The Aleppo Code (The Jerusalem Prophecies) by Terry Brennan Read Free Book Online Page A

is a dead man.”
    Whitestone was well into his first term when he and Cartwright came to the same conclusion: the Iranians were unyielding in their determination to create nuclear weapons. And to use those weapons against Israel. Whitestone was an early champion of economic sanctions, which crippled the government in Tehran and impoverished its people but failed to deter the mullahs in control. It was in Whitestone’s second term, when convinced only force would cripple the Iranian rush to nuclear capability, that he and Baruk began laying the groundwork of this most clandestine operation.
    American B-2 stealth bombers were already in the air from Incirlik air base, circling over eastern Turkey, waiting for orders if they were needed. Their “bunker buster” bombs would not fully penetrate the facilities at Fordow or Natanz, but if the Israeli devices didn’t fire properly, the bombs could destroy some of the underground labs and leave a pile of rubble forty feet thick, enough to hold in any radiation that would be unleashed in the deeper labs.
    More importantly, the federal courts and federal banking system were on notice to be prepared for immediate action. What action, they didn’t know. But before this day was over, every Iranian asset in the United States would be seized or frozen and evidence presented that Iran was behind the attempted assassinations of both Whitestone and Baruk. With the right amount of pressure, European banks would follow suit. And the Iranian government would be bankrupt.

5
    9:22 p.m., Jerusalem
    Bohannon needed to clear his head and unburden his heart. His memory was plagued by the dead, and the guilt was so stifling that at times he felt his lungs would simply stop working. Now Rizzo, Fineman, and McDonough had revealed this fantastic story about a book and a staff. It appeared as if Jeremiah—or whoever was at the root of this mystery—wasn’t finished with them yet. There was just too much to absorb.
    “I’m not waiting for the cab. I’m going to walk back,” said Tom as they departed the rabbi’s house through the courtyard.
    Joe Rodriguez’s arm was protectively wrapped around his wife’s waist. He looked back over his shoulder at his brother-in-law. “Do you think it’s safe?”
    “We’re not safe in our own beds at home. What difference does it make?”
    “Kallie’s place is on the other side of town.”
    “Just a little over a mile as the crow flies. Look, I need the air. I need to think. And I can cut the distance by going through the market.”
    “Well, I’m no crow,” said Rizzo. “I’m taking the cab.”
    “If you’re walking, I’m walking.” Annie came up to Bohannon’s side. “We can talk on the way—try to make some sense of all this.”
    Deirdre didn’t have the right shoes for walking. Joe pulled her into an embrace, kissed her gently, then separated himself from her, standing sentinel by Fineman’s gate. “Don’t think I’m going to allow the two of you to wander off by yourselves. People out there still want to do us harm.”
    Dr. Brandon McDonough was laboring with jet lag, and elected to wait with Sammy and Deirdre for dispatch to send the rare taxi driver who worked on the Sabbath.

    Tom, Annie, and Joe crossed Tavon Street to begin their circuitous route through the random streets of Jerusalem to the Bar Lev Road and Kallie’s apartment near Ammunition Hill.
    From Fineman’s house, they had two choices. To make a long loop east, on Bezalel Road, across King George V Street, through the Ben Yehuda pedestrian mall, and down the Jaffa Road to skirt the Old City on the Hatzanhanim to the Bar Lev Road; or to cut through the vast, but closed, Machane Yehuda open market to the Hanevi’im, which would reduce their walking distance by half.
    Bohannon moved at a brisk pace, his feet keeping tempo with the thoughts rampaging through his mind. While the theory about the staff was fascinating, the dominant images were snapshots of Kallie