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General Campbell interrupted his subordinate and said, "Colonel, lets stick to our area of expertise, and leave the other stuff to the President and his staff."
President Hayes held up his hand and said, "That's all right that's all right. I think Colonel Gray has very succinctly stated what we've all been afraid to say." President Hayes sat quietly for a moment while he thought about the fallout from the air strikes. The colonel was right. The current coalition against Iraq was in such a weakened state that it wouldn't take much to put an end to it. The bombing would more than likely end all economic sanctions. The Israelis had dumped one hell of a problem into his lap. In frustration, Hayes turned to Irene Kennedy and said, "I'd like to hear your thoughts."
CHAPTER TWENTY.
Milan, Thursday evening
Donatella was speechless. In two large gulps she finished her vodka martini and began in earnest her search for the waiter. She caught the man's eye as he was maneuvering his way through the crowd with a tray of drinks. Holding up her empty glass by the stem she asked for another. Her head was swimming and it wasn't from the vodka, at least not yet. She was scrambling to try to figure out how she had been pulled into this. Who had contacted Ben Freidman and hired him to kill Peter Cameron? It wasn't an official Mossad hit. This was purely a free-lance venture. She knew because her fee for killing Cameron was already sitting in a Swiss bank account, and Mossad would have never paid her so well.
"Donny, I want some answers." Rapp's anger had not diminished.
Donatella was flustered. The hit on Peter Cameron had been advertised as an easy one, but she should have known better. The fee was too high, even for a rush job. She took a deep breath. "Why did he try to kill you?"
Rapp leaned back in. "You didn't answer my question. Who hired you to kill him?"
She shook her head vigorously. "Believe me, I know far less about this mess than you do."
"You know who hired you."
"Mitchell, please tell me why this man tried to kill you."
"All right, Donny, I'll tell you, but when I'm done you're going to tell me who hired you and why." Donatella turned again in search of the waiter and Rapp reached up and grabbed her sculpted chin. Pulling it back toward him, he looked her in the eye and said, "Give me your word."
Donatella reached up and tried to push his hand away. "Don't start ordering me around."
Rapp kept his hand firmly on her chin. "Donny, I'm here as your friend. There are people in Washington who are really upset about this. Half of them want to put a price on your head and the other half want to talk to your old employers in Israel."
With her eyes closed Donatella began muttering to herself. When she opened her eyes she calmly said, "Tell me why he tried to kill you."
Rapp released her chin as the waiter set Donatella's second drink down. When the man was gone Rapp said, "This goes no further than this table." Donatella nodded."I was on an operation recently. Two operators were there to assist me. I was the triggerman, they were backup. I took down the target and then they shot me and left me for dead."
A look of concern on her face, Donatella reached out to touch him and asked, "Where?"
"Two shots, right here." Rapp pointed to his chest. He read the expression on her face and said, "I know, very unprofessional." He pointed to his forehead. "They should have double-tapped me, but they had reason to believe that I wasn't wearing body armor. At any rate, Cameron was the man who paid them. I don't know who Cameron worked for, and I don't know what the motivation was to kill me, but I'll tell you this Those two people who double-crossed me are dead."
"You killed them?"
"No. Cameron did."
Donatella took a drink. "How do you know he killed them?"
"Someone who I trust very much saw it go down. Cameron pulled the trigger. He then turned on the people who helped him kill the two who he hired to kill me, and then he tried to kill me one more time in Washington." Rapp sat back. "And I was just about to get my hands on him when you showed up." Rapp took a drink of wine."I saw you that day, Donny. You had a blond wig on. I stepped off the elevator as you entered the staircase at the end of the hall. Something struck me as familiar about you, but I had other things on my mind, like torturing that bastard Cameron so I could find out who hired him. When we picked the lock and got into his office, and I saw the way he'd been killed I knew it was you."
Donatella found the need for more of the cold vodka. This was not good business. There was a pattern emerging. It appeared that anyone who'd been hired to fulfill a contract was the next person on the list to be killed. She saw her dreams of getting out of the business vanishing before her eyes. With her eyes closed she nodded and said, "It was me."
"Thank you for being honest. Now will you please tell me who hired you?"
Donatella looked into Rapps pierc
ing eyes. She needed time to think, even if it was just a few minutes. It was obvious she had gotten herself into a mess. Whoever had hired her had shown a propensity for killing the very people he employed. That meant she could easily be next on the list.
"Donny, for your own good, tell me who hired you."
Donatella held firm. She loved Mitch and she felt a loyalty toward him, but her ultimate loyalty was to Ben Freidman, the head of Mossad She couldn't give Ben up, at least not until she thought it through. She needed time. Donatella opened her purse and grabbed some money. She threw enough to cover the tab on the table and said to Rapp, "Come on. We need to take a walk."
Situation Room, Thursday morning
the mood IN the Situation Room was tense. Colonel Gray had done a thorough job of pointing out the problems of going after the nukes with air strikes. The President had asked Kennedy for her opinion on the matter, and his nominee to become the next director of the CIA was taking her time Grafting an answer.