I said, “That’s not what I mean, and you know it. I’ll cut the crap. We’re here on a target, and you guys are chasing the same target. Well, at least the same target set. I want to know why.”

He said, “I left Mossad. Too much bureaucracy to get anything done. Too many small-time operations and too much focus on overt war. Hamas, the Gaza Strip, and Hezbollah consume them. It took away from what I want to do, which is to remove terrorists.” He glanced at Shoshana and said, “She agreed to help. We have our own business.”

I knew that Aaron loved Shoshana, even as he knew that love would never be returned. At least physically. She cared greatly for him, and it didn’t surprise me that when he’d decided to leave, she’d followed. They were a team, in more ways than simply operations.

I said, “So? Who do you work for now?”

He looked at Shoshana and she glanced at me. She turned back to him and nodded, surprising me.

He said, “Can I trust you?”

I squinted at the insult and said, “Of course.”

“Who do you work for?”

Taken aback, I said my cover statement. “I work for myself. Grolier Recovery Services. Jennifer and I both do.”

He gave a sour smile and said, “See what I mean?”

I shuffled my feet, looking at Jennifer. She nodded at me. I paused a moment, then said, “Okay, look, I work for the United States government. Is that what you want?”

He smiled and said, “Yes. Thank you for the trust. I work for an oil magnate in Indonesia.”

My mouth fell open and I heard Shoshana laugh.

I felt a split second of fear, then relief. He was kidding.

He said, “Pike, I work for Israel. I’m no longer in the government, but I still work for Israeli interests.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means there are times where my skills are necessary, but my government cannot intervene. Like here. Do you know anything about the attempt to kill the Hamas chief, Khalid Mishal, in 1997?”

“Yeah. A little. You guys poisoned him and got caught. Here in Amman.”

Aaraon grimaced and said, “Blunt, but fairly close. Nobody could point to us, but the king of Jordan brought so much pressure to bear we caved and admitted to it, flying in an antidote. Either way, it was a huge embarrassment and a diplomatic mess. So much so that Mossad is afraid of working in Jordan, but such work is needed. Someone must fill the gap, and we can’t upset the Jordanian government. They are a reluctant ally.”

He paused a moment, then said, “I expect this is the same reason you are here.”

I considered his words, trying to determine what to say. Reflecting on what he already knew. This game was borderline stupid, since everyone in the arena suspected what you were doing, but they really didn’t know. You stating it was the only way to confirm. And, while that confirmation might look simplistic and like a forgone conclusion, it wasn’t. Half the time the story ended up being some jerk working for USAID trying to get laid by acting like a secret agent. Or some asshole with four years inside Special Forces inflating his résumé, convincing everyone he was on the inside, spilling James Bond stories for the fanboys. The real truth nobody knew unless you told them.

I tossed the ball into the middle, ignoring whom we both worked for and focusing on the target. “Aaron, I’m here for a man. Like you. My target is an American who’s working for the Islamic State. We want him back, and we’re going to get him. From what little Shoshana has said, I’m assuming he’s not your target. I want to know what you’re going to do, and why.”

Aaron smiled. “Our work is complementary. I’m operating against the Islamic State as well. You know Steven Sotloff?”

“The American journalist? The one those assholes beheaded?”

“Yes. We’re tracking his killer. He’s here, in Amman. He’s a British foreign fighter that goes by the nom de guerre al-Britani. He was walking with your target today. Shoshana has a date with him.”

I looked at her, seeing the same determination from past operations. The same willingness to kill anyone who crossed Israeli interests. She had a personal history with the Munich Olympic massacre in 1972, where her grandfather had been killed, and now brought that wrath to anyone who would attack the State of Israel. Which begged the question, Why here?

I said, “What does Sotloff have to do with Israel?”

“It was kept fairly close, but he was a dual citizen. He had ties to Israel. He was one of us. But because he wasn’t officially one of us, Mossad has stepped away.”

I nodded, now understanding. “But not stepped completely away.”

He smiled. “No. Not completely. They’ve hired a bumbling crew to help out.”

“And the man who was walking with our target is your target?”

“Yes.”

“You hit him and get away, you make a statement for Israel. You screw up, and you and Shoshana are hung out to dry. Am I right?”

“Pretty much.”

“Well, today’s your lucky day. I think I can keep your bumbling crew from getting caught. Shoshana agreed to meet with us here, but my team kept eyes on your target. You help me with my target, and I’ll get you yours.”

He leaned back and smiled. I saw the relief on his face, and realized he was operating under extreme pressure, not the least because of the size of his team. He said, “You can do this?”

“Yes. I can. It’ll have to be two separate hits, but we can make it work.”

Jennifer said, “Pike, we don’t have sanction for that.”

I said, “Jennifer, he cut off an American head. Nobody’s going to deny us Omega. Anyway, it won’t be Omega. Aaron here will execute.”

Shoshana said, “How can we trust you? How do we know you won’t just run when you’ve got your man?”

I said, “Really? That hurts. You can’t trust me?”

“No. We can’t. That British fuck is going to die, and if you trick us into helping you and fail to follow through, you’ll pay a price. Understand?”

The comment brought a smile from both Aaron and me. He said, “I guess your goodwill with her is gone.”

Understanding that at least he trusted me, and liking the change of position, where I could torque Shoshana a little bit for a change, I said, “Well, she’s a pain in the ass anyway. Put her on ice and let’s get this done. I’ve got the manpower.”

I glanced at Shoshana, mightily trying not to let the smugness seep through.

I waited on the outburst, and instead, Shoshana was nothing but calm. She said, “Aaron, he might be right. All you guys can get his target, then we use his men to get ours.”

I raised my eyebrows, confused at her passive response. She sat down next to Jennifer and rubbed her thigh, moving ever closer to her crotch. She said, “Us women will stay here, in our place. In our room.”

My jaw dropped of its own volition, and I leapt up. Jennifer slapped Shoshana’s arm away, then put her hand to her forehead, rubbing it like she had a migraine.

Shoshana saw my reaction and grinned. I realized too late that I’d just failed in my play, and I was the one burned.

30

Hussein’s father kissed him on the cheek and waved him away, a large smile splitting his face. Hussein returned the joy with a grin of his own, twirling his newly issued badge and bouncing out the front door of the opulent Grand Hyatt hotel, his first day of work completed. Truthfully, his first day in more ways than one.

Hussein had never held a job for more than a couple of months, always quitting or getting fired, the sole purpose having been to gather enough money for a few nights of blissful sedation. Never solely for the pleasure of the job itself.

Today had been different. Today, he had been respected. Valued. And in turn he’d worked harder than he ever had, for the first time not wanting to let anyone down.