A check of phone company records and Bennett's LUDs — line-usage details — indicated that some calls from the cell phone had been made from Germany. That had to be while Bennett was there in the hospital. Other calls had been made from Orlando. That had to be the two days Bennett was visiting his mom after getting out of the hospital and back to the States. After that, not a single call had been made for almost three weeks until the two calls to Buffalo. Had Bennett given the phone to his mother?
They needed answers and time was critical. If Ruth Bennett was still alive, the cell phone might now be their only hope. If she wasn't, the phone could lead the feds to her killers. Scott Harris — standing in the Oval Office with the president, vice president, Marsha Kirkpatrick, and Lee James — could see MacPherson was agonizing over the decision. He tried to take off some of the pressure.
"Mr. President, if I may?" said Harris.
"Please, Scott, by all means."
"Let's allow Jon to keep working undistracted for now. My people can work this thing from several angles. We won't call the phone until we talk to Jon and find out what he did with the phone. Perhaps we can regroup in a few hours. Is that fair?"
The president looked around to the others. All nodded agreement.
"Fine. Let's meet back here this afternoon. Scott, you pick the time. Coordinate through Marsha. Now, where are we with the suicide bombers?"
Homeland Security Secretary Lee James took that.
"So far, so good, Mr. President. You know the stats. No attacks yet and lots of people scooped up. Moreover, it appears that when our Special Forces
in Iraq took out those two carloads of people on the border of Syria—"
"You mean when we caught Daoud Juma?"
"Exactly — best we can tell at this point, most of the men in the two cars that were blown up by Hellfire missiles were fedayeen heading for the U.S."
"You mean we got a bunch of suicide bombers and didn't even realize it?"
"That's the current thinking."
"But there could still be some out there."
"Well, sir, from all the interrogations — remember, we've got a lot of people in custody right now and we're working them pretty hard — anyway, from all these interrogations, we think we may have gotten all of the bombers but one."
"Really?"
"Don't quote me on that. I don't want that out in the press. But yes, we think we've gotten all but one."
"And this lone bomber — do you think he's already in the country?"
"Impossible to say. But I think we've got to go on that assumption."
"So what do we do to find him?"
"If it is a him" added Kirkpatrick.
"Well, sir, whoever it is had to have slipped into the country within days if not hours of your order to close the borders from any new people entering, and the arrival — or attempted arrival — of the other bombers."
"Assuming it's not a sleeper agent," noted the president.
"Right. But nothing we've gleaned from the bombers in custody would indicate that they're using sleeper agents for this mission," James responded. "There may be some here, providing weapons, explosives, what have you. But they don't appear to be ready to blow themselves up."
"OK, assuming you're right, it's still like finding a needle in a haystack, isn't it?"
"Well, assuming we're right, at least we've got the time frame narrowed down to a few hours or a few days before we went to Threat Condition Red. So what we're doing right now is rechecking — by hand — the identities of every single person who legally entered the country during that time frame, double-checking to see if they are who they said they are, and if any names ring a bell with us, the CIA, Interpol, the Israelis, you name it."
"And if this guy — or gal — got into the country illegally?" asked Mac-Pherson.
It was a question none of them wanted to answer.
Oblivious to events back home, Bennett pressed on with his presentation.
D. Development of Democratic Life
The Coordinating Body, together with the PAA, will formulate new educational programs, curricula, and textbooks for all levels which inculcate values of peace rather than of terror, and will eliminate those educational programs which encourage and praise terror.
Freedom of political, social, and religious association (which is not based on terror) will be established as a means of building a democratic political structure, which will support free elections and be responsible for the day-to-day administration of the civilian life of the residents.
Freedom of speech and press will be guaranteed, restricted only by a prohibition of direct or indirect support of terror.
Agreement with and adherence to these principles will be an essential prerequisite for all economic and other assistance which will be given to the Palestinian Administration Authority.
Doron liked what he saw, though he was careful not to show it. Sa'id, too, was pleased. How he was going to get all this passed by the legislature, however moderate they claimed to be, was another question. But that was a fight for another day.
Another diplomatic land mine was about to go off, and Sa'id could feel it coming.
E. Dismantling of Refugee Camps
The Coordinating Body, immediately upon the establishment of the PAA, will work in close coordination to build normal apartments and homes for those in the refugee camps, and then dismantle the camps altogether. Arab countries, with the assistance of the United Nations, will finance this effort. In the first stage, the refugee camps in the West Bank will be dismantled, followed by a second stage in which the refugee camps in the Gaza Strip will be dismantled.
F. Evacuation of Jewish Settlements
The Coordinating Body, immediately upon the establishment of the PAA, will work in close coordination with the government of Israel to evacuate Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The evacuations will commence no later than six months after the signing of this agreement by Israel. The Israeli prime minister will publicly support such evacuation, and his government will assist the Jewish residents of these enclaves in relocating them to new homes within the State of Israel.
Israeli police and/or military forces will be given safe, temporary passage to such settlements to assist in their orderly evacuation.
The Coordinating Body will assess the value of these settlements — their land, buildings, infrastructure and relocation costs — and establish their fair market value.
The PAA will have the option to purchase said settlements at their fair market value within two years of their evacuation, or they may put them up for auction, available only to current residents of the PAA areas.
Both men held their fire. Now was not the time.
Doron couldn't wait to see the Palestinian refugee camps dismantled and new apartments built with Arab and U.N. money. That should have been done decades before. But as Bennett and McCoy could see, he took serious exception at the suggestion that he should evacuate every Jewish settlement in the disputed territories.
And he was supposed to sell those settlements to the Palestinians? It was political suicide. He could see dismantling some. But all? There was no way, and the Americans knew it. Nevertheless, Doron calmly made a few cryptic notes in the margins, and nodded for Bennett to proceed. There was no need for alarm, he reminded himself. Americans were playing poker, and Israel had a full house. Israel still controlled the land, and possession was, after all, nine-tenths of the law.