It is close to 1:00 in the morning it is raining. There is a woman standing over a grave in a small town in the middle of the southern state. She is wearing a black trench coat and a matching fedora. She is holding one red rose and crying, but her tears are hidden by the rain.
Judith Heber is a former member of Caracal Battalion, where she commanded a sniper platoon. She is an expert rifle marksman herself. Being a high-ranking middle-aged single Jewish female in the services is usual for the Israeli army. She was recruited into Shin Bet and joined the Yamas. Shin Bet is Israel’s internal security service. The Yamas are the elite counterterrorism unit that runs special operations and undercover operations. Her colleagues know her as the Ice Woman.
Judith is in her office in Jerusalem. There is a file on her desk about an American named Jason Pain. He is a part of an exchange program between the America’s Department of Homeland Security and Israel’s Shin Bet. She reads that Jason graduated from the United States Military Academy at the top of his class. He also finished at the top of his classes at the Army Airborne School, Army Intelligence Center of Excellence, and Special Forces Qualification Course. He finished his career in the Joint Special Operations Command. After his contract was up after 20 years, he joined the Department of Homeland Security based in Washington D. C. He is a member of their special operations unit.
Judith is assigned to meet Jason at Ben Gurion Airport. He is arriving at 12:25 pm on an El Al from New York. Judith looks at her watch; it is time to leave. She heads to the airport in an armored Mercedes G65 AMG.
As she is driving to the airport, she is trying to figure out. ‘Why am I assigned to babysit the American? Nevertheless, an order is an order.’
Judith arrives at the airport, and inside, she flashes her badge and identification card to bypass security. She is standing at the gate. Jason Pain enters into view. She knows it is him because of the ID photo in the file.
Jason is dressed in a black suit with a black belt. His shirt is red with a black tie. He has his carry on and briefcase with him.
Judith asks, “Jason Pain?”
He says, “Yes, Ma'am.”
She puts out her hand, "Judith Heber of Shin Bet. Will you come with me?”
They shake hands briefly.
Judith asks, "Is that all of your baggage?"
“Yes, Ma'am.”
They walk quickly toward the doors. She flashes her badge and identification card again as they leave the airport.
They get into her SUV. He puts his carry on and briefcase in the back seat. On his seat, there is a brown clasp envelope with his name on it. Jason opens the envelope and inside is his ID card, and other paperwork that he will need in Israel, and a key. They chitchat about his flight.
When they arrive at Shin Bet headquarters, Judith signs him in at the entrance and takes Jason straight to the Director. Her boss welcomes Jason and tells him that Judith Heber is his liaison officer. Jason needs to listen carefully and follow her orders.
Jason says, “Yes, Sir.”
They say goodbye leave for her division, the Yamas office. She introduces Jason to her staff. She explains they are highly trained agents with different backgrounds, but are all skilled snipers and firearms experts with time in the military.
After the formalities, Judith and Jason enter her office. Judith has a table with a chair for Jason to use as a desk in the far corner. She tells him that the table and chair are for him to use. On the table are the standard pen, sticky notes, a laptop, and other items.
She looks at his reaction to his table and thinks, 'Since I am going to babysit you, I will keep you in my sight.'
After Jason, heard that the table is to be his desk, he put his briefcase on it. He opens it. It has some files and other things. He reaches into his briefcase and puts out an electronic Bible. The paint on the side of the tablet computer has been worn from daily use and a plaque that says, “God is my protector.”
Judith raises her eyebrows and thinks, 'This is odd, a man with his background, a religious man.'
Jason sits down at the table, puts his jacket around the chair, and gets to work. He is in Shin Bet as a liaison officer and he makes contract with his office to say He arrived and is ready to start work.
After a half an hour or so, Judith says, “Why don't we go down to the range and see how good of a shot you are?”
Jason says, “Why not, Ma'am.”
"Follow me."
They walk to the range in the basement of their building. Judith waves to the Range Master on the camera. He opens the door for her to enter the cage. The weapons that are not being used as side arms are kept in a locked cabinet.
Judith comes often to this area for one reason or another. She tells the Range Master that Jason is from America and is there on an exchange program. They need to sign out a weapon to him.
The Range Master says, “Yes, Ma'am.
Looking at the selection of guns in the weapon’s safe. She sees a Glock-19 pistol. She picks it up, checks its balance lays it on the counter. She tells the Range Master to write down the pistol's serial number and that Jason needs to sign for it.
Both men say, “Yes, Ma'am.”
After a few minutes of paperwork, Jason is handed the pistol, a magazine, a box of ammo, a holster, and safety glasses. He follows Judith into the firing range. With her blazer off, she is already on the firing line with her primary and secondary pistols out of her body holsters on the table. She has a Glock-19 and Glock-26 as a secondary weapon.
Jason puts everything down on his table in his lane and starts to put the ammo in the magazine.
Judith hands him the protector earmuffs lying on the table. "Ware these."
As she is saying that, she pins up her target on the loop and sends it down the range. By the time, the target is down range Jason has the magazine loaded and on the table. He has his earmuffs on.
She reaches for his gun, pulls the safety off, and spends her magazine in record time.
She puts the safely on and lays the pistol on the table.
Judith brings the target up range. Taking off her earmuffs, she is jumping for joy inside, but she does not want to show it. She sees that she has a nice grouping on the target.
Jason sees the grouping and says, “Great job, Ma'am.”
Judith says, “It is your turn.”
Therefore, he sends his target down range. They both put their ear protection back on. When the target is in place Jason puts the magazine in the pistol, pulls the safety off. His magazine is spent down range in no time. He puts the safely on and puts the pistol on the table. They pull down their earmuffs. Jason brings the target up range.
Judith could see that Jason's grouping is much better than hers is. She is pissed inside.
Jason says, “It is just luck, Ma'am.”
This ticked her off even more because Jason would not admit that he had better skills.
She is about to scolded him but hears a knock on the range door.
One of her agents says, “You need to see this.”
He gave her a paper about a former agent of the Islamic Republic of Iran's Ministry of Intelligence. The man is in the town of Rafah in the Gaza Strip.
She says, “Thank you, I am heading back to the office."
She re-holsters her pistols, and leaves the range for her office.
Jason quickly puts his pistol in the holster and puts it in his pocket. He also puts the rest of his ammo in his other pocket before she is too far down the hall.
As the three of them leave the stairway elevator and enter her division, Judith orders the agent to follow the Islamist and to see what he is up too. She also says that she wants to be briefed on anything unusual.
The agent says, “Yes, Ma'am," and leaves.
When Judith and Jason get back to her office, Jason unloads his pockets on the table and opens his Bible.
Judith sits down at her desk and types the Iranian name in the database on her computer. The info comes up quickly. His name is Haman Bakeri. Her interest is in what happened after his work in Iran's Intelligence Service. It is rumored that he left because he thought the Ministrywas not doing enough to unite Islam to fight against the Infidels. He is known to be a hard-liner.
As Judith is reading the information about Bakeri, Jason is reloading the pistol magazine and looking at the Bible. After the magazine is full, he puts the magazine in the pistol and makes sure the safety is on. He puts the pistol in the holster and lays it on the table. He puts the extra ammo in the box and leaves it beside the pistol.
A minute or two later Judith gets up from her desk and walks over to Jason's table. As his laptop is booting up, she looks over and sees that the Bible is open. An electronic arrow flag self-stick note is pointing to the enlarged verse of Joshua 1:9, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”
By this time, the laptop has boot up. Judith lays down a pen and sticky note and moves away from the Bible. She flips Jason's computer around to type and logs into the database. Typing Bakeri into the search engine, the file pops open.
On the sticky note, she writes down Jason's log in user name and password and sticks it on the frame of the laptop.
She walks over to her desk and says, to Jason as she is sitting down. “The log in information that you need is on the sticky note. Look over the information that is on the screen. We need to figure out what he is doing in town.”
Jason looks over the information as Judith went back to her paperwork.
After 30 minutes or so, Jason says, “Ma'am, Where is the latrine?” He is tapping his holster on the table.
Judith understood that Jason wanted to put on the holster. She could not understand why he did not just take his belt off in the office, but she figured, 'He is just a shy guy I guess.'
She tells him down the hall to the left.
Before Jason leaves the office, Judith says, “When you are done, see if anyone out there needs any help.”
Jason says, “Yes, Ma'am.”
After Jason adjusts his under-arm holster and gun, he went to see what he could do for Judith’s staff. They gave him a computer and search parameters. One of the agents gives him his computer and stands over him directing him on how to use the network.
Judith is working diligently at her desk and has forgotten about Jason. After sometime, she gets a call on her cell phone.
“Hello, this is Judith,” she answered quickly without thinking.
“This is your mother, just in case you don't know.”
Judith says, “I know it is you, mom.”
Her mother says, “Why do you not call us? Are you ashamed of us?”
Judith says, “I am not ashamed or anything like that. I am just very busy at work.”
Her mother says, “Sure that is it. Anyway, your Father and I are in Jerusalem. We want you to come to dinner with us?”
Judith says, “I cannot tonight, Mom.”
Her mother shot back, “You are ashamed of us!”
Judith says, “I am not ashamed. I have a lot going on at work. I have an America agent here. He is a part of an exchange program. This is his first night in Israel. I have not even taken him to where he is staying yet. I cannot bring him along.”
Her mother says, “Is he single?”
She says, “Yes.”
Her mother says, “Bring him along. We can show him a good time.”
After a few more minutes of guilt from her mother, Judith says, “Yes, I will come and bring him.”
Her mother tells her where they are to dine.
Judith says, “See you in a few.”
Judith gets up from her desk walks over to the door and opens it.
In a loud voice, she says, “Mr. Jason Pain report to my office ASAP!”
Jason looks up from the screen startled and says, “Yes, Ma'am.”
He gives his seat back to the agent and walks in her office. Judith is putting things away and turns off the computers. She tells Jason to get his things because they are leaving for the day.
“Yes, Ma'am.”
Jason gets his coat, briefcase, and bag. He follows Judith out of the office. She showed him how to sign out at the main entrance.
When they get to the SUV, Jason puts his briefcase and bag in the backseat again. She starts the car and heads out.
Just seconds after leaving the Shin Bet headquarters she says, “Oh, by the way, we are meeting my parents for dinner tonight. Sorry, I hope you do not mind.”
Jason says, “That is fine, Madam.”
Judith turns on the radio.
Not too long after that, they arrive at the restaurant. She finds a parking spot. As they were getting out, she warns him about her parents.
She tells him, “My Mother is like a highly trained interrogator. So be careful.”
Jason just laughs.
When they enter the restaurant, she asks the Maître d' for the Heber table.
The Maître d' says, “Follow me.”
When they get to the table, Judith says, “Hello, Mom and Dad.”
Her mother and father get up happily. They all hug and kiss.
Judith says, “This is Mr. Jason Pain. He is from America and is here on an exchange program. Jason, this is my father Karl Heber and my mother Natasha Heber.”
Jason says, “Please to meet you.” He shakes hands with Karl and kisses Natasha hand.
As Natasha sat down, Karl pushes her seat behind her. Jason does the same thing for Judith. Natasha likes that and Judith does not.
After ordering the drinks and the meals, they chitchat. Judith catches up on what her parents have been doing.
Natasha says, “We hear from Judith that you are single?”
Jason says, “Yes, Ma’am. I am single.”
Natasha says, “Why?”
Judith almost split out the water she is drinking and wished she could down a glass of wine, but because she is always on duty 24/7, she would not drink any alcohol.
Judith exclaimed, “Mother!” as her face turned red.
Jason says without thinking, “The reason I am single is because I never found my Eva.”
Natasha says, “Judith is single.”
Judith is about to hide under the table, but she quickly changed the subject.
In no time, the meal had arrived. After the food is put on the table, Jason bows his head and says a quick prayer to bless the food and to say thank you in silence.
The Heber family had not seen this in a while.
After a few minutes, Natasha asks, “Jason, are you a religious man?”
Jason says, “Yes, Ma'am. I am a Christian. I hope that does not make anyone uncomfortable or anything.”
Everyone says, “No.”
Her father says, “Jason, I can tell you are a military man, a warrior so is it not odd that you are also a religious man?”
Judith is thinking the same thing, but did not want to ask.
Jason respond, “Yes, Sir. I am a military man. I have served in the US Special Forces for most of my career in the military. No, Sir to me it is not odd for a warrior to be religious. Look at the history of this country many men and women in the ancient days of this country were religious."
Karl says, “I did not think of that. Thank you. I hope you are not uncomfortable or anything.”
Jason says, “No, Sir.”
They all talked about one thing or another and had a great meal and a great time.
When the check came for the dinner, Jason and Karl fight for a few minutes. Jason is able to win and pay for the dinner.
They all leave and say their good-byes.
Judith has a private word with her mother about something.
Judith and Jason get into the SUV. They head to where Jason is going to live and where Judith lives.
She says, “You did not have to pay for dinner but thank you again.”
Jason says, “You are welcome. I wanted to pay. I had a great time. I like your parents. They are nice.” he says, “I do have one question?”
She says, “Shoot.”
He says, “Why are you called the Ice Woman? The woman I saw tonight is a not an Ice Woman.”
Judith says, “You heard about that.”
Jason says, “Yes.”
Judith says, “I got that name when I was in the military. It does not matter what happen I never show any emotions.” Judith says, “What is your nickname in the military?”
Jason says, “Templar.”
Judith says, “Oh, I see the warrior monk.”
Jason says, “Yes.”
A few minutes after that, they arrive at her apartment complex.
Judith says, “Here we are”.
They get out of the SUV. Jason gets out his stuff. Judith goes around to the trunk of the car, where she gets out her gun case.
Judith says, “I also live here. We could not find any other place. Lucky, there is an extra fully furnish apartment, just a door down for me. Do you still have your key?”
Jason says, “Yes.” He asks, “Could I give you a hand?”
She shakes her head no and says, “It is just my M4 carbine, but thank you.”
Jason gets the door for her as they enter the apartment complex. They head up to their floor on the elevator. Judith takes Jason to his door. He gets his key out of his pocket. He has kept the key in his pocket since he first opened the envelope. He unlocks the door, opens it, and turns on the light. Judith follows him in.
Jason puts down his stuff in the living room. Judith shows him around the apartment.
After the tour, Judith says, “I will come and pick you up for work at six thirty.”
Jason says, “OK.” He says, “May I see you to your door?”
Judith says, “OK, if you want to?”
They walk down to her door.
Judith says, “Goodnight. I will see you in the morning.”
Jason says, “Goodnight and see you.”
He walks back to his apartment and enters.
In her apartment Judith puts down the M4 container, unlocks, and opens the case. After she checks the M4 to make sure everything is OK, Judith puts it back in the case and places it near the door. She does her nighttime routine and goes to bed.
She is lying in bed thinking about what her mother tells her after dinner. ‘Jason is the right man for you.’ Judith thinks her mom is wrong and turns over and goes to sleep.
After Jason enters his apartment, he lays out his bag on the bed and unpacks. After putting his personal items in the bureau, he does his bedtime routine.
Before he lies down on the bed he gets on his knees and prays, "Thanks God for everything, let me repent of my sins. Also, thank you God for letting me be in Israel and having dinner with the Hebers and thanks for Judith. Let me humbly ask for another day so that I can become a better Christian than I am today."
After praying, he gets off his knees, gets into bed, and falls sleep quickly.
At 5:00 AM on the dot, both Judith and Jason’s internal clocks go off. They both get up and do their morning routine.
Jason gets back on his knees, “Thanks God for another day and please God protect Judith and my teammates today. “
He continues to get dressed for work.
Judith gets dressed and remembers that Jason has no food in the apartment. She goes down the hall to his apartment and knocks on the door.
Jason answers the door and says, “Good morning, Judith.”
She says, “Good morning and would you like to come over for some breakfast?”
Jason says, “Yes and thank you.”
She says, “The door will be unlocked.”
She heads back up the steps and enters her apartment.
Jason gets everything he needs, locks up and heads to her apartment.
When he gets to the door, knocks, and opens it, Judith is at the table where she is eating. It is bagels and lox.
She tells him to get some or look in the refrigerator. He sits down gives thanks to God for breakfast and eats the bagels and lox. The TV is on with the news. At 6:15 AM, they leave for headquarters. As they were get into the SUV, Judith puts the M4 carbine case back in the trunk.
When they get to their office, Jason sits down and opens his Bible to read.
Judith logs into her computer, checks her messages, and makes out a list.
After Jason finishes reading from the Bible, he logs in and waits for orders.
Judith gets up and heads for Jason's table.
When she gets to the table, she says, “You have been trained in intelligence work, right?”
Jason says, “Yes, Ma'am.”
Judith says, “Here is a list of names on this flash drive and all our info. Look them over and see if your American database can detect anything we missed?”
She puts the flash drive and printed list of names on the desk and walks back to her desk.
Jason says, “Yes, Ma'am.”
They both go to work and forget about anything but their task at hand.
Right before lunchtime, Judith gets a phone call from her boss and is ordered to report to his office.
When she enters his office, her boss tells her, according to the intelligence report that a wanted member of the Palestine Liberation Organization is going to be at a warehouse in the West Bank. He is authorizing her to arrest the terrorist. The report says that he will be there around 2:00 PM and she needs to get a move on to get there before the suspect.
Judith quickly briefs him about Haman Bakeri, “I got a report this morning, that he has a meeting this afternoon about 3:00 PM. The agents are still following him.”
Her boss says, “Good job, and keep me informed.”
She says, “Yes, sir.”
She hurriedly leaves and goes to her team officers to quickly brief them. They get their gear and head to the underground parking lot to load up the vans and cars.
She taps on the glass of her door and waves to Jason.
He gets up, opens the door, and asks, “What is up?”
She tells him that they have an operation and to head for her SUV.
He gets his coat and runs for the car. He is only one-step behind her. They get into her car and head for the scene.
Her special operations team has loaded up and their vans and cars follow her to the scene. They pull up at an area near the warehouse, but not to close and out of sight. When everyone is at the scene, Judith and Jason get out of the car. As she is briefing the team, they pull up, synchronize their maps up on their smart phones, and find a spot to deploy and meet up. They test their advanced walkie-talkies.
She goes to her SUV trunk, gets her M4 carbine, and puts on the sling around her shoulder.
Judith gives orders. The sniper teams gets in position and everyone else goes to support positions.
Jason is impressed. He has not seen anything like this, since his days in Delta.
Judith orders Jason to stay with her. He is there as an observer.
Jason says, “Yes, Ma'am.” He is disappointed because he will not be in the action, but understands. He also gives a quick silent pray for the team.
One of the sniper teams members reports seeing the target and it is confirmed, the assault team would enter the area, storm the warehouse, arrest the target and anyone else that is there, and collect any intelligence. Judith and Jason will follow in the assault team to help clean up. The snipers teams would cover. The main objective is to get in and out before anyone could know what happened.
As the intelligence report from the men stationed a mile away says, the target arrived is arriving on time. The operation is going off like clockwork.
Judith calls her boss. “I know you were listening to the action but to confirm: No one was killed; three other members of the PLO were arrested and no shots were fired.”
“Great job Judith, keep in touch,” he says.
Judith is proud of her team. After the operation, she puts her M4 carbine back in her trunk.
Judith and Jason stop by a fast food restaurant and pick up enough food for everyone. As they were about to carry out the food, she gets a call on her cell phone. It is one of her agents.
He says, "The report has come in and Haman Bakeri has a meeting with a smuggler.”
She says, “Thank you” and hangs up.
Judith calls her boss and briefs him.
He tells her, “If the agents could grab the smuggler without a scene, and without Bakeri knowing do it.”
She says, “OK.” and hangs up.
She calls her lead agent at the office and tells him what the boss says.
The agent says, “It will be done.”
“So the operation is a go,” she confirms.
Judith picks up the rest of the food that Jason left on the table and follows him to her car.
When they were in her car, Jason says, “What is up?”
Driving back to the office, she tells him the latest developments, “Hopeful by tonight the smuggler, will say what job he has done for Haman.”
They enter the headquarters and pass out the food. They take their food back to the office.
Jason sits down with his food at the table and prays over his meal to give thanks.
They go back to work on their computers for the next few hours.
Judith gets a phone call that they have bought in the smuggler.
It is around dinnertime, Judith says, “It is time to leave for today.”
They log out and leave the building.
When they get to her SUV, Jason says, “Can we drop by the grocery store before or after dinner tonight? So I can pick up some things.”
Judith says, “Sure, after dinner. I need to get something myself.” She also says, “I want to show you around Jerusalem. So you can learn where everything is.”
Jason says, “Great.”
She drove them around for an hour. She found a nice place for them to eat. It is a small little family owned restaurant. It is a place that a person would take someone on a date.
At dinner, she gets a call.
An agent says, “The smuggler smuggled in a man named “Vlad the Terrible". We are trying to find out, who he is.”
She says, “Thanks, I need the name on my desk in the morning.”
She hung up and tells Jason about the phone call.
Jason tells her, “For some reason I have heard the name before.”
“Oh, I will know in the morning who he is.”
When the meals arrive, Jason prays over his meal and gives thanks. They talk about the activities and accomplishments of the day.
When they leave Jason once again pays for the meal. Judith puts up more of a fight than her dad but Jason still wins.
After the meal, they go to the grocery store.
As they were checking out, the cashier says, “You guys look like a great couple, when are you getting married?”
Judith does not know what to says, but Jason says, “We are just friends nothing else.”
The cashier says, “To bad.”
They pay for their groceries and load them in the SUV.
On the way back to the apartment complex, they chitchat about what the cashier said, and why would she think that? They also talk about life in Jerusalem.
All the time, in the back of Jason’s mind, he is trying to figure out, ‘Why do I know the name Vlad the Terrible?”
When they get to the apartment complex, Jason gets all the bags from the grocery store. Judith gets her M4 carbine bag. They go to her apartment. When they get inside Jason separated the groceries. Judith puts the M4 carbine on her love seat because she is going to clean it.
After a few minutes, Jason says, “Goodnight and I had a great time.”
Judith says, “Goodnight and I also had a great time.”
Jason gets his grocery bags and leaves the apartment. He goes down the hall, unlocks, and enters his apartment.
After Jason leaves, Judith turns on the TV. To the noise of the news network, she cleans her M4 carbine. Satisfied that it is clean, she puts it back together and puts the case by the door. She turns off the TV and gets in bed. During her bedtime routine, she always puts her pistols on the bedside table. Lying on the bed, she is thinking about what her mother said and what the cashier said. It is odd, but she needs more time to think before doing anything. She goes to sleep.
After Jason enters his apartment, he puts up his groceries and watches a little TV. After that and his bedtime routine, he gets down on his knees “Thanks God for everything. Please God grant me another day for you to make me a better Christian. Let me know if Judith is my Eva.’
He gets up and just lies there on the bed thinking about the name “Vlad the Terrible.” Around three in the morning, it hits him who he is. He jumps up just wearing pajama pants, leaves the apartment, but makes sure his door is unlocked and runs down to Judith’s door and knocks.
Judith is sound asleep when she hears the knocks. Sleepily she is trying to figure out what is going on. She grabs her Glock-19 off the bedside table. She goes to the door quietly and looks out the peephole.
Jason says, “It is me, Jason Pain, open the door.”
She unlocks and opens the door. She is wearing nothing but a black lace and satin camisole set.
Judith sees that Jason is only wearing pajama pants.
She is thinking, ‘Does the Templar, hope he is going to break one of his vows with me?’
Jason says, “I figured out who Vlad the Terrible is.”
Judith thinks, ‘Nope, Templar is one of a kind.”
Jason enters the apartment and closes the door.
Judith says, “Who is he?”
Jason says, “His name is Vladimir Zukovsky. I heard about him when I was in Special Forces. He is a former member of Spetsnaz Alpha. The theory about why he left is that Vlad thinks Russia is too soft so he became a mercenary. Nevertheless, he is a true mercenary. He does not care whom he works for or what the job is, as long as they pay his fee.”
Jason asks, “Could you log onto the database with your home computer?”
Judith says, “Yes.”
She walks over to the computer to boot it up and logs on to the database.
She says, “What is his name?”
Jason says, “Vladimir Zukovsky.”
She types the name into the search engine. His name came up and Jason is right. Long lists of atrocities are linked to him but the authorities had never had any hard proof for convictions.
Jason says, “Is there a picture of him?”
Judith says, “Yes.”
“If I can make a suggestion, Ma'am?”
She says in a sharp tone, “You are here in my apartment. We are both barely dressed. It is three in the morning. So drop the military etiquette. What is your suggestion?”
Jason says, “My suggestion is that you print his photo, some other photos of different people. Take the photos to the smuggler in custody and see if he points him out?”
Judith says, “OK, I will do it first thing in the morning. Now can I get back to sleep?”
Jason says, “Yes.”
She walks him to the door.
Jason is still half-asleep and excited. Impulsively he grabs Judith and kisses her on the lips with lustful passion.
Judith being even more asleep when Jason entered the apartment is now fully awake. She returned the kiss with more passion and lust.
After what seems to be a lifetime in a few minutes, Jason let her go, turns away, says, “Goodnight” and goes back to his apartment. He fell into bed and is immediately asleep.
Judith closes and locks the door behind Jason. Her mind is racing now. She went over to the couch and felt on it. She is trying to understand the kiss. After some time, she turned on the TV trying to turn off her mind. After a few minutes, she felt asleep on the couch.
At five o’clock on the dot, Jason wakes up and starts his morning routine.
After Jason says his morning prayer, his mind flashes back to the kiss with Judith. He feels like he needs to apologize. He very much enjoyed the kiss, but this is his boss. Therefore, he rushes through getting dress. He is in such a big hurry he forgets to get his pistol. He locks up, goes to Judith’s door, and knocks.
Judith is somewhat awake on the couch with the TV on. She is trying to figure out why she is on the couch. She remembers what happen a few hours before. Her mind is still trying to figure out the kiss.
She hears the knocks on the door and goes to the door without thinking, still in her camisole. She forgets to look out the peephole, unlocks, and opens the door without knowing who it is.
Jason enters and closes the door behind him.
Judith went back to the couch and pulls the afghan over her.
Jason says, “I am deeply sorry about the late night. I did not mean for it to happen.”
Judith says, “OK, we will forget it.”
Jason says, “I will fix breakfast, while you are getting dressed.”
“OK,” she gets up, goes to her room to find the outfits she usually wares. During all of this, she is still half sleep. When she is in the shower, she smells something good cooking. She finishes dressing, goes to the kitchen, and sees a breakfast fit for a Queen on her table.
Jason is in the kitchen cleaning up the dishes in a girly apron, he found it in the cabinet with her fancy party decorations. She almost laughs at seeing him in that apron.
Judith wonders, ‘Did he stay the night?’
She reassures herself, ‘Not my Templar,’ and remembers opening the door for him a few minutes earlier.
At the kitchen table, Jason pushes her chair in behind her.
“The food looks and smells great.”
Jason says, “Thank you” and pours them a cup of coffee.
Judith is eating as if she has never eaten before. Jason is also eating with delight as the TV news keeps them company.
When they are done, Jason starts to put everything away.
Judith looks at the time, “If we don’t get a move on it, we are going to be late.” She tells him, “Let’s go.”
He heads for the door, picks up his coat.
The TV says it is going to rain after lunch; Judith gets her black trench and her M4 carbine case.
As Jason is about to close and lock door, Judith turns around to see Jason still wearing that girly apron. This time she could not stop from laughing aloud.
Jason is trying to figure out what is so funny. After a few seconds, she points to the apron.
“That would be cute, going to work with that on.”
Jason looks down and sees that he still has the apron on. He rips it off and throws it in the apartment and closes the locked door.
Judith is laughing the whole time they walk to her SUV and still has short outbursts of giggling while she is driving.
At headquarters, they check in and head to their office. Walking through the division room everyone noticed Judith smiling. That is very rare eyebrows were raise.
When they get to the office, they both log into their computers.
Jason opens his Bible.
At Jason’s desk Judith, checks on his screen information and sees the electronic arrow self-stick note pointing to John 15:13, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
After she goes back to her computer, Jason went back to the list that he was working on yesterday.
Judith prints Vlad’s image and photographs of other people and heads down to smuggler's cell.
Sure enough, the smuggler pointed out the photo of Vlad. She rushes to the boss’s office, briefs him on the new developments.
Her boss says, “Find Vlad and Haman as soon as possible.”
She calls the team together in the division room at the display board and gives them the latest information. Judith splits them in two groups. Half will go after Haman. The rest will try to find Vlad.
The first team gathers their equipment and heads out.
Judith, Jason, and one of the tactical team to will go after Haman, get ready to leave. As they quickly walk to their cars, Judith calls the agents following Haman and gets the address where he is located. They rush out of the enclosed parking lot in their vehicles.
When they get to the safe house that Haman is at, Judith begins to give orders. Jason gets the M4 carbine out of the trunk of the SUV. He tells Judith that he will be leading on point.
She almost orders him to stand down but time is not on their side.
She says, “Ok.”
Jason leads the men to the door. A team member puts a charge on the door and another one gets a flash bang ready. Jason gives the thumps up. The door is blow open.
In less than a second, the flash bang is in the room, and the flash goes off. Jason and the tactical team clear the house moving from room to room. Jason and another member find Haman in a back closet. Haman reaches for a pistol and both Jason and another member double tap him. He is dead.
Judith enters the house when she gets the all clear. She tries to find Jason. She is worried about him.
‘Why am I worried about him? This is unlike me!’
She found Jason going over the papers and computer files that were in the room. He found a map and other things connected to the Temple Mount. His mind is racing.
When he see Judith he says, “Vlad’s target is the Temple Mount.”
Judith says, “What?”
Jason says, “In your Israeli file about Haman, it said, ‘He left because Iran is not doing enough to unite the Islamic world.’ Haman hires Vlad because he is the best and does not care about anything but himself. If someone were to attack the Temple Mount the Islamic world would blame the State of Israel and the rest of the western world.”
Judith looked at Jason and says, “It is Friday and prayers are about to start.”
Judith orders a couple of members of the tactical team to stay and the rest to follow them.
They ran to their vehicles. Jason puts the M4 carbine in the backseat. She gets on her cell’s speaker and drives at full speed to the Temple Mount.
She briefs her boss; he puts the agency on full alert and sends out more agents. She throws the cell phone in the backseat.
As he studies the map it hits Jason, the map that Haman had in the house is a map made by the Temple Institute. It shows another way to get on the Mount. He tells Judith about it.
She knows where the alternate entrance is because her father is a history buff.
They park near the site. Judith puts her phone in the pocket of her trench coat she wears with her cell phone in the pocket to hide her M4 carbine. The rifle does not have a sling on it because she took it out while cleaning last night and forgot to put it back.
She tells Jason to stay close and to act as if they are on a date. They begin walking along very closely to each other. They were looking into each other’s eyes and talking as if they were on a date.
Jason sees Vlad, he is 500 yards away, and he tells Judith. Vlad is about to ascend the Mount.
“If he gets on the Temple Mount, that is it,” Judith says. “By law, no one who is Jewish can go on the Temple Mount.”
She stands by a column and pulls up her M4 carbine. She slowed down her breathing and does what she is trained to do as a sniper. She slowly squeezed the trigger as she lets her breath out. The shot is a perfect head shot he falls to the ground. She puts her M4 carbine back in her trench coat.
Judith and Jason walk over to Vlad, two police officers come running to investigate the shot they hear. The police officers see the two people walking over to someone who is on the ground.
One of the officers says, “Police, let me see your hands.”
Judith turns around to see what is going on.
The officers see the M4 carbine in her hand as she is turning around. Fearing for their safety, the two officers draw their pistols and fire.
At the same time as Judith is turning around Jason is too. Jason sees the officers draw their pistols. He pushes Judith out of the way and forces the M4 carbine out of her hand.
As soon as Judith sees the officers, she says loudly, “Shin Bet.”
However, by the time the officers heard her words two shots had been fired.
The two bullets hit Jason. One bullet hits him in the shoulder area; the other bullet hits him in the chest area.
Judith rushes over to Jason. She gets down on her knees and starts to apply pressure to the chest wound. Her eyes were filling with emotions.
Jason looks into her eyes and says, "I love you, My Eva."
Judith starts to cry. She says, "I love you, My Adam."
The police officers were trying to get an ambulance to the scene. Just seconds later, her agents arrived at the scene. One of her tactical medical personnel gets down on the ground with them. She started to treat Jason. The medical personnel cannot stop the hemorrhaging in the chest wound. After a few second, Jason dies. Judith cradles his head and breaks down crying.
Back at the grave, Judith kisses the rose and puts it on Jason’s grave and say, “I will always love you my Adam.” She leaves and walks back into the shadows.
Submitted August 31, 2015 at 07:39AM by thespy01 http://ift.tt/1JqUUB8 ShortStoriesCritique
