Twelve Days Read Online Free PDF Page B

computed that she was joking and smiled. Humor wasn’t his strong suit. He was in his early fifties, with close-cropped gray hair, an old-school bodyguard. He could have passed for one of Duberman’s executives. He wore tailored gray suits and carried a Sig Sauer P238, an undercover officer’s weapon meant for close-range use, easily hidden but short on stopping power.
    Nonetheless, underestimating Etra was a mistake. His nickname was Chai-Chai,
though only Duberman used it. Etra had earned it as a sniper for the IDF, the Israeli Defense Forces. The name was more than slightly ironic. In Hebrew,
chai
had two meanings. Eighteen, and life. Etra had finished Israel’s 1982 war in Lebanon with thirty-six confirmed kills, more than any other IDF soldier.
    “Any problems?”
    “The plumbing and I had a fine time.”
    “That means no?”
    “Not that I could see.”
    “What’s in the bag?”
    “Phones. Burners. For your boss. And a picture. For you.”
    —
    She tossed him the bag. He unzipped it, pulled out a photo.
    “Who’s this?”
    “His name’s John Wells.” She had taken it in Istanbul. The only smart decision she’d made about Wells. “He’s not a friend.”
    “Can I share this with my team? Or is it just for me?”
    “They can see it, but don’t tell them who he is.”
    He opened the house door, and she followed him inside.
    The house had been cantilevered over the mountainside, with floor-to-ceiling windows that looked out on the city. This view always awedSalome. Enormous skyscrapers soared from Hong Kong Island and the mainland, looming over a forest of smaller towers. Hovercrafts, ferries, fishing boats, and even a few antique Chinese junks churned across the roiling gray waters of Victoria Harbor. Cars, trucks, and motorcycles fought for space on the causeways. When the sun set, the city’s neon would glow in the dark and the view would be even more spectacular.
    “Boss’s running late. Be here in a few minutes,” Etra said.
    “Few meaning five? Or an hour?”
    Etra didn’t answer. He treated even basic questions about Duberman as state secrets.
    “You’re so helpful, Gideon.”
    “Thank you.”
    She wasn’t sure if he knew she was mocking him. She nodded at the city below. “You know, this is what we’re trying to protect.”
    Out of necessity, a dozen mid-level functionaries at 88 Gamma had helped support Salome’s operation. They were the lawyers who created shell companies that she used for safe houses and vehicles. The accountants who funneled money to the accounts that paid her mercenaries and hackers. Even the pilots who shuttled her from country to country.
    But none had any idea what she was doing. She and Duberman had chosen employees whose evaluations showed that they followed orders unquestioningly. Inside 88 Gamma, Salome was known as an independent consultant who worked with the company on development projects in countries where it couldn’t advertise its presence.
    But she and Etra could speak honestly. He had known what they were doing as soon as Duberman agreed to fund her plans. The men spent nearly every hour together. And Salome didn’t worry about Etra’s loyalty. A decade before, Duberman had spent two million dollars on an experimental leukemia treatment for Etra’s son Tal, a prototype gene therapy. The treatment, which no insurer would cover, saved the boy’s life.
    “Hong Kong is what we’re trying to protect?” Etra parroted back to her. “Not too many Jews here.”
    Salome wondered if she should explain. Of course, a city of eight million Chinese wouldn’t be at the top of the Iranian hit list. But like Tel Aviv and New York, Hong Kong stood as a monument to modern civilization. Iran’s mullahs pretended that they hated Israel and the United States. Salome knew better. They hated freedom in all its forms. Religious, economic, sexual. They hated women. They hated
success.
They couldn’t compete, so they threatened to lash out with the most