“You’re going to the hospital?” Masada felt the blood drain from her face. There it was again-her bad luck infecting the people she loved. “What’s wrong with you?”

“A minor problem.” He gestured at a hydraulic crane, raising a platform to meet the plane cargo hold. “Let us pay our respects.”

What are you afraid of? Elizabeth tried to calm her nerves. She looked away from the uniformed Israelis, using her hate like a lever to lift her spirit. The body search in Newark had shaken her to the core. How dare they? She had already drafted a scathing complaint to Continental Airlines about this blatant ethnic profiling in clear violation of U.S. civil rights laws.

She saw the rabbi look up as the coffin descended from the plane. He wore a skullcap, his light-brown ponytail held with a rubber band. Elizabeth circled the group to get a better look at him. His strong, handsome face was struck by grief. Professor Silver, standing next to him, looked much more like a Jewish rabbi than this athletic hunk.

An airport hand in orange coveralls pried open the coffin. The rabbi kneeled, resting his elbows on the lid, and spoke quietly, saying words no one could hear.

The coffin was closed, and the rabbi stepped back, wiping his eyes.

A small book appeared in Silver’s hand. He opened it and recited, “My voice, to the Lord I shall call; to God, my plea shall reach; and he will hear me; on the day of my agony, Master, my hand is extended to you, my soul seeks comfort.

The rabbi stood next to him, swaying back and forth, his lips repeating the words.

I shall remember the Lord,” the professor chanted, “my sighs, I shall not cease, my breath is faint.”

Elizabeth was impressed with his proficiency in the Jews’ scriptures. Had she not conversed with him in Arabic about his daring plans, she would never doubt he was a Jew. As if to test her ability to suspend disbelief, Silver raised his bespectacled face at the sky and pled, “Forever will you neglect us, Lord?” He paused, taking a deep breath. “When, Father, will you be pleased again with your children?

Thinking of her own father, Elizabeth felt her pocket, which held the folded page of her scribbled notes for the acceptance speech on Wednesday. It had taken many years, but in a few days her father would finally be pleased with her again. She had redeemed herself.

A black station wagon backed up to the platform and two bearded Jews loaded the coffin. They shook hands with the handsome rabbi. Elizabeth came closer to listen. “Five o’clock at Sanhedriah Cemetery,” one of them said. “The taxi driver will know where it is. Don’t be late. We have to finish before the Sabbath begins at sunset.”

The rabbi handed them an odd-shaped package, which they placed in the car next to the coffin.

“Be gentle with our boy,” Professor Silver said. “His name is Raul. Five years old.”

Elizabeth was amazed with his composure, so different from the panicked old man who had appeared at her apartment in the middle of the night after his sidekick had killed the boy.

“Raul?” One of the bearded man examined the bundle of papers in his hand. “Does he have a Hebrew name?”

“Yes,” the rabbi said, “his Hebrew name is Israel.”

Elizabeth heard a groan and saw Masada turn and rush to the waiting bus.

Raul. Israel. Srulie. Masada clung to a pole in the front of the bus. There were seats in the back, too far for her to reach without collapsing. Raul. Srulie.

Other passengers boarded the bus. Rabbi Josh and Professor Silver sat in the back. The flight crew clustered in the middle. The bus moved with a jolt, the doors remaining open for a few more seconds, circulating the heat. She held on to the pole.

Raul. Israel. Srulie.

“This place is a sauna.” McPherson wiped her forehead, combing back moist hair. “I can see why you didn’t want to return.”

Masada showed her back to the lawyer. A trickle ran down the inside of her thigh. She hoped it was only sweat. She had revealed to no one what Al had done. She couldn’t, or it would hit the news and no one would ever look at her without imagining that animal on top of her.

The bus sped up, bumping along on the concrete road, passing huge hangars and parked jetliners. A recorded female voice gave instructions in several languages about passport and visa inspections, as well as customs declarations. The message concluded with, “Shalom, and enjoy your stay in Israel.”

“Some joy,” Masada muttered, holding on as the bus turned around a plaza and lined up with a glass-and- stone building. She took a deep breath and stepped off the bus. A large clock on the face of the building indicated it was 1:47 p.m. Israel time. She shouldered her bag and pulled out her travel papers. She had to snap out of it, stop wallowing in self pity. Otherwise she would never recover all she had lost over this disastrous short period. She forced her mind to focus on planning. First, find a connection between Colonel Ness and Rabbi Josh and link them to Judah’s Fist. Second, unearth a copy of the document that had cancelled her conviction back in 1983, so she could recover her U.S. citizenship. Third, find out if the Arab who had killed Srulie was still alive and, if so, track him down and shove Srulie’s bone into the murderer’s eye-this time, all the way in!

Professor Silver lingered on the stone stairs leading up to the terminal. The sign above the entrance read Ben Gurion International Airport. Elizabeth lingered while the passengers entered the terminal.

“Why did you bring her here?” He kept his back to the glass doors. “You failed me!”

“A court is not a restaurant. You don’t order from a menu. No other country agreed to take her. What about my award ceremony?”

He wanted to lie about an unexpected cancellation, but feared she would lose her temper and cause their exposure. “Do not leave your hotel until I contact. Remember, both our lives are at stake!”

“You’re exaggerating.” She chuckled. “No one will touch a senior American official.”

“Don’t be so sure.” He climbed the steps, and the glass doors opened before him.

Hundreds of passengers queued up at the passport-control counters. Masada joined a line. The cavernous hall, lit by countless fluorescent bulbs, was tiled in cream marble and decorated with huge pictures-a tractor plowing a field, a hiker mounting the crest of a hill, folk dancers circling a campfire, shoppers in a bustling market, and a tank trailing a dusty wake. The opposite wall was lined with dozens of flags representing the nations that recognized Israel. Masada flexed her right leg. At last, her scraped kneecap had begun to heal. Or was she too numb to feel the pain?

Another group entered the hall with yellow shirts and naive clatter. Masada could not understand. Didn’t they realize Israel was about to lose American support? Didn’t they realize every inch of this country was within range of Arab missiles and rockets? Many stood in line with kids or babies bundled up in blankets. She wanted to yell at them, What are you doing?

As she reached the passport counter, Elizabeth McPherson appeared at her side. Masada placed her travel papers on the counter.

The attendant, a young woman in a pressed uniform, turned to her computer. “Born in Israel?”

“Yes.”

The woman typed some more. “Can I see your Israeli passport?”

“I flushed it down the toilet many years ago.”

A flitting smile crossed the young woman’s face. “Welcome home, Miss El-Tal.” She stamped a form and handed it to Masada with a diminutive Israeli flag glued to a long drinking straw. “Please go to the right for processing.”

Вы читаете The Masada Complex
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