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  Published by The Hartwood Publishing Group, LLC,

  Hartwood Publishing, Phoenix, Arizona

  www.hartwoodpublishing.com

  Ransom

  Copyright © 2019 by Belle Ami

  Digital Release: April 2019

  All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination, or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales, or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  Ransom by Belle Ami

  "Ransom is the third book in the exciting romance/thriller Tip of the Spear Series.

  Mossad Agent Cyrus Hassani stopped a nuclear meltdown at Three Mile Island and rescued his kidnapped wife, Layla. Finally, he’s gotten his marriage back on track when the head of Mossad, the Ramsad, drafts him to stop a Hezbollah plot to eradicate Israel with a nuclear Electromagnetic Pulse attack. But a traitor mole at Mossad could spell disaster, and the Ramsad creates a black op mission, sending Cyrus and a team of uber operatives known as the Tip of the Spear to Beirut to stop the attack.

  La Figaro journalist Zara Zayani, a beautiful undercover French DGSE agent with ties to Hezbollah, is enlisted by her Mossad agent lover, Aryeh, to negotiate a prisoner exchange between Hezbollah and Israel when she by chance meets Mustafa Mugniyeh, the son of one of Hezbollah’s most deadly terrorists. The attraction between Zara and Mustafa is electric. But when she discovers Mustafa is the leader of the EMP plot the stakes couldn’t be higher. Zara seduces and hooks Mustafa, but in the process finds herself harboring fantasies about the deadly assassin.

  Can Mossad stop the missile attack in time? Will Cyrus save his marriage with Layla? Will Zara destroy the Hezbollah terrorist who’s stolen her heart? Ransom is a roller coaster ride that will leave you breathlessly wanting more."

  Dedication

  Ransom is dedicated to the men and women who serve to protect our freedom both here in the United States and in Israel. May the bonds between our nations remain strong and enduring forever.

  Prologue

  Mossad Headquarters

  Israel

  The director of Mossad, Noam Levi, perched on the edge of a chair, taut as a wire.

  “Play it again, Abe. From the beginning.”

  Abe Harel oversaw the Israel Defense Force’s intelligence gathering Unit 8200. Abe rewound the footage to the beginning and hit play. “This is a successful test launch of the Hwasong-15. It traveled six-hundred-twenty miles before landing in the Sea of Japan. However, if it had been guided using standard trajectory, it could have easily reached Israel or the United States.”

  “What do we know about its ability to carry nuclear warheads?”

  “Iran and North Korea have been cooperating on miniaturizing nuclear bombs for a long time. Given the aggressive testing North Korea is engaging in, it’s possible they’ve succeeded.”

  The video ended and another video took its place. A cargo ship could be seen plowing through rough seas with seawater sweeping across its bow. The video switched again, this time to photos taken from a satellite.

  “This is yesterday’s footage of a Taiwanese ship at the port of Nampo, North Korea. He pointed to a crane lifting a container onto the ship. “This container originated from a suspected missile factory and was accompanied by an armed convoy to the port.”

  “Do we know its destination?”

  “We’ve decoded encrypted messages from Pyongyang saying that the cargo will be transferred onto trucks in Iran and driven through Syria to Lebanon. Destination Hezbollah.”

  The director stroked his chin. “Iran’s military bases are exempt from inspection by the International Atomic Energy Agency. We must assume they’ve built new centrifuges at their bases where they’ve undoubtedly continued processing uranium for nuclear bombs.”

  “Bad actors don’t change, sir. The Iranians thrive on the notion that they’ve hoodwinked the Americans.”

  “What is your assessment, Abe?”

  “My guess is Iran and North Korea have teamed up to give Hezbollah nuclear capability. We think they’re plotting to detonate bombs in the upper atmosphere, causing an electromagnetic pulse attack. In one fell swoop, they’d disarm both the Americans and us. North Korea has two satellites orbiting the Earth, which the Americans must be losing sleep over. An EMP attack launch from a satellite is a distinct possibility.”

  “Explain this EMP to me again. Keep it simple.”

  “If a hydrogen bomb exploded at a high altitude, it could bring down the electric grid. All functions would cease. We’re talking transportation, telecommunications, air control, medical care, and the military, and not for just a few days but most likely for months or years. We’d be lambs awaiting slaughter. Such an attack could technologically and industrially take us back to the beginning of the twentieth century.”

  Noam stared grimly at the screen where a single frame of the exploding rocket dropping into the sea was frozen. “If we annihilate this ship I presume more will follow.”

  “I see no reason to believe otherwise.”

  “And the mole. Has your team had any luck figuring out who this bastard is?”

  “Not yet, sir. He or she has been silent recently. We haven’t even been able to figure out if he works at Mossad, IDF, or the Knesset.”

  “I’m in a tough spot, Abe. It looks like we have a traitor passing top secret information to the enemy and we have Hezbollah, Iran, and North Korea colluding to launch a nuclear attack.”

  “I’m afraid that’s the long and short of it.”

  “It looks like we’re going to have to set up a black op operation apart from Mossad and the military. I’ll inform the prime minister, he I can trust.” The Ramsad knew this threat meant all-out war if it wasn’t contained. “Plan on reporting to only me. In the meantime, find me this mole.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “I hate to pull you away from your work in the Negev, but I’m afraid to trust any form of communication other than in person so long as this mole is operational. Any ideas?”

  “I believe I can set up a secure communication network where only you and I will have access.”

  “Good. Then it’s settled.” Noam smiled. “Of course, you’ll have to teach me how to use this new technology, which means teaching an old dog some new tricks.”

  “It will be my pleasure, sir. I have a feeling you’re up to the challenge.”

  Chapter One

  Tel Aviv, Israel

  When Cyrus Hassani looked at his wife and child, he couldn’t quite believe his good fortune. How did a damaged man, a spy, deserve such blessings? His daughter sitting on his lap and his arm around the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen was proof enough for him there was a God. He rubbed Layla’s neck as she explained to their four-year-old daughter Cerise that she was going to have a sister or brother in the next few months.

  “Ima, I want a sister. Can’t you order one of those?”

  Layla laughed and caressed her child’s rosy cheeks. “Cerise, it’s not like going to the ice cream store, you can’t pick your flavor. You have to take what God gives you.”
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  “I think we should give it back if it’s a boy.”

  “Whoa, what do you mean, give him back? What’s wrong with boys? I thought you loved your Aba. I’m a boy.” Cyrus huffed as if insulted. “I’ll show you what boys are good for.” He began tickling her until her giggles rang out.

  “Daddy, stop tickling me. You’re the only boy I like.”

  “I see. And what about the boy at preschool? What’s his name?”

  Cerise’s dimple in her chin, mirrored his and deepened with her smile. “Jacob, his name is Jacob. I forgot he’s a boy.”

  “Looked like a boy to me. I think you’ll make a great big sister to a brother. Think of all the things you’ll be able to teach him.”

  Cyrus felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He took it out and frowned at the caller ID.

  “Who is it, Cyrus?”

  “Mommy, what will we name him?”

  “One minute, baby. Cyrus, who is it?”

  “The office.” Cyrus stared at the screen weighing whether or not to answer. He could always say he was in the shower and missed the call.

  “Aren’t you going to answer it? It might be important.”

  “Everything’s important to them.”

  “You know you’re going to answer it.”

  Cyrus gazed at Cerise’s furrowed brows. She’s almost as impatient as I am. He was about to answer when the call dropped. “Too late. If it’s important, they’ll call back.”

  Cyrus’s cell phone again vibrated. He sighed. “I’d better take this.” He picked up the call. “Hassani here.”

  Cerise’s conversation with Layla faded into the background as he concentrated on what the man was saying.

  It was his supervisor, Saul, on the Iran desk. “Aryeh disappeared a few days ago in Beirut.”

  Seeing the look on his face, Layla pulled Cerise onto her lap. She nodded for him to go to the kitchen.

  He quickly rose from the sofa and strode to the kitchen for privacy. “Saul, newsflash, that’s what spies do, they go off the radar when necessary.”

  “Not with fifty million in diamonds belonging to Mossad. The Ramsad wants to see you, now.”

  “He promised me this leave of absence. He knows damn well what Layla and I have been through, how close we came to losing everything. Fuck, I nearly lost my child.”

  “Things change. Cyrus, this isn’t a request; it’s an order. He’s waiting for you at headquarters.”

  Cyrus hung up and scratched at the stubble of beard on his face. Dammit, Aryeh, what the hell have you gotten yourself into?

  Layla searched his face when he returned to the sofa. Cerise was sitting on the floor watching TV. “Was it important?”

  “I have to go to the office.”

  “When? Not until tomorrow, I hope? I have dinner in the oven.”

  He caressed her cheek and leaned in for a kiss. “I have to go now.”

  “But…I thought we had another week before you had to return.”

  “Yeah, I did too…but something’s come up.”

  “Can you talk about it?”

  “Aryeh’s gone missing in Beirut.”

  Layla laughed. “That seems pretty ordinary to me. I mean, he’s an intelligence agent. Disappearing is par for the course, isn’t it?”

  “Normally, I’d say yes, but this might be a little more complicated. The Ramsad wants to talk to me. I have to go.”

  “The Ramsad? Do you think you’ll be home for dinner?”

  Cerise’s laughter rang out, and he smiled. “I’m sure I will be, but I’ll call you and let you know.” He pulled her into his arms and brushed his lips over hers. “I can hardly stand leaving you. You know that, don’t you?”

  She flitted her tongue across his lips. “Yes, I know, and I can’t bear to be without you, but duty calls.”

  »»•««

  A call from The Office couldn’t have come at a more unwelcome time. He and Layla had just reconciled, and things were still fragile between them. He cursed under his breath as he presented his ID card at Mossad headquarters. The Ramsad, Noam Levi, was known to those inside Mossad as Hashu’al, The Fox. He was sly and cunning and believed the less known about an operation, the better. He was known to single out certain individuals for stardom. If they succeeded, they joined an exclusive club of insiders. If they didn’t, they were rarely heard from again.

  He took a deep breath and entered the Ramsad’s office. The blinds on the windows were down. The light filtering in stippled across the Ramsad’s face. The wiry head of Israel’s most secretive intelligence agency waved him in indicating a seat.

  “Cyrus, I can imagine you’re wondering what the hell is going on. I know I encouraged you to take time with your family, and now I’m ordering you back. How are Layla and Cerise doing?”

  “They’re fine, sir. We had some hurdles to overcome, but things have returned to some semblance of normalcy. Cerise is still clinging to Layla, doesn’t let her out of her sight, but from what everyone tells me, children bounce back. A little patience is all. Which is something I’m not.

  “Keeping all of Israel’s children safe is why you and I do what we do. We can’t afford to be patient when it comes to their safety.”

  “It is, sir.” He knew he’d do anything to keep Cerise safe.

  “We are facing an unusual situation. Something no nation on the planet is prepared to confront, but we’ve always dealt with the impossible, have we not?”

  Cyrus nodded.

  “No dream was ever more impossible than the birth and survival of Israel,” said the Ramsad.

  Cyrus stared warily into the eyes of the man who could coax water from a stone. “Yes, sir.”

  “I think you could be of tremendous help in remedying what has gone awry.”

  “Whatever is needed, sir. You can count on me.”

  The Ramsad nodded his approval. “Other than Aryeh’s team, you were the last person to see him, and now Aryeh has disappeared in Beirut with a great deal of treasure.” He cleared his throat. “It’s hard to imagine, but it appears Aryeh may have gone rogue and may be a traitor.”

  “I don’t believe it, sir. The man I met, the man who saved my family could never be a traitor.”

  The Ramsad drilled his fingers on the table. “I’m glad you don’t believe it…” he leaned forward, “because it isn’t true.”

  Cyrus breathed a sigh of relief.

  “However, this is a secret between you and me. No one else is to know.”

  “May I ask why, sir?”

  “I’ve chosen you to lead the operation to find Aryeh.”

  “Me?”

  “With Aryeh gone the team is lacking a head. I want you to assume leadership. On paper, your mission is to find the traitor Aryeh. You will extract him and the fifty-million in diamonds he stole, and return him to Israel for trial.”

  The Ramsad was asking him to lead Aryeh’s Kidon team, a secret unit answering only to the Ramsad and the prime minister. The thought made his head spin. The secret team known as the tip of the spear were a covert group specializing in assassinations, extractions, and operations never mentioned aloud by anyone in government or defense.

  “If Aryeh isn’t a traitor or a thief, what is true?”

  “Truth is a slippery slope sometimes. No one knows, and no one can know, but I sent Aryeh to Beirut. Are you familiar with EMP?”

  “Electromagnetic pulse. It’s a burst of electromagnetic radiation created by a nuclear explosion above the Earth’s surface that disrupts electronics, communications, defense systems, and could potentially shut down the electric grid of a nation and its military. Yes, sir, I understand it.”

  “Call me Noam, Cyrus. You and I will be secretly communicating and the less formality, the better for us.”

  Calling the Ramsad Noam was going to take effort on his part. He forced himself to comply. “Yes, Noam.”

  “Our cyber experts picked up a failed encrypted communication between Hezbollah’s counter-espionage chief and of
ficials in the Hermit Kingdom.”

  Cooperation between the terrorist group and the fledging nuclear-armed rogue nation North Korea wasn’t a promising situation. Cyrus considered the possibilities. “My guess is, Iran has to be invisibly brokering this liaison.”

  “That’s what my people tell me, Cyrus. Arms have been flowing between the two nations for years, but have escalated since the disastrous Obama deal with Tehran. Iran has purchased long-range ballistic missiles from Pyongyang and Russia, and the Iranians and North Koreans are cooperating in developing a miniaturized nuclear implosion device. However, I have new Intel indicating they may have reached an unacceptable tipping point.

  “The Mullahs in Tehran aren’t ready to blatantly show their hand, however, through their surrogates they might attempt an attack.” The Ramsad picked up a remote and turned on the big screen monitor on the wall. A video appeared. A large cargo vessel with a smaller defense escort plowed through rough seas. “Stowed in that vessel are long-range ballistic missiles headed to Beirut. We could sink it, but it won’t stop the next shipment or the one after that. We need to cut off the head of the snake, just like we did in Syria when we took out the nuclear reactor at the Al-Kibar military facility.”

  The video clip changed to a photo showing a delegation of North Koreans arriving at Rafic-Hariri International airport in Beirut.

  Cyrus pointed. “Who are they?”

  “North Korean diplomatic officials and two nuclear physicists from Pyongyang being picked up by Hezbollah operatives.”

  “What does this have to do with Aryeh and the diamonds?”

  “We have an unidentified mole. We haven’t confirmed it yet, but we believe the traitor is working at Mossad. The mission diverges from here. It’s the reason I sent Aryeh to Beirut.”

  “Aryeh is on a dual mission?”

  “Yes. I sent Aryeh with no one else’s knowledge to Lebanon to make contact with Hezbollah.”

  “Why would Hezbollah take the bait and do business with Aryeh?”

  “Aryeh’s nephew was kidnapped on the Lebanese Israeli border and is being held hostage by Hezbollah. Hezbollah refuses to negotiate his release. It’s provided the perfect alibi for an agent to go rogue. Once he gains Hezbollah’s trust, he will communicate only with you and me.”