The Masada Faktor (17 page)

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

E
xpecting the police to come to the door and question me about the guy that Millie shot, had me on pins and needles, but no one came. I had spoken to Arthur on the phone at length and again he extended an invitation for me to come stay with them in Jerusalem. I thanked him and told him that at this point I would consider it. Arthur was going to make sure that the police put out a bulletin with a warrant for Millie’s arrest.

Arthur told me about a secret command unit of Hamas that was found out. “They are called
Nukhba,
‘the selected ones’ and they were taught to fight in the tunnels in special ways, on foot and traveling on small motorcycles. This entire tunnel scheme was Hamas’ top secret and that is the reason, if The Masada Faktor was related, why you were in so much danger. You were a risk to the secrecy of their plan. They didn’t know how much you knew.”

I burst out saying, “Does that mean I am not in danger anymore? I mean, you did use the word were.”

“If you had gone to the
Shin Bet
earlier and they had gotten wind of what Hamas was up to, they would have put Hamas out of business. Plus all the weapons that had come through the tunnels from Egypt before Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood were voted out of Egypt would have been stopped.” Arthur sounded angry.

“After Morsi, the new President of Egypt, El-Sisi began to destroy the tunnels that were supplying Hamas with Kalashnikovs, M-16s, rocket propelled grenades, and hand grenades. They had IDF uniforms, night vision equipment, and who knows what the hell else. They may not have gotten this far if you would have come forward sooner.”

That set me off; I became infuriated, “Well Arthur, I don’t think I knew anything actually in time. Mother had only just passed away and I was clueless until then. And even if I did, do you think the
Shin Bet
would have let me into their offices? Remember, I didn’t know you at that time. And I am, after all, an
Oleh Hadesha,
a new immigrant. They would have thought I was crazy.”

“Yes, you are correct, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to blame you.” I could hear Dalia in the background yelling at Arthur to apologize to me. “And besides, I believe the
Shin Bet
already knew much more than you knew. Because of their means of interrogation, they learned a lot.”

“Also,” he went on, “Hamas was having to step up their time-line because of the change in politics in the region. It could be why the seventy year anniversary seemed to be coming early. The Egyptian-Gaza tunnel network was destroyed but the secret tunnels into Israel were intact.”

“Hang on to the Glock 19,” Arthur advised.

“Good idea,” I agreed in case Millie or any other villain appeared and this time I would use it to protect myself.

Trying to conclude the conversation with some levity I said, “Be careful, Arthur, and don’t forget that Dalia will kill you if she finds out you’ve driven through any Arab villages.” I was laughing, but I don’t know why.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

T
he twenty something IDF soldier, Eli that I had met at the bus station in Hadera, messaged me on Facebook and asked me if I’d like to be introduced to his single uncle.

“I would love to meet him,” I replied, and gave Eli my phone number. He called a few days after my latest Millie incident. We arranged for him to bring his uncle by my place on an evening when Lior would be working and a night that Eli knew he had off of active duty. The next Wednesday at 9:00 was the date. I hoped that my bruises and scratches would be healed by then.

Deciding to splurge for the occasion, I bought a bottle of 2013 Gamla Sauvignon Blanc, which purported to have guava, melon, and lime flavor. I had a bag of pita chips and fresh hummus and set them on the coffee table, and had checked my lipstick in the hall mirror when the knock came at the door. It was exactly 9:00. I was a little nervous but determined to throw caution to the wind as I opened the door.

Eli stood in the doorway, alone. “Hi,” I said. “Where is your uncle?” I was looking around.

Eli looked at me and put his hands on my shoulders. He moved his face close to mine and said very softly, “I want to be alone with you.
Beseder
?”

“Well, okay,
Beseder,
” I replied, “Come in and sit down.” He sat by me on the leather sofa. I proceeded to open the chilled bottle of wine. Eli was surprised how adeptly I used the corkscrew. I gave him the cork to sniff. “What should we toast to?” I asked.

Eli responded quickly, “Let’s say
Baruch Hashem,
Thank God that we were both at the bus station at the same time, allowing us to meet.” We clicked glasses and took a sip of the wine. We didn’t talk as we finished the first glass. Then the vertigo hit and I closed my eyes.

He took my glass and set his glass and mine down on the table. “Natasha, are you all right?” Eli said in a breathless sort of way, “May I kiss you?”

I didn’t answer, instead I kissed him, lightly with my mouth closed. He put his strong arms around me and then I knew I was powerless to avoid what would happen. His lips were on mine and he opened my mouth with his tongue.

I melted into his embrace and his passionate kisses. His skin smelled of fresh soap. He pulled my t-shirt up and off in a split second and undid my bra and began to kiss my breasts. I didn’t resist and then he got off the couch and pulled me up to take my miniskirt down.

I was standing naked except for my panties. He was fully clothed in black Nike running pants and a black t-shirt. We fell back on the sofa and with both hands he tore my panties off and threw them, now in two pieces across the room.

I asked if he was going to take his clothing off. He said, “Not yet, not quite yet.” But he took a handgun out of his pants pocket and set it on the end table. We laid down on the sofa and his kisses became more passionate as I returned his lust with what I can only describe as total reciprocation.

I felt no inhibitions as he slowly slid down the length of my body below my waist and spread my legs wide. His head went down where my private agony existed. I found myself arching up to meet his lips. With gentle fingers, he spread the pink folds of my femininity apart and began to lick me with his big, long tongue. I began to moan, “Eli, Eli.” I closed my eyes and felt as if I were floating up to the sky.

A sudden electricity went through me as Eli quenched my carnal thirst. A colossal orgasm came from deep within me. Eli quickly had his clothes off while I realized I was looking at him through teary eyes. I looked at his nakedness, his dark brown skin, curly chest hair, and beautiful green eyes.

Before my orgasm ended he quickly entered me filling me with his manhood. Our bodies moved in unison and his orgasm joined mine as we then drifted together to some mysterious other world for a few more minutes of ecstasy.

“Do you still want to meet my uncle?” He whispered while still holding me very tightly in his arms.

“Sure, why not?” We fell asleep and when I roused he was gone.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

I
started to pack up my belongings. If I went to stay with the Goldins in Jerusalem I couldn’t take any of my furniture. Lior had agreed to let me stay until the end of August so I had a few weeks to look for another apartment.

I wanted to ask Lior if her asking me to move had anything to do with her disclosure to me about her relationship with Menashe. “Lior, are you sorry that you told me that Menashe is a controlling, jealous man?”

“No, I am not sorry that I told you but Menashe doesn’t like you being here. Along with that crazy Millie being after you I decided you should leave.” Lior’s justifications were not convincing to me. I was starting to take it personally.

So it wasn’t simply the fear of the people that were after me. It was about a man. I was hurt, and did not understand the power that Menashe had over Lior. I hoped that I never became addicted to any man. Okay, yes, I had been there in my past, and had my current strange sexual encounters. But I had been rid of men like Menashe long ago.

Would I always be moving around in Israel? I felt ungrounded and uneasy but glad that I had the Goldins for a backup plan. Although moving in with them wouldn’t be a long term fix. And then I would be moving again.

Arthur told me it was the consensus from the
Shin Bet
that Millie Stone was pretty much a lone wolf at this point. Her shooting victim had been found lightly wounded and was recovering in a hospital but had refused to testify against her. I was the only witness and at the point when she was apprehended I would be contacted.

It was odd but my fear of Millie was abating as I concluded that I was the one to be feared. I had changed, I had had enough. If she had any brains in her German head, she would steer clear of me.

I began to carry the Glock 19 in my backpack, not telling Arthur and Dalia. There was a limit to how much I had to listen to other people, even the Goldins.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

D
uring the sixth week of the Gaza War, after August 12, there were peace talks in Cairo, Egypt but Israel continued to refuse to grant a seaport and an airport to be built in Gaza. The United Nations continued to carry on their craziness and allowed a fact finding committee to be led by anti-Zionist members which Prime Minister Netanyahu called, “A kangaroo court.” And they were demanding that Netanyahu be tried before an International Criminal Court.

Turkey was protesting the Israeli blockade of Gaza in the defense of Hamas. They were claiming that the Israeli Navy had violated a ceasefire, firing at Gaza from the Sea.

Accusations were flying from Hamas accusing Israel of a ceasefire violation when they were actually hurting themselves trying to disable Israeli missiles that had not exploded or blown up. In this incident in Beit Lahiya, two Associated Press journalists and three of their policemen were mortally wounded in that explosion.

Ceasefires, extensions to ceasefires, Hamas violating ceasefires. My brain was on overload. Netanyahu ordered the IDF to retaliate for rocket fire during a ceasefire. Then the United States announced that they were discontinuing sales of Hellfire Missiles to us, following the lead from the United Kingdom who had already stopped arms shipments to Israel.

Palestinians continued to threaten Israel although Gaza was being demolished and their death toll continued to rise, nearing 2,000. Israel held fast demanding security for all its citizens.

We, the citizens, were demanding demilitarization of Gaza. In a sincere gesture, Israel removed the fishing blockade against Gaza, allowing their fishermen to go three miles out.

After five days of a ceasefire, we started to feel some relief. We went about our lives again walking on eggshells.

Almost a hundred Hamas terrorists who planned a Third Intifada to overthrow the Palestinian Authority were arrested. I expected the West Bank to implode.

The next day fifty rockets from Gaza were launched again against us, after six days of quiet, hitting near Be’er Sheva. Iron Dome intercepted those missiles aiming toward Sderot, Netivot, and Tel Aviv. Netanyahu called our negotiators back from Cairo.

It was August 20 and the night before Hamas’ chief military commander Mohammad Deif’s house was hit by our IDF forces. His wife, son, and daughter were killed but Hamas denied that Deif died.

The leader of Hamas, Khaled Maashal had been seeking refuge in Qatar, from where he ruled Hamas in Gaza. It was reported that Qatar was ready to expel him if Hamas agreed with an Egyptian ceasefire plan.

A new record of Hamas rockets were fired into Israel that day. And something new was threatened. Hamas declared that all airlines should cancel flights into Ben Gurion. To think that flights in and out of Tel Aviv were affected was staggering.

On the morning of August 21 three powerful Hamas commanders were killed in an air strike. It had been determined that all three were deeply involved in the cross border tunnels. Hamas was not happy and more threats were hurled. An additional 10,000 IDF reservists were summoned. It seemed that all hell had broken loose.

On August 22 Hamas began to murder Palestinians that were suspected of consorting with Israel. Eleven were killed at a mosque and at an abandoned police station. A Russian Grad rocket hit a synagogue in Ashdod and civilians were hurt. More Grads were fired toward Gush Dan.

Israel started roof-knocking, to warn the Gazans to get out of buildings before they would be hit by the Israeli Air Force. Israel had invented this practice of hitting the roofs of buildings with nonlethal fire so that people would have time to flee. Hamas was using civilian homes as headquarters. We were horrified that they were keeping their own people prisoner in these buildings.

Hamas was firing at their own people who were trying to run away and also at those who were trying to leave Gaza to get medical help in Israel. There were Israeli Arab taxi drivers trying to help the sick and injured but Hamas was attacking them.

Israeli Army Intelligence stated that Hamas still had over 2,000 short-range rockets and many dozens of mid-range missiles left. They had expended over 70% of their weapons stockpiles.

It was still all very wild and Prime Minister Netanyahu personally warned Gazans to immediately vacate any site from which Hamas was operating. “…Every one of these places is a target for us.”

No one thought things could get worse but then Lebanon fired five rockets into northern Israel in the morning of August 24, causing a power failure and injury to two children. The Lebanese Army denied complicity and we did not return fire. Another five rockets came into Israel from Syria. We didn’t know if it was spill over from the Syrian Civil War.

As if Hamas and the Palestinian Authority were winning the war, we heard rumors, on August 25 that they began to make demands for an Independent Palestinian state. They said it would be formally announced on August 26.

First they wanted the UN to force Israel to withdraw to the 1967 borders which, of course was laughable. That day Iran and Hamas both claimed to have shot down Israeli drones. Another rocket from Lebanon came into the Upper Galilee. This time Israel returned fire.

Suddenly there was a month long ceasefire announced. I didn’t believe that it would hold or that the war was over. I don’t think anyone else believed it either.