He had managed to stem the bleeding—there had been no more humiliations, like the bungled attempt to assassinate a violent Moslem cleric in Amman that had been orchestrated by his predecessor—but there had been no stunning successes either. Shamron knew better than anyone that the Office had not earned its fearsome reputation by playing it safe. In the old days it had stolen MiGs, planted spies in the palaces of its friends and its enemies, rained terror on those who dared to terrorize the people of Israel. Shamron did not want his legacy to be an Office that no longer made mistakes. He wanted to leave behind an Office that could reach out and strike at will. An Office that could make the other services of the world shake their heads in wonder.
He knew he did not have much time. Not everyone at King Saul Boulevard had celebrated his return. There were some who believed Shamron’s time had come and gone, that Shamron should have been left in Tiberias to wrestle with his radios and his conscience while the torch was passed to the next generation. Certainly a man like Mordecai deserved to be chief after all those years slugging it out in the trenches of Operations, Shamron’s detractors had argued. Eli had the makings of a fine chief, they said. He just needed a bit more seasoning in the executive suite and he would be ready for the top job. Even Lev of Operations was thought to be suitable material, though Lev did let his temper get the better of him now and again, and Lev had made his share of enemies over the years.
Shamron was stuck with them. Because he was only a caretaker, he had been given almost no power to make changes among the senior staff at King Saul Boulevard. As a result he was surrounded by a pack of predators who would pounce at the first sign of weakness. And the volcanic Lev was the most threatening of all, for Lev had anointed himself Shamron’s personal Brutus.
Shamron thought: Poor little Lev. He has no idea who he’s fucking with.
“Zev Eliyahu was a personal friend of mine,” the prime minister said as Shamron took his seat. “Who did this to him?”
He poured coffee and slid the cup across the desk, his placid brown eyes fixed on Shamron. As usual Shamron had the feeling he was being contemplated by a sheep.
“I can’t say for certain, but I suspect it may have been Tariq.”
Just Tariq. No last name. None necessary. His résumé was engraved on Shamron’s brain. Tariq al-Hourani, son of a village elder from the Upper Galilee, born and raised in a refugee camp outside Sidon in southern Lebanon, educated in Beirut and Europe. His older brother had been a member of Black September, assassinated by a special unit led by Shamron himself. Tariq had dedicated his life to avenging his brother’s death. He joined the PLO in Lebanon, fought in the civil war, then accepted a coveted post in Force 17, Yasir Arafat’s personal bodyguard and covert operations unit. During the eighties he had trained extensively behind the Iron Curtain—in East Germany, Romania, and Moscow—and was transferred from Force 17 to the Jihaz el-Razd, the PLO’s intelligence and security apparatus. Eventually he led a special unit whose mission was to wage war on the Israeli secret services and diplomatic personnel. In the early nineties he split with Arafat over his decision to enter into negotiations with Israel and formed a small, tightly knit terror organization dedicated to one end: the destruction of Arafat’s peace process.
Upon hearing Tariq’s name, the prime minister’s eyes flashed, then resumed their calm appraisal of Shamron. “What makes you think it was Tariq who did this?”
“Based on the preliminary descriptions, the attack had all the hallmarks of one of his operations. It was meticulously planned and executed.” Shamron lit a cigarette and waved away the cloud of smoke. “The killer was calm and utterly ruthless. And there was a girl. It smells of Tariq.”
“So you’re telling me that you have a hunch it was Tariq?”
“It’s more than a hunch,” Shamron said, pressing on in the face of the prime minister’s skepticism. “Recently we received a report that suggested Tariq’s organization was about to resume its activities. You may remember that I briefed you personally, Prime Minister.”
The prime minister nodded. “I also remember that you discouraged me from giving the report wider circulation. Zev Eliyahu might be alive this morning if we had warned the Foreign Ministry.”
Shamron rubbed out his cigarette. “I resent the suggestion that the Office is somehow culpable in the ambassador’s death. Zev Eliyahu was a friend of mine as well. And a colleague. He worked in the Office for fifteen years, which is why I suspect Tariq targeted him. And I discouraged you from giving the report wider circulation in order to protect the source of that information. Sometimes that’s necessary when it comes to vital intelligence, Prime Minister.”
“Don’t lecture me, Ari. Can you prove it was Tariq?”
“Possibly.”
“And if you can? Then what?”
“If I can prove it was Tariq, then I’d like your permission to take him down.”
The prime minister smiled. “Take down Tariq? You’ll have to find him first. You really think the Office is ready for something like that? We can’t afford another situation like Amman—not now, not with the peace process in such a tenuous state.”
“The operation in Amman was poorly planned and disastrously executed, in part because of interference and unprecedented pressure from the man who was sitting in this office at the time. If you give me authority to go after Tariq, I assure you it will be a very different kind of operation, with very different results.”
“What makes you think you can even find Tariq?”
“Because I am better positioned to find him now than ever before.”
“Because of this source of yours?”
“Yes.”
“Tell me about this source.”
Shamron smiled briefly and picked at the thumbnail of his right hand. “It was a case I ran personally before I was told that my services were no longer required at King Saul Boulevard—a long-term penetration case, something that took years to unfold. Now, the source is involved in the planning and logistical side of Tariq’s organization.”
“Did the source know about Paris in advance?”
“Of course not! If the source had alerted me about Paris, I would have warned everyone necessary, even if it required pulling the source.”
“So do it,” the prime minister said. “Take Tariq down. Make him pay for Eliyahu and all the others he’s killed over the years. Take him down hard, and make certain he never gets up again.”
“Are you prepared for the repercussions of an assassination at this time?”
“There won’t be any repercussions if it’s handled properly.”
“The Palestinian Authority and their friends in Washington and Western Europe won’t look kindly on an assassination, even if the target is Tariq.”
“Then make sure you leave no fingerprints. Make certain your kidons don’t get caught, like that pair of bumbling amateurs that were sent to Amman. Once I sign the order, the operation is in your hands. You get rid of him any way you see fit—just get rid of him. The people of Israel will never allow me to make peace while Tariq or anyone else is running around killing Jews.”
“I’ll need the proper documentation to set things in motion.”
“You’ll have it by the end of the day.”
“Thank you, Prime Minister.”
“So who do you have in mind for the job?”
“I thought you had no intention of interfering.”
“I just want to know who you’re assigning the case to. I don’t believe that qualifies as interference.”
“I was thinking about Allon.”
“Gabriel Allon? I thought he left the Office after Vienna.”
Shamron shrugged; such things did not matter when it came to a man like Gabriel Allon. “It’s been a long time since anyone at the Office has handled a case like this. And they’ve generally fucked them up. But there’s one other reason why I want Allon. Tariq operates mainly in Europe. Allon is very experienced on the Continent. He knows how to get things do
ne without making a racket.”
“Where is he now?”
“Living somewhere in England last time I heard.”
The prime minister smirked. “It’ll be easier for you to find Tariq than Gabriel Allon.”
“I’ll find Allon, and Allon will find Tariq.” Shamron pulled his lips into a fatalistic frown. “And then it will be done.”
4
SAMOS, GREECE
The ferry from Turkey arrived twelve hours late because of heavy seas in the Straits of Mycale. Tariq had never cared for boats—he hated the feeling of being surrounded by water with no route of escape. He stood at the bow, collar up against the night wind, watching the approach to Samos. In the moonlight he could see the peaks of the island’s two distinctive mountains: Mount Ampelos in the foreground and Mount Kerkis in the distance.
In the five days since the Paris assassination, he had worked his way southeast across Europe, changing identities and passports, subtly altering his appearance. Six times he changed automobiles. The last, a dark green Volvo station wagon, he left near the terminal in Kusadasi on the Turkish side of the strait. It had been collected by an agent from his organization.
He had seduced three women during his odyssey: a waitress in Munich, a hairdresser in Bucharest, and a hotel hostess in Sofia. He told each of them a different story. To the German girl he was an Italian fabric salesman on his way to Paris. To the Romanian girl he was an Egyptian trader hoping to do some business in Ukraine. To the Bulgarian hostess he was a Frenchman with rich parents who traveled and read books about philosophy. He made love to each of them differently. He slapped the German girl and was unconcerned about her satisfaction. He gave the Romanian many orgasms and a gold bracelet. The Bulgarian was a dark-haired girl with olive skin. She reminded him of girls from Palestine. They made love all night, until it was time for her to go back on duty. He was sad when she was gone.
The ferry slipped into the sheltered water of the harbor and tied up. Tariq disembarked and walked to a brightly lit taverna. Parked outside was a dark blue motor scooter with a smashed rearview mirror, just as he had been promised. Inside his coat pocket was the key. He strapped his overnight bag onto the back of the bike and started the engine. A moment later he was speeding along a narrow track toward the mountains.
He was not dressed for a night ride; his thin leather gloves, low-cut loafers, and black jeans were no match for the cold. Still, he opened the throttle and pushed the little bike as hard as it would go up a long hill at the base of Mount Kerkis. He slowed for a switchback, then opened the throttle again and raced through a vineyard spilling down the side of the hill into a little valley. Above the vineyard lay an olive grove and above the olive grove a line of towering cypress trees, silhouettes against a carpet of wet stars. The tang of cypress was heavy on the air. Somewhere, meat was cooking over a wood fire. The scent reminded him of Lebanon. Good to be out of Paris, he thought. Dull gray Paris of late autumn. Good to be back in the eastern Mediterranean.
The road turned to a pitted track. Tariq eased off the throttle. It was a stupid thing to do, driving so fast on an unfamiliar road, but he had taken to doing needlessly risky things lately. For the first time since leaving Paris, he thought of the American girl. He felt no remorse or guilt. Her death, while unfortunate, was completely necessary.
He opened the throttle again and raced down a gentle slope into a tiny valley. He thought about this need of his, this compulsion to be in the company of a woman during an operation. He supposed it came from growing up in the camps of Sidon. His father had died when Tariq was young, and his older brother, Mahmoud, was murdered by the Jews. Tariq was raised by his mother and his older sister. There was only one room in their hut at the camp, so Tariq and his mother and sister all slept in the same bed—Tariq in the middle, head resting against his mother’s bosom, his sister’s bony body pressed against his back. Sometimes he would lie awake and listen to the shelling or the rhythmic thump of the Israeli helicopters hovering over the camp. He would think of his father—how he had died of a broken heart with the keys to the family home in the Upper Galilee still in his pocket—and he would think of poor Mahmoud. He hated the Jews with an intensity that made his chest ache. But he never felt fear. Not when he was in his bed, protected by his women.
The whitewashed villa stood atop a rock outcropping on a craggy hillside between the villages of Mesogion and Pirgos. To reach it Tariq had to negotiate a steep path through an old vineyard. The smell of the last harvest hung in the air. He shut down the motor, and the silence rang in his ears. He put the bike on its kickstand, drew his Makarov pistol, and walked through a small garden to the entrance of the villa.
He slid the key into the lock, turned it slowly, testing the chamber for unnatural resistance. Then he opened the door and stepped inside, Makarov drawn. As he closed the door a light came on in the living room, illuminating a slender young man with long hair seated on a rustic couch. Tariq nearly shot him before he saw that the other man’s gun was lying on a table in front of him and his hands were raised in a gesture of surrender.
Tariq pointed the Makarov at the young man’s face. “Who are you?”
“My name is Achmed. Kemel sent me.”
“I nearly killed you. Then I’d never have known why Kemel sent you here.”
“You were supposed to come this morning. I had nowhere else to wait.”
“The ferry was delayed. You would have known that if you’d bothered to pick up the telephone and place a single call. What does he want?”
“He wants to meet. He says he needs to discuss something with you, and it’s too important to do it through the usual methods of communication.”
“Kemel knows I don’t like face-to-face meetings.”
“He’s made special arrangements.”
“Tell me.”
“Would you mind pointing that gun somewhere else?”
“I would, actually. How do I know you were really sent here by Kemel? Maybe your real name is Yitzhak or Jonathan. Maybe you’re an Israeli. Maybe you work for the CIA. Maybe Kemel has been compromised, and you’ve come here to kill me.”
The young man sighed heavily and began to speak. “Kemel wants to meet with you three days from now in a first-class compartment of a train between Zürich and Prague. You’re to join him there at any point during the journey when you feel it’s safe.”
“You have a ticket?”
“Yes.”
“Give it to me.”
Achmed reached into the pocket of his blazer.
Tariq lifted the Makarov. “Slowly.”
Achmed removed the ticket, held it up for Tariq to see, and dropped it onto the table. Tariq looked at the ticket briefly, then turned his gaze back on the boy seated in front of him. “How long have you been waiting at the villa?”
“Most of the day.”
“Most of the day?”
“I went into the village in the afternoon.”
“Whatever for?”
“I was hungry and I wanted to have a look around.”
“Do you speak Greek?”
“A little.”
How perfect, thought Tariq derisively. A young man who speaks a few words of Greek with an Arabic accent had been hanging around the port all afternoon. Tariq imagined a scenario: a busybody Greek shopkeeper gets suspicious about an Arab loitering in the village and calls the police. A policeman comes down to have a look for himself. Maybe he has a friend or a cousin who works in the Greek security service. Damn! It was a miracle he hadn’t been picked up the moment he stepped off the ferry. He asked, “Where are you planning to spend the night?”
“I thought I might stay here.”
“Out of the question. Go to the Taverna Petrino. It’s near the harbor. You can get a room there at a reasonable price. In the morning take the first ferry to Turkey.”
“Fine.”
Achmed leaned forward to pick up the gun. Tariq shot him twice in the top of the head.
Blood spread
over the stone floor. Tariq looked at the body and felt nothing more than a vague sense of disappointment. He had been looking forward to a few days of recuperation on the island before the next operation. He was tired, his nerves were frayed, and the headaches were getting worse. Now he would have to be on the move again, all because the goddamned ferry had been held up by high seas and Kemel had sent a bumbling idiot to deliver an important message.
He slipped the Makarov into the waistband of his trousers, picked up the train ticket, and went out.
5
TEL AVIV
Uzi Navot traveled to Tel Aviv the following morning. He came to Shamron’s office “black,” which meant that neither Lev nor any other member of the senior staff witnessed his arrival. Hanging from the end of his brick-layer’s arm was a sleek metal attaché case, the kind carried by businessmen the world over who believe their papers are too valuable to be entrusted to mere leather. Unlike the other passengers aboard the El Al flight from Paris that morning, Navot had not been asked to open the case for inspection. Nor had he been forced to endure the maddening ritualistic interrogation by the suntanned boys and girls from El Al security. Once he was safely inside Shamron’s office, he worked the combination on the attaché case and opened it for the first time since leaving the embassy in Paris. He reached inside and produced a single item: a videotape.
Navot lost count of how many times the old man watched the tape. Twenty times, thirty, maybe even fifty. He smoked so many of his vile Turkish cigarettes that Navot could barely see the screen through the fog. Shamron was entranced. He sat in his chair, arms folded, head tilted back so he could peer through the black-rimmed reading glasses perched at the end of his daggerlike nose. Navot offered the occasional piece of narrative background, but Shamron was listening to his own voices.
“According to museum security, Eliyahu and his party got into the car at ten twenty-seven,” Navot said. “As you can see from the time code on the screen, the Arab makes his telephone call at exactly ten twenty-six.”