Page 89 of The Order

The officers made no attempt to enter the outbuilding, which was sealed with a heavy-duty lock. Instead, they concealed themselves in the surrounding woods and waited. At ten a.m. sharp, a Volkswagen Passat estate car came bumping up the property’s rutted drive. The man behind the wheel wore dark glasses and a woolen watch cap. His hands were gloved.

He parked the Volkswagen outside the farmhouse and walked over to the outbuilding. The GSG 9 officers waited until he had opened the lock before emerging from the cover of the trees. Startled, the man reached inside his coat, apparentlyfor a weapon, but wisely stopped when he saw the size of the force arrayed against him. This came as something of a surprise to the GSG 9 officers. They had been trained to expect jihadist terrorists to fight to the death.

The officers were surprised a second time when, after handcuffing the man, they removed his dark glasses and woolen cap. Blond and blue-eyed, he looked as though he had stepped off a Nazi propaganda poster. A rapid search found him to be in possession of a Glock 9mm pistol, three mobile phones, several thousand euros in cash, and an Austrian passport issued in the name Klaus Jäger. The Bundespolizei immediately contacted their brethren in Vienna, who knew Jäger well. He was a former Austrian police officer who had been relieved of duty for consorting with known neo-Nazis.

It was at this point, at half past ten, that the story broke on the website ofDie Welt, Germany’s most respected newspaper. Based on an anonymous source, it stated that the Bundespolizei, acting on intelligence developed by BfV chief Gerhardt Schmidt, had arrested one of the men responsible for the bombings in Berlin and Hamburg. He was not a member of the Islamic State, as previously suspected, but a known neo-Nazi with ties to Axel Brünner and the far-right National Democratic Party. The attacks, reportedDie Welt, were part of a cynical plot to drive up Brünner’s support before the general election.

Within minutes, Germany was thrown into political turmoil. Gerhardt Schmidt, however, was suddenly the most popular man in the country. After hanging up with the chancellor, he rang Uzi Navot in Tel Aviv.

“Mazel tov, Gerhardt. I just saw the news.”

“I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you.”

“I’m sure you’ll think of something.”

“There’s only one problem,” said Schmidt. “I need to know the name of your source.”

“I’ll never tell. But if I were you, I’d take a hard look at OSH Holdings. I suspect it will lead you to an interesting place.”

“Where?”

“I wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise.”

“Did you and Allon know that Brünner and the far right were behind the bombings?”

“The far right?” Navot sounded incredulous. “Who could imagine such a thing?”

44

Bavaria, Germany

The source of Uzi Navot’s remarkably accurate intelligence left Munich at 10:15 a.m. in the trunk of an Audi sedan. He remained there, bound and gagged, until the car reached the Bavarian village of Irschenberg, where he was placed in the backseat next to Gabriel. Together they listened to the breaking news on ARD as the car began the ascent toward the Obersalzberg.

“Something tells me the Brünner boomlet just ended.” Gabriel looked down at Estermann’s phone, which was vibrating. “Speak of the devil. That’s the third time he’s called.”

“He probably thinks I’m behind the story you planted inDie Welt.”

“Why would he think that?”

“The bombing operation was highly compartmentalized. Iwas one of four people who knew the attacks were part of the Order’s efforts to help him win the general election.”

“Talk about fake news,” remarked Gabriel.

“You’re the one who engineered that story inDie Welt.”

“But everything I told them was true.”

In the front passenger seat, Eli Lavon laughed quietly before lighting a cigarette. Mikhail, who spoke only limited German, concentrated on his driving.

“I really wish your associate would put out that cigarette,” protested Estermann. “And must the other one tap his fingers like that? It’s very annoying.”

“Would you rather he tap on you instead?”

“He did quite enough of that last night.” Estermann worked his jaw from side to side. “Wolf is probably wondering why he hasn’t heard from me.”

“He will in an hour or so. Something tells me he’ll be relieved to see you.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that.”