Justifiable Homicide: A Political Thriller (Robert Paige Thrillers Book 1) (30 page)

“We didn’t target Paige. We would never do that. What Rachel did was completely unauthorized.”

“Yeah, well you can tell that to my face tomorrow at ten. Same place.”

“OK. I’ll call Aaron and arrange the meeting.”

“You do that.” Wellington hung up.

Sergei looked at his watch. It was too late to call Gelman. He knew better than to incur the wrath of Shona. He decided to send him a text message instead.

“We have a meeting tomorrow at 10 with W. It’s about Rachel.”

A few minutes later he received a reply. “OK. Pick me up at 9:30.”

The next morning, Sergei drove to Gelman’s office in Brickell. He arrived a few minutes early. Gelman was outside waiting for him. No need to find parking. The drive to the Anton Cermak plaque would take a few minutes. They talked on the way.

“What did Wellington say exactly?” Sergei related the conversation he had with Wellington the night before. He left out the fact that Carla had overheard the first part of the conversation. It was a breach of security Gelman didn’t need to know about.

Carla’s eavesdropping did have its benefits. She was very excited in bed. Although he made the first move on the couch, she initiated sex the next three times. He was shooting dust by the time she was done with him the next morning. He promised to call her.

“We have to convince him we had absolutely nothing to do with this.”

“Yes, I know. I don’t know how easy that will be, though. After all, she did work for us. By the way, she’s in London, waiting for a connecting flight to Tel Aviv.”

“Well, at least you have some good news to report.”

They arrived at Bayfront Park, parked the car and walked to the Anton Cermak plaque. Wellington was waiting for them.

Gelman and Sergei extended their hands to shake as they approached. Wellington kept his hands in his pockets.

“I’ll get right to the point. Why did you try to whack Paige and what are your future intentions regarding Paige and Steinman?”

Gelman did the talking. “I’m very sorry this happened. Rachel Karshenboym was acting totally on her own. We would never authorize such a thing.”

Wellington didn’t know whether to believe them or not. It didn’t matter. She was out of the country and out of the picture. They wouldn’t dare try again. He was a CIA asset, and they knew there would be consequences if they tried again.

“Then you can assure me that Paige is not in your sights?”

“Absolutely!”

“And that you won’t place surveillance on him or his girlfriend?”

“Absolutely!”

Wellington turned to Sergei. “Is there anything else we need to discuss?”

Gelman interrupted before Sergei could say anything. “No. I would just like to say again that we’re very sorry that this happened. It will not happen again.”

“It had better not, or there will be consequences.”

With that, Wellington turned around and walked away. Sergei and Gelman did the same. After dropping Gelman at his office, Sergei went back to his apartment and took a nap.

Friday night. Paige and Sveta were at the Steinman’s, having dinner with Saul and Rona. They’d had dinner with them a few times in the last month. Paige and Saul were becoming friends and so were Sveta and Rona. Although they came from different backgrounds, they enjoyed each other’s company. Sveta had suggested having dinner at her place but Rona politely declined, and offered to have dinner at her place instead. The reason she declined was because Sveta didn’t keep a kosher kitchen, although Rona didn’t say that when she declined Sveta’s invitation.

They were sitting in the living room. Sveta had just finished telling Saul and Rona about what happened earlier in the week. Both Saul and Rona had been listening intently.

Rona leaned forward. “Who do you think could have done it, and why?”

Paige interrupted. “We really don’t know. It doesn’t fit the usual modus operandi of a drive-by shooting. For one thing, it was a middle-aged white woman.”

Saul interjected, “And it was in a Jewish neighborhood, Sunny Isles Beach! Nobody’s safe anymore.”

Paige turned toward Steinman. “I think it was a case of mistaken identity. She didn’t look like any of my students.”

Saul and Rona laughed. Rona got up and started walking toward the kitchen. “I think the brisket is ready.” It smelled delicious. The aroma was wafting into the living room.

A few minutes later she emerged to announce, “Dinner’s ready.” They all walked into the dining room and sat down, while continuing their conversation.

“This is a typical Friday night kosher dinner,” Rona explained, “brisket, chicken soup with matzo balls, challah and potato kugel.”

Saul replied, “I told Rona years ago that I’m an atheist but she still thinks that if she feeds me kosher meals, I’ll become Jewish again.”

Saul continued. “There’s a special story behind the challah. When the Jews made their exodus from Egypt and wandered in the desert for 40 years, God dropped manna from the sky so they would have something to eat, but he didn’t drop any manna on Shabbos, so he dropped twice as much manna on Friday. That’s why we have two loaves on the table.”

Rona interjected. “Saul, you forgot to tell them the most important part. Tell them why the Jews wandered in the desert for 40 years. It’s because men never ask for directions.”

They laughed and started eating. After a few minutes the conversation turned toward politics and current events.

Saul turned toward Paige. “Did you see any drones yet?” He was referring to the unmanned aircraft the federal government had started flying over Miami as part of its anti-terrorism program.

“No, I haven’t seen them but I heard about them on TV.”

Saul leaned forward. “What do you think of them?”

Rona interjected. “I don’t see anything wrong with them. They’re using them to protect us from terrorists.”

“That’s bullshit … pardon my French.” Saul was visibly upset. He was practically shouting. “I saw one flying over Florida International University last week. FIU doesn’t have any terrorists.”

Paige tried to calm him down. “Some people are upset about it. I read on the internet that some guy in Dallas got arrested for trying to shoot one down with a rifle. He demanded a jury trial but the feds aren’t going to let him have one. They say he can’t have a public trial for national security reasons and because it would give aid and comfort to the terrorists.”

Saul put down his tea cup. “Who are these terrorists, anyway? I think the feds are becoming the terrorists. I read that some guy in Coral Gables got arrested for illegally watering his lawn and that the local police found out about it because of a drone. It took photos that the police are going to use in court. We’re headed toward a police state and nobody seems to give a shit.”

Rona interjected. “Saul, calm down. We’re trying to have a peaceful dinner.”

The rest of the dinner was pleasant, as the conversation shifted to less controversial topics. When dinner was over, Rona and Sveta started taking the dishes into the kitchen. Saul and Paige walked into the living room and continued their conversation.

“Saul, do you ever worry that some of the stuff you say might get you in trouble?”

“Sometimes I worry a little, but not enough to shut me up. I’m tenured and I have the First Amendment to protect my right to free speech.”

“Did you know that some members of Congress want to amend the First Amendment so that people who speak out about the federal government’s anti-terrorist activities aren’t protected?”

“Yeah, I heard about it but that’s never going to happen.” Saul seemed quite confident.

Paige was less certain. “During World War I, President Wilson had 10,000 people arrested for speaking out against the war. During the Civil War, President Lincoln shut down newspapers and had a warrant issued for the arrest of a Supreme Court Justice. What makes you think they can’t do that again?”

“That was before television and the internet. They wouldn’t dare do that now. There would be riots in the streets.”

“How can you be so sure? After the federal massacres at Waco and Ruby Ridge the people didn’t do anything. They killed a bunch of people who were minding their own business. Their main crime was that they didn’t like the federal government. If the feds can execute dozens of innocent people, including women and children, and get away with it, what makes you think they’ll get upset if the feds arrest a few left-wing academics?”

“I hear what you’re saying. Most of the people are asleep, and the millions of right-wing nut cases mostly approve of what the feds are doing. Which reminds me, did they ever catch the guy who assassinated Raul Rodriguez?”

“No, I don’t think so. I haven’t heard anything.”

That comment got Paige to thinking about the reason he first approached Steinman for a meeting. He felt guilty about what he was doing, spying on someone who had become a friend and reporting back to Wellington. He sometimes felt like he was a spy for the Gestapo, the Nazi secret police.

“Don’t you ever worry about getting assassinated? You hold the same position on the Cuban embargo that Rodriguez held, and your views aren’t much different than those of professors Shipkovitz and Kaplan, either.”

“Yeah, I know, but you can’t go around being paranoid about being assassinated. I feel that I have to speak up when I think something is wrong. Nobody’s going to shut me up.”

“Saul, you mentioned that most of the right-wing nut cases approve of what’s going on, but some of them don’t.”

“Like who?”

“Timothy McVeigh, for one. He got so upset about what the feds did in Waco and Ruby Ridge that he
did
something about it. There are a lot of others who felt the same way. They just didn’t do anything about it.”

“Yeah, that’s the point. They didn’t do anything about it. At least I have the guts to speak up. You don’t have to blow up federal buildings with day care centers to make your point.”

“Do you think that speaking up is enough? What if your words fall on deaf ears? What if the millions of low-information voters we have in this country continue to elect the same politicians we have in Washington now? Do you think that, at some point, targeted assassinations might be more effective?”

“We haven’t reached that point yet, and I hope we never do.”

Paige continued. “Timothy McVeigh considered targeted assassinations. He wanted to assassinate the attorney general for approving the Waco and Ruby Ridge massacres and the federal judge who put his stamp of approval on the Waco murders, but decided against it because it would be too difficult. He went to Plan B, which was blowing up the federal building where he thought some of the federal agents who took part in Waco and Ruby Ridge had offices.”

“I don’t approve of any assassinations, targeted or not. We live in a democratic country where we can change things peacefully without taking human life. You sound like you approve of political assassinations.”

Paige hadn’t fully formulated his views on the issue, but he had decided that Steinman should not be an assassination target, whether by the feds or a private party who disagreed with him.

Paige continued. “Sometimes words may not be enough. Germany was a democracy in 1933, when Hitler assumed power through the democratic process. Don’t you think the world would be a better place if someone would have assassinated that democratically elected leader in 1933?”

“Without a doubt, but that’s an exception.”

“Do you think there could be exceptions that apply to present-day America? Are there any cases where targeted assassinations might be morally justified?”

“No, I don’t think so. We’re going in the wrong direction, toward a totalitarian state, but things haven’t gotten that bad yet. We have a long way to go before any kind of assassination is justified.”

Paige wanted to push the envelope to see where Steinman thought the red line should be drawn. “Do you think that shooting down a drone or two would be justified? Nobody would be killed, since they’re unmanned?”

“Yeah, that might be justified. We shouldn’t have drones flying over universities.”

“How about shooting out some of the cameras they’re installing on our highways? Do you think that could be morally justified?”

“Yeah, I think George Orwell and Aldous Huxley would approve.”

“But drones and cameras can be replaced. We wouldn’t solve the problem by destroying them. We would only be increasing government spending because they would replace them.”

“Yeah, but we would be sending a message.”

“But if mere words won’t change anything, what makes you think that shooting up a few cameras would be any different?”

Steinman was curious as to where the conversation was headed. “Then what do you suggest?”

“What if those right-wing nut cases started targeting the people who control the drones and the people who install the cameras? Do you think that would send an effective message? You know what they say … Nothing changes until there’s a body count.”

“Well, that certainly would send a message, but do you really think that’s the way to go?”

Paige pondered for a moment to consider his response to Steinman’s question. “Sometimes one little act can have a disproportionate effect on the feds’ behavior. Like that guy who tried to blow up an airplane with explosives in his shoes. Ever since that incident, the feds have been making us take off our shoes at airports. Maybe if a few right-wing nut cases, as you call them, would target a few of the foot soldiers who install cameras or fly drones, they would get the message.”

Steinman was getting visibly upset. He was beginning to think he was talking to one of the right-wing nut cases he so strongly disapproved of.

Paige continued. “Let’s take it a step farther. Rather than going after the foot soldiers, why not go after the politicians and bureaucrats who made the decision to install the cameras and fly the drones over universities?”

“You’re starting to scare me, Bob. Are you serious or are you just pulling my chain?”

“Let’s change the facts a little. Let’s say that we were in Nazi Germany in the 1930s and Hitler’s goons started flying drones over some university in Berlin and put up cameras to track the movements of Jews.”