The Watchman of Ephraim (Book Club Edition) (41 page)

“
That’s on this floor!”

Fard pulled his pistol from a shoulder holster concealed by his suit jacket and jumped in front of Zamani. He pushed his boss down behind his desk and carefully made his way next to the opened office door. He peered out, but the hall was empty. Then the lights went out on the whole floor. Zamani’s office was now lit only by the ambiance from the plasma screen and the Manhattan city lights bleeding in through the ceiling-to-floor windows behind Zamani’s desk.

Fard waited a few moments but he didn’t hear a sound coming from outside the office. As quietly as he could, he poked his head out again, just enough to scan the hall.

The last thing that Bahman Fard saw was the intense beam of a laser pointing at his forehead and the muzzle flash of a suppressed Heckler - Koch Mk.23 mod.0 US SOCOM pistol complete with laser aiming device.

Zamani heard Fard’s body slump to the floor. Into the darkness, he called to him.

“
Bahman … BAHMAN!”

The lack of response from his subordinate made Zamani as enraged as he was frightened. He reached up and grabbed the receiver from the phone on his desk, but it was dead. He reached up again fumbling with his hand to find his cell phone. Frustrated, he decided to raise his head up just enough to see onto his desk. As soon as he did he saw the same red laser that Fard had seen, this time it was focused on his forehead.

In an act of defiance, he stood up.

“
Who is out there? Show yourself!”

The laser bead never moved from where it was aimed, right between his eyes as Zamani heard the sound of footsteps approaching. The first man that entered his office was wearing night-vision goggles and was the one aiming the pistol at his head. He was unfamiliar to him.

“
Who are you? What do you—“

Before he could finish his question, Mugsy Ricci stepped aside and Zamani recognized the man behind him.

“
De Niro…!”

“
Curious meeting you here … Prince Farouk al-Hassan, was it?”

Zamani sneered.

“
So, you discovered my deception.”

He straightened his suit and tie.

“
I merely wanted to know your interest in the mosque. I thought you might not share that with just anyone … but perhaps with a prince.”

De Niro walked around the desk while Mugsy confiscated Zamani’s cell phone and briefcase. Then he handed the contents of what was in the safe to De Niro.

“
It looks like there is enough here … logs of calls … itineraries … all concerning …
Antioch
. Would that be your name for what’s happened today out west?”

Zamani grinned and ignored his question.

“
So is this a robbery. Is that how you made all your money, Mr. De Niro, by stealing it? I notice you are both wearing gloves. So you are … what’s the term … cat burglars? But look, you have murdered my assistant. I would say that you are in a lot of trouble, my friend.”

De Niro dropped the contents of the safe and Zamani’s cell phone into the briefcase and handed it to Ricci.

“
Oh and what about my men in the elevator, did you murder them too?”

Ricci stepped up close to Zamani, slamming his fist into the Iranian’s gut and doubling him over.

“
You messed with the wrong family.”

Then he reached down and stood the pained man straight again.

“
Let’s go.”

Zamani held his midsection struggling to breathe.

“
Wait, where are you taking me?” You cannot get away. My security system has already alerted the police! There’s nowhere for you to—“

Ricci punched him in his stomach again, this time holding him up so he couldn’t double over.

“
Shut up and let’s go.”

When they reached the roof of the 52-story building, Ricci let go of Zamani then punched him in his gut again, collapsing him to his knees in pain.

De Niro stepped in front of him as Ricci went to work near the edge of the building. Zamani struggled to his feet.

“
Why did you bring me up here? I told you, my security system—“

“
We disabled your security system before your men could set off any alarms.”

De Niro pushed Zamani over towards where Ricci was busy rigging something.

Zamani’s cool demeanor disappeared replaced with a real look of fear and rage.

“
What is he doing? What are you planning to do?”

De Niro’s silence angered him even more.

“
You think you can scare me? You Americans don’t understand us at all. We are rewarded in death, when we die as martyrs!”

De Niro turned his back to Zamani and started walking over to his brother-in-law. As soon as he did, Zamani tried to charge him but De Niro thrashed his elbow into the Iranian’s stomach. Zamani collapsed to his knees again, this time unable to get back to his feet.

De Niro took two ends of a rope from Ricci. The rope passed through a channel of a boom that could be swung out over the edge of the building. The boom was usually used to support the scaffolding for window washers. One end of the rope was tied into a noose. He slipped the noose around Zamani’s ankles and pulled it tightly, forcing Zamani to fall on his face. Then both he and Mugsy began to pull on the other side of the rope, reeling Zamani in towards the end of the boom, like a fish on a hook.

“
What are you doing? You American pigs! You can do nothing to me … you hear me … NOTHING!”

They pulled Zamani up until he was hanging upside down from the boom, still positioned over the roof. The Iranian tried in vain to reach up and free his legs from the noose.

Still filled with fury, he spat his words at De Niro.

“
So, what will you do, huh?! What will you do, drop me from this building? You want to kill me like your wife died, huh. What was her name … ah yes … Lisa! They say … those people died screaming in fear! We joked in Tehran that we could … hear their screams all the way in Iran as those towers fell!”

Ricci rushed over to kick Zamani in the face, but De Niro stopped him. Zamani saw that and laughed in scorn.

“
I will not beg for my life as your wife did, Cris De Niro! Ah … and wasn’t she pregnant? Yes, I read somewhere where it said that she was—“

De Niro pushed on the boom. Zamani’s body swung upside down, out over the edge of the building. Zamani screamed involuntarily then tried to compose himself again. He ended up facing De Niro.

“
GO AHEAD AND DROP ME … I only wish … I would have killed your other children, so they could have joined their mother and unborn brother!”

De Niro pulled on the boom just enough to swing Zamani close to the edge, but still hanging over it. He leaned his face as close as he could get it, to Zamani’s.

“
My wife was carrying our 3
^rd
son. His name was going to be Daniel.”

De Niro handed Zamani the end of the rope.

“
I’m not going to drop you, Aref Zamani. You are going to drop yourself.”

De Niro pushed the boom out again until it hung perpendicular to the edge of the building.

Zamani grunted and whimpered as he struggled to hold the rope.

Ricci walked up next to his brother-in-law.

“
Don’t worry, you can let go anytime you want. Cris and I made sure to barricade the street below you, just to make sure you don’t fall on someone.”

Zamani’s arms trembled as his muscles began to fatigue. He whimpered louder and louder each time another inch of the rope slipped through his hands, dropping him further from the boom. Both men stood there until he literally reached the end of his rope.

Delirious with fear, Zamani’s voice cackled in a higher pitch.

“
YOU WILL … BE GUILTY OF MURDER … I KNOW YOUR BIBLE … YOU WILL NEVER ENTER YOUR KINGDOM!”

De Niro corrected him.

“
Then you should know that it also says, ‘D
o not let the sun go down on your wrath.’ You tried to murder me and my children early this morning and look Zamani, the sun hasn’t set yet!”

Zamani looked around … then turned back to look at De Niro. His face was covered with sweat and his muscles were trembling, about to give out. The terrorist’s attitude of defiance melted away and he began to cry.

“
I … please … I can’t hold anymore ... please … I beg…”

De Niro squatted down and tilted his head so that his face was roughly in line with Zamani’s.

“
You know, I’ve always believed that when those towers fell, my God sent Angels to comfort my wife and the others. In my dreams, I picture my beautiful wife Lisa falling asleep, nestled in the arms of an Angel before she felt any pain.”

Zamani’s arms started spasming wildly.

“
Tell me Zamani, do you think your god will send a demon to comfort you … when you let go of that rope?”

De Niro stood up and walked away with Mugsy at his side. They didn’t turn around as they heard Zamani’s death shrill.

When they reached the street, a crowd had already gathered around the corner, along the barricades they had set up. Most of the people were talking on their cell phones. A few were even taking pictures with their phones of the morbidly contorted body of Aref Zamani. No one even noticed them as they started walking uptown.

Neither man talked. De Niro wiped a tear from his eye as thoughts and prayers filled his mind.

I love you, Lisa. I pray the day comes when I’ll see you again. Father, thank you for letting us defeat our enemies … and for protecting Ephraim! Please bless the family of Charlie Santappia.

De Niro’s cell phone rang.

“
Daddy, its Richard, where are you? We have to leave to visit mommy soon!”

It would be a special 9/11 memorial they all were about to attend.

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary
___________________________________________________________
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                       September 11, 2011

ADDRESS FROM THE PRESIDENT ON NUCLEAR ATTACK

Good evening.

Today, on this 10
^th
anniversary of the cowardly terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, we found ourselves under attack again.

Early this morning, a plot unfolded of incredible proportions, as Iranian nationals working in conjunction with former members of Russian Special Forces and the infamous Pacifico Mexican drug cartel -- smuggled a nuclear device into our country and attempted to detonate it over the city of Las Vegas, Nevada. They intended to fly a small, twin-engine aircraft over the city and detonate the bomb in flight, in order to maximize the destructive force of the blast. Our agencies were able to disrupt their plans and divert that aircraft. A number of Border Patrol Agents lost their lives in Arizona attempting to capture these terrorists and one American hero in particular, former Major Charles Santappia of the United States Marine Corps, attached to an anti-terrorism agency working for the Department of Homeland Security, sacrificed his life in order to fly that plane away from the city of Las Vegas and into the ground in a remote and unpopulated area.

Once again, America was targeted for attack because of our commitment to freedom and opportunity around the world. And once again, the vigilance of our country’s homeland defense and intelligence agencies has protected us from certain disaster and the evil forces of tyranny.

Our nation saw evil today and the very worst of human nature and we responded with the very best of America, with the daring and bravery of our nation’s border patrol agents and civilians who gave their lives to protect our citizens and our way of life.

Even before the bomb detonated, I implemented our government’s emergency response plans. Our military has sprung into action, securing our borders. Our emergency teams are working in and around the areas east of the blast zone, to help with local evacuation and potential rescue efforts from the resulting fallout.