The Nostradamus File (22 page)

If she said yes and she was wrong, she'd lose whatever credibility she had left. It didn't matter what her successes had been in the past. The nature of political realities at this level meant mistakes could not be overlooked. Whatever she told Rice would have consequences, for her and for the Nation.

Elizabeth took a breath. "Yes, sir. I think it's a set up. Someone wants to push Israel into another war and they want Weisner as the new PM.  If they'd really wanted to kill him, he'd be dead."

"If it wasn't Hezbollah, who was it?"

"I don't know, yet. I'm working on it."

"Iran is mobilizing."

"Yes, sir. I saw the satellite intel."

"The last war was barely stopped before it went nuclear." Rice paused, considering what he was about to say. "Langley thinks Iran may have a nuke."

Elizabeth was stunned. She had no knowledge of an Iranian nuke. She had seen nothing to indicate Tehran had succeeded in building a weapon.

"How could they have built a bomb?" she said.

"They didn't. CIA thinks they've gotten hold of a Russian warhead built in the 80s. It was designed for an SS-13 missile but could be modified to fit the Shahab 3. That missile could hit Tel Aviv or Haifa."

"Do the Israelis know this?"

"They do not, nor am I going to tell them just yet. It would lead to rash actions on their part."

"You mean a preemptive strike against Iran."

"They are certain to react in that way."

"Sir, that is a disaster. The Mullahs are unstable. If they have a nuke and it looks like Israel is going to drive Hezbollah from Lebanon, they'll use it. Israel would retaliate with their own nukes."

"Exactly. We are currently at DEFCON 3. If  Lerner invades Lebanon, I will go to DEFCON 2. If it looks like Iran is getting ready to launch a strike, I will inform the Israelis of what we've learned."

"Sir, I am sure he is serious."

"I don't like the way this is headed. There's too much risk of a nuclear war. I might be able to stop Lerner if I can show him Hezbollah is not behind this attack on Weisner. You say the assassin was a patsy. Prove it, Elizabeth."

"I'll do my best, Mister President."

"Do it quickly, Director.
I don't think there's much time left."

CHAPTER FIFTY-
FOUR

Phillip Harrison III leaned back in the comfortable chair in his Boston office and
worked to control his anger. The damage was done. Getting angry wouldn't help or fix things. Interference by the Project meant changes had to be made. It was annoying to deal with.

First the
y had eliminated Anderson, a man he'd relied on for years. It was inconvenient to lose such a valuable resource. Harrison had other sources inside Langley, though none were field agents. Good for gathering intelligence, useless for more difficult kinds of work. Anderson had been good at that. The way he'd dispatched that French mob boss and cleaned up afterward was a perfect example.

Then there was the mercenary he'd contracted with, the man who was supposed to handle things in England. He was dead too, along with his men. Another failure, but also a potential source of exposure eliminated.

Harrison was about to interview a replacement, a man named Nigel McKenzie. He came highly praised by Arthur Croft. The arms merchant said he was ruthless and reliable. It was a solid recommendation.

McKenzie had been an officer in British Special Forces before an incident in Iraq had forced him to resign his commission. Now he ran
MKTA Security, a company that provided services to a small number of wealthy clients. McKenzie's employees joked that MKTA stood for Must Kill Them All. If you had trouble with unruly locals at your mines in Africa or South America, or needed someone to discourage the people who wanted to steal your oil, you called MKTA. Once they arrived on the scene, problems quickly ceased.

Harrison wasn't sure what had happened at Pembroke. No one had survived to report back. He didn't think the Project had found anything.
The Ark was still out there somewhere and they'd keep looking for it. He simply had to follow them until they found it. He decided to hire McKenzie to finish the job the others had failed to accomplish. Harrison didn't like to lose. The Project had blocked him at each step of the way. It had become personal.

His secretary came into the office. "Colonel McKenzie is here, sir."

"Send him in."

McKenzie didn't so much as enter the room as fill it with his presence. He was about five ten, a solid, wide man, with shoulders like a bull. His face was hard and brown and dry from years spent under open skies and tropical suns. He moved with contained violence that smoldered behind blue eyes
cold as a glacial lake.

Harrison liked him on sight.

"Please, sit down, Colonel."

McKenzie sat. "Nice office." He looked out at the panoramic view of Boston.

"Care for a drink?" Harrison said. 

"After we talk, perhaps. Croft said you had an interesting proposition."

McKenzie's voice was thick with an echo of Scotland.

"Colonel, do you know who I am?"

"Enough. I know you are a wealthy man. I know you are having trouble with some, mm, discreet operatives of your government."

"That is correct. They are members of a small intelligence unit."

"What sort of trouble are they making for you?"

"Arthur said I could trust
in your discretion. Is that true, Colonel?"

"Please do not insult my intelligence, Mister Harrison."

"Of course, I apologize. I am seeking an object of some antiquity. These people are also looking for it. They have managed to stay ahead of me so far and have also eliminated several valuable assets of mine."

"Ah."

"To be plain, Colonel, I want them eliminated in turn. And I want that object, if they manage to find it."

"You want me to terminate them?"

"That is correct."

"It will be expensive."

"As you said, I am a wealthy man. As long as you propose a reasonable price, there will be no problem."

"I'll need specific
s. Who they are, who they work for, where they live. All that."

Harrison slid a folder across his desk. "All in there."

McKenzie nodded. He appreciated efficiency.

"What is this object?"

"Does it matter?"

McKenzie grinned. "Not really. The fee is two million Euros. Half now, half on completion to your satisfaction. One million Euros as a bonus if I secure this...object for you."

"You have considerable faith in your ability," Harrison said. "You understand, failure is not an option."

McKenzie smiled.

"Agreed," Harrison said.

McKenzie took out a pocket notebook and wrote down an account number from a bank in the Caymans. Harrison took the paper and looked at the name of the bank.

"An excellent choice. They are quite secure."

Harrison had a computer monitor on his desk. He pulled a keyboard out and entered a st
ring of commands. He turned the monitor so McKenzie could see it. Then he pressed send. 1,000,000 Euros was transferred from one account to the other.

"I think I'll have that drink now," McKenzie said.

After the man had left, Harrison thought about the meeting. He considered the money well spent, if it brought results. Now that he'd taken steps to get things back on track he could relax a bit.

At least the operation in Israel had gone as planned. Weisner had moved ahead of the Prime Minister in the polls. Harrison didn't really care who won the election. He'd achieved his goal, to provoke a visceral response on both sides of the Middle East equation. War was inevitable
, whether the Ark was found or not.

If the Project located the Ark, McKenzie would take it from them. H
arrison prayed every day that they would find it. Whether they found it or not, they would soon cease to be a problem.

CHAPTER FIFTY-
FIVE

Lamont looked like someone had added a little too much cream to the coffee color of his skin. A clear tube fed oxygen to his nostrils.
But he was out of danger.

Nick finished telling him about Lev Gefen and the firefight at the castle.

"He had kids? That's a damn shame." Lamont's voice was weak. His breathing was labored. A monitor beeped quietly in the corner of the room.

Nick nodded. "I liked him. He reminded me a little of Korov, that same kind of attitude."

"What happens next?

"Selena is checking on the sword we found. Maybe it leads somewhere. If not, we don't have any other places to look. We're done."

"How are you and her getting along? Before I got hurt, seemed there was some tension between you."

"You picked up on that?"

Lamont laughed. It turned into a fit of coughing. Nick held a cup of water with a straw to his lips.

"You're kidding. Hell, Nick, you two are really obvious. We all know when something's going on."

Nick looked out the window.

"Ronnie said you were living apart again."

Nick looked back at his friend. "Yeah. Seems like a good idea right now. I've been tossing around a lot at night. Keeps her awake."

Lamont let that pass. He knew about Nick's nightmares. He also knew Nick had started seeing a shrink. He didn't say anything about it.

"Sometimes I wonder what the hell we're doing together," Nick said. "I don't know what she wants from me."

Lamont was surprised. Nick never talked about Selena, not to him. Not to Ronnie, either, as far as he knew. Nick kept things to himself. They all did. It went with the territory.

"What do you want from her?"

"Damned if I know. We kind of got caught up in everything and one thing led to another. I don't know where it's supposed to go."

Lamont said nothing.

"Anyway," Nick said, "if we get a lead from that sword we'll follow up. Selena found a bit of gold in th
e cave. She thinks it was part of the covering on the Ark."

Lamont was relieved Nick had changed the subject.

"The Bible says it was covered in gold, doesn't it?"

"Yes."

"You think it might still be around?"

"If it was in th
e cave when the guy with the sword was killed, that's only a few hundred years ago."

"Might as well be yesterday."

"My guess is that the dead swordsman was killed protecting it. Or trying to steal it, either way."

"Makes sense."

"The question is who took it and what did they do with it. They could have stripped it for the gold."

"I don't know, Nick. I mean it's the Ark. Everyone knows about it, at least everyone Christian or Jewish."

"Or Muslim. But there weren't any Muslims in Pembroke back then."

"I don't think anyone would just destroy it for the gold."

"You have more faith in humanity than I do."

"If you find it, it w
ould help make Gefen's death worth something," Lamont said.

"There's that, I guess. I don't think it
would be a lot of comfort to his wife and kids."

CHAPTER FIFTY-S
IX

It was
a day full of sunshine in the New City of Jerusalem, a perfect contrast to Ari Herzog's dark mood. He waited for Rachel Gefen to open the door. He'd brought a woman with him, another Shin Bet agent. He thought it would be good to have a woman along when he told Rachel of her husband's death. Lev had been a friend. Ari and Lev and Rachel had shared good times together. Ari felt that he had to be the one to tell her, but he wasn't looking forward to it.

Rachel opened the door. She was a handsome woman, not exactly beautiful, with strong, square features that spoke of her Polish ancestors. Her hair was her best feature, dark and lustrous, falling to her shoulders.

"Ari." Rachel was surprised. "What brings you here this time of day?"

"Are the children here, Rachel?"

"No, they're in school. Who is this with you?"

Ari looked at his companion. "This is Rebecca."

"Our daughter is named Rebecca." She looked at him. Something passed over her face. The warmth of seeing him went out of it.

"It's Lev. You're here about Lev, aren't you? Why isn't he with you?"

"Rachel..."

"Why isn't he with you?" Her voice rose.

"Can I come in?"

"No. Where's Lev, Ari?"