Hi-Tech Hijack (23 page)

At noon Nir called Ronit. “Bad news. Reuben and Eddie never boarded their flight to Japan. I asked some Mossad friends of mine to check Switzerland with our embassy there and the local security services. I also tried to gather some information about their new partner Mickey. Did you know he has a criminal record?”

“No, I had no idea. I never liked him from day one, but Reuben really fell in love with him.”

“Well, your intuition was right. I’m sending you an e-mail with an article about him that was buried right before publication. Mickey placed a huge, full-page ad in that paper, and in exchange they kept quiet. I have some contacts in the paper archives, and I know for a fact he paid a lot of money for that ad.”

“Send it to my work e-mail. I can’t wait ’til I get home. Other than that, what do we do?”

“I don’t know yet. I’m going to go to the police and initiate an official request for the Interpol to search for Eddie and Reuben. I think you’ll have to file a formal complaint for the police to start a case.”

“Come with me, Nir. I can’t handle this alone.”

“Of course I will. Can you get off work early?”

“I’m too distracted to work anyway.”

“Ronit, as hard as it is to keep all this a secret, you have to do just that. We can’t risk Tzipi hearing anything, not until we get to the bottom of this.”

“Of course.”

“We’ll talk soon.” Nir said good-bye to Ronit who rushed to the doctor’s office on the ward to read the article about Mickey.

In 1991, Rush returned to Israel with his new wife, who came from a wealthy family in Connecticut and a hefty dowry of several million dollars. As a young, new lawyer with no family ties in the Tel Aviv city, Rush would have to make his way through hard work for several long years in order to establish himself as a successful, well-known attorney. But Rush couldn’t wait. He lacked the patience and restraint that is needed for hard, grinding work. The shortcuts he had taken to get his degree also meant that he was not properly trained to do the work. Like water that always finds its way to the lowest spot, so did Rush begin to reconnect with childhood friends who were involved in all sorts of unsavory occupations. One friend, Shmulik, ran the largest debt collecting operation in town. He was happy to learn that his old friend Mickey had returned from the States equipped with a rich wife and now had an impressive villa in Kfar Shemaryahu and other characteristics that could work to his benefit: Rush could help legitimize the shady businesses of the most effective, most violent debt collector in town. Before long, the two became partners in the collection business. Mickey financed moving Shmulik’s offices to a respectable area near his own office and gave the necessary legal façade to the collection, and the two did extremely well.

The fact that Rush was a partner in the collection business was kept secret for several years. Legal ethics does not allow a lawyer to be involved in a debt collection agency. Two years after the partnership was founded, a well-known money launderer who worked in illegal gambling was murdered. A successful investigation by the police found the killer to be someone from Shmulik’s collection agency who had been sent to collect, but escalated from violent threats to actual violence. During the investigation, the police were amazed to find out that Rush was one of the partners who owned the agency.

The Israel Bar Association immediately announced Rush’s suspension for one year, and his license to practice was revoked until the trial was finished. The wheels of justice turn slowly, and despite the negative publicity—or perhaps thanks to it—the collection agency continued to work for another year. As the trial progressed, it became clear that Shmulik himself was involved in several murders of people who were persons of interest with the police. They were connected to several unsolved cases that the police didn’t try very hard to solve. The theory was that since both the killer and murderer were from the world of crime, the general public benefited from them killing each other.

Shmulik was sentenced to many years in prison. Rush managed to prove he had nothing to do with the murders, which all took place before he joined the agency, but the Israel Bar Association refused to restore his license. After the one-year suspension was over, they decided to permanently revoke Rush’s license.

Rush now had to find another way of climbing up the social ladder. He decided to direct his financial resources to the fast growing hi-tech world. Even before losing his license, he hired one of Tel Aviv’s most expensive PR managers.

They launched a brilliant campaign portraying Rush as a brilliant attorney who had returned to Israel after years of working at a respectable New York firm. Out of compassionate loyalty to a childhood friend and in good faith, he became involved in his collection agency. They described said partnership as a slip, the result of deliberate deception on the friend’s part. Rush didn’t even know his friend had signed him on as partner alleging his signature had been forged. The paper readers had naturally already forgotten that this claim was refuted in court several months prior.

Rush achieved media rehabilitation even before his partner’s trial was over. When his friend was found guilty and sentenced, Rush’s PR made sure news about it would get only minor exposure with no mention of any connection to the honorable Mickey Rush who in the meantime started his new firm—MRI—Mickey Rush Investments.

Rush’s new office, and the yacht he kept close, by now became a meeting spot for what he loved to call the off-Broadway investors—building contractors who felt uncomfortable in the sophisticated environment of the swanky venture funds, famous doctors who preferred to make discreet investments with the huge profits from their private clinics, and friends of Shmulik who knew of his partner’s new business. Rush was not too keen on keeping in touch with people from that world, but he couldn’t refuse them either. He would meet with them in cafés in Tel Aviv, away from his office. The cash they gave him to launder through investments in hi-tech businesses would be transferred via messenger overseas to Vaduz where he started a company and bank account. From that bank account, he would then transfer money to the companies in which he invested. Rush kept tabs with the investors by no more than receipts scribbled on paper napkins, and his investors knew Rush wouldn’t dare mess with them. The shadow of now-convicted Shmulik, who had nothing else to lose, was always present, and Rush was not one to take the risk of being a victim of these people’s aggressive collecting methods.

In shock, Ronit read the article over and over again. “Greedy little fool, my husband,” she muttered to herself in anger, remembering full well just how enthusiastic Reuben had been about Mickey, whom she disliked from the first glance.

In the early afternoon, Nir called and asked Ronit to come with him and give a statement with the police. They contacted Interpol and the Swiss and Belgian police. Their instructions were that, should Mickey turn up, he should be placed under surveillance to see if he comes in contact with the missing persons. In Israel Tzipi was placed under surveillance, and all of Mickey’s office lines were tapped. The police wanted to talk to Shlomo, as well as Eddie’s parents. Nir suggested they hold on ’til the next day to talk to Shlomo. He wanted to talk to him first. Ronit offered to talk with Eddie’s parents herself before anyone from the police contacted them, and the police agreed to wait.

“You don’t suspect Shlomo as well, do you?” asked Ronit.

“I’m leaving all suspicions to the police. I just want to get to know him.”

“I find it hard to believe that he’s involved in this.”

“Look, Ronit, he joined the company just two months ago, and Mickey became partner a month after that. Reuben and Eddie don’t know him that well, do they? What do we really know about him? About any previous connection he might have with Mickey?”

“Anything’s possible, but my intuition says he’s one of the good guys. Absolutely loyal to Eddie.”

“And to Reuben?”

“Reuben was annoyed with him for being too strict with Mickey during negotiations, but that just reinforces my good feeling about him.”

“Or he pretended to be harsh with Mickey as an act to serve Mickey’s goals.”

“Oh, Nir, I think you’ve been with the Security Agency for too long.”

“Maybe, but right now that’s what’s helping us solve this problem. Let’s call Shlomo.”

“If you’re questioning him you might as well question the three lab techs, especially Sasha who joined the company only a few weeks before Shlomo did.”

“You’re right, but I’m afraid if we question too many people, it’ll get back to Tzipi, which we don’t want. Maybe talking with Shlomo will give us some new information.”

They met with Shlomo shortly after. He told Nir what he had already told Ronit and had nothing new to add. When the conversation was over, Nir agreed with Ronit Shlomo was probably in the clear.

“Do you want to stay with us tonight?” Nir asked his sister. “You can chat with Shlomit a little. Looks like you need it.”

“No, thanks. I’ve got the late shift.”

“Poor thing, you haven’t had a chance to rest.”

“It’s ok; it’ll make the night go by faster.”

They agreed not to tell their parents anything so as not to worry them and didn’t call Eddie’s parents for the same reason.

“If I have any news tonight, I’ll call you.”

“You can bet I’ll answer right away,” she said, smiling tiredly.

“It’s going to be all right, sis, you’re strong.” Nir stroked his baby sister’s head. “You’re not going to break down on me, are you?”

“Not while I have you to protect me,” she said, kissing him on the cheek and saying good-bye before he could see the single tear flowing down her face.

That night all telephone lines in Mickey Rush’s home and offices were tapped. He called his wife Suzy, and the call was traced back to the Hyatt hotel in Brussels. Inspection of the airport database showed that Mickey had left the country on the same day Eddie and Reuben flew to Zurich. Their flight was on Sunday morning, and his to Brussels was on Sunday evening.

At the same time that Reuben was having his breakfast with Alfonso and Isabella signing the papers that sealed his fate, Eddie was pacing restlessly in his room. The more he thought about what he saw the previous day, the angrier he got. The fact that only a few rooms away was the lab they had worked so hard to create with all of the data they had accumulated over the past two years drove him mad. The worst part of it all was his inability to control the situation.

He had been through his fair share of life-threatening situations in his military service to be able to keep his cool even with everything that was happening now. He got the sense his life wasn’t in danger and that he should act confidant in order to win and eventually be released. But yesterday changed his evaluation of the situation. Having the lab here meant this was no temporary arrangement. It meant he was going to be kept here for a long while, as long as his kidnappers wanted. It also meant being kidnapped was only a small part of a much more elaborate and complicated scheme. No matter which country they were in, the ability to steal the entire lab and schedule it exactly to when he and Reuben left for Japan precisely when the company was due to move from Be’er Ya’acov to Ness Ziona meant that someone who had all the necessary internal information was involved.

Mickey, whom he disliked from day one, was his prime suspect. But he couldn’t understand why Mickey, who had just invested in the company, would want to jeopardize its future with this strange adventure.

Did he find out about our secret new electromagnetic discovery? Could Reuben have been as careless as to tell Mickey about it?
he asked himself. He found it hard to believe Reuben would let such information slip. Could Sasha or Leonid have told Mickey? As far as he knew, Mickey never had a chance to talk with the employees, but there was no other explanation for this kidnapping and the theft of the lab other than the discovery they had made.
What’s going on back home right now? What do the employees know about the theft? What story have they been told by whomever planned this thing to stop them from coming to work in Ness Ziona Sunday morning?
Eddie had so many questions running through his head, all of which he had to try and answer by himself.

The next twenty-four hours went by slowly, and Eddie felt he was about to go mad with helplessness. The next morning after finishing his breakfast, Alfonso entered his room and invited him to join him in the lab.

“I’ve already seen it yesterday,” said Eddie.

“Yes, but several things have changed since then, and I’d like for you to see for yourself.”

They walked quickly to the lab accompanied as usual by two guards. Alfonso typed a certain code into the key panel and swiped his personal card, and at the sound of a click, he opened the door and showed Eddie in. Eddie’s amazement was total. Eddie froze in his place as he saw Reuben hunched over the PCR machine with Isabella by his side. Two more men, also dressed in white coats, were present in the room.

“Morning everyone,” said Alfonso, greeting them in a festive tone to draw Reuben’s attention away from the device.

Reuben turned around and froze as he saw Eddie.

“You traitor, what do you think you’re doing?!” shouted Eddie at Reuben in Hebrew.

“You’re the traitor! I’m supposed to be your friend and partner! You fucked my wife, and you dare call me a traitor?”

“Hold on now, gentlemen,” said Alfonso, interrupting them in a harsh tone. “You will not talk in Hebrew here or in any other language that we do not understand. From this moment on all conversations between you are to take place in English.”

“What are you talking about?” asked Eddie in English.

“I’m talking about you and Ronit, my wife. I know you were together at the hospital and in your apartment.”

“Who told you about that?”

“No one had to tell me, I saw for myself,” answered Reuben bitterly.

“I don’t understand.”

“When you see the film you’ll understand.”

“What film?!”

“The film that Mickey made using hidden cameras at the hospital and in your home.”

“I can’t believe this!”

“Yes, our new partner, the bastard who put us here, also helped show me your true face. Of all the women in the world you had to choose my wife to help you get over Rose.”

“Wait a minute!” Eddie tried to stop Reuben’s flow of speech and turned to Alfonso. “I need to speak with Reuben privately somewhere quiet to clear things.”

“You’ll have to do it in English, and Isabella will be present the whole time.”

“Ok,” Eddie agreed reluctantly. “Can we do that now?”

“Yes, absolutely. Isabella will show you to our private dining room where Reuben signed some papers earlier today. There’s another copy in there for you to sign as well.”

“What papers?” asked Eddie, but his question remained unanswered.

The three of them left the lab with two guards and walked to the dining room in silence.

When they sat down they still remained quiet for a long minute staring at each other wondering where to begin.

“You wanted to talk,” said Isabella, reminding them of the purpose of the meeting.

“I think we should talk about what we’re doing here and leave the discussion about Ronit for another time,” said Eddie.

“I would actually want to understand first why you would do that to me.”

“If you insist then fine, we’ll talk about it. You know Ronit and I have known each other since our military service, but nothing has ever happened between us, other than the fact that like everyone else I thought she was the most beautiful girl to ever come to our unit. As your close friend seeing you at work every day and seeing Ronit often, I knew your relationship wasn’t going well. Since I broke up with Rose, I started coming to your house more, and I could sense the discomfort between you two. There were all these long, awkward silences, and most of the time when you wanted to say something to one another you’d pass the message through me. I could see things were headed downhill, but I didn’t think there was anything I could do to help.

“Then lying in the hospital and being so close to Ronit every day, we started growing closer and sharing deep conversations. I was bedridden for a month, so you can imagine my physical state wasn’t much of anything, and I couldn’t really initiate anything physical with Ronit. I’m not trying to say it was all her doing. I was happy when she stepped outside the realm of medical care and made contact. I didn’t stop her. What happened next at my house was a one-time thing; it just happened. I was going to let Ronit tell you first—I thought that was the right thing to do, but she hesitated. She wanted to hurt you as little as possible and didn’t know how to do that. Ever since I left the hospital, I’ve been walking around with this guilt weighing me down. It’s been so difficult to keep up our work routine and not say anything to you. I was hoping Ronit would talk to you before our trip to Japan, and that the week together would give us a chance to clear the air. Unfortunately, she didn’t say anything, and you found out the way you did in the cruelest possible way.” Eddie stopped for a moment and then said, “I’m so sorry for hurting you like this, but you and I both know I’m not the reason you and Ronit grew apart.”

“It’s easier for you to think that because it clears your conscience.”

“Reuben, do you really believe you had a chance of rebuilding your relationship?”

“That’s none of your business, and it still doesn’t justify what you did.”

“You’re right, and I’m sorry. You need to remember I was drained by the disease, not only physically, but emotionally as well. I admit I couldn’t resist Ronit in the situation we were in at the hospital.” He fell quiet for a moment and then mumbled in Hebrew, “I found myself drawn to her with such force, like nothing I have ever known before.”

“English!” boomed Isabella’s voice.

“How do you expect us to be able to keep working together after all this?” asked Reuben in English.

“It seems a bit surreal to try and think of any sort of future for our company, given where we are right now.”

“Even so, assuming we make it out of here safe?” asked Reuben, and he turned his gaze to Isabella, who nodded as if to confirm that they were going to be released safely.

“I’ve hurt you, so I’ll respect whatever decision you make. If you want to part ways and keep the company to yourself, it’s your right.”

“And leave me alone with all this mess? Oh no, my friend. You’re not getting off that easy. I know this company has been your life’s dream, and I find it hard to believe you’ve traded that for Ronit. In a couple of months you’ll come to your senses and see her for the uppity snob she is with her fancy talk of values and self-fulfillment. When that happens you’ll ask yourself what you have left and come crawling back to me on all fours wanting your old job back when I’ve done all the work to rebuild the company. We’ll do it the other way around. As I’m sure you’ve figured out by now, I’m not getting back with Ronit. If you and she are still together when we get out of here, then you’ll leave the company once we have it back up and running and once I’ve decided your knowledge is no longer needed. I’ll pay you for your shares according to the company value Mickey paid or according to whatever their market value will be—the lower of the two.”

“Reuben, what’s the matter with you? We’ve been kidnapped; we don’t even know what they want from us or if we’re going to make it out alive. Our company’s been stolen, and you’re negotiating with me about company shares?!”

“I’ve had a few hours’ head start to talk with Alfonso and Isabella, so I have reasons for being optimistic about the future; and I suggest you listen for a change instead of lecturing me.”

This moment served as an excellent opportunity for Isabella to chime in.

“I think you’ve exhausted the matter for the time being. I would like for you, Reuben, to explain to Eddie about the agreement you’ve signed and what it means.”

The man is willing to use his feelings for his wife and the fact that she cheated on him to make a profit, Eddie thought, and he’s already signed a contract with his kidnappers.
Eddie told himself that if up to that moment, he never fully understood what Ronit said about Reuben’s materialistic view of the world; now it was as clear as possible.

“Why don’t you take the opportunity to also tell me about the film they showed you and about Mickey’s part in all this?” said Eddie.

Reuben told Eddie about his video chat with Mickey. He did so dryly, devoid of emotion. It was clear he would have preferred to erase the traumatic conversation from his memory. Then he described to Eddie the contract he had signed and closed by saying, “It doesn’t look like we have a lot of options. This way we can come out of all of this unharmed and with the money to set us up for good. Plus with this romantic triangle we have here, I can’t see much chance of our company going any further, so perhaps it’ll be best to end it like this.”

Reuben deliberately made no mention of the other film he had been shown, the one starring himself and Carolina.

“Isabella,” said Eddie, turning to her after a brief silence. “Can I have some more information about what country we’re in, who you are, and who you’re working for? It’ll help me make the right decision.”

“I’m sorry, you cannot. And in any case, what difference does it make if you know our names or not? Is that what’s going to determine if you accept our offer or not?”

“After all, we are being held here against our wishes. This whole process isn’t exactly standard protocol between companies, so I feel we have a right to know a bit more about you.”

“How do you know this isn’t standard protocol? Reuben signed the document stating that he sold part of the specific know-how of the company of his own free will with no coercion. He is also obligated not to mention the kidnapping ever again. So how do you know this hasn’t happened before, but was simply kept quiet?”

“What if I still refuse?”

“It would be the biggest mistake of your life. Especially now that Reuben has already signed and is being cooperative. We can manage without your participation. Granted, it would probably be a longer process and perhaps we’ll have some unanswered question marks, but we will have most of the information. In the few hours I’ve spent with Reuben in the laboratory, I’ve already come to know his knowledge does not boil down just to his expertise of mathematical and statistical models. He is quiet proficient in your areas of the work as well.”

“I don’t doubt that. Reuben is a very talented guy,” said Eddie with the bitterness of one who knows the trap around him is getting tighter and tighter.

“So what’s your decision?” asked a clearly impatient Isabella.

“I’d like to think about it until tomorrow,” said Eddie, and he picked up the papers waiting for his signature.

“You have until this evening,” said Isabella, and she got up clicking her fingers at the guards. “Take him to his room.”

Isabella and Reuben returned to the lab. For the rest of the day, they organized the lab and arranged all the research materials in place, checking the electronic devices were working properly and calibrating them. The most important piece of equipment was the PCR machine that checked and identified the genetic markers. Reuben tested materials that had already been identified in Israel, redid the test to ensure the device was working properly, and crossed the results with another piece of equipment to make sure the substance they checked didn’t suffer any changes in the transport.

Isabella’s office was right next to the lab hall. Every now and again, she would go in and out of the room for a book or notepad to write down and compare data. Her computer station was also in her room where the lab techs were not allowed to enter. At times she would need a certain piece of information from her computer and went in alone to get it while Reuben waited outside for her to return with the figures. The two lab techs had their own office on the opposite side of the hall with a computer station. Alfonso also came in once in a while to monitor their progress. Every now and then he and Isabella went to her office to consult or make a phone call. At the end of the work day, Reuben was taken back to his room, but not before Alfonso and Isabella thanked him profusely for his productive cooperation during the day.

All through the afternoon Eddie went over the situation trying to analyze it from every possible angle until reaching the conclusion that he had no other choice but to sign. He tried to retrace the days that preceded their departure for Japan and the meetings they had with Mickey in an attempt to decipher the secret of his kidnappers and their agenda, but he couldn’t come to any conclusions. He realized he had to think carefully and craft a plan how to deal with his kidnappers and with Reuben who was cooperating with them.

Eddie decided his only way to reach some sort of solution and have any chance of escaping was by playing along and pretending to cooperate. Once Reuben crossed the lines and was going to give Alfonso and his lot the majority of information, there was no point in withholding cooperation. Their company secrets will be revealed by Reuben, and even if some detail or other was missing, it wouldn’t take long for Alfonso and his team to figure it out. What’s more, he knew Reuben was never going to forgive him for what happened with Ronit, and that given the chance, he would take his revenge on him by cooperating with their captors.

I have to figure out how to get out of here without Reuben’s help
, Eddie thought.
The best chance I’ve got is to feign cooperation. That way I can control the pace in which they receive the information, and maybe even sabotage some segments that Reuben isn’t so familiar with.