The Last Judgment (22 page)

“So I came to a decision today,” Fiona said, slicing up chunks of beef for her Scottish stew.

“What kind of decision?”

“I called my manager. I said ‘Look, Kevin, I don't feel like I have what it takes to finish these recording sessions. But regardless of how I feel…I'm just going to have to push my way through this. I've got an obligation to fulfill my obligations…and so I need to do it.' So…”

“So…what did you decide?”

“He's pulling the recording team together and they're coming by tomorrow. I'm going to try to put in at least a couple of hours in the studio.”

“Gee, that's great.” He walked over and kissed her gently on the back of the neck. “I'm glad.”

“Pray for me,” she said, transferring the beef from the cutting board to a frying pan.

“I always do,” Will said.

He watched as she expertly peeled and sliced the potatoes.

“You want my help?”

“No. You can just stay here and talk with me. What's on your mind?” she added.

“Why is it that everyone in this family can read my mind?” Will asked.

“Good question,” Fiona remarked. “I've seen you in court. You have a perfect poker face. But, somehow—and I think it's a
blessing—when you're around the people you love, your face can't hide a thing.”

Will let a few minutes go by, and then he decided to walk out onto dangerous ground.

“You made a decision today…about recording…”

“Yes.”

“So…I made a decision too.”

Fiona suddenly stopped slicing the potatoes, put the knife down, folded her arms, and stared at him.

“Look, honey,” he said, “you can keep working on dinner. I'm not going anywhere.”

But Fiona didn't blink.

“You made a decision about what?”

“I got a call today.”

“Oh?”

“Yes. From Bill Collingwood. The guy was in tears. Now that I'm a father, I guess I understand what he's going through. Somewhat. He said Gilead won't take any legal representation unless it's me. Which means that the only lawyer he's going to have at his trial is this Egyptian court-appointed counsel.”

“I'm still waiting…”

“So I'm listening to Bill talk. And I told you about my conversation with the English lawyer…Newhouse…who called me last Friday.”

“That's old news,” Fiona said. “Will, please tell me. You said you'd come to a decision…”

“I think I need to represent Gilead Amahn. I know this is a very bad time. But what I think I'll do is see if I can get local counsel there in Ramallah to do a lot of the initial work for me. I'll do as much as I can from home, here in Virginia. Put together our team from over here. We don't have to be separated, at least not until we get closer to trial.”

“I thought we discussed this,” Fiona said. “I really don't make a lot of demands, Will. I really don't. But when your wife looks you in the eye and says she feels like her life is falling apart, well…
And for some reason, at this point in time, I am struggling from day to day. And I need you desperately.”

“Look, I need your feedback on this. We need to talk this out—”

“What's there to talk about?” Fiona's eyes filled with tears and her voice rose in agitation. “You say you made your decision. I know how you operate. When your mind locks into this decision-making—that's it. No matter what your mouth says, your mind goes into a launch sequence. The rocket is there on the launch pad. I can see the smoke coming out. I can hear the clock ticking down…you're in the space capsule, and I'm down on the ground waving. For all I know, it could end in total disaster…”

“Hey, there's no disaster here,” Will said, walking over to try to reassure her. “I have no idea where you're getting that idea.”

“Don't,” Fiona said, pulling back. “I can see it in your face and your eyes. You feel the same thing I do. Don't deny it. We both have a feeling about this case. I'm not stupid. I know what's going on over there in the Middle East. I know that people are getting killed. I remember what Len Redgrove said about the Temple…the look on his face. And what Da said. His prediction about you—”

“Fiona, let's be reasonable. Let's be logical.”

“Sure. Analytical. Objective. And dead.” Fiona backed away from him. “I know you—and there's no language I can use…there's no translation between what I'm feeling and what you've decided, nothing that's going to change your mind. The launch sequence has begun—have a nice trip. Just do me a favor…please don't get blown up.”

By now Fiona was no longer teary-eyed. Her face was expressionless. She washed her hands, walked by Will, and quietly made her way up the stairs and into the bedroom, where she closed the door behind her.

Will quietly took over the final details of dinner, alone in the kitchen.

He knew he had hurt her deeply. Probably very deeply.

And by now, they had been married long enough for him to know what Fiona did to protect her heart. When she sensed the deepest wounds, the most crushing and bruising assaults on her heart, she would often slip into a silent and unnerving detachment from Will.

But this time there was something beyond the normal struggles of married life to overcome.

Now, as Will worked in the kitchen, he couldn't shake the sensation that his decision about Gilead's case might extract a terrible price…beyond anything he would be willing to pay.

34

G
REAT PAINS HAD BEEN TAKEN
to ensure the secrecy of the meeting. There had been a handful of press reports that Warren Mullburn, in his capacity as foreign minister for the Republic of Maretas, was attempting to make an impact on the Middle East peace process. But only a handful of people in the world knew that Mullburn would be meeting in Cairo with a representative of the Arab League, the Palestinian foreign minister, and a special envoy from the president of Egypt, who was hosting the meeting.

The billionaire was attended only by his chief of staff and a bevy of plainclothes security agents, who were patiently waiting in the hallway outside the meeting room.

In the corner of the room, seated quietly in his white robes and turban, was Sheikh Mudahmid. Prior to his controversial appearance at the Islamic Center conference in northern Virginia, he had been labeled as a mufti who promoted terrorism and
jihad.
However, since the Temple Mount attack, the media had begun to focus on some of his earlier sermons predicting such an assault.

Over the months following the massacre, Mudahmid had been given airplay on several television talk shows and even permitted to make an address at an international peace conference hosted by the European Union.

Some Middle East pundits, however, viewed the sheikh's diplomatic philosophy a little differently…that he was using the slaughter of Arabs at the Temple Mount as the basis for a full-court
press on a major carve-out of the state of Israel for the benefit of the Palestinians and, eventually, for all of the Arab League.

As host of the meeting, the Egyptian envoy made a few preliminary comments after introducing each of the attendees. He noted that, while Warren Mullburn was a newcomer to the field of international diplomacy and specifically negotiations in the Middle East, he came to the meeting as a potential mediator with the highest recommendation of the Arab League. In particular, he explained, Mullburn had the blessings of the Saudi family.

At that, the representative of the Arab League nodded enthusiastically.

“Exactly what interest,” broke in the foreign minister for the Palestinian Authority, “does your Republic of Maretas in the Caribbean have in the events here in the Middle East?”

Mullburn smiled and nodded.

“First, let me say,” he began, “that peace is, or at least should be, everyone's business. As I have proposed in my speeches and writings for many years, we need to look at the peace process in
any
part of the world from a global standpoint because it always affects
every
part of the world. Either we act as a community of nations, or we will be merely a collection of nations at war.”

“So you would deny any connection between your position as a would-be peace mediator regarding the Temple Mount and the need for a Palestinian state and your…how shall I call them…aspirations regarding your worldwide oil interests?”

“Let me set the record straight,” Mullburn said firmly. “There will be a vote in OPEC this month. I hope that, as we have lobbied, the Republic of Maretas is permitted entrance into OPEC. There has been some criticism because our island republic itself does not have any oil-producing sites. Yet, if you will check the ownership of my Mexico oil project, it has been transferred entirely to the Republic of Maretas. As such, Maretas has the right to be considered an oil-producing nation like any other. But to answer your specific question—why should my motives be
questioned because of oil, any more than the Arab League's involvement in the peace process should be questioned because of their vast oil interests?”

With that Mullburn smiled and glanced over at the representative of the Arab League.

“Point well taken,” the representative said. “And of course, while not a precondition to negotiations, it is certainly helpful that you profess to follow Islam…”

Mullburn nodded and smiled politely.

The Egyptian envoy then joined in.

“Just one technical question regarding that,” the envoy said. “I do not question the honor of your profession of faith in Allah. And I do know that you have transferred all of your ownership interests in several Las Vegas casinos following your public announcement several years ago that you had converted to Islam. But there have been some unkind stories…articles in magazines…suggesting that the transfer was only to several straw men who were actually still employed by you, and that you were still exercising control.

“And of course, there were other complaints from some clerics—” and with that he threw a quick glance over at Sheikh Mudahmid. “About your adherence to the corrupt ideas of the German philosopher Hegel. But we need not belabor any of these points—we are very pleased to have you in our midst today. We just bring these things out…to place them on the table so that there will be nothing hidden. Nothing concealed. Our welcome to you as a potential mediator is a genuine one. And with that, perhaps we could discuss the matters on the official agenda that each of you has been given.”

The Palestinian minister led off.

“As a matter of protocol,” the minister stated, addressing Mullburn and shaking his head with concern, “I note that on your agenda for a peace agreement regarding the Palestinian state, you've listed the trial of that murderer, Hassan Gilead Amahn. I'm not sure that should be part of our discussions today…”

“Tell me your thoughts on that,” Mullburn responded diplomatically.

“The Palestinian Authority has worked very hard—night and day for the last few months since the Temple Mount massacre.” The minister continued, “The United Nations was pushing very hard to create a separate international tribunal under its auspices, like the ones for Bosnia and Rwanda—and of course, they would control it. That was totally unacceptable to us. We consider the massacre to have taken place on Palestinian soil—with the blood of Muslims, both Palestinians and other Arabs, shed there on top of the Mount. Besides, the UN would never support a tribunal that would permit a death sentence.

“For these reasons—and many, many others—we have worked very hard to make sure that the international tribunal we have created is deemed to be a
Palestinian
tribunal, though it's made up of an international array of three judges. Now of course, Israel has been making demands for the extradition of Mr. Amahn. They give out their cry about deaths of a few of their Jews at the Western Wall who were hit by some of the flying debris.

“We have fought very hard to control the legal process. And we have accomplished that. But now that that has been done, you can trust that the Palestinian Authority will see that justice is done. The full weight of the law. But at least publicly, there can be no official assurances of a result in the trial of Mr. Amahn that can in any way be tied in to the peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.”

“And it might even be argued,” the Egyptian envoy noted, “that both Israel and the Palestinian Authority have one common interest regarding this Mr. Amahn. His guilt, as the spiritual and tactical leader of this apocalyptic group, seems to be beyond any question. Therefore, I think that Israel and the Palestinian Authority both want Mr. Amahn tried, convicted, and sentenced to death. So, in that sense, I don't see the Palestinian tribunal issue, or the trial of Mr. Amahn, as being something that ought to hold up—or even be part of—the formal peace negotiation process.
How could it be? What would we say? That Mr. Amahn's conviction and execution is a prerequisite for a suitable peace agreement?”