the Humvee pulled into the heavily cordoned security of the Knesset building, the fortified home of the Israeli Parliament. Ethan peered through aching eyes out of the window at razor wire, metal fences, and hefty concrete blocks arranged to obstruct suicide bombers from hurtling vehicles into the building. The defenses contrasted sharply with the elegantly formed Shrine of the Book that dominated the entrance to the Israel Museum nearby.
Armed guards checked the vehicles through and then they drove up to the Knesset building itself, a large and heavily glazed box-shaped structure. It looked to Ethan like a cross between a castle and a giant greenhouse. As the vehicle came to a stop a trooper promptly opened Ethan’s door for him and almost caused him to fall out after his cuffed hand. Ethan dragged his aching legs out of the vehicle and stood in the fresh morning air, dizzy with exhaustion as his cuffs were unlocked from the door and refastened around his wrists.
“Ms. Morgan?”
An officer approached them.
“Yes?”
“Would you come with us, please?”
Ethan turned to follow the officer, but a soldier blocked his path. “Only Ms. Morgan may proceed, sir,” the soldier intoned robotically. “You’re to be taken for questioning.”
“He’s with me,” Rachel cut across him in a tone that brooked no argument. “He’s innocent of any crime and I can prove it.”
Ethan watched as the soldier took in Ethan’s battered appearance and decided that he represented a threat only to himself.
The officer led them through the Knesset to a series of conference rooms, opening the door to one and gesturing for Rachel and Ethan to enter. Ethan’s tired eyes took in the circular table in the center of the room, the wood-paneled walls decorated with a large image of the Negev Desert and the broad windows aglow with the golden light of the rising desert sun. As Ethan followed Rachel through the door he saw the Foreign Ministry’s Shiloh Rok sitting at the large table.
“Ms. Morgan, are you all right?” Shiloh asked in concern.
Rachel nodded. “We’re okay, just tired.”
“I can imagine,” Shiloh said, turning a suspicious eye on Ethan, “after what you’ve been dragged through during the past few hours.”
Ethan felt a bolt of anger twist his innards as a pair of Knesset Guards flanked him.
“Which wouldn’t have been necessary if you’d helped us.”
Ethan was taking his seat when a familiar voice spoke from behind them.
“Had you not broken the law, nothing would have happened to you.”
Ethan whirled around to see Spencer Malik enter the room. “What the hell is he doing here?”
Malik raised his hands defensively, but it was Shiloh who spoke.
“He is here to help, Mr. Warner.”
“We’ve already seen what that help has done for us.”
Shiloh raised a placating hand. “Please, let us be seated and discuss this.”
“Where is Ambassador Cutler?” Ethan demanded.
“He is unavailable at this time,” Shiloh said. “I can speak for him.”
Ethan was about to protest, but he caught a glance from Rachel and managed to swallow his anger as he took a seat alongside her. Shiloh retook his seat and looked at Rachel.
“What on earth happened?”
“MACE pursued us in the Negev and into Gaza,” she said.
“There was a pursuit of a group of insurgents who infiltrated one of our perimeter camps in the Negev,” Malik interrupted. “We didn’t know who they were.”
“We were shot at by your personnel,” Ethan snapped.
“Please, gentlemen,” Shiloh said, and looked at Rachel. “Tell us, Ms. Morgan, what happened.”
Rachel spoke quietly.
“We went out to try and find out what happened to Lucy at her dig site. We were taken to an airfield near Masada, where a tracker led us out into the desert.”
“Whose idea was this?” Shiloh asked.
“It was Ethan—Mr. Warner’s,” Rachel admitted.
“To take you into what you already knew was a restricted area,” Malik muttered. “After Warner assaulted the escort we assigned to protect you.”
“Mr. Malik,” Shiloh cautioned, shooting him a severe look before motioning for Rachel to continue.
Rachel outlined the altercation between Ayeem and the MACE soldiers, and their subsequent flight across the deserts.
Shiloh leaned forward on his elbows as he spoke. “This Ayeem, your guide, where is he?”
“He escaped,” Malik replied from across the table, “after killing one of my men.”
“Probably in retaliation for the murder of Ahmed Khan,” Ethan said.
Shiloh shook his head in confusion.
“You must slow down; these accusations are getting us nowhere fast. What does this Ahmed have to do with anything?”
“Ayeem told us that his son Ahmed disappeared in the Negev after being asked to search for my daughter,” Rachel explained.