Haggai Carmon - Triple Identity

I went outside to my car. A day earlier I'd removed it from the hotel parking garage and parked it in the street. If I was under surveillance then the car was also being watched. By parking it publicly, it was easier to spot watchers without letting them know that I was aware that I was under surveillance. The car was where I'd left it. I gave it a quick look and walked on by. I went into a bakery, bought a pastry, and watched the street while the clerk made change. I spotted a dark fellow who seemed to have his eye on my car and decided to take no chances.

I left the bakery and continued walking to a bus stop. When the bus came, I got on and stood next to the door. I got off at the next stop, crossed the street in front of the bus, and went up a one-way street, against traffic. No one seemed to be on my trail, so I went through a convenient shopping arcade and then back onto the main street. Everything looked normal. I caught a cab and went back to the hotel. Tom was waiting patiently.

Eric was already nervous when I walked in.

“Where were you?” he demanded, as if I were his teenage daughter coming home at dawn with smeared lipstick and a wide smile.

“There was a watcher on my car,” I said quietly. “I don't know whether he was just a lookout or if he was going to follow me.”

“So what did you do?”

“I went on a short trip, made sure I wasn't followed, then went back to the hotel for the pickup.”

Lovejoy walked in, and I handed him the envelope containing my ID and odds and ends, including a spare key to my hotel room. I asked him to send the stuff to my New York office with the diplomatic pouch and to keep my laptop and the spare key in his office.

“Dan,” said Eric, “I checked with the Company. They want the Iranian files in Guttmacher's office.” He looked at me for a reaction, but I simply sat waiting for him to continue. “We reviewed the audiotape of your meeting at the bank. It's obvious that the Iranians won't let you walk with even one file. The only way to get the files would be through a break-in.” He paused again. I continued to play the calm, attentive listener.

“There isn't much time. And under ordinary circumstances it would take a while to organize it properly.”

Was he telling me that the job couldn't be done? Why bother?

“So what are you going to do?”

“There is another country closely monitoring the Iranians,” said Eric, as if he were revealing a secret. “Israel.”

I saw what he was getting at.

Eric continued, “We know that right now there are some Mossad people in Munich making preparations to approach the Iranians.”

“Approach?” I asked.

“Well, you know what I mean, either lightly or deeply.”

“Do you mean steal their information?” I called a spade a spade.

“That's light,” he said, leaving me with a clear understanding that “deep” meant elimination.

I was too familiar with Mossad procedure to believe that Eric had received such information from them. It was unlikely that the Mossad would ever alert another foreign-intelligence organization of its intention to eliminate a rival. It would stand in violation of basic operational rules and could cause serious legal and political problems. Any cooperation between intelligence organizations, even of friendly nations, is always based on an “honor him but suspect him” basis. Operational or intelligence cooperation, yes, but information on assassination plans – never. I wondered how Eric had found out. Did he have a mole inside the Mossad? It was a question that would remain unanswered.

“So you want the Israelis to do the job?” I asked, doing my best to seem surprised.

“Almost,” said Eric. “With our active assistance, of course. Langley has already contacted Mossad headquarters in Israel and they've sent here a senior representative to discuss it.”

Eric looked at my face, but I didn't react. I was sure now that he knew about my past. Langley would never have authorized my unrestricted access to the details of such an operation unless they'd first reviewed my file, and if they'd authorized my involvement it must have been in spite of my past rather than because of it. Yes, Eric knew, but I wasn't going to give his smug ass any satisfaction by looking guilty for not telling him earlier. Strictly a need to know basis – and he didn't need to know this detail about my past.

“Fine,” I said unconcernedly. “What do you want me to do?”

“The Israeli government agreed to discuss the matter, but they didn't promise they'd send their people in. This is where you come in. You were there, you met the Iranians, you saw the lists, you know what catastrophe it could wreak on Israel, and you can help their representative get all the facts.” And then he added nonchalantly, “And you've worked with their representative so you should know how he thinks.”

Now he did surprise me.

“Who is he?” I asked, ignoring Eric's revelations and thereby affirming them.

“He's right here,” said Eric and, with a total lack of drama, opened the door. Benny Friedman entered the room.

“Greetings, Daniel, long time no see.” I tried to keep a straight face, but Benny knew me better than that. “Gotcha!” he smiled at me.

Of course! Benny was the head of the American desk at Tevel, the Mossad's branch in charge of cooperation with foreign-intelligence services. That made him the right person for this meeting. How did they know I knew Benny? I couldn't ask now, but I would have to find out. Were the Langley boys watching me as well?

There were only four of us in the room but it was already too cramped.

“Mr. Friedman,” said Eric solemnly, “let's not waste time. You know why we're here, but there have been some alarming developments. Through Dan and other sources we hear that the Iranians are planning to increase substantially the destruction power of their yet-to-be-built atom bomb. They plan to insert a few grams of tritium and deuterium directly into a plutonium warhead. The result is a huge boost of power. That process allows the Iranians to reduce the amount of plutonium, which is, as you know, heavily regulated and expensive to manufacture. Now, add that to our mutual knowledge of the progress the Iranians have made in their missile program and their threats against Israel, and you get the bottom line: the Iranians have the intention and could have the means to destroy Israel. They've shown their aggression against U.S. allies by sponsoring terror attacks. It is typical of Iran to use proxies for its dirty war. The Iranian government rarely sends its soldiers but instead uses their state-sponsored terrorist organizations, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon or Al Dawa in Iraq, to do the job. Even the capture of the U.S. embassy in Tehran and the taking of the hostages was not carried out by the Iranian army or police, but by so-called ‘revolutionary students.’ The Iranian fanatics won't hesitate to use doomsday aggression against another U.S. ally, Israel, through one of their clandestine terrorist organizations, and then offer their help treating the surviving victims.”

Benny scratched his head and said, “And do I know what all this adds up to?”

“Of course you do, it's written all over your face,” said Eric. “First, the file Dan saw at the bank would tell us exactly what they expect him to do and allow him to continue with his charade. And second, that file and hopefully the others kept at the bank would give us an insight into their capabilities. Our scientists would be able to predict how advanced the Iranian development of the bomb is and how long it would take them to join the nuclear club. That could give us several options: hit the suppliers, the buyers, or both. You hit the Iraqi nuclear reactor at the last minute, just before it became ‘hot.’ I don't think Israel would want to wait and risk missing an opportunity with the Iranians.”