Saving Sophie: A Novel (52 page)
Read Saving Sophie: A Novel Online
Authors: Ronald H. Balson
“You’re an amazing woman,” Catherine says. “You saved a lot of lives and rescued a very sweet little girl.”
Kayla smiles and reaches out for Catherine’s hand. “Thanks, but I had a lot of help. Sadly, there were fatalities. The IDF didn’t recover all the bags in time. Some patients received the IV solution before the hospitals were alerted. News reports warning of possible infections were broadcast on every channel, in every paper, but some folks are remote and won’t hear. They probably won’t know to get treatment. Some are bedouins who have returned to their simple lives in the desert. They weren’t even targets of the terrorists.”
“And the Sons of Canaan?”
“Like Canaan, they are no more,” Kayla says. “Seven of them were taken alive and they will spend their lives in prison. Nizar Mohammed took his own life at the Jordanian border crossing. Ironically, he poisoned himself. Fakhir Ali gave Yonit all the details of the operation—everyone involved, every location. He even provided the address of the cold-storage warehouse, where we discovered the boxes of Sexton IVs that were switched out for the poison.
“The IDF destroyed Al-Zahani’s laboratory and all vestiges of the deadly bacteria. Israel incinerated thousands of IV sets. In the hospital storage rooms, it was impossible to tell the originals from the fakes, so they had to destroy them all. Several nations shipped replacements. Now, tell us the news from Chicago. A little birdie told me you have good news.”
“A little birdie from the State Department?” Catherine looks at Jack and then at Sophie, who smiles and continues coloring pictures on her papers, many of which have been taped to the walls of the hospital room. “Jack, I met with the U.S. Attorney right before I left Chicago. It was through your cooperation that a point-shaving ring was busted, murderers were arrested, embezzled money was recovered, and an international kidnapping was resolved. A major coup for the Chicago office.
“Kelsen, Dmitri, and Evgeniy are all in custody thanks to you. Kelsen and Dmitri face a number of federal charges stemming from the embezzlement and sports bribery. Dmitri and Evgeniy are additionally charged with three counts of murder. Yuri Porushkin is charged with attempted murder and will await trial in Hawaii. The escrow money has been recovered and placed in a government account pending forfeiture proceedings. But most significantly, because of Kelsen’s involvement, there is no longer a victim of the embezzlement, nor any reason for a court to vindicate the interests of Kelsen Manufacturing. The lawsuit against Jenkins and Fairchild has been dropped. Walter is so happy, he paid for my airline ticket.
“All of Kelsen’s and Dmitri’s assets were seized as fruits of a criminal enterprise. The government took their cars, their money, their homes, even Dmitri’s wife’s jewelry. Everything. Boy, is she pissed. If she could, she’d personally administer the death penalty.
“And then the strangest thing—I don’t know how this happened.” Catherine winks at Kayla. “But the Israeli government has made a strong request through diplomatic channels. Jack is credited with helping to foil a major terrorist attack. I dare say, he’s an international hero. I understand the president himself wants to thank you, Jack. All in all, you will not be prosecuted.”
Jack turns his head to blot a tear. “Sophie and I thank you all so much. You saved our lives.”
“The gratitude is all ours,” Kayla says.
“Are we going to our home in Chicago soon?” Sophie asks.
“Maybe for a while,” Jack responds. “Would you like to go to Hawaii? Maybe even live there someday?” He glances at Marcy.
Sophie’s eyes widen. “Is that where they do the hula-hula dance?”
“You better believe it,” Marcy says.
“Then I would.” Sophie smiles and says, “Can Jamila come and play at our house in Hawaii?”
“Who is Jamila?” Jack asks.
“She’s my very best friend in Hebron.”
The room is silent for a moment.
“The answer is yes, Sophie,” Liam interjects. “Definitely yes. I have come to believe, on good authority, that it will happen someday. Jamila will come to your house and you will go to hers. Not today, maybe not tomorrow, but someday, maybe when your generation is in charge. And you know why it will happen? Because there are more people like Kayla than there are bad people. And because, sooner or later, good people who deserve peace will stop listening to bad people.”
Jack put his arm around Sophie. “He’s right. Good people like you and your mother, who have the courage to accept people and love them for who they are, no matter what they’re told by others. Racism will never win out. It’s flawed in every sense because love is much stronger than hate.”
Kayla smiles proudly.
“It seems you are surrounded by your disciples,” Liam says to her.
“My last supper?” Kayla looks at her tray of Jell-O and fruit juice. “Not so fast, Irish. You’re not getting out of it so easy. I intend to collect on that steak dinner.”
Although
Saving Sophie
is a work of fiction, I have endeavored to portray the surrounding settings and historical events as accurately as possible. The history of Israel and the Middle East, from the Ottoman Empire to the present, is complex and rich, and I have capsulized it in the briefest of manners and only insofar as is necessary to paint the background for the novel. To that end, I have been aided by my good friend, historian, and law partner, David Pogrund. Because of his guidance and the wealth of materials available, I am comfortable that the environment in which the characters play their roles is authentic.
Of course, the al-Zahani family is entirely fictional and not based upon any particular person or family in Hebron or anywhere else. Similarly, the principal characters in the Israeli intelligence community are imaginary. However, the events concerning the Grand Mufti Haj Amin al-Husseini are accurate and may be confirmed through numerous sources, including available pictures of al-Husseini with Hitler, various Nazi officials, and reviewing his Bosnian troops.
I have described Hebron and Kiryat Arba as I saw them. I am indebted to Don Rabinovitz, Yerachmiel Weiss, and their families for taking me into their homes and communities and imparting not only a historical foundation, but a feeling for the people who call this dangerous part of the world their home. They are kind, courageous, and generous.
I am grateful to Michael Turkenich, a licensed Israeli guide and expert on Israel’s history and culture. Mike, a former IDF paratrooper, conveyed the religious and historical significance of numerous sites and made them come alive. He holds an advanced degree in Christian studies, and his perspective into the mix of Jewish, Muslim, and Christian influences was an invaluable contribution to the fabric of the story.
I am indebted as well to my good friend Michael Jay Green, Hawaii’s finest trial lawyer, for introducing me to the Honolulu legal community, in which I was privileged on a few occasions to ply my trade as an attorney. Nevertheless, the judges and attorneys in Chicago and Hawaii, as portrayed in the book, are fictional and not based on actual persons.
I am grateful to my editors, Jennifer Weis, Hilary Rubin Teeman, Stephen Boldt, and the staff at St. Martin’s Press for their assistance and wise guidance. I am also grateful to my agent and good friend, Maura Teitelbaum. Thanks, as well, to my close friend Rabbi Victor Weissberg, who took the time to review the manuscript and offer his always-cogent suggestions. Thanks to my readers for their suggestions, among them, Rabbi Sidney Helbraun, Kathy Huck, Katie Lang Lawrence, Kathleen Smith, and Richard Templer. A big thank-you and hug to my son David, a fine editor in his own right, and my son Matt, who prepared the maps, and to each of them for their contributions to the raw manuscript.
And as always, my deepest gratitude to my wife, Monica, for her continuing support and encouragement.
A Reading Group Gold Selection
SAVING SOPHIE
About the Author
•
A Conversation with Ronald H. Balson
Behind the Novel
Keep on Reading
Also available as an audiobook from Macmillan Audio
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ST. MARTIN’S GRIFFIN
A Conversation with
Ronald H. Balson
Could you tell us a little bit about your background, and when you decided that you wanted to lead a literary life?
I can’t say there was a date or a time or an event where I made a decision to lead a “literary life.” I just added writing books to my nonliterary life. Through the years, writing has always been a central focus for me: I was an editor of my high school and college newspapers. I’ve been a litigation attorney for over forty years and, of course, in that capacity I’ve written countless briefs, memoranda, appeals, and arguments. When you get right down to it, it’s all really storytelling. I always thought that writing a novel was on my horizon, but I never got around to it, or I never got my mind wrapped around a story that impelled me to get around to it. Finally, opportunity knocked hard nine years ago when my practice took me to Poland on a telecommunications case. Traveling around that country, encountering the remnants and scars of World War II, I was inspired to write a book about a family in wartime Poland, which ultimately became
Once We Were Brothers.
Getting back to “leading a literary life,” I concede it’s been a shift. I still practice law and go about my routines, except now I get to travel all around the country (world, even) and talk to people who want to engage me in discussions about my books. I confess: It’s fun.
“Through the years, writing has always been a central focus for me.”
Is there a book that most influenced your life? Or inspired you to become a writer?
As I said, I’ve always been drawn to writing, so I am constantly in awe of authors whose clever imagery and artful deployment of language far exceeds my own, writers such as John Steinbeck and Truman Capote and Ernest Hemingway. And Joan Didion, whose self-description sits on my printer and reads, “I am a writer. Imagining what people would say or do comes to me as naturally as breathing.” A statement to which I aspire in the humblest of ways. Relative to becoming an author of historical fiction, the captivating wartime novels of Leon Uris and Herman Wouk certainly inspired me. They are craftsmen, whose wonderful characters consumed their readers and thrust them into the World War II milieu. I aspire to their brilliance in the feeblest of ways. Scott Turow, a fellow member of the Illinois bar, is the master of legal dramas, and is a prime example of how to infuse a contemporary legal thriller with intelligent writing.