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“May I ask where we’re going?”
“South of France. Low intensity, mostly surveillance, but I might need you guys if I have to do any heavy lifting.”
“Standard fee?” asked the retired SEAL.
“Of course.”
“We’re in.”
Rapp was already on his way downstairs. “Good. I’ll call with the specifics, in the meantime get ready to roll.”
With her finger poised above the keypad of the secure phone Kennedy looked to the president and asked, “Are you ready?”
Hayes nodded and placed his hand near his own phone. Kennedy dialed the number from memory, and after she’d hit the last number she gestured for the president to pick up.
The voice that answered on the other end was not Ben Freidman’s. It was one of his assistants, who politely informed Kennedy that Freidman was on the phone. Kennedy didn’t doubt that. The director general of Mossad was undoubtedly talking to Prime Minister Goldberg about the phone call he’d just received from his ambassador in Washington. Kennedy told the assistant that it was very important that she talk to Freidman and that she would wait.
It didn’t take more than a minute for Freidman to come on the line, and when he did his voice was cautious. “Irene, how are you?”
“Fine, Ben, and you?”
“I have been better. Much better.”
“I would imagine so. Have you heard about our meeting with your ambassador?”
“Yes, the unfortunate development was just relayed to me.”
“Ben, I’m calling you as a favor. One old friend to another. The president is very serious about this. He wants those tanks out of Hebron immediately.”
“So I’ve heard,” was all Freidman managed to say.
Kennedy knew he was not about to freely offer information. “That’s not all the president wants, Ben.”
With a tired sigh, Freidman asked, “What else does he want?”
“Your job,” Kennedy replied flatly. “He wants you removed as head of Mossad immediately.”
“That is ludicrous. Why would he demand such a thing, much less care who runs Mossad?”
“He knows you lied to us about Hebron, and allies don’t lie to each other about things like that.” Kennedy looked at Hayes while silence filled the line. She knew Freidman was trying to think of some excuse for deceiving them. “Ben, I’m sure you had your reasons, but now is the time to come clean. If you care about keeping your job, and keeping our alliance together, you’ll tell me.”
Freidman snorted. “David Goldberg is not about to start taking orders from anyone. Even the president of the United States.”
“Really,” replied Kennedy. Sensing Freidman’s confidence was feigned, she said, “Even if it meant ending his career in political scandal? I’m not judging you for what happened in Hebron. God only knows how we’d react if we had suicide bombs going off every week, but you need to keep me in the loop, Ben.”
“What do you know about Hebron?”
“No, Ben,” Kennedy forcefully announced. “That’s not the way we’re going to do this. If you want to keep your job, and you want to avoid this scandal becoming public, you’re going to answer the questions. The president is furious, Ben! Those were Apache helicopters and Hellfire missiles.” She lowered her voice as if she didn’t want to be overheard and said, “We have satellite footage of the attacks. The president wants to take the tapes to the UN and show the world that you and Goldberg are liars.”
Seconds ticked by before anything was said and then finally Freidman spoke. He had no other choice than to admit the truth. “There was no bomb factory.”
“Why didn’t you tell me that from the start?”
“I’m sorry. I should have.” The apology did not come easily.
“Why the cover story?” asked Kennedy.
“Because, I wasn’t going to miss the chance to take every last one of those bastards out, but with them meeting in a neighborhood like that I knew they would claim a massacre.”
