Chapter 61
The Ghost woke up before the sun, lying on the thin mattress of his bunk bed and tracing the chips in the ceiling above him,
the dim light of false dawn playing tricks with his mind.
Today was the day. The mission all the others depended upon, and he was at the heart of it. The keystone holding it all together.
He took a deep breath, letting his mind wander in the quiet, remembering his youth from the Palestinian refugee camps of Lebanon.
His rise as a paid assassin flitted past with a little melancholy, forcing him once again to confront the naked truth that
he had chosen his path, and it had been bloody. As he had a thousand times while he was incarcerated, he let his mind wander
to an alternate reality, where he simply owned a fish market on the shores of the Mediterranean.
He had no idea where the dream had originated. He’d never worked in a fish market or had any friends who had. The closest
he’d come was killing a man outside of one. He’d escaped through the stench of the back warehouse, the room full of men dutifully
cleaning the day’s catch, and it had stuck with him. He couldn’t get the thought out of his head about how normal their lives
were, even in the chaos of Beirut. It was something he’d longed for but knew he’d never attain.
Unbidden, he drifted to his incarceration, wondering how the son of the sheriff was getting along, and hoping it wasn’t too difficult.
He felt a twinge of guilt making the kid fatherless, but not much.
After all, the Ghost was the one who had been illegally captured, destined to spend the rest of his life locked away.
That led to thoughts of the man who’d captured him—the only one who’d ever succeeded.
Twice. He wondered what the man would think after this operation.
He had to know the Ghost had escaped. Would he suspect it had been the Ghost who succeeded in killing the Israeli prime minister?
He hoped so. He would like the man to realize that when he’d surrendered a second time, it had been by choice and not skill
on the man’s part. Today he would show that skill and he hoped the man would make the connection when it was done. Would he
wonder how it had happened? Would he have wished he could have stopped it?
He looked at his watch and saw it was past 7 a.m. Time to get ready. He rolled over and sat up, his feet dangling down to
Ramzi in the bunk below. He put his hands next to his thighs and pushed off, lightly landing on the floor just loud enough
to cause Ramzi to stir. He walked over to the light switch and turned it on, waking everyone up.
He waited until they were alert, then said, “It’s time to discuss final preparations. Yassir and Fatima, I’ll talk with you
first.”
He took a seat on Ramzi’s bunk, patiently allowing Yassir and Fatima to collect themselves. Eventually, they came over, Fatima
rubbing her face like she wanted to go back to sleep.
He said, “How did you rest? Are you feeling well?”
Yassir said, “I got enough.” Fatima simply nodded in agreement.
“Good, good. Listen, your mission, while the easiest, is the most important. If you don’t execute the diversion, we most likely
won’t live to reach the airport. Is that understood?”
Yassir said, “Yes, yes, of course.”
Fatima was more vehement. “Whatever it takes to avenge Khalil, I will make sure it succeeds.”
The Ghost appreciated her anger, but warned her, “Don’t let vengeance overtake your mission. What I tell you is important.
Have you studied the route? You know where you’re going to leave the vehicle?”
Fatima nodded, saying, “Omar showed us exactly. I’ve practiced it several times using Google Street View. I know where to
leave it.”
The Ghost said, “Good. That’s exactly the attention to detail I expect.” He passed across a slip of paper and said, “That is the number to the detonation device. I want you to test it first. To do that, you must unplug it from the explosives. Be sure you do that before you dial.”
Yassir said, “How? I don’t know anything about bombs.”
“You don’t need to. It’s very easy to do. There is a box glued to the back with some bonded wires attached. They are on a
plug not unlike a headphone jack used in airplanes, with two prongs. Just pull the wires out, then remove the phone. Once
it’s free, turn it on, let it connect to a tower, then dial it to make sure your phone will connect. After you do that, simply
turn the phone back off and reconnect it.”
Yassir said, “When do we turn it on for the mission?”
“After you leave the garage. You won’t have to disconnect it again. Simply turn it on, drive, then walk away.”
Fatima said, “When is that? I mean what time exactly?”
The Ghost said, “Good question, because this is important. I don’t want to spook them away by having it explode before they
arrive, but I do want it to go off during the ceremony to draw out security before I act.”
He held up a sheet with a timeline on it saying, “The parties are arriving at ten thirty for a tour of the facility. The ceremony
starts at eleven. My target is the third person to speak, and I don’t know how long each will talk. So, I want the car parked
at eleven and armed. I will then text you when to initiate. Any questions?”
“What time can we leave the garage? Does it matter?”
“Oh yes, good point. After we’re done here, you can go get breakfast, wander the city, do whatever you like, but don’t pull
out the car until you’re ready to drive it to the target site. Don’t use it to drive around beforehand, but do plan a small
surveillance detection route once you leave the garage.”
“What do you mean? Do you think someone will follow us when we take the car out of the garage?”
“No, I honestly don’t, but there’s nothing wrong with being safe.
When you leave the garage, get on a road and make a few turns until you’ve completed a circle and are clean, then take it to the bombing location.
So, my answer to your question is you can leave the garage at eleven minus the drive time to the final spot.
Text me when you leave the garage. Does that make sense? ”
The Ghost didn’t warn them that both the vehicle and the garage were on the compromised credit card. Once the vehicle left,
the garage would trigger a credit card purchase on the burned number. He didn’t think it was a serious risk, but if the card
was being tracked, he wanted to give them at least a chance of survival. Truthfully, even if they were captured—without detonating
the VBIED—the diversion would serve his purposes. If they were being tracked, the police would think they had stopped the attack and relax, drawing any suspicion away from his primary
mission. It was a callous thought, but a necessary one.
She said, “Understood. Should we test our phones with you? With the new SIM cards?”
“Yes. Another good point.”
He gave them his number and both called, ensuring the SIM cards functioned. When they were done, Fatima asked, “What if you
don’t text us?”
“If I don’t text you, it’s because my mission has failed. If you haven’t heard from me by twelve noon, you can initiate at
will, either in that location or wherever you’d like.”
Both seemed to understand his words of mission failure meant he was dead. It was a sobering thought.
The Ghost continued, saying, “Once you have initiated, you are on your own to escape. I’m assuming back north, to the border
area?”
Yassir said, “Yes. That is where we’ll go. Forgive me if I don’t tell you any specifics. You understand.”
The Ghost smiled and said, “Of course I do. I wish you all good luck, but I understand operational security. Anything else?
Ask now, because I won’t be able to answer later.”
Yassir said, “Should we take weapons?”
The Ghost chuckled and said, “Omar will have a pistol, but I won’t have the ability to carry a weapon. If you want one, take
it.” He gestured to one of the pelican cases, saying, “They aren’t coming with us.”
Yassir nodded and said, “I would like one.”
The Ghost nodded his head and said, “Anything else?”
Fatima and Yassir both remained mute. The Ghost stuck out his hand, “God willing, you will hear from me on the phone, and
I from you through your actions.”
First Yassir, then Fatima shook his hand. They stood, looking around as if they were at a loss for what to do next. The Ghost
said, “I meant what I said. Go get breakfast or a coffee. No need to sit here for the next few hours.”
Yassir nodded and said, “I think we’ll go test the phone first, then get breakfast.”
The Ghost said, “Good luck.”
They said their goodbyes to Ramzi and Omar, and after they’d left, the Ghost said, “Omar and Ramzi, let’s talk.”
They gathered around the Ghost expectantly, now completely subservient to his commands. He said, “Omar, you know the route,
correct? You can get us to the airport after?”
“Yes. I helped Fatima with her route, and then practiced my own. I know all the one-way roads and can get us to the airport
even with some interruptions.”
“Good. And the car you rented is large enough for all of us and the equipment?”
“It is, but I had to take what I could get. It’s a small SUV. Not something I expect a news crew would actually use.”
“That’s okay. Nobody expects us to have brought a news van from Lebanon. One thing: I want you to remain until we’re through
security, if possible. If the equipment doesn’t make it through, I’m coming back out fast.”
The Ghost saw fear run up Omar’s face and knew that no matter what he said, if there was trouble, he was running. Omar said,
“If possible, I will.”
The Ghost leaned forward and said, “If you leave us in the kill box because you got scared, I will make it my mission to find
you anywhere on this earth. Do you understand me?”
Omar nodded his head like he was trying to shake water out of his hair, saying, “Of course, of course. You can count on me.”
The Ghost studied him for a second, then turned to Ramzi, saying, “You practiced with the battery pack harness?”
“Yes. I can get it on and arm it.”
“That is our one weak link. You’ll be acting as the anchorman, so someone might question you on the battery pack. If they
do, just tell them we’re a small team and you help me, the cameraman, as a team member.”
Ramzi nodded and said, “We have to be there for security checks at nine thirty. What will we do while we’re waiting for the
ceremony?”
The Ghost smiled and said, “Not look like you do right now, that’s for sure. You need to express confidence.”
Ramzi gave a ghoulish smile, looking like he’d swallowed sour milk, and the Ghost laughed and said, “Something to work on.
Look, we’ll get the camera set up and you’ll pretend to get an opening shot, allowing me to get an aimpoint on the stage.
Come up with a lead-in speech that looks like we’re taping for a later newscast.”
Taken aback, Ramzi said, “What will I say?”
“Do some research on the bombing and just give a thirty-second spot on the anniversary. Be sure and disparage Hezbollah when
you do it. It’ll give us credibility.”
Ramzi nodded and the Ghost said, “You’ll be responsible for contacting Omar. Text him when I signal. I’ll be taking the shot
shortly thereafter. We’ll both reveal our vests, shouting in English what they are. We need to get that out fast, before they
fire.”
Ramzi said, “They’ll be shooting immediately. We won’t get a chance to warn them.”
“If things go as planned we will. The crossbow is silent. When the bolt hits home everyone will be focused on the prime minister,
then searching for the threat. They will be looking at everyone, not just us. We’ll show our vests then, raising our hands
as if we aren’t a threat. They won’t shoot immediately. By the time they realize we’re the assassins, they’ll also recognize
the explosives.”
He turned to Omar, saying, “You need to come as soon as you’re alerted.
We’ll be exiting rapidly, and I’m sure there will be guns on us.
They won’t shoot when we’re inside, but most definitely will if they think they can without the vests killing anyone.
That will most likely be as we’re driving away.
That will be when we’re at our most vulnerable. ”
The Ghost looked out the window, seeing the sun had started to crest the horizon. He said, “We have about an hour and a half.
Do what you want, but as for me, I’m going to watch the sun rise.”
He stood up and smiled, attempting to give them confidence. They seemed to absorb his calmness, ready to face the upcoming
trials, right up until Ramzi asked why.
The Ghost said, “Because it might be my last.”