The Crystal Circle: A Paranormal Romance Novel (18 page)

Lynn whispered, “Dave, I think someone’s going to take you out... maybe tonight.” He looked at her and the silver glow of moonlight that hung in her hair. She was surrounded by a kind of halo and looked more beautiful than ever to him. Her concern for him was sweet and touching.

“Tell me what happened. Exactly who wants to kill me? Why shouldn’t I go home?”

Lynn told him about the bomb attached to his boat. She assumed it was to be activated remotely while he was at sea.

“It’s actually a very small bomb,” she said, realizing suddenly that she must have some innate knowledge about such things. “It’s not for blowing you away to kingdom come, but to create a huge hole in the boat, so you’ll drown, injured.” She breathed a big sigh.

Dave looked at her. “You couldn’t identify the people who planted the bomb?”

“No.”

“Saul and his friend?”

“No. Someone else. I don’t know them.” He looked at her and realized that she wasn’t covering up for anyone. She was telling the truth. “And there’s further danger in the house, Dave... someone’s been in there. Your window was open and...they have a vantage point back there with a good view of your bed.”

“So?” Dave wondered.

“They also have an M16. I saw it. I guess they were going to shoot you tonight or tomorrow if the boat sabotage failed. From the size of the pile they’ve made, they could aim at your head with maximum precision.”

Dave looked into her eyes, and his own eyes widened. He was silent, calculating his next move, wondering how his life could have deteriorated so much in a matter of a few days. He gave her a long look and said, “I won’t leave you here, at the heart of all the danger. Come with me. We’ll go to a hotel in town for a day or two, call the police, and wait for everything to calm down.”

“No, Dave. You have to run, but I don’t. It’s not me they’re out to get. If you run, they’ll still find you. They have people. The minute the police come anywhere near here, they’ll flee to Jordan… it’s less than half a mile away. Let me deal with them. They think I’m one of them, Dave. I’ll save the people’s money and trap the bastards. I have a way to distract them for a few hours. It’ll look like they’ve really killed you. It’ll be okay. Go to the Flamingo Hotel. I’ll find you there tomorrow.”

Dave looked at her for a long while, stroked her hair, and kissed her tenderly. “Dear Michal Rafael, take care, for me,” he whispered.

“What did you call me?” Her eyes widened.

“Lynn,” he tensed. “Excuse me if you’ve heard me say a different name.” They embraced, and he slipped out between the houses, snagged a hoodie from a clothesline, pulled it over his head, and disappeared into the shadows.

Lynn went home. She was dizzy, and her head hurt. She drank a glass of water and went into Dave’s room. She took a blanket and rolled it up, and covered the edge of the blanket with panty hose. When she’d finished arranging the figure she’d created under the covers, it looked, from afar, as though Dave was sleeping there, his head poking out from the blankets as he lay on his side.

07/08/2013 - Twenty-third day of disappearance

At four-thirty AM, Lynn heard some muffled shots. She tensed. She slid quietly out of her bed and lay on the floor. After about thirty seconds, she slithered through to Dave’s room. Two shots, apparently using a silencer, had scattered the contents of the blankets all over the room. From the window, she could see only darkness, as the moon was covered with clouds. There was no one around. Lynn slipped silently out of the trailer and moved stealthily toward the entrance to the camp. She sat down out of sight on a rock next to a small shed and waited. She knew that someone would show, and, indeed, two silhouettes, one a very tall man, approached the beach. The tall figure was carrying a long duffel bag and a heavy backpack. The second, smaller figure carried another pack. The sky was still dark and gloomy. Beyond the entrance to the camp, a few hundred yards away, waited a little car. The engine was turned off, as were the lights. Lynn waited.

“I don’t understand what you want, Saul. Everything’s good. We took Dave out, and in just an hour, we’ll be in Sinai,” Gidi grinned. “Next stop, the Bahamas!”

“We took him out?” Saul stopped and lowered his voice urgently. Lynn shivered in her hiding place. “Did I tell you to take him out?”

Gidi also stopped. “But I told you, my mate, Guy, saw him leave the police station today. We had to kill him.” He added, “And you always said he was ‘serious damage’ in your life and that you were dying to get him off your back.”

“You stupid idiot! I didn’t mean to actually kill him. Idiot! It’s not the same thing, taking lives and taking money from people. You’re to blame, and this was your decision. You could be sitting in your sunglasses stall today, eying the girls passing by... but you chose me! And now you’ve turned the situation into a catastrophic disaster…” Lynn withdrew deeper into the shadows as they moved on past her.

Gidi hissed angrily, “So what do you want now, Saul? Just get in the car!”

Saul stopped again and answered, “Gidi, you’re so naive. You made your choice, and I made mine. I’m poison. This is a bad, dark day.” He laid both bags on the sand and pulled out the rifle. “You leave me no choice. Goodbye, Gidi, wherever you may go.”

Saul loaded the magazine, but fumbled cocking the gun. Gidi seized that moment, being younger and more agile, and they fell in the sand, grappling with the rifle. They fought hard, grunting and struggling at close quarters. Lynn watched them, shaking, adrenaline hitting her bloodstream with force.

Suddenly, Gidi kicked Saul’s belly with tremendous force, stood up, cocked the gun and hissed, “Don’t move, you miserable shit. You thought you’d take all the money? No way, you’re old! Make way for the young!”

As he spoke, Lynn quickly covered the short distance that separated them. She surprised Gidi from behind, and he didn’t see her until she was already in front of him. Saul looked at her from the ground and closed his eyes briefly. Lynn grabbed Gidi and sent her leg kicking between his legs. In a second, Gidi was rolling on the ground and had lost his grip on the rifle. Lynn again kicked him hard in the groin, grabbed the gun and aimed it at him.

“Don’t move!” she hissed.

Gidi groaned for a moment on the ground, and Saul said in a voice sweeter than honey, “Michali - Lynn darling - give me the gun. You may miss accidentally. Thank you for stepping in, my love.”

Lynn turned for a split second to Saul, still keeping the gun aimed at Gidi, and said angrily through gritted teeth, “Shut your mouth, king of lies! If I’m saving you, it’s no thanks to your corrupt life!”

Gidi seized the moment, grabbed the bags with his left hand, and pointed a gun he drew from his pocket at Saul. He screamed, “I’ll shoot him. I really don’t care. Get that gun away from me, you stupid cow!”

People who had heard the loud voices began to leave their trailers, their children drifting curiously behind them. Seeing the danger, Lynn swiftly unloaded the magazine and threw away the rifle so forcefully that it fell far behind the shed. Saul tried to get up off the ground, but was slammed back hard as Lynn stomped on his chest.

At that moment, a whistle blew. Five police officers appeared from all sides and pushed Gidi to the ground as they disarmed and handcuffed him. The whole thing lasted no more than a few seconds. Lynn began to cry and collapsed on the sand. She laughed and cried and gasped.

Maurice appeared from behind the shed with the gun she’d just thrown away. “Gentlemen, officers,” he gasped, “you should take this...” and added, “I’ve been here since the whole thing began. If you want, I’ll give evidence. My name’s Maurice and I live over there.” One of the officers went to get the weapon and Maurice’s details.

It was dawn. The light that came flooding from the skyline lit up the faces of the tired policemen who had been lurking there all night. They put Michal, Saul, and Gidi into individual patrol cars and drove them to the holding cells.

The Crystal Circle Hall

Raz’el was sitting alone, leaning over a round white table, a white robe around his shoulders and a serious look on his face. The violin music was quiet this time. He was writing on a scroll made of transparent leather that shone with a mysterious, internal light. Raz’el wasn’t using any pen or pencil, but rather his own hand. His hand moved back and forth across the parchment and the words appeared by themselves, in a bright color that varied with Raz’el’s facial expression. He usually wore a worried expression; sometimes he would stifle a smile and sometimes frowned with what could be seen as anger, even rage, although Raz’el was never angry. When he had finished, the scroll rolled itself into a cylinder and a silk ribbon tied itself around it. The recipient’s name appeared on the ribbon with a lift of Raz’el’s finger, a total of two words.

He stood up, leaving the scroll on the table, and remained standing there for a moment. He looked around and then created a whirlwind with his hand. The whirlwind he created swirled a spiral of tiny ovals of light up and down. The spiral fell below the floor of the Crystal Circle until it disappeared. He looked around and then lowered his hand and the music stopped. Raz’el vanished.

The Uprooted Camp, five in the morning

The morning clouds had accumulated into dull, dark gray piles. Lightning flashed in the distance, and a cool breeze blew up occasionally. Individual thunder rolls sounded one after the other in frightening thuds of foreboding. It was going to be one of those three to four days of rain a year that Eilat was known to have during the summer. The wind picked up speed and items of laundry and pieces of paper began to fly around.

At six AM, the few fishermen at sea watched a dark gray pillar suddenly grow out of the waters of the bay, attaching the heavens to the Earth. It was as if the pillar was supporting the sky and was located exactly at the point where the border passed between Egypt and Israel. There, from the Red Sea, a wall of water begun to form like a small tornado. The thunder roared, and the shrapnel of rage pierced the sand. The rain hurled itself violently at the small beach. The tornado moved across the Uprooted Camp until it dispersed and dissolved, its dark funnel hurling showers of rain combined with seaweed, fish, and crabs, which began to fall on the shore and on the trailers. They kept piling up. Five minutes later, the rain gradually stopped, and the sun came out slowly from behind the clouds, cautious and hesitant.

The people of the camp peered through their windows and around their doors and began shouting with joy. The children burst into shrieks of happiness and ran outside. “Fish, fish! It’s raining fish!” The entire uprooted camp was celebrating, its shores and houses covered in fish and lobsters, some still fluttering, pumped straight from the waters of the bay merely minutes earlier, directly into the hands of the fishermen. They broke into shrieks of joy. They felt as if manna was falling from the skies, just like in the Bible! The paper, wet and wrinkled, flying around with the fish, contributed to the strange feeling. The papers were pages from the Bible, all from Samuel I, the story of Saul and David. Those who left the camp that day were doubly amazed when they discovered that the fish storm had only hit the Uprooted Camp. The rest of the city of Eilat had perfectly normal rain, though that, in itself, was very rare in summer.

Maurice, who was still standing, shocked, amidst the scene, peeled a wet page off his foot and read,
“Samuel 16, 8: But the LORD said unto Samuel: ‘Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him; for the LORD seeth not as man seeth: for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.”

All the events of that morning seemed like a sign to him. Here was a description of King Saul in the Bible, so similar to the sight of Saul and his guns and schemes, being dragged away to the police station.

The next wet page Maurice peeled off his clothes left him stunned.
“And Saul said unto Michal: ‘Why hast thou deceived me so, and sent away mine enemy, that he is escaped?’ And Michal answered Saul: ‘He said unto me: Let me go; why should I kill thee?’”

07/08/2013 - Twenty-third day of disappearance

That same day, late in the morning, Lynn still sat on a bench in the hallway, tired and handcuffed. She had been taken to a detention cell early in the morning. After napping on the bench for about two hours, she had been rushed along to the office of Superintendent Illouz, who’d been waiting for the reports of the arresting officers since the early morning. Lynn knew it was only the first in a series of interrogations.

He looked at her as someone would look at a rare archaeological exhibit. “So you’re the Michal who fled Migdal Haemek...”

“I’m not Michal. I’m Lynn, and I came to Eilat from Tel Aviv. I didn’t flee anywhere,” she replied testily.

“Okay, doesn’t matter. We picked you up at the trailer park with two criminals. One tried to kill a man, and you saved one from being killed by the other. According to the policemen and the detainees themselves, you’re a part of that gang. I suggest you tell me everything from the very beginning to the end.”

Lynn took a very deep breath. She began telling her story from the moment she got to Eilat. She told him about Dave, about the investment company Saul started, and her wish to protect Dave, her decision to join the bank as an investor, and agreeing to Saul’s offer to join his business, mainly to neutralize the conspiracy from within and thwart his plans to kill Dave.

“Yes.” Illouz nodded. “I have a very similar version here. The question is – why, throughout this hair-raising series of events, didn’t it occur to you to call the police and expose them?”

“It was all mere suspicion. I didn’t believe the police would seriously listen to someone reporting dubious businesses and investments. On what basis? Because someone looks dirty and has a gun? When I understood what kind of investments they were up to, they didn’t tell me exactly when all this was going to be over, or that they didn’t intend to return the money to the customers. I only had my speculations and concerns. Eventually, I realized that if I’d done as you suggested...” She bowed her head to the floor and bit her lip. Her fragile beauty and the cuffs made her look very vulnerable.

“What do you think would have happened?” He encouraged her and waited until her eyes met his.

“They’d have hurt me without hesitation, but first they’d have murdered Dave!” She shot him a green and penetrating look.

“How d’you figure that, young lady?”

“Last night... oh,” she sighed, “it seems like weeks ago! Gidi shot Dave through the window of his trailer. Really, he shot at his pillow...”

Lynn went on to describe what happened: the fight on the beach between Gidi and Saul before she dared to intervene, and the more she told, the more she could see the situation from a different perspective, and how close she’d been to danger. She pulled her shoulders back and sat up straight. The stone no longer weighed on her chest. She could breathe oxygen; finally everything was coming out.

“Inspector, who gave you a version similar to mine?” Lynn raised her eyebrows and looked at him. He waited a moment, hesitating, and then cleared his throat, and said, “Dave. He was here last night and told us the whole thing on his own initiative. He begged us to go into the camp to protect you from that pair of ugly crooks. He was under a lot of pressure and asked that we go in immediately, and the truth is...”

“That?” Her lips stretched into a short desperate smile.

“We don’t go into any place just because someone claims that we have to. But... I’ve known Dave for a long time. His arguments carry weight.” Illouz scratched behind his ear as he weighed whether or not to reveal more details. “Also, I asked him to report on suspicious matters in the camp, but he couldn’t file a complaint. Dave has no identification documents, so, officially, he can’t.” She nodded her head, and then he realized she knew. “But then, in the raid conducted yesterday morning, this note fell out of your pocket. Are you familiar with this writing?”

Illouz spread out the little yellow note in front of her:
“Dave is in mortal danger! Brown trailer. The trailer park. Saul and Gidi. M16 – Murderers. Underworld. Urgent. Michal Rafael.”

Lynn read it again and again. The writing was her own. Although it was written in haste, there was no shadow of a doubt. She couldn’t remember writing it, and she pursed her lips in embarrassment. Why did she sign it ‘Michal Rafael,’ and how did the police officers connect the dots to her?

“We prepared a plan of action and staked it out at night, all because you signed your real name - Michal Rafael. We’ve been looking for you all over the country for almost a month, Michal. And all this time you were here, under our noses.”

“But my name isn’t...” she said quietly and looked down. Was she absolutely sure her name wasn’t Michal? Why did she choose that name as an alias? There were so many holes in her memory. For example, how did she know Krav Maga? How was it that she could handle weapons with such expertise? She fell silent.

“Why did you threaten Gidi? Why did you protect Saul? Why didn’t you run? Why did you interfere, Michal?”

“He didn’t have to die. It’s not fair, he’s kind of a genius, and I believe he still has a good future ahead of him. I felt some affection for him, even though he’s a criminal. There’s some good in him. You must have noticed the piles of money in his bags?” she asked and he didn’t answer. “That money belongs to the people of the camp. It should be returned to them. These are their savings.”

“It will be dealt with,” he replied briefly. “What would make me think you’re not a part of this gang? That you weren’t planning on escaping with them in the getaway car? Maybe you planned it together with him back in Migdal Haemek?”

“Migdal Haemek?” She looked at him in confusion. “I’m from Tel Aviv. My name is

Lynn, and I’ve never been to Migdal Haemek. Is that where Saul’s from?”

He looked at her keenly. Many years of experience with people convinced him that she wasn’t lying. Perhaps she didn’t remember anything? Maybe it was some sort of a split personality? He made a note to arrange for a psychiatric examination.

“If you decided to defend Saul, why did you detain him and throw away the weapon?” “You weren’t there! There were children there, people were starting to come closer!”

She raised her voice, and tears accumulated in her eyes. Her throa t was parched. “Gidi grabbed the bags and ran at them with a drawn gun. He could have easily killed them if they stood in his way! I preferred to surrender. Lucky you came...” She breathed with relief. Illouz settled back and unintentionally gave out a little smile.

“I must say, your quick response was impressive, even considering your past as a...” and he lowered his head to a paper in front of him and read, “Krav-Maga and shooting instructor in the army.”

She stared at him wordlessly. How? What? that might explain -

“You know it’s all true. There’s no other truth. Maurice was there. He saw everything. Maybe you could ask him?” She looked around the room with its blanked-out windows, with the feeling that things could be interpreted differently. The superintendent ignored her comment, and after reading the report in front of him, he raised his head and looked at her with narrowed eyes.

“Another thing. You stayed at an apartment in south Tel Aviv on the 16th of June this year, where one Linda Weiner lives alone. She claims she took you home when you were completely drunk and that you took advantage of her kindness. When she went into the shower for a few minutes, you stole her money, some clothes, her cellphone and wallet. Perhaps her identity and name as well. Explain, please.”

Lynn was speechless. She stared at the superintendent and couldn’t understand.
“I’m
Lynn… short for Linda. It was my apartment. I didn’t steal anything.”

“There’s no point in you continuing to deny your identity, Michal. In the end, you’ll have to give us an explanation. You should return the stolen property, and, in my opinion, apologize to her for using her identity!”

Lynn felt she had reached a dead end. On the one hand, she believed she was indeed Lynn, or so her memories testified. On the other hand... this was exactly the problem - her memories were fragmented, as if they were implanted in her brain. She felt fundamentally different in her essence from the Lynn from the Tel Aviv apartment she thought she was. But who was she really?

“This story’s surreal!” she sighed honestly.

“Absolutely. Thank you, Michal. Get some rest. We’re not done with you yet. Sit outside for now.” Lynn sat on the bench outside, and a policeman led Saul past her to the interrogation room, his hands and feet bound. He looked at her and she at him.

Saul fired at her with a squeaky, hoarse voice, “Thank you for stopping Gidi, but... I thought you were with me, Lynn...”

“I’m not with you. I’m on your side,” she replied simply. “I saved your life today.” The policeman looked at them quizzically.

He shrugged and said, “Okay, we don’t have all day. The commander’s waiting for you”. They entered Illouz’s office. Lynn sat on the bench for an hour, during which a policewoman brought her a cup of coffee and a sandwich, not taking her eyes off her. Finally, Lynn was led into the conference room.

“Someone will come to question you in a minute,” the policewoman said. A man with a full head of silver hair was sitting in the room. His gray eyes were cheerful, but his smile was somewhat sad. The policewoman ignored the man as if he wasn’t there. She released Lynn’s hands from the cuffs, said, “Wait here,” left the room, and locked it from the outside.

Lynn looked at the man with a bewildered smile. “Hello, who are you, sir?”

Raz’el looked at her and said softly, “Lynn. You’ve had a very difficult night. How do you feel?”

Tears were forming in the corners of her eyes. That gentle voice, that illuminating smile, those sparkling gray eyes were very familiar to her. “I… I don’t...”

“Everything’s all right, Lynn. You’re amazing.” He smiled at her. “You’ve managed to break a cycle of bloodshed that ran for thousands of years. I want to say goodbye to you.” He approached her, put his hand on her head, and she felt a tremendous wave of heat at the top of her head. He whispered, “I, Raz’el...” Circles above circles of lights swirled above her head. She sighed and blinked, and when she opened her eyes, there was no one there.

The door opened and in came the policeman who’d arrested her. “Who were you talking to? There’s nobody here, no phones either...” He looked around nervously.

Lynn was confused and didn’t answer.

“You can take off the glasses now. They’re not real, Michal.”

“I’m Lynn!” she said, angry at the interruption, but took off the glasses. The officer handed her a tablet, and she saw again the picture of the missing person, Michal Rafael. She flinched again. It was a picture of her, smiling, the way she looked back in Tel Aviv.

“Yes, this is me in the picture, but my name’s Lynn, and I’m from Tel Aviv, I’m not Michal from Migdal Haemek.”

Then her family came in. Yossi, Gaya, and Eden looked at her in amazement. She looked at the man and the two girls with him, and her eyes grew round with wonder. A huge mixture of emotions washed over her – from embarrassment through misunderstanding to an excitement that caused her hands to tremble uncontrollably. But Lynn still didn’t understand. Who were they? Yossi rushed to embrace her. He held her close, but she stepped back.

“Hold on, sir. I don’t know you. Who are you?”

He withdrew awkwardly and looked at her. She didn’t remember anything. It wasn’t a strange joke made up by the officers, or Michal playing a cruel trick; she just didn’t recognize them.

Gaya looked at her curiously and said, “Mom, cut the bullshit. Everyone knows you’re a good actress. What a haircut! Mom, you’ve changed a lot.”

Lynn looked at her with growing embarrassment.
I must look like her mother.

Then little Eden approached and jumped on her. “Mom! My Mommy. I want you to come back home. Why’re you here, Mommy? Where did you go?” She cried and Lynn looked at her pityingly, lowered her head, and looked deep into the little girl’s eyes, into her reflection in the tears of the weeping girl, and suddenly...

The Crystal Circle Group

“Michal, it’s time. It’s all over.”

Lynn was sitting on a round white couch beneath the crystal dome. She closed her eyes and felt the hands of all members of the group placed gently on her head. The music entered her bloodstream. She felt a stream of energy waking a section of her soul that had been shut down. “You’ve returned to be Michal,” everyone told her. “Go back to being yourself.” After about a minute she opened her eyes. Raz’el was not there, only all the members who were already a part of her. She looked right and left and stood up. They nodded. “This is your time to remember. Your family’s there now, with you at the police headquarters. You have to remember.”

“Where’s Raz’el?” she asked.

“Raz’el’s gone,” said Yossi. “Gone. Maybe to guide another group. It’s weird, but he left words of farewell for you. He handed her a transparent, glowing scroll. It was rolled up and on it were imprinted the words, “For Michal.”

She paused a moment and read the words Raz’el left her. Every word she read immediately disappeared and left behind a glowing trail on the scroll. When she raised her head, she saw all the group members looking at her intently, waiting.