The Great Deception (21 page)

In Poland it was agreed upon to further
discuss mission details. Tyrone would do his best to answer
questions or otherwise appear to know what he was talking
about.

There were no other patrons seated out on
the patio except for the three Mossad men, alone with their devious
plans. They had grabbed a table in the back, as far away from
people as possible. The shade of the courtyard and the umbrella
nearby further obscured them from view.

Tyrone spoke in a low, even voice.
“
Like I told you before, we
’
re gonna make this look to be an
accident.
”

“I still don
’
t see
how,
”
Seth shook his head.

“Easy,
”
he replied.
“
First, we arrive into town undetected,
masquerading as local vigilantes from one of the rebel cells in

Spain.
”

Baruch reflected,
“
You said our target Sofia

Keller is stalking the interim governor
there in Barcelona, right?
”
He frowned
like he had more to say but didn
’
t know
how to say it.

“What
’
s his name
again?
”

“Carlos Castell, that
’
s your guy in Barcelona,
”
Tyrone helped him.
“
Did you have more to
say?
”

Baruch appeared to be thinking.

“How long do we have to wait until you have
your ah-hah moment?
”
Seth teased his
partner.

Baruch ignored the remark.
“
If we take out the interior minister, but fail to
escape, we go down in a shootout with the authorities.
”
Seth had been listening to Baruch while
simultaneously tracking a waitress make her way to their table. She
appeared extremely apologetic for not having seen them come in
earlier.

Tyrone saw her too around the same time Seth
did. Before the woman even came close to where the men were talking
he said in an aside sort of way,
“
Yo
misses, three ales for me and my colleagues. Keep the
change.
”
Tyrone winked at her while
placing a green bill in her hands and folding her fingers over the
money.

She went away without a word to get the
drinks.

Seth took notice of how well Tyrone handled
the exchange. His mind however returned to what was being said
before the little interlude. He had a question.
“
Is this your plan or rather how things might turn out
after
we terminate the target?
”
Baruch looked disappointed in Seth. His eyes surveyed the table
where they sat at: the condiments, menus, salt and pepper shakers
were all in the usual spots one would expect. He quickly made his
mind up to use what was available to aid in communicating their
playbook options.

“See these sugar packets?
”
he tossed three into view in front of
Seth
’
s spot.
“
They
’
re the o
’
s. You with me so far?
”
Seth
secretly admired the man
’
s clever use of
what was on hand. He also nodded so that his friend could continue
his undoubtedly lengthy explanation and plan.

“Before I go on, do you have any input on
these matters?
”
Baruch popcorned the
discussion Tyrone
’
s way.

Tyrone hadn
’
t been
paying super close attention since the drinks had just arrived. He
kindly accepted them from the lady with a tray. Tyrone duly thanked
her then returned his gaze back to Baruch.
“
Take it away, agent.
”

“As I was saying before
…
.”
he held outstretched arms
directed at the sugar packets.

“Next, you
’
ve got
to deal with the x
’
s. We know Sofia Keller
is one of
‘
em. Count on there being
collateral damage, too.
”
For the
x
’
s he threw down little ketchup
packet(s). Tyrone
’
s eyebrows went up at
the number of packets Baruch laid out.
“
Expecting a lot of deaths or something?
”
he facetiously interjected.

Baruch shrugged.
“
In my line of work, things can get hairy pretty
quick.
”

To this Seth vigorously bobbed his head up
and down in agreement.

“You forget, I was in the field too, you
know,
”
a completely serious Tyrone
reminded the other men.

Both active duty Mossad agents exchanged
knowing looks of amusement hidden underneath an inconspicuous,
well-worn expression that wouldn
’
t be
misinterpreted to mean anything else.

“Let
’
s get this
game plan back on track though, no more interruptions,
”
Tyrone apologized.
“
That
goes for myself as well,
”
he added with a
stone cold face. Baruch
’
s eyes smiled at
the invitation to proceed with the dialogue.
“
So after the fact-when they bring in the black bags,
tape, the police have finished dusting the scene--the official
story that breaks across German airwaves will go something like
this: Spanish

Terrorists Assassinate Keller, Lose Their
Own Lives in Firefight with Police.
”
“
Beautiful,
”
Tyrone said. He bestowed as little credit as possible because he
knew hatching a grand scheme plan was child
’
s play for the two professionals he would spot for in
Berlin.

Seth felt the need to contribute by this
point. He had patiently waited for a good time to jump in.

“Mossad will of course know Baruch and I
were the agents on the hit squad. Furthermore, they will believe
the part of the official story that confirms our recorded time of
death.
”

“Or so we hope,
”
Tyrone said using his gravelly voice.
“
Otherwise
…
we
’
s gots a youknow-what storm headed our
way.
”

“That
’
s out of the
question,
”
Seth firmly corrected him.

Tyrone shrugged.
“
For both of your sakes, I hope your
right.
”

“Hey, you
’
re a big
part of this too,
”
Baruch said rather
testily.
“
They
’
ll
come after you as sure as the sun rises in the East and sets in the
West.
”

Tyrone merely tipped his head back to
finish off the dregs in his cup. His hand which previously clutched
the stein
’
s handle brought the glass down
against the table with an abruptness that rattled everything to the
core, nearly spilling the other men
’
s
drinks over.

Tyrone didn
’
t
apologize for his last actions either; instead, he picked his empty
beer stein up and raised it high.
“
To our
success!
”
he toasted. The others
reciprocated the action yet murmured the same message less
enthusiastically.

--

Barcelona, Spain

Moisture mixed in with blood, sweat and
tears to form the German scent of attrition.

Cell
3a
was rife with the smell.

Wendel and Amalia would break in a matter of
time. Days, hours
…
even minutes. Their
fortitude seemed better than the interrogation techniques used thus
far. But things were far from over.

The endurance of the two detainees put
Alfonso in a rare mood. He did his best not to show it. There were
times he
’
d feel the phone in his pocket.
He knew all he
’
d have to do is give the
walkie button on it three clicks. Help would be on the way. Aflonso
and whomever came calling in response to his signal could tag-team
the Germans all day. However, again, the garbage circumstances that
had precipitated the cloudy atmosphere were too far along for a
storm not to break out at any given moment. One more nettling
comment or lack thereof following a question that needed a truthful
answer and that
’
s all it would take to
negatively charge the ions and bring on the lightning.

It
’
s so
good we
’
re in an intimate, high
containment cell. If I snap, it
’
ll
be an easier mess to clean up,
Alfonso demurred.

Suddenly his pocket vibrated. New
information hopefully. Maybe even a little leverage to make Wendel
and Amalia sing. Two thumbnail portrait shots lit up the central
screen on the device when Alfonso took a time-out to respond to the
interruption. The first image had the caption,
“
Amalia
’
s best friend, Edda
Hartmann.
”

Alfonso stayed disciplined long enough for
his mind to take a quick snapshot of the ravishing woman staring
back at him from the screen. Her brilliant coffee-colored eyes were
the focal point of a sculpted face with sweeping cheekbones, a
nubby point for a chin, and an elongated crown topped by a stylish
blonde updo.

The other image had much worse resolution
than the first, yet it was unmistakably a male, forties.
Fritz
Ritter, Wendel
’
s poker friend,
the caption read. Fritz looked tired in the photo. His features
weren
’
t anything that
’
d make him stick out in a crowd, but rather quite the
opposite. His mousse-colored hair fell across his brow in a layered
crop cut.

“You know what I have here?
”
Alfonso spoke with his head bowed and the phone now
resting on the table within arm
’
s length
from where he sat.

The Germans waited with bated breath.

“Let me show you,
”
he said turning the phone around, waking it from its screensaver.
The first photo to appear in the slideshow was Amalia
’
s friend, Edda.

Instant recognition glinted in her eyes.
Amalia
’
s free legs started to thrash.

“No, no! You can
’
t
harm her!
”

“That would be your choice, now
wouldn
’
t it?
”
Alfonso eyed her coldly.

The German woman avoided all eye contact at
these words. She uttered curses under her breath in her native
tongue. Wendel tried to console her. However it had no effect on
the woman in distress. Alfonso turned his gaze to Wendel.
“
I have a picture for you too! I
didn
’
t want you to feel left out, you
see.
”

Wendel didn
’
t want
to look at the screen, yet he somehow forced himself to look
downward. Anger seized him.

He swore out of desperation.
“
If we answer one of your damn questions, then
what?
”

Alfonso grew slightly hopeful. He carefully
checked his expectations though with the Germans
’
track record from the last two hours of
interrogation. He
’
d give them both failing
grades for cooperation thus far. But perhaps now he finally had
them in his corner.

Their heart rate is up significantly.
Both the man and woman,
a calm voice watching the
Germans
’
vitals said from deep within
Agent Marcello
’
s ear canal.

He interpreted the message in one way: now
was as good a time as there would ever be to get somewhere.

“If you make a call for me to whomever it is
you liaise with from Scorpion, then we can talk about your
freedom.
”

“What about Edda?
”
an ornery Amalia demanded rather sternly.

Alfonso smiled at her spunk.
“
I don
’
t think you have
position to talk with me that way missy.
”

Suddenly there was a hasty exchange of
whispers between Wendel and Amalia.

Alfonso looked from his left to right.
“
Well?

What have you decided it
’
ll be?
”

Wendel took it upon himself to be the
spokesman.
“
We will make this call.

But after we
’
re
cleaned up and offered a meal.
”

The answer wasn
’
t
entirely remarkable. Alfonso contained his excitement over the
progress. His face hadn
’
t changed for the
last five minutes.
“
I suppose that could
be arranged.
”

“What happens now?
”
Amalia asked.

“I get the communications gear ready, eat my
meal, and then maybe let the cook know to save a couple of plates
for you guys,
”
he said turning to leave.
When he got a foot away from exiting, the door opened outward for
him.
“
Sit tight, kids,
”
he said through an ear-to-ear grin.

--

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Jabour had signed, sealed, and delivered.
Securing the spaceport in the capitol of the UIC would be
instrumental to the Mahdi
’
s plans. In
anticipation of King Kahlil
’
s
yes,
Howard
’
s fleet of spaceships eagerly
waited in spacedock for their upgrade and ordinance.