Avraham Azrieli - The Jerusalem Assassin

“ He’s got Cohen,” the nurse said from the sofa.

Number One was silent for a moment. “What do you want?”

“ How’s the wife and kids?”

“ Skip the pleasantries, okay?”

“ I’m upset,” Elie said. “You had me arrested-twice. You detained my people. You invaded my territory and prospected for my financial resources. It feels like a hostile takeover.”

“ And who started it?”

“ Ah. My meeting with Rabin?”

“ That’s right! You made a move on us!”

“ Not exactly.”

“ Intelligence czar? Is that the mother of all takeovers or what?”

“ I see your point.”

“ What did you think? You left us no choice!”

“ If I may,” Rabbi Gerster said, “this turf war is ripe for an armistice, so I propose-”

“ Excusez-moi,” Number One said, the speakerphone communicating his irritation, “but who the hell is this?”

“ Rabbi Abraham Gerster of Neturay Karta.”

“ Holy shit! You work for SOD?”

“ For the Jewish people,” Rabbi Gerster said. “What about a ceasefire? Let’s go back to the old detente. Elie calls off the deal with Rabin. SOD and Shin Bet return to peaceful co-existence. And we all live happily ever after.”

“ Too late,” Number One said. “We already took over Freckles and shut down the staged assassination plot.”

“ Did you?” Elie’s dark eyes focused on the bare wall across the room. “That boy, Yoni Adiel, is a free agent, real fanatic kind of a guy.”

“ We’re watching him. He’s in the bag. ILOT is history.”

“ Impressive,” Elie said.

“ Your deal with Rabin is off, Weiss-if there ever was a deal, which is in question.”

“ I accept my defeat,” Elie said. “That’s life. You lose some, you win some.”

“ Good,” Rabbi Gerster said. “Let’s all go home now.”

“ Not so fast,” Number One said. “We’ve shut down your ILOT scheme, got you locked up, and are closing in on your financial sources in Zurich. Why should we give up a perfect set of cards?”

“ What about your agents here?”

Number One chuckled. “You won’t take another Jew’s life.”

“ But I’ll take another Jew’s marriage.” Elie slipped his pinky out of Agent Cohen’s eye socket, making him cry out and cover his eye.

The line from Paris was quiet.

Elie wiped his pinky on a napkin. “How is Madame de Chevallier?”

Again, no answer.

“ I hear she’s satisfied with your new implant.”

“ Weiss! ”

“ But she complains that it makes you cocky.”

Everyone burst out laughing, even the housekeeper in the kitchen.

“ I guess the free rent balances it out for her.”

“ I’m warning you,” Number One shouted, “shut up!”

“Don’t take it personally, but I believe in wearing a belt and suspenders. To defend SOD’s independence in any confrontation with our sister agencies, I’ve formed solid political bonds and collected sordid personal secrets about every one of my opponents. Push me any farther, and there’s going to be a frightful surge in business for divorce lawyers, not to mention the media frenzy.”

Number One’s voice was deep with hate. “You wouldn’t dare!”

“ That’s enough,” Rabbi Gerster interjected. “Do we have an agreement?”

“ I can’t let you go,” Number One said. “The peace rally on Saturday night is crucial for Rabin’s government. We’ve detained hundreds of troublemakers and shut down provocative schemes, including yours. I won’t risk setting you free to pursue your crazy plots again.”

“ Take me back to Hadassah,” Elie said. “They were going to fix my lungs. I’m operating on reserves.”

“ Fine, as long as you remain in isolation. No outside contacts until after the rally.”

“ Agreed,” Rabbi Gerster said in Elie’s stead. “I’ll stay with him at Hadassah.”

“ And I’m staying here,” Gideon said from the kitchen. “The views are breathtaking.”

“ Excuse me,” the nurse said, “but where’s Itah Orr?”

There was a long silence as everyone looked around.

“ She’s not my agent,” Elie said. “Feel free to send your dogs after her.”

“ Wait.” Agent Cohen was pale as the wall. “What about the Zurich shooter?”

“ There’s new information,” the nurse said. “He arrived on a KLM flight yesterday. We traced his entry record. He is travelling under the name Baruch Spinoza.”

Rabbi Gerster barely managed to suppress a smile-Lemmy had assumed the name of another young Jew who, over a century earlier, had been excommunicated by his congregation.

“ Only a matter of time,” the nurse said. “His name will pop up somewhere, and we’ll take him down.”

The comment made Rabbi Gerster cringe. The powerful Shin Bet was chasing after his son with the intent to kill! He cleared his throat and asked, “Doesn’t the stand-down agreement extend to all SOD agents?”

But the phone line had already gone dead.

*

Itah Orr changed taxis three times before reaching the central bus station in southern Tel Aviv. The evening rush was peaking, thousands of office workers and day laborers heading home. She lingered at shop windows, but no one was following her.

At a secondhand clothing store, she exchanged her outfit for a long-sleeved dress that reached down to her shoes and a dark-gray headdress, which she tied in the ultra-Orthodox style, hiding all her hair. She bought basic toiletries at a pharmacy, as well as a note pad, sunglasses, and a fresh can of pepper spray to replace the one confiscated by Shin Bet.

She paid cash for a room at a seedy motel. Against the background noise of hookers and their eager customers, she sat at a rickety desk and wrote down the events of the last few days.

*

Thursday, November 2, 1995

The van left Meah Shearim after morning prayers with the same dozen black-garbed men whom Benjamin had brought along yesterday. They obeyed him without question, treating him with a reverence that astonished Lemmy. His childhood study-companion had come a long way.

As they had planned, the van parked in front of a phone booth on a busy street, and Lemmy stepped out. He placed a collect call to Zurich, and Christopher accepted it.

“Any news?”

“Yes,” Christopher said. “I received a call from Prince Abusalim’s father, Sheik Da’ood az-Zubayr. He demanded full accounting of his late son’s dealings with the bank. I explained that you’re away on business.”

“Call him back and extend my deepest condolences. Tell him that I plan to personally travel to the az-Zubayr oasis at a time of his convenience to assist him with the transition of the account and any other service that he would require.”

“Understood. Also, Herr Hoffgeitz regained consciousness last night. He asked for Klaus V.K. and had to be reminded that his son had been dead for a long time. He then asked for Klaus Junior. Paula brought your son, and Herr Hoffgeitz told him to learn from you how to run the bank.”

“He said that?”

“Yes. The doctors decided to sedate him again, give his heart a chance to heal.”

“ Anything else?”

“ A personal message from Paula. I don’t understand it. She said to tell you that she’s still late.”

“Still late?” Lemmy laughed. “That’s good! That’s very good!”

*

Itah Orr took the bus from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. On the way to Meah Shearim, she stopped at a vegetable stand and filled up two shopping bags, paying in cash. On Shivtay Israel Street she joined a group of ultra-Orthodox women.

A white Subaru sedan parked on the pavement near the gate. As the cluster of women approached, two men emerged from the car and ambled over. Their presence, though impolite, achieved the desired effect. The women stopped, afraid to risk even accidental body contact with the strangers, which would constitute a sin under Talmud’s strict chastity rules.