The Shadow of Death (Psalm 23 Mysteries Book 9) (9 page)

The woman nodded slowly. “Okay. Is there anything I can get you?”

“No, we’re sorry if we were any bother,” Jeremiah said.

The woman took another look at Aaron, then turned and walked back down the aisle.

Cindy slumped in momentary relief as some of the adrenalin started to drain from her body. They weren’t out of the woods yet, though. Not by any means. Jeremiah turned to look at her. His eyes were a little glazed.

She leaned close so she could whisper softly in his ear. She didn’t need anyone overhearing. “Is he dead?”

She pulled back slightly and Jeremiah nodded.

She leaned back in. “Are you okay? You don’t look right.”

He twisted his head and she turned so he could whisper to her. “I think he drugged my water in the terminal. I’m still feeling the effects. You saved my life. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. What do we do now?” she whispered back.

“Wait until we land then get off this plane before they realize what’s happened.”

“Why did...they...want to kill you?”

“I don’t know. They might not have had anything to do with it.”

“Are we going to Israel for nothing?”

“We’ll see.”

Cindy wanted to keep talking but twisting to whisper to Jeremiah kept bringing Aaron’s face into her line of sight. And she didn’t want to look at the man who had almost killed Jeremiah.

She leaned her head back against the headrest. There was no way she was sleeping now, not with all the thoughts whirling through her head. She was trying not to think about what was going to happen when they landed. What if Aaron’s death was discovered before they could disembark? What if there were people waiting on the other end who would kill her and Jeremiah on sight?

She wondered what Aaron had planned to do to her once Jeremiah was dead. She shuddered at the thought. He probably would have killed her too. She should have been suspicious that he didn’t fight too hard against the idea of her coming along. Maybe he was counting on her keeping Jeremiah distracted which would only make killing him easier.

She felt like she was going to be sick. She had no idea what was going to happen when they landed. All she did
know was that her only chance of survival was sticking to Jeremiah like glue.

Jeremiah was still struggling to fight off the effects of whatever sedative Aaron had slipped him. It had been Cindy thrashing around on top of him that had brought him to. If she hadn’t insisted on coming along he would be dead. And likely no one back home in California would ever have known what had become of him. Cindy would have spent her life wondering if he was dead or alive.

He shook his head. He owed her his life. That was a tremendous thing. He had saved her life plenty of times, but this was the first time he had incontrovertible proof that without her he would have been killed.

From now on he was going to have to be extremely vigilant to ensure her safety as well as his own. Where they were going he couldn’t afford a single slipup or miscalculation.

He started going over every interaction with the dead man next to him, trying to determine who might have sent Aaron to kill him. It didn’t make sense that the Mossad would want him dead, not after they’d gone through all the trouble to retire and relocate him. Besides, enough time had passed he would have fallen off the radar. Unless killing the terrorist at the wedding had put him right back on it.

That single act had certainly got the C.I.A.’s attention and it stood to reason the Mossad would have noticed as well. They could have let a few months lapse so Jeremiah’s death wouldn’t be quickly connected to the other one. But why try to kill him on the plane?

Aaron had had at least half a dozen chances to kill him before that. Maybe he didn’t care to take a chance on Jeremiah being able to respond and fight back. Or maybe whoever had ordered Aaron to kill him wanted Jeremiah’s body in Israel for some reason. Proof of death perhaps?

He was sure of one thing. Aaron hadn’t been working alone. If he had been coming after Jeremiah on his own for some reason he would have gone about things completely different. Aaron would have either killed him back in California at some point when Jeremiah wasn’t expecting it. Or he would have captured him, explained what he was getting revenge for, and then he would have killed Jeremiah.

Jeremiah had been suspicious that Aaron was giving him time to say goodbye to his friends. He had decided, though, that it had been a simple act of kindness and respect that was permissible because of the time for their flight. It also hadn’t made sense that Aaron caved so easily on letting Cindy come with them. But Jeremiah knew that for particularly valuable assets occasionally things like that were allowed to ensure their willing cooperation.

So, the big question remained. Was he a valuable asset, a dangerous liability, or something else entirely? Since there was no way to know the answer until they walked off the plane in Tel Aviv he was going to have to be ready for anything. To that end he began running scenarios in his mind trying to work out a plan for every possible contingency. When they landed at the airport he wanted to be ready for anything and everything. Their lives would likely depend on it.

It was midnight and Mark couldn’t sleep. Instead he was up pacing in the family room. Buster had followed him from the bedroom, but once he realized that there was nothing interesting going on he returned. Captain was stretched out next to the front door, half asleep, clearly hoping Jeremiah was coming back soon. His eyes were following Mark as he walked back and forth.

Everything was
topsy turvy. He had always known there was something up with Jeremiah. He was used to having those suspicions. For once, though, having a mystery solved didn’t make him feel any better. For some reason he felt worse and it was driving him crazy.

Maybe it was because he had a very bad feeling about whatever it was that Jeremiah and Cindy were getting into. Rationally he realized that he probably didn’t have to worry too much about Jeremiah. The rabbi knew how to handle himself in just about any situation. That was probably one of the things that had made him a good Mossad agent. Still, he was worried about him. Even the most talented in any field could have an off day or be completely blindsided by something.

As much as he was worried about Jeremiah he was ten times more worried about Cindy. She had come a long way from that withdrawn, terrified woman he had first met a couple of years ago. She was practically a different person these days. Yet despite all that, and all the things she had survived in those couple years, this was totally different. She’d be in a foreign country, one that was pretty much always a war zone, cut off from everyone that might be able to help her. Add to that whatever super bad, terrifying crap that was enough for the Mossad to reactivate Jeremiah and you had a recipe for disaster.

“Worrying yourself sick isn’t going to help them.”

Mark jumped and turned with a shout. Traci stared at him with wide, startled eyes.

“You scared me,” he told her.

“Apparently. Couldn’t sleep?”

“No.”

“I’m worried, too,” she said, sitting down on the couch.

She looked tired and he felt guilty for interrupting her sleep.

“I’m sorry for waking you.”

“You didn’t. I couldn’t get comfortable. I’m having some painful gas. I’m not sure if the food didn’t agree with me or if it was all the excitement.”

“There was a lot of excitement, that’s for sure. Too much.”

“What do you think the Mossad wants with Jeremiah?” Traci asked.

Of course he’d told her the truth about what was going on. There was no way he was carrying the burden of that knowledge by himself.

“I don’t know. It could be he’s an expert on a particular thing or person that has suddenly become an issue. Or maybe it’s something connected to something he worked on for them.”

“Poor Cindy, getting pulled into the middle of this nightmare.”

“She didn’t have to go,” Mark pointed out.

“Yes, she did. She loves him and she’s terrified she’s going to lose him.”

Mark stopped and looked at her. “You love me and you don’t follow me off on every police call.”

Traci smiled at him. “That’s because you’re my husband. You know I love you, and I know that you love me and would do everything in your power to fight to come back to me. Cindy doesn’t have that reassurance. She’s never told Jeremiah how she feels, and she’s not positive how he feels. She’s terrified that if she let him go he wouldn’t come back even if he was alive.”

Mark sighed. “Life would be so much simpler if the two of them got married.”

“Or if they at least were honest with each other about how they felt.”

“When they get back I have half a mind to lock them in a room and not let them out until they tell each other how they feel.”

“Might work if Jeremiah doesn’t decide to pick the lock instead.”

Mark rolled his eyes.

Captain lifted his head and looked over at Traci. The big dog got up and padded over to her, then got up on the couch next to her and laid down.

“I wish there was something we could do to help,” Traci said as she petted the dog’s head. Captain closed his eyes, clearly enjoying the attention.

“That’s part of what’s had me up. I keep thinking about this case from a couple of years ago. Do you remember that Iranian student that was murdered? We had zero leads on it. I read something in the file yesterday, though, that got me thinking. I’m wondering if his death was actually linked to some much larger thing, perhaps politically or even globally.”

“Mark-”

“No, hear me out. I know it sounds crazy. According to all his friends and teachers there was nothing about this guy that was likely to get him in trouble. He was nice, quiet but friendly, not quiet like I’m about to try and kill a whole bunch of people kind of quiet.”

“Mark-”

“I know, but these days you hear someone described as quiet and that kind of thing comes to mind. No, he wasn’t a loner. He had friends. People liked him. There was no one that seemed to bear him any ill will which made it hard to figure out a motive let alone a suspect. But, it turns out a homeless guy who witnessed his murder was a former C.I.A. agent who was killed a couple of months later. I was busy trying to connect the homeless guy to those other homeless killings or even to Jeremiah, but I’m thinking his death has nothing to do with them and everything to do with witnessing this kid’s murder.

“What if the kid wasn’t killed because he’d done something to piss someone off but because he knew something that was dangerous? When I get back to work I’m going to see what I can find out about his family and friends back in Iran. Maybe there are links to terrorism somewhere there. It’s possible he was privy, even on accident, to some details of a terrorist plot. Now that would be something someone might kill him over. Don’t you think?”

“Mark, I-”

“I know it sounds far-fetched,” he said, interrupting her. “But really, in the world we live in stranger things have happened and I’d be remiss if I didn’t at least consider the possibility and check out one or two things. Maybe whatever the kid knew he somehow passed on or revealed
to the homeless guy. And maybe that’s why the homeless guy was on his way to Jeremiah’s when he was killed. Maybe his old pals wouldn’t believe him anymore because he’d gone a bit off his rocker, but because he recognized Jeremiah from the old days then he was hoping that Jeremiah might actually believe him and still have the connections to do something about it. After all, Jeremiah told me that they knew each other from something that they were both working on in Iran. It has to all fit. It has to be connected. Maybe if I can figure things out on my end it will help Jeremiah and Cindy somehow.”

“Mark!”

“Yes, what is it?” he asked, turning to look at her.

She was white as a ghost and she was staring at him with a stricken look on her face.

“What is it?” he asked again, fear starting to race through him.

“We need to go to the hospital. My water just broke.”

8

Mark paced in the waiting room, beside himself. He’d driven like a madman to get to the hospital. They hadn’t had time to pack anything to take with them. Traci wasn’t due to have the baby for two months. Why she was in labor now he didn’t know. What was worse was the doctor wouldn’t let him back in the room with her. Something had gone horribly wrong, and the longer they left him in the dark the more terrified he became that he was going to lose both his daughter and his wife.

He heard footsteps hurrying down the hall and he turned to face the doorway. A moment later Geanie and Joseph both appeared looking completely haggard.

“We got here as fast as we could,” Geanie said, rushing forward to hug him.

He could tell they had. Geanie was wearing mismatched socks and Joseph’s hair was sticking out at every possible angle.

“Thank you,” he said, choking to get the words out.