work crews common when the utility company was digging something up.
Ari followed his six man team up the stairs. Outside the building, men watched the fire exits and escapes. The elevator was out of commission. The only way out from the upper floors was down these stairs he was now climbing.
The hall corridor on the fourth floor smelled of stale cabbage and cigarette smoke. Flickering fluorescent lights did nothing for the scuffed linoleum on the floor. Cracked and peeling yellow paint covered the ceiling and walls. The door to 416 was painted dull green. Ari put his ear against the wood. There was no sound from inside the apartment.
The lead man inserted a key the manager had given them. The key would not turn. The lock was shiny and looked new. Perhaps the tenants replaced it, Ari thought. Perhaps there was something in there they didn't want anyone to see.
One of the men held a ram ready. Ari nodded and the ram slammed into the door, splintering the lock and frame. The men boiled into the apartment, guns ready, and spread into the rooms, calling out.
"Clear."
"Clear."
The apartment was empty. The curtains were drawn. Ari pulled them back in a cloud of dust to let in some light.
A large, shiny metal case with reinforced corners and a black plastic carrying handle sat on a chipped brown table in the kitchen. Ari bent close and listened. He could hear nothing. He was tempted to open the case but he knew better. Maybe it was a travel case. Maybe not.
"Call the bomb squad. Clear the building and get out of here."
Three hours later, he gave Nick a call.
"Shalom, Nick."
"Shalom, Ari. What did you find?"
"Your line is secure?"
"Yeah, go ahead."
"My friend, please do not hesitate to call me again if you have one of your dreams."
"Come on, Ari, what did you find?"
"A nuclear warhead rigged to an electronic timer and set to detonate on the coming Sabbath."
Nick couldn't think of what to say. Ari continued.
"The warhead is of Russian manufacture. The container and detonator materials are Iranian. There's quite a debate going on right now about that. There's a lot of pressure on the acting prime minister. You can imagine what the hardliners want to do about this."
Nick found his voice. "Nuke Iran back into the stone age?"
"Exactly. There is going to be real trouble no matter what. If that warhead had gone off, a large part of Israel would have been gone in a mushroom cloud. We are a small country, Nick. With the fallout and aftermath one nuclear explosion could wipe us out."
"What if it's not Iran? What if it's these Nazis we're after? They want Israel destroyed. This could be misdirection, like the Mosque explosion. Hell, the whole world would get involved if nukes go off in the Middle East. Pakistan has the bomb. We'd never get the genie back in the bottle."
"It's not my call, Nick. All I can do is keep feeding information to the powers that be. What is happening on your end?"
"We have a suspicion about who's at the head of this organization but we don't have proof yet. We've mounted an operation to find out. Rice is behind us, all the way. I have to tell him what you've found."
"Mmm. What do you think your President will do?"
"I don't know, but I trust him. He doesn't want this to escalate. He's got Russia and China backing him up."
"You didn't get this information from me."
"Of course not. But this isn't a time to keep secrets, is it?"
"No. There's too much at stake. Too many mistakes get made because governments keep secrets. Soldiers know that, I've never understood why politicians don't. Let's not give them the option."
"You're a good friend, Ari."
"I do this for Israel, Nick. But I would be pleased to see you again when this is over. In friendship."
Ari ended the call and thought about the conversation. Some might condemn him for passing information to the Americans. It might ruin him if it came out, but Ari knew he had not betrayed his country. Politics and country were not the same thing.
CHAPTER SIXTY
Lamont and Selena parked down the street from Greenwood's house. The street was wide, pleasant and shady. The houses in the development were in the two million dollar plus range. Landscaped lots of ten acres, with mature trees and plenty of privacy. The American Dream. Or maybe a nightmare.
A long blacktop drive led to Greenwood's house. It circled under a covered entryway in front of the house and around a large Italianesque fountain before it rejoined itself. The fountain featured four smiling cherubim relieving themselves. They sat in the van, watching. A bird sang somewhere. The engine made a ticking noise.
Selena said, "In the blue BMW, reading the paper. He hasn't turned a page since we got here."
"Yeah, I see him. There's another pretending to walk his dog, over there." Lamont lowered his binoculars. He pointed at a man some distance away leading a muzzled German shepherd on a tight leash.
"I guess we've got our proof."
"Proof enough for us. Not enough to bring him down. Plan B, we don't go in. Ready?"
Selena nodded. Lamont started the van and drove to Greenwood's driveway and up to the front of the house. He parked and they got out. Lamont walked up to the front door and rang the bell, just as any telephone repairman might do. They waited. No one came to the door. Selena kept her hand on the Glock concealed under her shirt.
Lamont opened the back of the truck. He buckled on a tool belt. He went around to the side of the house where the phone box was located. Selena followed a few steps behind. There was no one in sight.
Lamont opened the box. He took his time pretending to check the connections. He installed the bug, tightened everything up and closed the box. He didn't think the bug was going to be there for long. They got back in the van and drove away. Now they'd wait to see what would happen.
Across town, Senator Greenwood set his phone down. He looked out the window of his office on the Hill. Things were not going according to plan. He was annoyed. More than annoyed, he was angry. Why hadn't those meddlers gone inside? If they had, they would not have come out again.
The Visitor had failed. Always, his assignments had ceased to exist, ceased to create problems. Now he was dead. At least that damned woman was out of the picture. Greenwood hoped she suffered. He hoped she died.