Read Fire in a Haystack: A Thrilling Novel (Legal Mystery Book Book 1) Online
Authors: Erez Aharoni
Ijou raced up the road in Morris’ BMW. He treated the traffic signs as if they were nothing more than decorations. Gali was paralyzed with fear but didn’t say a word. Her concern for Ofer’s fate was too strong.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“To Yavne.”
“You know where exactly?”
“You’ll see for yourself.”
Gali realized keeping quiet was the preferred option. As the vehicle entered the industrial area, she noticed the Viromedical factory signs.
Ijou led her towards the large building next to the factory’s fence. Gali remembered the slanting roof and the intimidating graffiti monsters on the walls well. He signaled with his finger for her to keep quiet. They rounded three sides of the building. The fourth side was impossible to get at because it was flush up against the factory’s fence. They discovered that the building had two entrances. Ijou picked the main one. It was completely dark. It took quite some time for their eyes to adjust to the darkness.
“You don’t leave my hand,” whispered Ijou in Gali’s ear. She obeyed and held his large hand. They went down to the cellar together. It was empty. They advanced slowly. The length of the subterranean corridors surprised them. They felt their way in the darkness carefully.
Gali was shivering, either from fear or from the chill air of the corridors or maybe both. The kidnapper’s thin and foul-smelling shirt didn’t do much to keep her warm.
Suspicion overcame her.
What am I doing here with this man? What are his intentions? Perhaps this is all a trap? Why doesn’t he explain to me where we are going and what we’re looking for here, underground? And where is Ofer? What are they doing to him? Perhaps we’re too late?
Ijou advanced with a slow but steady pace. His huge hand tightly held hers, and Gali had no choice but to rely on her savior. He felt the walls with his hand, sensing a door from time to time. He opened every door and stared into the darkness behind it at length. Gali remained behind him, quiet and scared. At the end of the long corridor, he decided to turn right.
From far off, they could see a faint light projecting from beneath one of the doors. She tried to stop him and ask what he intended to do, but he simply pulled her after him and placed his other hand on her mouth.
With no other choice, she stepped after him towards the light.
The door flew open and Ijou burst in right after it.
With his giant’s stride, he only needed to take two steps to reach Dr. Friedman from the threshold of the cellar door. In his hand, he held the gun he had taken from the kidnapper. It looked like a lost toy in his oversized paw. He touched the gun to Friedman’s head, below the brimmed hat, and said, “Ijou says don’t move.”
Morris finally lowered his hands and breathed a sigh of relief. Only now could one see that a girl was hiding behind Ijou’s broad back, her hand resting in his.
“Ijou says no one moves and everyone is doing what Ijou asks them to do,” he said again, and from the tone of his voice, it was obvious he meant it. He let go of Gali’s hand and took the gun Dr. Friedman was holding without encountering any resistance and slid it into his pants pocket.
“Gali,” Ofer emitted a weak cry of joy when he saw her safe and sound. Her hands and feet were untied, and he immediately recognized she was wearing the silent one’s shirt. She looked unharmed, and Ofer felt a great sense of relief.
“What’s going on here?” asked Gali when she recognized Dr. Aryeh Friedman.
He gave her a grim look, and the blood drained from his face in anger.
She hurried to add, “Dr. Friedman, I told you we would meet again.”
“Who is Dr. Friedman?” asked Ofer.
“Allow me to introduce myself,” said Dr. Friedman before anyone could say anything else. He spoke slowly and monotonously. “I’m Dr. Aryeh Friedman. I’m formally the one in charge of this place. This site you have all decided to gather in is a building which belongs to our factory, and entry to it is prohibited without my strict authorization. You are all trespassers and lawbreakers. Entering this place is an inexcusable violation of national security regulations.” He turned to Fliegelman and said, “Go on, guard. Make use of your privileges and your weapon, collect all the other weapons and arrest these people. I’ll call for backup from security in the mean—”
“Josh, don’t listen to him,” Gali barged into his words. “Dr. Friedman is the outlaw who should be arrested, not us.”
“Don’t you dare defy me.” Friedman had not lost his polished linguistic abilities. “This slippery lawyer is the thief. She’s the criminal.”
“You’re the criminal. You are running a factory that manufactures toxic materials and stores deadly viruses in an illegal way.” Gali’s face had reddened and she shouted with a hoarse voice.
“Young lady, I urge you to reconsider your position. The orangutan that watches over you will do you no good. The police are on their way. The General Security Service is also after you, and you will be incarcerated and placed under lock and key, just as you deserve to be.”
Fliegelman’s face was frozen with shock. He moved his hand slowly towards the holster of his gun. He didn’t have a clear idea about what he should do.
Ijou was alert enough to recognize the guard’s intentions, he lunged forward to prevent Fliegelman from reaching his gun. He nearly slid on the floor but steadied himself and struck Fliegelman’s head with the butt of his gun. Fliegelman collapsed and lay sprawled on the floor. A huge blue bruise appeared on his forehead. Blood flowed on his cheek, trickling from the fresh wound.
“What have you done?” Gali was horrified. “Why… why?”
Dr. Friedman did not move an inch. Ijou looked confused. Morris and Gali went to Fliegelman and tried to wake him up. Ofer approached him as well with a heavy heart, his hands still tied behind his back.
I knew this clumsy bear couldn’t be trusted
, he said to himself.
None of them noticed the newcomer who had stepped into the cellar. He was dressed in a light warm up suit. The shiny lines of the Adidas logo were sketched across his arms and legs.
Small wonder he was holding a gun in his hand; apparently that was the admission ticket to the cellar.
“Mr. Brick…” Ofer mumbled, stunned when he recognized the unexpected visitor.
Yitzhak Brick stepped into the center of the basement. His straight hair was brushed back carefully, not allowing even a single hair to stray. His face was serious and expressionless. He did not react to Ofer’s recognition and hurried to give instructions.
Following his first instruction, Ijou dropped his gun and allowed it to fall to the floor. Brick searched him quickly and discovered Friedman’s gun in his pocket. He put one weapon in his pocket and tucked the other in his waistband.
Ofer tried to say something, but Brick silenced him and ordered him to sit with Gali next to one of the walls. Morris and Ijou he ordered to sit on the other end of the cellar, with their faces against the wall. Then he went to the inert body of the curly-haired kidnapper, bent next to him and checked his pulse, still pointing the gun at the others, keeping them in his sight. It was impossible to tell from his expression whether or not he had found signs of life in the body of the person lying at his feet. He straightened up and passed next to the unconscious Fliegelman. Judging by the look he gave him, it appeared that Brick found his state of deep unconsciousness to be satisfying.
Dr. Friedman was still standing motionless in the center of the room.
“Who are all these people?” asked Brick.
“That’s the nosy little lawyer and that’s her boyfriend,” Friedman hurried to answer. “These two criminals, the small and large ones, are somehow related to them. Tony,” he pointed at the curly-haired kidnapper lying on the other end of the cellar, “we don’t need any longer, and the guard who’s lying in the corner will wake up, if he comes back to life at all, a long time from now,” Friedman finished the inventory, and Brick asked, “What are we going to do with this gang?”
“Leave them here,” Friedman ruled, “and change their state of matter. That’s what I suggest. I see no other choice.”
Brick ignored him. He turned to Ofer. “No more games, where’s the test tube?”
“What test tube?” Ofer tried to calculate how many times he had already repeated that question to different people, and at the same time he wondered: What does Brick have to do with the test tube? What’s in that test tube that makes everybody want it so bad?
“The test tube attorney Gali Shviro, your girlfriend who’s sitting right here, stole from the factory laboratory and gave you at Natalia Schulvitz’s funeral.”
Ofer’s mouth dropped open with surprise.
Gali barged into the conversation. “I didn’t give him the test tube at the funeral. I know where the test tube is. Ofer doesn’t know what you’re talking about. It’s true, I took it from your laboratory, and I also know where it is hidden. That test tube, like many other things, proves what we are claiming about the factory is true.”
“Lady, you talk too much,” said Brick.
“I’m not talking too much. I’m telling the truth, and you don’t want to listen to it. Just so you know, I’ve got documents and expert opinions that prove the laboratory hidden in the Viromedical factory is storing the world’s deadliest viruses in violation of the international treaty Israel has signed. Neither you nor the doctor standing by your side will escape punishment, that much I can promise you.”
“You’ve got nothing on me, loudmouth.” Brick chuckled and added, “I’ve been in charge of this issue for many years; all our activities are perfectly legal. You are gravely mistaken.”
“So what’s so important about his test tube that you’re willing to kidnap and kill people for it?”
“The test tube contains a deadly virus that can cause indescribable damage. There’s nowhere else in the world where you can get that. It cannot remain unguarded and outside the factory.”
“That’s the UUVAR1?”
“Yes,” Friedman answered instead of Brick.
Ofer leapt into the conversation as well, “That doesn’t contain a deadly virus. It’s a substance my father was investigating.”
Brick and Friedman exchanged quick glances.
“Where did you come up with this?” Friedman wanted to know.
“I can prove it. My father was working on the development of this UUVAR1. Someone must have stolen his discovery. And they killed him because he wanted to report the violations Gali just talked about to the authorities.”
“Your father wasn’t murdered; he committed suicide,” said Brick.
Ofer closed his eyes for a second. He saw all the pieces of the puzzle coming together to form a clear and accurate picture in his mind. “Who killed Rodety, Mr. Brick?” he asked. “Harsovsky?”
“Igor Harsovsky passed away today at noontime,” said Brick with indifference.
“How? What happened?” screamed Gali with shock.
“A sudden deterioration in his condition. Must have been heart failure. They told me he died at the hospital.”
A stifled whimper escaped Gali’s mouth. “How did it happen?” she mumbled, trying to prevent the tears from coming.
“A bit strange, isn’t it? Just like Rodety? Like—” Ofer commented.
“Harsovsky conducted a lot of shady business deals,” Brick interrupted. “You can’t know who and what caused his death. Not many people will feel sorry for—”
“And not many of them will be sorry for Rodety’s death either?” Gali said sharply.
“Open your eyes, kid. Life is not what you think it is. Rodety was a dirty traitor. He cheated me and made a deal with your sponsor… another lowlife… who was paid by—”
The last sentence shocked Ofer. “Paid by whom?” Ofer demanded to know.
Brick was quiet, his gaze toughened and stony.
“My father died just like Rodety, and Rodety was killed by a virus that can be found only in the laboratory. Which means that whoever killed Rodety because Harsovsky had bought him had access to that virus.” He straightened his gaze at Brick “And he was the one who killed my father ten years ago.”
“Your father, Mordechai Angel, was not murdered; he committed suicide,” said Brick. “Attorney Geller already told you he was the last person to see him.”
“He didn’t kill himself,” Ofer screamed. “You’re a liar.” Ofer felt dizziness and nausea. He was about to throw up again. His face had turned pale and he breathed heavily. He shouted, “That’s an outright lie. I know exactly how my father died. Whoever killed Rodety killed him as well. Rodety was murdered. And my father was murdered. And both of them were murdered by the same people. In the same way. I’ve got all the proof. My father was murdered and was falsely accused. He never did any of the things he was framed with. He never received money that he did not deserve. He never sold any secrets. It was all forged, and whoever claims differently is just trying to hide the truth.”
“Geller is also your lawyer,” Gali shouted at Brick, “and he took an active part in your attempt to buy this factory. He knows the factory is manufacturing toxins and then selling them all over the world. We have full details about all the substances you are selling, your clients and everyone that represents you. Attorney Geller is taking care of that, and it means that Geller knows the factory is causing illnesses in the area, and he doesn’t care what his customers are doing,” Gali spoke with growing urgency and her voice became hoarse.
“You both should be committed,” said Brick.
“They’ll never get the chance,” Friedman pointed out.
Ofer shouted one more time the disturbing revelation he had just discovered: “You killed my father!” His voice cracked and tears were about to burst from his eyes. He looked at Yitzhak Brick. The honorable gentleman, the rich and successful businessman, the man who, along with his partners, was responsible for the death of his father. The discovery made him forget the fact that they had no way of getting out of that basement alive.
Brick and Friedman remained quiet.
“You’re partners, all of you. You and the doctor planned and executed this evil plan, then you killed Rodety because he wanted to join Harsovsky instead of joining you. He reported to him that ‘the fire is burning.’ He intended to say that the laboratory was still holding the deadly virus. He planned to take the merchandise you wanted to sell, the test tubes with the deadliest viruses in the world. Any terrorist organization would have been willing to pay a fortune for them, a thousand times more than this entire factory is worth.”
Brick pointed the gun at him and said, “That’s exactly the reason why both of them were killed. There’s no place in this world for people who betray their partners. That’s always been my viewpoint. By the way, the next word you say will be your last,” he added.
Ofer became silent.
Brick went over to Dr. Friedman, and they began to conduct a long whispered conversation.
Ofer looked at Morris and Ijou, wishing they would turn towards him so he could catch their attention. Then, perhaps all three of them could storm Brick and Friedman together. But they didn’t, and now everything seemed lost. Their chances of getting out of that place alive were shrinking by the second. A sense of grief washed over him and with it a bitter acceptance of his cruel destiny.
“How could I have been such a fool?” whispered Ofer to Gali.
“Because you didn’t listen to me,” she answered and bit her lower lip.