Chapter 9
Outwardly relaxed, Mark was sitting opposite Fred in his office. The agency’s chief had briefly explained the reasons for Khalid’s visit and the conclusions they had drawn during the meeting.
“So, you’ve warned him if he paid a visit to Talya, it would create trouble for his family, is that it?” Mark asked.
“Yes… The visit itself would be innocuous,” Fred replied, “but we believe that Mossad would use it to demonstrate to the Palestinians that Israel has a powerful ally, which in turn would create unrest amongst Saudi’s neighbours.”
“And what do I do when I get him between four eyes?” Mark was afraid to hear the answer to that question. He was very much aware of what the agency could do in comparable circumstances. They could order the elimination of the meddling or unwanted party.
Fred looked at Mark with knowing concern. He knew what his agent had in mind. “No, we’re not going there, Mark, and you know what I mean. We need to know what his intentions are and we need to convince him to go back to Paris.”
The word ‘convince’ had a dozen connotations when it came to steer an individual in a particular direction.
“Okay…,” Mark said, not wanting to dwell on the subject any further. “Have you been able to locate him? He’s got almost 24 hours on us already…”
Fred waved a dismissive hand. “We know where he is not. That should give you a head-start.”
“Oh sure,” Mark chortled, “I’ll get a bicycle from the garage...”
The chief couldn’t help but explode in roaring laughter. He was picturing Mark, in his Armani suit and silk tie, saddling a bike and chasing after his pedalling prey, clad in his princely, Arab garments, down the riverbank.
A grunt shook the folds of his jaw, and his laughter receding quickly into a low moo, Fred resumed, “Hum…, we know he sent the Lear back to Paris.”
“He did?” Mark was knocked for six. Khalid wouldn’t do that if he intended to leave the country in a hurry.
“Yes…, and we’ve checked with the airlines. No record of any reservations made under either of his names. We’ve also checked with the car rental companies…”
“What about trains?” Mark asked.
Fred’s mouth fell open. He couldn’t picture Khalid taking a train anywhere. “No, we’ve not checked with any of the railways... What makes you think that our prince would take a train? He couldn’t get anywhere fast…”
“And that’s exactly why we should check with Via Rail. Khalid would have time to reach his destination undisturbed, without leaving much trace of his passage anywhere between here and where ever he’s going.”
“But we know where he’s going…”
“No, we don’t,” Mark cut-in. “We only assume that he’s going to Vancouver because that was his original intent. But now, and after what you’ve told him, he could be going anywhere.”
“You mean we’ve got to chase a ghost again?”
During the investigation geared to finding Ben Slimane, the year before, the agency had been forced to chase the man across three continents until everyone concluded he was a ‘ghost’ and that until he was found dead in Michigan.
“Not quite, Chief. This time we’ve got a definite departure point and we’ve got a possible destination—Vancouver.”
“But from what you’ve just said, he might not choose to go to Vancouver at all.”
“Yes, but he might choose Vancouver as a stopover…”
“On his way to where?” Fred asked.
“I’ll answer that with another question; where did he intend to go right after Talya was gunned down?”
“You mean Honolulu?”
“And…?”
“Of course!” Fred erupted, “he’s going Downunder.”
“That’s what I think. You’ve mentioned during your meeting that you told him about Isaac, or whatever his name is right now…”
“Samuel Meshullam…”
“Yes, him. And you told him where he was.”
“So, you think Khalid has taken a train to Vancouver and from there he’d be sailing for Australia?”
“That’s a possibility, yes, because Khalid is an obstinate fellow. He won’t let matter rest until he gets rid of any or all hindrances that would prevent him to reach his goal.”
“And as long as Samuel—or Mossad—is in the picture he won’t rest?” Fred paused. “But taking on Mossad by himself would be suicide. Do you think that’s what he wants—get himself killed?”
“No, I don’t think so, Chief. I think he wants revenge. He wants to do away with the man who destroyed Talya’s life, first.”
“And then what? He’ll be a sitting duck...”
Mark shook his head. “Not quite. Again, from the summary of your discussion with him, killing a Mossad agent would prove to his family that he has no allegiance to Israel and that he wouldn’t hesitate to kill any of them. He’s looking for approval, for support from his uncles, and the only way to do that and to avoid unrest in the Middle East is to demonstrate that he wouldn’t hesitate to kill another Israeli and a Mossad agent at that.”
“Jimmy!” Fred yelled, pressing the intercom button on his phone.
“Yes, sir,” the voice replied immediately.
“Get the departure schedules from Via Rail and Amtrak for trains going south or west from Montreal, will you? I’m waiting!”
“Yes, sir, right away.”
“And make that from Tuesday afternoon…”
“Okay, no problem.”
“Satisfied?” Fred asked, pressing the intercom button off, and locking his eyes on Mark’s face.
“That’s a start…, but I think we should look at flight departures from New York and San Francisco, too.”
“You mean he would bypass Vancouver altogether?”
“I’m not sure. I’d just like to cover all the bases.”
Fred grunted. “Do you want to do this alone, or do you want Benny with you?”
“Alone, Chief.”