AUSTRALIA: The Puppeteer (The Puppets of Washington, #2)
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PreambleOnce Talya and Samuel reached their home in Manly and Samuel had recovered his car from the long-term parking lot, they both sat facing each other in front of the fireplace. They had not spoken much during their twenty-hour trip from Washington, D.C. There wasn’t much to say about the past, but a lot to plan for the future. The future, such as it had been laid before them, wasn’t the brightest or a future that either of them would look forward to under any circumstances. They had to find a man. Their masters had decided it was the only way for them to clear their names from the accusation that had pursued them for nearly two years now. They were thought to be traitors against the State of Israel.
Marred by the lines of fatigue and the scars of too many injuries, Talya’s once lovely face was now drawn and devoid of the vibrant smile that adorned her lips in times past. Her blond, almost white curls were still bouncing in the sunlight every time she would walk to the terrace to warm her mangled body. Being shot in the spine had left her an invalid and for months she navigated through life in a wheelchair until an operation restored the use of her legs. A petite woman, her diminutive stature stood tall when facing her enemies. She had the assiduity and determination of a person avid of winning at life. Although responsible for her disability, Samuel had been her stalwart. She had loved this handsome man for years before he became a Mossad agent and a killer of choice. Standing a head above Talya, his loving and attentive character had offered respite amid her troubled life. His dark, wavy hair was in startling contrast to Talya’s inordinate locks of white. His quiet and reserved demeanor hid the fierce resolve, or one could even say stubbornness, Samuel needed to attain his goals.
Although Mossad made sure they were cleared of the accusation during the recent trial of CIA agent, Muhammad Sadir, the director of the Israeli agency still had some doubts as to Talya and Samuel’s innocence. There were too many coincidences, and David Bernstein didn’t like coincidences. He had been at the head of Mossad for several years already when his ordinate world had been turned upside-down during the events that had preceded and had led to Muhammad Sadir’s trial. In his late fifties, David Bernstein commanded respect, which he got from his agents and staff. Although thought to be a draconian leader, he was viewed by all who knew him as a fair man. A family-minded man by all accounts, he had never fallen into the habit of neglecting his wife or children in favor of the long hours his job demanded of him. His graying hair and sun-tanned skin gave him the appearance of youth his age had denied him.
Talya had stumbled on the CIA’s operation in West Africa, quite by accident, and had then vowed to destroy all there was and all that were connected to this undercover drug exchange for armaments destined to land in Gaza. Soon after her discovery, the weapons that had been shipped to the Strip were faulty and caused numerous deaths – that was the first coincidence that Bernstein couldn’t accept. On top of which, these weapons had been dispatched by another of their agents, Ishmael Assor, who was acquainted with Talya at one point. Second coincidence. The third coincidence and perhaps the clincher for Bernstein was that Samuel, who had known Talya for some years prior to her first traipsing around Africa, managed not to kill her when he had been ordered to do so.
Now, Talya and Samuel needed to find the mastermind who had manufactured this whole tangle of lies and deceit before they would face a trial for treason.
PART ONE
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