Chapter 71
Van Dams was pacing the length of his office. He couldn’t come to terms with the fact that Lypsick was nowhere to be found. Since the CIA’s mandate didn’t authorize the agency to operate in the States, he had surrendered the search to the FBI. Yielding the control of any ops to the Bureau always bothered him. To say that the Deputy Director had an innate dislike of the Bureau would perhaps be an exaggeration. Nevertheless, he didn’t like the idea of letting these troublesome special agents loose in the countryside. He had seen how they bungled the investigation of the Marianne incident and how they made a mess of tailing Ms. Kartz from Jacksonville to Detroit, even going through the property of an old teacher in Atlanta, looking for car keys without a warrant, and manhandling her friend—a lawyer to boot. No, he definitely didn’t like having the FBI involved again. Basically, he couldn’t trust them.
Van Dams’s contact at the Bureau had told him Lypsick was a visible entity—people couldn’t help but notice his scarred face—and they would find the man in no time. Yet, Billycan was well into the trial now, his star witnesses were soon to take the stand, and the FBI had not been able to locate Lypsick. Both Ms. Kartz and Agent Meshullam were in danger. From the first days of the trial, Billycan had shown that Sadir was indeed guilty of feeding information to Mossad. This ultimately led them to believe that both individuals had conspired to provide faulty weapons to Israel. The US Attorney had also shown that Sadir had ordered the tampering of the SUV that Ishmael was driving at the time of the accident. However, Agent Meshullam, once on the stand, would demonstrate that Agent Lypsick had persuaded him to kill Agent Assor. What wasn’t clear yet was whether Agent Meshullam had taken upon himself to maim Ms. Kartz or if that was a suggestion made by Mossad. Until now, the Mossad agent had maintained that it had been his agency’s decision. Yet the facts pointed in either direction.
When it came to Ms. Kartz’s statement, or her testimony on the stand, it would certainly show the extent of the CIA’s involvement in the affair—whether authorized or not—and would inevitably implicate Lypsick and himself in a big way.
Van Dams stopped his pacing in front of his desk. He picked up the phone and called his friend at CSIS—Fred Gibson. He needed his help.
Fred answered at first ring. “Fred Gibson here.”
“Van Dams, Fred. Have you got a minute?”
“Let me see.” Fred smiled to himself. “Your type of minutes can stretch into an hour—and that I haven’t got. What’s up?”
“Do you know what’s going on down here?”
The abruptness of Van Dams’s speech gave Fred pause. “Yeah, Agent Gilford has kept me up to date. Why?”
“So you know Lypsick has disappeared?”
“That too, yes. Again, what’s up, Dietrich?”
“You should know—if you’ve been kept up to date as you say—Ms Kartz and Agent Meshullam are Lypsick’s next targets if Billycan is right. And since the Bureau can’t seem to locate the guy, I need your help to protect both witnesses.”
“How long since the FBI has taken over the search?”
“Four days now, and frigging nothing from them. I want these two protected, Fred. If I could do anything, I would, but my hands are tied when it comes to such ops as you know.”
“Yeah...” Fred had to let that sink in for a minute. “Mark Gilford is with both of them—as far as I know—and he knows Lypsick, which is always a plus with Mark.”
“True, but Meshullam is the one worrying me. He’d kill Lypsick in the blink of an eye. He’s totally out of control at the moment from what I’ve heard. And I don’t want a blood bath at this juncture...”
“Yes, but I’ve to ask, Dietrich, Why the hell didn’t you arrest Lypsick as soon as you had knowledge of his collaboration with Sadir? Those I.M. communications Mark mentioned—you must have known Lypsick was fomenting trouble…”
“Because, it was too late, Fred. The CIA could only rein Lypsick in—we couldn’t arrest him openly without divulging and admitting that the agency had tried to subdue all parties concerned with the West African operation.”
“That’s what I thought, but you must see that since you didn’t arrest Lypsick when you should have, it puts you in an untenable situation—not to say lethal.”
“I know that, Fred, but I think our prime concern should be toward Ms Kartz and Agent Meshullam now—otherwise I can’t even think of the consequence we could be facing.”
“Okay, let me see what I can do from this end, but short of putting them both in a cell, I don’t have much to offer at this minute. They’re two of the most unstable people I know, but I’ll call you back in a half-an-hour, how’s that?”
“Thanks. I’ll be here.”
When Fred hung up the phone, he called Namlah Badawee to his office. The legal advisor was sitting in front of the Chief within minutes.
Fred explained the situation quickly and stopped. He looked at Badawee expectantly.
The latter caressed his moustache concertedly before he spoke. “I think you would do well to call on Prince Abdullah, and ask for his assistance in this matter.”
The uncomprehending surprise was painted on Fred’s face. “What can he do? He’s the last person I’d have thought could help. What are you thinking?”
“The Saudi Arabian Embassy is located in Washington, isn’t it?”
“Are you saying that I should ask the prince to provide asylum to two Jewish people? That’s insane!”
Namlah looked down. “Not only to two Jewish people, Chief, but to the two people Saudi Arabia may still be accused of ordering Sadir to organize their assassination. Saudi Arabia, I’m sure, would be only too delighted to cleanse itself of such false accusation.”
Fred had to think about that one. That was as twisted an idea as he would have expected from his legal advisor, but a good idea, come to think of it. “Okay, but wouldn’t that put the prince and Khalid at risk?”
“Not at all, Chief. As we have said on many occasions, these two are untouchables. This Lypsick person wouldn’t dare make a move against either of them, without risking the needle or worse, facing a Saudi court.”
“What if he engages someone else to eliminate both?”
“Think about it. What would that achieve? Nothing.”
“Alright then, let me think about this. I’ll let you know what my decision will be.”
Namlah nodded. “However, I think it would be a good idea if Mark would keep an eye on Khalid until this is over.”
Fred opened his eyes wide. “But you’ve just said it’d be too risky for Lypsick to try anything against the prince. Are you changing your mind now?”
“No, Chief, not at all, but I prefer to remain on the side of caution.”
“Okay, Mr. Badawee, I hear you.”
Namlah got up and went out as quickly as he came in, leaving Fred in a quandary. Yet, he knew Badawee was right—it was probably the only way to protect Talya and Samuel.