The Temple Mount Code by Charles Brokaw Read Free Book Online Page A

waved me off.’
    ‘Do you seriously think they wouldn’t have noticed that?’
    The man cursed.
    ‘If I had warned you off, I would be facing them alone.’ Davari sipped his coffee. ‘I don’t think they would have let me sit here much longer without taking me into custody.’
    ‘Or killing you if they are Israeli.’
    Davari shrugged. That, of course, was a possibility. He was confident that the men didn’t know him or his work personally. Somehow they had intercepted Commander Meshal’s communications.
    ‘What are we going to do?’ Lutfi didn’t look happy.
    ‘Now that you are here, and I have made contact, we’re going to escape.’ Davari finished his coffee. ‘You have a car?’
    ‘Of course. But I have no weapons.’
    ‘That’s fine. I’m sure they’re carrying enough for all of us.’ Davari stood. ‘Let’s get your car.’
    ‘Do not glance around. If you alert those men that we are onto them, I will slit your throat myself.’ Davari walked slightly behind and to Lutfi’s right as they passed a half dozen closed shops.
    ‘I do not care for this.’
    ‘If you talk about anything other than the weather or sports, I will kill you.’
    Tucking his head into his shoulders, Lutfi kept walking, choosing not to talk at all.
    That suited Davari. The streetlights behind the two men trailing them allowed him to track them by their shadows, but it was good to be able to hear their movements as well. The men were good, probably Israeli, judging by how patient they were, but they’d grown confident and didn’t try hard to mask their presence. They also didn’t pull in the second unit, and Davari was certain there was a second unit. If the men had been Hamas, they would have seized him an hour ago and taken him to a torture chamber to find out why he was in the Gaza Strip.
    If they were Israeli, they would be operating on foreign soil, as he was. This was in his favor, because they wouldn’t want to draw much attention to themselves. On the other hand, they would be very good at unarmed combat, as the Mossad seemed to live and breathe krav maga. Davari smiled in anticipation of the coming confrontation.
    ‘Where is your car?’
    Lutfi nodded at the end of the alley. ‘Around the corner.’
    ‘When I step away from you, run for the car and bring it back here.’
    ‘If I do not, you will kill me?’
    ‘Most assuredly.’
    ‘I do not like you very much.’
    Davari smiled at that. ‘Thankfully, you do not have to like me.’ He heard the two men behind him exchange a brief conversation, then their steps quickened. Obviously, they felt they had waited long enough, and the alley was ending soon.
    Davari immediately turned and ran at them.
    They were good, he had to give them that. They separated at once to give each other room to maneuver.
    Davari went for the bigger one first because closing with him would give the smaller man less room to position himself, and the bigger man would provide a better shield. The man set himself, obviously expecting Davari to pull up short. The colonel continued his headlong pace and slammed into the man’s chest, giving his opponent no time to decide whether to shoot him with the pistol he suddenly held.
    Using his weight and speed, Davari powered the man backwards till he was almost running, then slipped and started to fall. Instinctively, the man reached forward to grab him. Davari planted his own feet, caught the man’s shirt in one burly fist, and snared his opponent’s gun wrist with the other.
    Yanking backwards, Davari spun the man around so his back faced his partner, then kicked him in the crotch. The man groaned in pain and threw up a little. Still, he clung stubbornly to his weapon as the second man sprinted toward him, leading with a silenced pistol.
    Maintaining his grip on the man’s shirt, Davari swung his elbow into the man’s throat, then head-butted him in the face. His opponent’s nose broke, and blood gushed. Nearly out on his feet and sagging