Read Saving Sophie: A Novel for Free Online

a circular, mosaic table. A silver coffee urn with several small cups sat in the middle of the table.
    “The coffee is good and strong tonight,” said a thin, angular man, pouring a small amount into his cup, barely a sip.
    Fakhir, the squat owner of the shop, nodded and chuckled. “Turkish. None of us would object, Ahmed, if you poured a little more into your cup. Then you wouldn’t have to get up so often.”
    “Never fill a cup so much you cannot see the bottom,” Ahmed said. “I was taught that by my mother. It’s sociable.”
    “Who called for the assault on the wedding party?” said Dr. al-Zahani.
    The men looked at one another and shrugged. “What difference does it make, Arif?” said Nizar Mohammed.
    “How does it further our grand plan to shoot a young girl on her wedding day?”
    “How does it help us to remain silent under subjugation and occupation?” Nizar said. “Everything doesn’t have to stop because of our ‘grand plan.’ Are you going soft on us, Arif? Was this not warranted? The group was defiling the Al-Haram Al-Ibrahimi shrine with a Jewish ceremony and Jewish prayers . It’s a Palestinian heritage site and Israel is in violation of its international commitments by promoting ceremonies at Palestinian holy sites. Israelis now advertise buses to take people to perform Jewish ceremonies at the Tomb of the Patriarchs.”
    “Maybe Nizar forgets it is precisely on those tour buses that we will carry out our operation. Or maybe Nizar would do it by camel train.”
    On a stuffed futon in the corner, Fa’iz Talib sat quietly, observing the banter. The eldest member of the group, he leaned his back against the wall. His head tilted forward and his wiry beard rested on his cream-colored kurta. From his knitted taqiyah to his laced sandals, his bearing bespoke composure and wisdom, affording him deference. “Vitriol among us does not further anybody’s plans,” he said. “What is your concern with the wedding incident, Arif? I, myself, authorized it.”
    “I care nothing for the wedding party or the people who were shot, including the bride, who, some of you know, was treated at my home. I care only about jeopardizing our operation. The public perception—the newspapers, CNN—they pick it up and use it in their campaign to portray us as barbarians.”
    “Maybe that’s not so bad. Anything that creates fear in the hearts of our oppressors suits our purpose, no?”
    “I don’t dispute that. But the timing is bad. In the wake of our operation, it will focus attention on Hebron. It’s bound to bring more IDF, more Israeli police. The IDF will now go door-to-door to dig up a suspect. For a tiny act of retribution, the swatting of a few mosquitoes in a wedding party, it increases the risk of our exposure.”
    The baker rubbed his grizzled beard and smiled. “But maybe they don’t come back so soon for weddings, huh?”
    The others laughed.
    Fa’iz held up a hand. “What’s done is done, let’s talk about the bus. What is our progress, Rami?”
    “We have converted and painted an identical tour bus. It has a false floor. Undetectable. It will be ready well before we need it. Aziz has already taken a job as a Jerusalem tour bus driver and is dispatched twice a week.”
    “And the bags, Arif?”
    Al-Zahani nodded. “Coming along.”
    Fa’iz stood and the others followed suit. They joined hands in a circle around the table.
    “From the river to the sea,” Fa’iz said.
    “From the Golan to the Gulf,” the group responded. “Blessed be the Sons of Canaan.”

 
    E IGHT
    J ACK SOMMERS’S FIRST ORDER of business was to shop. He needed clothes, kitchen and bathroom essentials, and apartment furnishings. He had sufficient funds through his Panamanian debit cards, all issued in the name of Eugene Wilson. For a larger purchase, he knew he’d have to open an account at a local bank.
    Sommers set out on Waikiki’s main thoroughfare. Fragrances of orchid leis hanging from Kalakaua’s