Path Of The Assassin

“We prefer to call them an independent covert-action team, but you’re essentially correct. To carry out the mission,” continued Mraz, “the Mossad activated its thirty-six person assassination unit know as the ‘kidon.’ Funds were deposited into Swiss bank accounts for operatives to collect upon successful completion of their assignments. The unit was broken down into teams, which were highly compartmentalized. None of the teams knew about the existence of the others. The only thing they had in common was a shared point of contact, who was a senior Mossad agent.”

“Let me guess,” said Harvath. “Schoen?”

“The one and only. He was quite ingenious, eliminating the rank structure and encouraging his men to be creative in their assassinations. He gave his operatives anything they needed to get the job done. And he didn’t just want to kill his targets; he wanted the terrorists to experience the same terror that the Israeli athletes and their families had faced. He wanted terrorists everywhere to know that if they even thought about committing attacks on Israel, there was no place in the world where they would be safe from reprisals.

“We know that the Wrath of God operation was covertly controlled by the Mossad, but that Schoen operated with total autonomy, completely outside the Israeli government. We think this might be what they’re doing again.”

“If ever called on the carpet, Schoen could claim sole responsibility and provide them with plausible deniability,” said Harvath.

“Exactly. Though the Israeli government denies any connection with the Hand of God, because of Schoen’s history, we decided to take a closer look at him. Our sources think that he might be in this more for himself than for Israel, and that’s dangerous.”

“So Schoen’s got several reasons to hate the Arabs. What’s this have to do with us?”

“Everything. First of all, if the Israeli government is behind the Hand of God attacks, which we believe they are, they are throwing the Mideast into serious peril. Terrorism on any level is inexcusable, but Israel appears to be taking it to new heights and we cannot have that, especially not now. Not with the resurgence of the FRC.”

“I find it hard to believe that Abu Nidal has magically come back to life. I thought we had independent confirmation of his death,” said Harvath.

“As far as our intelligence is concerned, he is very much dead.”

“So who’s running the show, then? He’s not giving orders from beyond the grave.”

“You’d be surprised. Apparently, Abu Nidal had a son.”

“A son? How the hell did we miss that?”

“I don’t know, but believe me, we’re looking into it.”

“So, the old man passed the baton to his son,” said Harvath as he reached for his cup to take another sip of water. “What’s the connection with the men who kidnapped the president?”

“From what I have seen in the recent reports you filed, you figured it out yourself. Gerhard Miner only had so many men working with him that he could trust. There was no way he could spare any of them to facilitate the explosion in Lebanon that killed the Rapid Return team. So, he contracted it out.”

“And you’re saying he contracted it out to Abu Nidal’s son, who is now the new leader of the old man’s Fatah Revolutionary Council?”

“Yes. His name is Hashim. It means-”

“‘Crusher of evil,’ I know. I’ve studied Arabic,” said Harvath as he fought to process all the information he was getting. “So, Hashim Nidal is rebuilding his father’s organization?”

“Unfortunately, that’s the way it looks. And, he appears to be committed to the same objectives as his father-”

“Destroying any peace negotiations or settlements between the Israelis and the Palestinians and wiping out the State of Israel.”

“Bingo,” said Mraz.

“Then put him on your most-likely-to-bleed list and let Morrell or somebody take him out. The father was bad enough; who knows how much worse the son will be.”

“We couldn’t agree more, but there’s a slight hiccup in this case.”

“There’s always something. What is it?”

“We have no idea what Hashim Nidal looks like. No one that we know of has ever seen him and lived to tell about it.”

“Surely there’s got to be somebody?”

“Zip. Not even a good description.”

“You can’t locate some of his own people and turn them?” asked Harvath.

“The old man had money stashed everywhere, and as far as we know, it’s all being watched. The son, though, has apparently been able to get his hands on money from somewhere, whether it’s his father’s or someone else’s. It’s been enough to fire the organization back up. And apparently he pays very well. No one’s risking their necks or their salaries to talk to us.”

Harvath leaned back on his pillow and had a faraway look in his eyes as he rubbed his stubbled chin. “Schoen and I have both come across Nidal’s son,” he said.

“You’ve seen his face? Both of you?”