The Moses Legacy

Chapter 36

Sarit had watched Daniel and the others drive across to the western valley, and she had watched Goliath follow them on foot. She waited for Goliath to disappear into the distance and then set off after him.

The killing of Goliath had now been sanctioned by the Israeli Prime Minister and it was up to Sarit to decide how to do it. Normally a kidon assassin would work in a team of at least four, but it had taken them time to catch up with Goliath and time was of the essence now that they knew his intentions.

Sarit’s original plan had been to run him down on the way there and kill him. But she realized that someone in the main valley might see. Even if she didn’t get caught on the spot, she knew her rented car could be identified and traced back to her. So she let him go and then followed, watching him through her binoculars.

But as she drove towards the valley, she saw the jeep that Daniel and the others had been in drive past her in the opposite direction. And it was not Mansoor at the wheel. Indeed, neither Mansoor nor either of the others were in the jeep. It was Goliath – and he was on his own.

In an instant she realized what had happened. She was too late! He must have killed them.

Damn! She had screwed up, big time.

She realized now that she should have gone after him and run him over. Then, instead of worrying about people finding the body and linking it to the rented car of an Irish tourist, she should simply have buried him in the sand. They would never have found him.

Instead, she had given him time – time to do his dirty work. Time to kill three more people and time to get the clothing sample that he had been sent there to find. That was far more serious. Three people dead was bad enough, and that was on top of the other killings: Carmichael, Roksana and the nurse at the hospital. If Goliath was allowed to fulfil Senator Morris’s evil scheme it could be the fate of an entire nation.

So she had to stop him – and stop him now.

But then another thought came to her. What if he hadn’t killed the people in the tomb? What if he had merely locked them inside? What if they were still alive? Shouldn’t she go there to check?

Then she realized why she couldn’t do that. First of all, revealing herself to them would compromise her identity and her mission. Secondly, time was of the essence. They could probably survive in the tomb for several days – possibly even weeks if they had enough water. But if Goliath escaped now she might not get a second chance to catch up with him – at least not while it could make a difference.

Even in a worst-case scenario, they could survive for several hours, and she could always put in an anonymous call alerting the authorities to their whereabouts. But she couldn’t afford to lose Goliath’s trail. He already had a head start, but she was still in contention. Moreover, she had a pretty good idea where he was going.

She swung the car round and headed back along the spur road in pursuit of her quarry.