Robert Ferrigno - Prayers for the assassin

The sound of clapping. “Better. I particularly liked the sweat bead. Now, do it again.”

The screen went gray. No one spoke for a long time. The storefront above them creaked and groaned.

“Was what we just saw…was it real?” Rakkim asked finally.

“It’s real,” said Katherine. “My husband gave it to me the night before he was murdered. The download was hidden in a strand of prayer beads.”

“Things like that can be faked,” said Rakkim.

“Anything can be faked, but that was the FBI’s master interrogator walking Goldberg through the confession,” said Spider. “Lorne Macmillan, one of your glorious heroes of the new Islamic Republic.”

Sarah stared at the blank laptop screen. “It’s like…it’s like seeing Jack Ruby standing around with Oswald, the two of them rehearsing their encounter in the Dallas garage.” She shook her head. “‘I’ll step out of the crowd of photographers, Lee, and you’ll stop and act surprised-’”

“Who’s Jack Ruby?” said Rakkim.

Spider moved closer to the surveillance unit. “Don’t like that white car.” He waited. “No…never mind, it turned off onto Madison.” He kept watch.

“Why didn’t you tell me about this?” Sarah demanded.

“I…I couldn’t,” said Katherine, coloring. “I was afraid something might happen to you and-”

“You didn’t trust me,” said Sarah.

“Your father always said it was best not to let the right hand know what the left hand is doing,” said Katherine. “He didn’t even tell Redbeard.”

“You didn’t trust me,” repeated Sarah.

“You can hate me later,” snapped Katherine. “Right now, we need to show Redbeard a copy of this. How did you put it, Benjamin?”

“Speed and distribution,” said Spider. “We got to get the message to as many people as possible, as fast as possible. Otherwise the official disinformation will drown us out. I thought about hacking some of the major net sites like whatdoido-imam.com or faithful-jobsearch.com, but I can’t do it on my own. Redbeard can help us bypass some of the crash triggers, and I’m not even sure those are the best places for us. We really need to go international with this.”

“I don’t know if I could ask Redbeard to do that,” said Sarah, unsteady and still angry. She had been prepared intellectually for the truth about the Zionist Betrayal, but to actually see it…Perhaps she was a littler raw from meeting her mother after all these years. “He knows what could happen if this…grotesque bit of history got out.”

“I’m not asking you to do it, dear.” Katherine was all hard edges and determination. “I’ll ask Thomas.”

“The prodigal returns,” said Stevens, the pockmarked dandy who had fetched Rakkim from the Blue Moon after the Super Bowl. It seemed years ago. Stevens’s hair was glossy and sleek, his suit perfectly tailored. His shoes gave him another two inches of height. His eyes had the glimmer of a man with secrets. “You don’t look so happy to see me, Fedayeen.”

“Just surprised.”

Stevens wanded him, rapping him sharply between the legs. “Sorry. Have to make sure you’re not carrying something dangerous in your privates. I guess there’s nothing there.”

The guards who had brought Rakkim to Stevens laughed, then went back to watching Sarah and Katherine being checked by a female security officer. Katherine was cloaked in a black burka, only her eyes visible through the eye slits.

Rakkim kept quiet as Stevens continued his rough patdown. Security at the villa had always been layered, but this was hermetic. They had already gone through two security screenings-testing for biologicals, electronic devices, and explosives. The download of Richard Aaron Goldberg’s confession rehearsal was inert and set off no alarms.

“It’s good you’re back,” Stevens said. “Redbeard has enough on his shoulders.”

“Since when does Redbeard confide in you?” said Rakkim, still aching from the wand.

An alarm went off, the guard checking Sarah stepping back.

Rakkim stared at the blinking bioscanner and silently cursed himself for his lapse in judgment. The Old One hadn’t implanted a tracking device in him, he had implanted one in Sarah while she slept, a biochip undetectable by her wrist alarm or the first two layers of the villa’s security system. No wonder they had been allowed to escape from Las Vegas. Floating above the desert like a soap bubble…a pinprick away from a hard landing.

While a technician neutralized the pinhead-size chip from behind her ear, Rakkim called Spider, warned him and Elroy to stay away from the barbershop. Then he called Peter and Jeri Lynn and Professor Wu. Peter answered from the casino. Said he appreciated the call and quickly hung up. Jeri Lynn said she had wanted to warn them, but she had no way of getting in touch. Said Darwin had awakened her from a sound sleep, sitting on her bed, bouncing her youngest daughter on his hip. Jeri Lynn’s voice quavered, wondering how he could have known this was her favorite child. She had told Darwin everything she knew, and he had left as suddenly as he’d appeared. No answer from Professor Wu.

Sarah walked over as he put away his cell. “Our body doubles…they were followed from the mall. Their car was tracked all the way into Arizona. Why?”

“To convince us we had outsmarted him. The Old One needed us then to find any loose ends he might have missed. Like the medallion.”

“He thought we were more useful than dangerous. That’s why he didn’t kill us.” Sarah scratched behind her ear. Caught herself, disgusted. “He knows better now, doesn’t he?”

“He knows about the medallion, but not about the confession download. That’s our great advantage.”

The doors to the inner area of the villa hissed open. Unequal air pressure prevented biological or gas attacks. Redbeard stood waiting inside, his expression grim. He was dressed more stylishly than usual in an unbelted white tunic and trousers, embroidered slippers on his bare feet. Rakkim would have been happier to see Angelina, but she was probably preparing a feast. No cooking smells though. Sarah, Rakkim, and Katherine walked inside. Stevens started to follow, but with a subtle hand gesture Redbeard ordered him to stay. The doors slid shut behind them again. “Thank you for bringing Sarah back,” Redbeard said to Rakkim. “Perhaps next time you could simply leave a trail of bread crumbs for the Old One.”

“I see you’ve put Stevens in charge of security,” gritted Rakkim. “Has he gotten his own room at the villa yet?”

“I’m sorry, Uncle,” interrupted Sarah. “I know I’ve disappointed you, but I had to-”

Redbeard embraced her. “You’re safe, that’s all that matters.” He looked at Katherine as he clung to her. “Who is this devout woman you’ve brought into our home?” He froze as Katherine pulled off her head covering, but there was no surprise in his eyes. Rakkim saw something else. “Welcome…welcome home.”

“It’s good to see you, Thomas.” Katherine inclined her head. “I made some mistakes.”

“So did I,” said Redbeard.

Sarah looked at Rakkim. He raised an eyebrow.

“We need your help,” said Katherine.

“We can talk in my office.” Redbeard led the way, glancing at Sarah. “Did you find what you were looking for?”

“I’m not sure,” said Sarah. “That’s not why we’re here. Katherine is the one with the real treasure. She took a very great risk coming here, but you know that.”

“I never gave up looking for you,” Redbeard said to Katherine, the two of them side by side now. “If you only knew how much I-”