Destiny

TWENTY

Marcus set his laptop on a table in his hotel room, opened the mini-bar and poured two ounces of vodka over ice. He walked onto the balcony facing the Tower of David. The tower, Citadel, and the entire walled city were unmoving in pockets of golden light, ancient stone and shadows captured in a surreal postcard image.

Marcus thought about Bahir Ashari, the man he’d just met — maybe saved his life. There was radiance in the old man’s eyes that Marcus couldn’t recall seeing in anyone’s eyes since Jennifer’s death. Soft but filled with sparkle. Wise yet playful, but, more than anything, there was tenderness. I’ve lived here all my life, and I have seen many, many things.

He sipped his drink and stared at the Old City and its blanket of white light against brown stone. Marcus thought about the Newton numbers and how, by adding events in the Jewish new years and fitting the puzzle pieces tighter, they were beginning to reveal something. Was it a prophecy Newton pulled from the Bible, information related to the Jews return to their homeland? Maybe it was part science and part luck, he thought. What, if anything, would the entire puzzle tell? Prophecies, if they existed, now had little relevance from Isaac Newton’s time. What would be from this day forward? How do I look for them when there was no data, no clues to feed into the Biblical timeline?

The moon rose above the Tower of David, and the inky sky filled with the shimmer of stars, opaque light falling on the stone shoulders of the Old City as if the light floated down from the heavens. Marcus finished his drink, opened his wallet and stared at the photograph of his wife and daughter. Beautiful smiles. Beautiful hearts.

“I miss you both more than I can tell you.”

Lost. Gone forever. His eyes watered looking at their faces. At that moment, they seemed farther away than the ancient city that lay to the east of him. He wiped his eyes and placed his wallet back on the table and looked beyond the Old City to Mount Olive in the distance. Marcus felt a deep sense of loss, utter loneliness. The chilly breeze filled his pores, depositing a mood of solitude in his heart darker than the universe high above the Old City.

The buzzing of his cell phone on the table beside him sounded odd in the silence of the night.

No caller ID.

He hesitated for five rings and then answered.

“Paul, this is Alicia Quincy. How are you?”

“I’m okay. Are you calling from Washington? What time is it there?”

“Yes, it’s almost five. Close to midnight in Jerusalem. Did I wake you?”

“No, not at all. It’s good to hear your voice. Anything new with your niece?”

“Talks are moving at glacial speed. My sister’s on anti-depressants.”

Marcus said nothing.

“You know, Paul, I’d be fired for telling you that NSA is watching you. It’s all bogus. I have your back because it’s the right thing to do.”

“Are you on a secure line?”

“Yes.”

“I’m here doing research, that’s all — nothing to do with encryption or covert code-breaking. Put that in the damn report and tell Bill Gray to shove it where the sun doesn’t shine.”

“I haven’t seen Bill. I believe it comes from somewhere else. The CIA is following someone’s inquiries. Even Ron Beckman doesn’t know.”

Marcus was silent.

“Whatever you’re doing over there, it has caught the interest of someone. I’m not sure who that someone is, but it’s got far-reaching tentacles.”

“One of the computers I was working on in the university was hacked. Did it come from NSA?”

Alicia said nothing for a few seconds. “Yes, but I see you caught it quickly. We couldn’t get through the second wall.”

“Is the hacking continuing?”

“Not to my knowledge. But that doesn’t mean the agency isn’t curious about how you’re working with Israel. The primary reason is the Internet chatter in certain Middle Eastern circles. Blame it on your new celebrity status, the Newton papers, the Mossad’s interest in your files, or most likely, your talents to create or detect cyber-sabotage. The combination of it all, not to mention the timing, certainly would make some people in high places very curious about you.”

“Why are you risking your job to tell me this?”

“Because you worked here. You’re one of us for crying out loud! Some of us spoke at the funeral for Tiffany and Jennifer. You’re trying to intercede on my family’s behalf to help my niece, Brandi.” Her voice became strained, words weighted with sadness.

“Thank you for telling me. Are you okay?”

There was another pause. Marcus could hear Alicia exhale. “Dad has pancreatic cancer. It’s not good.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Like everything else in his life, he’s taking it in stride. My father is an amazing person. It’s never been about him. It’s always about how he could make it better for me or my sister…or Mom. Or anyone, for that matter.”

“Maybe I’ll get a chance to meet him.” Marcus heard a sniffle.

“Goodnight, Paul.”

“Thanks for calling, Alicia.” As she disconnected, Marcus gripped the balcony railing and watched lightning flicker above Mount Olive. A dark storm in the eastern skies stalked over Jerusalem, moving in silently then erupting in thunder and blocking light from the heavens.