David Morrell - The Spy Who Came for Christmas

“ Whether Herod would have believed either of these stories is debatable. But at least they had a backup plan.

“ Matthew’s gospel notes that Joseph, Mary, and Jesus fled by night, something the Magi would have urged them to do, teaching them how to cross the desert in the darkness. The Magi themselves disappear at this point, as good spies should. But the man who told me this version of the Christmas story believed that the Magi eventually rejoined Jesus,

Mary, and Joseph in Egypt, teaching them the tricks of tradecraft, such as how to spot signs that they were under surveillance, how to recruit operatives-or what the gospels call disciples-and how to detect double agents.

“ The last part makes me certain that Jesus knew Judas would betray him. Indeed, perhaps Jesus ordered Judas to betray him in order to fulfill a prophecy. The spy world is a complicated place. But this is a Christmas story, not an Easter one.”

Cole interrupted him. “You said you had a theory about why Joseph wasn’t with Mary when the Magi talked to her.”

“ Yes. Given his immense responsibility, Joseph became more a protective agent than a husband and father. While the Magi spoke with Mary, Joseph watched the street outside, on guard against Herod’s soldiers. In the future, he would spend increasingly less time with Mary and Jesus because he was always arranging for their security. Like the Magi, he soon disappears from the gospels completely, as a good security officer should. Nowhere in the gospels is he quoted directly. He hovers invisibly in the background.”

“ But you said there were gross parts,” Cole objected.

“ Several. They all involve Herod. Contrary to what the Magi hoped, he didn’t chase the phantom accounts that popped up here and there all over the country. His erratic behavior didn’t destabilize Israel. Instead he did something so disturbing that no one could have predicted it, even taking into account his past actions.

“ When Herod realized he’d been tricked, his fury prompted him to send his men to Bethlehem and the other villages in that area. The soldiers obeyed his orders and slaughtered every male child who was two years old or less. Herod couldn’t be certain when exactly the new king had been born. By choosing the wide margin of two years, he felt certain he’d eliminated the threat.”

“ Every boy who was two years old or less?” Cole sounded shocked, yet fascinated. “I heard about that, but I never realized… How many boys did he kill?”

“ Perhaps as many as a hundred. Tradition says it was a far greater number, but the population of the area that included Bethlehem wasn’t large enough for there to be thousands of children. Even so, the mass murder of a hundred children would have felt like thousands. The effect on the region was catastrophic.

“ If a revolution was indeed being planned, this slaughter of children was so startling that now no one dared move against Herod. How can you fight someone so psychotic that, in his will, he had made arrangements for several hundred men to have their throats slit at his funeral? He gave that order because he wanted tears to be shed at his death. It didn’t matter if the tears were for him or for the slaughtered men. All he cared about was that his subjects would be grief-stricken.

“ So, from one point of view, the Magi’s plan went terribly wrong. They hoped to destabilize Herod’s government, and instead they caused a slaughter. But from another point of view, that mass murder had an unintentional positive effect. By killing every other male child around Bethlehem, Herod insured that the baby Jesus was the only surviving child born when and where the king of peace was prophesied to appear. The census turned out to be crucial. It not only brought Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem to fulfill the prophecy, but it also provided written proof that Jesus was born there.

“ As for Herod… After the children were slaughtered, a mysterious illness overcame him. An eyewitness reported that the king felt consumed with fire. He convulsed. His legs swelled with water. His bowels developed ulcers. His penis rotted and developed worms.”

“ Worms on his… ewww, gross,” Cole said.

“ I warned you. The historical records say that the king breathed with violent quickness, exuding a terrible odor. His agony lasted for a long time, which I confess gives me satisfaction. After he finally died, the officials in charge of his funeral refused to obey his edict, so no men were murdered when he was buried.”

“ But what killed him?” the boy asked.

“ One theory is that he had chronic kidney disease. Another says he had a raging type of skin cancer. My own belief is that he suffered from what’s called the flesh-eating disease. Basically, he was devoured by his own bacteria. It couldn’t have happened to a more deserving person. His evil consumed him.

“ But what interests me is, how did it happen to him? Was it bad luck? Was it God’s will? Or do you suppose a spy had something to do with it, touching Herod with a contaminated cloth that caused the disease? We’ll never know. When an espionage mission is successful, we never realize what was actually involved. But I like to think Herod was assassinated with what we now refer to as a biological weapon.”

Kagan paused.

“ And that’s the spy’s version of Christmas.”

Suddenly the baby cried out.

One moment, it was silent. The next, it wailed as if struck by all the pain and fear in the world, and this time, Kagan was absolutely sure.

“ It’s beginning,” he said.

Morrell, David

The Spy Who Came for Christmas

Part Four

The Child of Peace

Morrell, David

The Spy Who Came for Christmas

“ COLE, GET BEHIND the television cabinet! Meredith, take the baby into the laundry room!”

As the baby’s wail persisted, Kagan sank from the leather chair and gripped his pistol with two hands, ignoring the pain in his left arm. Although he realized the notion was crazy, every instinct told him that the baby was telling him something, crying out to warn him. He hadn’t survived these many years without relying on his instincts, and right now, they were clanging like alarm bells.

Andrei’ll come from the front, he reminded himself, pulse racing. He’ll try to distract me while the others attack from the sides. His usual method. The same as at the hotel. He knows I’ll expect it, but that doesn’t matter. It’s the best tactic for this location.

Nonetheless, while Kagan stared through the window toward the falling snow and the barely visible coyote fence, he didn’t see anyone stalking forward.

Maybe I’m imagining things, he hoped. Maybe they really went away.

But he knew that if they were watching the house, for sure they could hear the baby now. His ears hurt from the wail.

How can I listen for somebody breaking in?

The wail ended as abruptly as it had begun.

Kagan heard a scraping sound. It came from Meredith desperately pulling the wicker basket into the shadows of the laundry room, where she would try to conceal the baby behind the washer and dryer

The house became unnaturally still

Maybe I let my nerves get the better of me, Kagan thought, although he couldn’t bring himself to believe it. It could be that the baby’s crying only because he needs his diaper changed

At once, Kagan saw a hint of the gate being opened and closed, a figure emerging from the snowfall

Kagan raised his gun, compensating for the weight of the sound suppressor as he aimed. Does Andrei think the snow hide him? I can shoot him now. Then I only need to worry about..

But the light above the front door reflected off the snow, revealing that the figure’s coat was pale gray and not the black of Andrei’s ski jacket. Instead of Andrei’s watchman’s cap, the man wore a billed cap with earflaps. The figure was Andrei’s height, but thin-without Andrei’s broad shoulders. When the man came closer, Kagan saw that he had a mustache.