before she acted on what she learned. It was a messy situation. Eliminating a CIA member was a great risk, but we felt we had no other choice.”
“Did Ellen know you had her son killed?”
Aligor’s eyes shifted. Youkelstein could tell he wanted to avoid that issue. “While it was very clear that Josef would not live up to expectation, we found hope in his son. But we worried that Josef would drag Jim down with him, and we couldn’t afford that. He was our final chance.”
“I think ‘final solution’ would be a more appropriate term. By killing his father in front of him, and in doing so, painting the Jews as his killer … you created a monster! Or more accurately, re-created one.”
“That’s humorous coming from the man who believes in nature over nurture. You know as well as I do that Jim Kingston is a product of the bloodline. All I did was clear the path for him to accept his destiny.”
Aligor stood and walked to the window. He stared through the thick bulletproof glass out at the energized crowd that had gathered just beyond the gates of the Kingston Estate. He cleared his throat and said, “And destiny has arrived, Ben.”
Chapter 64
“So what is Kingston planning to do when he gets in office—nuke Israel?”
Aligor turned back toward him, looking mortified by such an accusation. “Of course not! You are a student of history, Ben, so you know that revolutions are not won with guns—they’re won with the hearts and minds.”
“The American people will see through your lies,” Youkelstein shot back.
But when he glanced at the zealous crowds beyond the gates, he knew his response was laughable.
Aligor followed Youkelstein’s gaze out the window. “We’re just leading them where they want to go. Any poll will tell you the last thing they want is war—if Jim embraced that position the election wouldn’t even be in doubt. But look at the people, Ben—the revolution has already been sparked!”
Youkelstein knew only a fool of the highest order could doubt the energy and passion he was watching from Kingston’s supporters. And he was aware that Hitler didn’t take power in Germany with tanks and bullets. Although, contrary to popular myth, he never received more than 37% of the vote in the 1932 elections. And he used underhanded tactics, such as threats of a military coup, to gain the position of Chancellor, which he used to vault himself to power in 1933. But by the looks of things, Kingston would need no such tactics.
Youkelstein also was aware that the Apostles would leave nothing to chance. And when Sterling boasted about the details of his “billion dollar bet” made on the election, he knew nothing could stop a Kingston landslide victory.
“So how were you able to spark your so called revolution?” Youkelstein took the bait.
Aligor returned to his wheelchair, eager to discuss. “We waited and watched. We had the ups and downs of any American family—sad deaths followed by happy births. And I won’t kid you, when Josef and Harry Jr., both direct links to the lineage, failed tragically, it placed doubt in our minds. But Jim’s rise returned our hope.”
Youkelstein clenched his arthritic hands in anger.
“But it would take more than hope. As the 1980s came to a close, and the Berlin Wall fell, marking the end of the Cold War, I began to wonder if our time had passed. Müller and Hess had both died by that point, and Ellen was never the same after she lost her children. I looked to history, and realized that the great leaders understood how one small spark could turn into a blazing inferno. America understood this, which is why they withheld information about the Pearl Harbor attacks to wake the people from their slumber back in ’41.”
“You accuse me of creating elaborate stories to push my agenda, but I could never equal your imagination!”
“You really still doubt me, Ben? British intelligence agent, Peter Jansen, one of my many aliases, was the one who delivered them the news of the imminent attack a month prior. But my real interests lay with Germany, whose main objective was to keep the US out of the war. The Führer knew that the US could tip the balance, and he was right. I don’t know if my information ever reached FDR, and doubt that it did, but someone in the hierarchy of government chose to sit on it.”
“I’m not sure I understand what Pearl Harbor has to do with what you’re