Dark Waters (15 page)

G
anani was seated in a café with a clear view of the Dizengoff Apartments when her phone buzzed. She glanced at the caller ID and considered letting it go to voicemail, but she thought better of it. “
Shalom,
Colonel.”

“We have another complication.”

She sat up straighter. “What do you mean?”

“The doctor.”

“What about her?” Ganani had a bad feeling. She took a quick survey of her surroundings to be sure no one was paying her special interest, picked up her coffee, and settled back in her chair. “She is scheduled to arrive at ten hundred hours, any moment now.”

“Except that Judge Taylor has just received a phone call demanding the exchange of the USB drive for her life.”

“How do you know this?”

“You are not my only asset,
krolik
.”

She hated it when he called her “rabbit.” The endearment made her feel as if she were under the watchful eye of a snake. No doubt his intent. The fact that she allowed it to pass without comment sickened her. He was a sexist Russian pig. One day she would confront him.

Today she turned her attention back to the problem at hand. “What is it you want me to do?”

“Detective Weizman is in Haifa. I just left him at the GG&B Engineering building. Who is in charge on scene?”

Why did she think he already knew?

“His partner, Gidon Lotner, just arrived. He is inside with the judge and his daughter.”

“Good.” His satisfaction transmitted through the phone line. “I have spoken with the head of security at the American embassy. According to Special Agent Tom Daugherty, the judge telephoned him the moment he was contacted. Daugherty handed him the party line, ‘that the United States does not negotiate with terrorists.’ But since Dr. Petrenko is an Israeli, she is not the State Department’s concern.”

“She’s ours.” Ganani could see where this was going.

“I don’t care so much about her, but we are in the business of identifying and capturing terrorists.”

Ganani knew he was calling attention to her failure to identify the Palestinian that had gotten away.

“Colonel, we know the Americans have recovered the USB drive. It is my understanding that my presence here is just a precaution.”

“Your mission has changed.”

Ganani knew whatever he was about to ask her to do was outside her normal job parameters. She also knew she would do it.

“I spoke with Agent Daugherty and offered to help. He agreed to help us fake the exchange if we manage the cleanup.”

Ganani’s throat tightened. “Your plan is to let Judge Taylor deliver a USB drive with false intel into the hands of the Palestinians?”

“Yes.”

“Have the Americans figured out what’s on the original drive?”

“Not as far as Daugherty is admitting. Fortunately, he shares our interest in identifying and stopping those who turned his
right-hand man. He also knows that, working together, the U.S. and Israel can help bring an end to the violence. The Americans will be looking out for the judge and overseeing the exchange. If they are lucky, the judge and the doctor will escape with their lives.”

“And if they’re unlucky?”

“Then they are unlucky.”

Ganani wondered when the cause became more important than human lives, especially those who were innocent, those caught in a war not of their making. “What is my responsibility?”

“You are to make sure the drive ends up in the Palestinians’ hands. Once they are away, you are to follow them. Secure the information that Cline was to receive. After that, kill them all.”

T
here were three voicemails waiting for Jordan. They signaled a problem. Before she could open the first one, her phone rang. Walker’s name came up on the caller ID. She answered.

“We’ve got trouble,” he said.

Jordan straightened in her seat, her brain running scenarios. “What’s happened?”

“Alena Petrenko’s been kidnapped.”

He gave her the blow-by-blow. The doctor had never shown up. Instead, the judge received a call from someone claiming to be holding Alena Petrenko. While they were attempting to verify facts, Daugherty had called and asked for Jordan’s ETA.

That explained the missed calls. “What did you tell him?”

“I told him you’d been delayed and were on your way.” He paused. “You are on your way?”

“Thirty minutes.” She glanced at Weizman.

He shook his head and mouthed,
forty-five
. He was on the phone, too.

“Forty-five minutes,” she amended.

“Call Daugherty,” Walker said. She noticed he left off the
ma’am
.

Hanging up, Jordan listened to her messages. One was from her boss, ordering her to call in immediately. “Shit.”

When she tried calling, she got his voicemail.

“That was Gidon,” Weizman said, closing his phone. He reached forward and flipped on the lights and siren. He had little to add to what she already knew, except for the fact that the plan appeared to be to exchange the information for the doctor.

“Daugherty would never negotiate.”

“Apparently, he has already agreed.” Weizman gunned the engine and shot into the passing lane. Cars peeled off to the right in front of them, and they hurtled toward Tel Aviv at 160 kilometers an hour. The desert blurred in the window behind Weizman’s head.

It didn’t make sense. The US policy was clear.

“Who will be doing the hand-off?”

“The judge.”

“Daugherty is out of his mind.”

“The judge is the one who gains from securing the doctor’s release,” Weizman said. “Maybe he talked his wife into exerting her influence.”

“His
ex
-wife,” Jordan said. “But that doesn’t make sense. She thinks Alena Petrenko’s a quack.”

“Someone else, then. Someone with power.”

“Ilya Brodsky,” Jordan said, slamming her hand down on the armrest.

“The colonel has the power,” Weizman said. “But what would he care about Alena Petrenko?”

“He cares about the information being exchanged. He sent Ganani to my office.”

Racing toward Tel Aviv, Jordan found herself consumed with thoughts of conspiracies and a growing concern for the Taylors’ well-being. Why would Daugherty strike an agreement with the head of a Shin Bet special terrorist unit to participate in an exchange to secure the release of an Israeli immigrant? Daugherty was red, white, and blue to the core. There had to be something more going on, something she wasn’t privy to.

Maybe he was bucking for some promotion? Daugherty and Brodsky both stood to gain if the exchange went well. Daugherty would get credit for helping a U.S. ally. Brodsky would be a national hero for dismembering an active terrorist cell. And if the exchange was botched, both the DSS and Shin Bet could use Jordan as a scapegoat.

Turning the car onto Dizengoff Street, Weizman glanced over at Jordan. “You’re awfully quiet.”

“Just thinking,” she said.

“You’re going to have to tell Daugherty you went with me to GG&B.”

“I’m sure he already knows.”

Weizman pulled up in front of the Taylors’ apartment building. “Tell Daugherty I insisted you accompany me—that I wanted your take on things.” He reached across her and opened the passenger door. “I have to go to my office. Let me know what happens.”

Crossing the courtyard, Jordan took the stairs to the second-floor apartment two at a time, not breaking stride until she reached the door. She knocked and the Marine granted her access. Just over the threshold, she stopped. The front room was crammed full of people—communication techs, policemen, the Marines. A man she’d never seen before claimed the starring role, directing the activity like a traffic cop. There was no sign of Lucy or the judge, but Daugherty and Batya Ganani stood in the kitchen talking.

“Glad you could join us,” Daugherty said, speaking loudly enough that the room went silent.

Jordan refused to be intimidated. It wasn’t as if being on the scene sooner would have changed anything.

She jerked her head toward Ganani. “What is she doing here?”

Ganani proffered a thin smile. Jordan enjoyed seeing that makeup couldn’t completely cover the shiners caused by her kick to Ganani’s nose.

“She’s the Shin Bet agent in charge,” Daugherty said. “She’s running the operation.”

Ganani held up a small, silver USB drive similar to the one Jordan had given to the tech geeks.

“Did they crack it?” Jordan asked Daugherty.

He nodded. “Cline had it loaded up with the secretary of state’s visit itinerary, a map of the embassy guest residences, and detailed information about the security measures being taken.”

“I knew it,” she said. Jordan wanted to tell him “I told you so.” She had pegged Cline as a traitor, even as Daugherty had doubted her. She had been right. “That’s everything a terrorist would need to launch an attack on the embassy.”

“And none of it’s relevant anymore.” Daugherty’s voice carried a warning, but Jordan refused to back down.

“How does that make breaking with protocol acceptable?” she asked.

“That from the agent who ignored my orders?”

Ganani looked from Jordan to Daugherty and beat a hasty retreat.

“You’re treading on thin ice, Jordan,” Daugherty said. “Even though it’s the policy of the United States not to negotiate with terrorists, Shin Bet views this as an opportunity to crack open a major terrorist cell. They’ve asked for our help.”

“Doesn’t that make us complicit?”

“Just because we provided some false information?” He let the words hang. “We’ve changed the secretary’s schedule, tweaked the residence map, and changed up the security details. You’re only job is to look out for the judge’s safety.”

“What does that mean?”

“The kidnappers have asked him to deliver the USB drive.”

“Did you authorize that?”

“I actually had no say in the matter. It’s up to the judge, and he told Ganani he’s in.”

Jordan gripped the edge of the counter. She couldn’t help thinking about Lucy. “What if it goes badly?”

“Then it’s on Brodsky.”

The mention of his name notched up Jordan’s discomfort level. “There has to be some other way. Sir,” she added, reaching for the respectful, “why can’t one of the Shin Bet agents make the trade?”

“The kidnappers asked for the judge, and he’s insisting.”

The idea of him putting himself in danger upset her. “He’s not thinking clearly. He’s my responsibility. It’s my ass on the line if something happens to him. I’ll talk to him.”

“It’s decided.”

This was her case, and Daugherty, at Posner’s prodding, had done nothing but undercut her at every turn. She had to assume it was payback.

“There are other options,” she said. “What about good old detective work? Let’s figure out who these guys are and launch a rescue operation.”

“The clock is ticking, Jordan. We’re running out of time,” Daugherty said, scrubbing a hand over his close-cropped hair.

“If we can figure out what Cline was after in exchange, we’d have—”

Daugherty raised his hands and stopped her. “We’ve been over this, Jordan. We have to assume Cline did it for the money.”

Except that there was no money trail. She had double- and triple-checked.

“I went to Steven Cline’s funeral yesterday, and I learned a few things,” Jordan said.

“You did
what
?” His voice rose. Anger discolored his face. “You went to his funeral?”

“That’s not the point, Daugherty. What’s important is that I can testify to the fact that Cline had aligned himself with the Neturei Karta.” Jordan spoke quietly, hoping to deflect unwanted attention.

Daugherty kept chewing the bone. “Bnei Brak is off-limits to embassy personnel, except for official business.”

“It
was
official business,” she said, and Bnei Brak being off-limits was something she might have known if she’d been briefed by her RSO. Daugherty rubbed his face with a meaty hand. Jordan wondered if she’d pushed things too far.

“We’re finished with this conversation, Jordan. The ship has sailed. We may never know what Cline was doing that day. Right now, our best plan of action is helping our allies get a bead on an active terrorist cell.”

Ganani edged back into the kitchen. Private time was over.

Jordan directed her next question to the agent. “So what’s the plan?”

Ganani stuffed her hands in the pockets of her black bomber jacket. “The judge hands off the drive in exchange for the doctor. We’ve embedded a tracking device. The team will make sure Judge Taylor and the doctor get back to Tel Aviv while I follow the kidnappers.”

“How many are on the team?”

Before Ganani could answer, the door to Lucy’s room opened and Taylor stepped out. Dark circles shadowed his eyes. Worry lines etched his face. Jordan had a sickening feeling that Lucy was getting worse.

Jordan moved toward Taylor. “How is she?”

“Sick. We need to move quickly.” He shut the door softly.

“How sick?”

He pushed his hands through his hair and rubbed the back of his neck. “She’s running a fever of one hundred four.”

Jordan converted Fahrenheit to Celsius. Forty. They were told to call Petrenko if Lucy’s temperature climbed above thirty-eight. “She needs to see a doctor.”

Daugherty pulled out his phone. “I’ll call the embassy physician.”

“No!” Taylor stepped forward, his fists clenched. “We need to get Alena back. She’s the only one who can help.”

Jordan rested her hand on his sleeve and felt the bunched muscles under the soft cotton fabric. “Taylor, we have to do something to bring the fever down.”

“No other doctor.”

Jordan wished she could understand why he wouldn’t seek help for his daughter. If he was worried that seeing a traditional physician would open the door for his ex-wife to swoop in, it was a risk he should be willing to take. This was about Lucy.

“A fever that high is dangerous,” said Jordan.

“She needs Alena.” His tone was firm. “Let’s get this mission started.”

Jordan hadn’t known him long, but she knew that once he had made up his mind, there was no diverting him from this course. Still, they had to do something for Lucy. “First, what can we do to bring down the fever?”

Ganani looked bored and spread the map out on the table. “Why not give her some aspirin?”

“No medicine,” Taylor said. “Alena specifically said no fever suppressants.”

Of course she did. The more Jordan heard, the more Petrenko resembled a quack. Taylor’s ex-wife was definitely onto something.

“What about a cool bath?” Jordan suggested.

“Great idea, Jordan.” Daugherty had a couple of kids of his own. He knew the drill. He turned to Walker. “Draw a tepid bath, and let’s get Lucy in it.”

Walker headed down the hall and, within seconds, Jordan heard the gush of water hitting porcelain. Daugherty sent Taylor back to get Lucy.

Ganani looked up from the map. “When the terrorists call, we’ll need him available.”

Jordan’s temper flared. “He shouldn’t be involved in the first place.”

“Drop it, Jordan. It’s a done deal.”

“You’re like a mother hen,” Ganani said. “I promise, I’ll keep him safe. I have been instructed by Colonel Brodsky to make sure the exchange goes smoothly.”

The reminder of Brodsky’s involvement shattered Jordan’s comfort level. There was no telling what they were walking into.

“I’d like it better if I had a grasp of the plan.”

“Like I said, no one is going to get hurt,” Ganani said. “The judge will hand off the information, then he and Dr. Petrenko will walk away. As soon as they’re a safe distance, I’ll move in and follow whoever makes the exchange.”

“Shin Bet needs to know who’s behind this and what they plan to do with the information,” Daugherty said.

Ganani smoothed the creases on the map. “It’s my assignment.”

“You’re not going in by yourself.”

“I do my best work alone.”

“That’s a bad idea. Let me go with you,” Jordan heard herself volunteer. “I can ensure the judge and Petrenko get away and help you track down the kidnappers.”

“I don’t need your help.”

Jordan appealed to Daugherty. He shrugged.

“If Ganani doesn’t want you tagging along, there’s not much I can do.”

Jordan could have predicted his response. But if she caved now, she might as well pack her bags for home. “Taylor is the one at risk. I should at least be there for the hand-off.”

Daugherty cocked his head. “Not exactly ‘by the book.’”

“And aiding and abetting a hostage negotiation and allowing a civilian to do the hand-off is?”

“Technically, we haven’t negotiated anything. This is the Israelis’ operation.”

The official spin on things. Jordan had to work to clamp down her anger. Now wasn’t the time to engage. For Taylor and Lucy’s sake, she knew she couldn’t afford to lose this round.

“Taylor and Lucy are my responsibility,” she said. “The Marines can look after Lucy. I should be there if the judge is going to put himself in danger.”

Daugherty’s jaw muscle bunched. “I need to know you’re good with what’s going on here.”

He twirled his finger to encompass the scene, and Jordan glanced around. The agents were busy with the com set up. Walker was still helping Taylor. What Daugherty really wanted to know was, could she stand behind the operation? So far, they had only facilitated access to some misinformation, and although it was unorthodox to use a civilian for the exchange, Taylor was insisting. What choice did she have?

Ganani and Daugherty both waited for her response.

“I need an answer, Jordan.”

Jordan locked eyes with Daugherty. “I’m good.”

He held her stare for a moment and then turned to Ganani. “Here’s the deal. Agent Jordan is the DSS agent assigned to the protection of Taylor. In this case, I have to agree with her. It’s in the best interests of both Taylor and the U.S. State Department that she remain involved.”