Chapter 15B: Jerusalem, December 2037

"That was an interesting girl you asked me to investigate. Unbelievably cute as well." Simona said and hinted a rare smile.

"I am sure that she'll be super attracted by the girl who spent the whole night hacking websites to uncover her secrets." I taunted.

"A girl got to have dreams!" Simona snapped back.

"Whatever. What did you find out?" I replied

Simona took a deep breath and then she read aloud from her tablet. "Sabina Hines is an Australian citizen, born in South Africa on 20th October 2019. Her parents are John Hines and Ellen Hines. Her father is Jewish, and that was how she got her visa to Israel. Sabina has no known affiliations with any groups."

"Hmm, not much to go on. Did you find out anything else?" I asked.

"Yes. Sabina graduated high school with the highest possible marks. She made $300,000 from nothing doing online trading for one month. Yesterday she bought SplitCoin for half of her bank balance." Simona replied.

"Perfect. You have earnt a reward." I said and transferred some SplitCoin to Simona.

Simona checked her phone and gave me a sour look. "Only $1,000?" How am I going to start a new life on that little?"

"You're not going to start a new life until we have completed this mission. And unlike the Mossad, I pay in gold and not in lead. Try to organise a meeting with Sabina. I'll make sure to make it worth your while." I replied.

I was walking towards the door when I felt sentimental. I walked back to Simona, hugged her, and spoke. "Simona be careful out there. I might not show it, but I do care about you."

Simona stared at me in disbelief. After some awkward silence, I turned around and left the apartment.

***

I was in my office in the inconspicuous Templar Headquarters, nervously staring at the clock. It was 9 PM, and I had not received any news from Simona, and I didn't even know if Sabina had survived the terrorist attack.

Suddenly, Ben Yehuda entered my office. I thought of snapping at him, but I realised that I should hire competent security guards to prevent this from happening.

"I have some urgent news about a mutual friend," Ben stated.

Ben's statement confused me. I disliked Ben, and I couldn't recall us having any mutual friends. I realised that this remark wouldn't add to the conversation, so instead, I replied: "Tell me, Ben."

"Dov implicated Sabina Hines for the terrorist attack at the Western Wall this morning. During the interrogation, he snapped and kidnapped Sabina at gunpoint. Jakub Kluger followed them and shot Dov. Before Jakub could bring Sabina back, lightning struck him. Jakub is receiving intensive care at the hospital, and Sabina is missing." Ben revealed.

Ben's revelation relieved me. I had worried that Sabina died during the attack, but she was alive and kicking. I hid my feelings from Ben and replied. "Okay. So, what do you suggest that we do?"

"That depends. I can either send out an arrest order for Sabina, classifying her as a dangerous terrorist. Every police officer and every CCTV camera will be looking for her." Ben replied.

"And what is the second option?" I asked, hoping that it would be a better option for my goals.

"I can delete everything about Sabina in our registry and keep the files on my personal drive." Ben revealed.

I studied Ben Yehuda. Was he testing me, and what would I respond? It would seem strange if I was too keen on the second option. But I didn't want to dissuade from picking that option either. Eventually, I replied. "I see. Why do you want Sabina Hines to remain secret?"

Ben Yehuda handed me a tablet. On the tablet, there was a video from the interrogation. On the video and Dov was screaming at Sabina, until she grabbed his arm and stared into his eyes for a few seconds. After that, Dov seemed hypnotised. Dov unlocked Sabina's handcuffs and led her out from the interrogation room and the video ended. I stared at the video in disbelief. What had I witnessed?

"What was that?" I asked in confusion.

"I believe that Sabina is a touch empath," Ben replied.

"A touch empath? What is that?" I asked.

"One of the ancient forbidden Torah's is about Malka, who was a touch empath. Malka was a powerful sorceress who could influence minds through the power of touch." Ben revealed.

"So, what are you suggesting?" I asked.

"I am suggesting that we lure Sabina to the door blocking the Zeto Crystal. We have exhausted all options to open that door. Perhaps a touch empath can do better." Ben speculated.

I thought about Ben's proposal. It was a dangerous plan, and I didn't want to expose Sabina to Ben. But unfortunately, he already knew about her. I realised that it was better if only Ben knew about Sabina than if the entire country was chasing her.

"Okay, what do you suggest that we do?" I asked.

"You must find her and catch her attention. But, before she gets the chance to manipulate your mind via touch, I'll come and stage your murder. That will send her on the run and lead her straight to the Templar Tunnels and the locked door. Hopefully, she is powerful enough to unlock it for us." Ben instructed

"And what is she fails?" I asked.

"Then we'll have another corpse, and the door remains locked. Nothing won, nothing lost." Ben replied.

I got angry at Ben's statement. Sabina was potentially my daughter, and I couldn't let Ben murder her. But I kept calm and redirected the topic. "Have you discussed this with the others?" I asked

"Szymon is on a secret mission in Africa, and it wouldn't be suitable to contact him now. I don't see any reason to contact the others." Ben replied.

I noticed a text message notification from Simona on my smartwatch, and I decided to finish up my conversation with Ben. "Okay, let's do things like you say. I will keep an eye out for Sabina." I said.

"Are you going somewhere?" Ben remarked.

"Yes, I have a hot date. I can't let your whims and wishes destroy my sex life, can I?" I scoffed.

Ben stood silent for a second. Clearly, he wanted to object to my excuse. After a moment of silence, Ben gave in. "Very Well, Al-Sham. Enjoy your godless copulation. As long as you're ready to serve on short notice. Dismissed." Ben sighed.

"Aye, Aye, Sir," I replied. Then I mock-saluted Ben Yehuda and left my office.

After leaving my office, I contacted Simona and organised a meeting.

***

"Sabina contacted me via the dark web. She needed to find a safe place to stay. I sent her to the safehouse at E-Zahra Street." Simona revealed.

I was experiencing a lot of emotions bubbling up to the surface. I wanted to go there at once, warn Sabina about Ben Yehuda and leave Israel as fast as possible. But I also wanted to use Sabina to open the locked passageway in the Templar Tunnels to secure the primordial Zeto Crystal. Securing the Zeto Crystal was far more important than the well-being of a girl who might or might not be my progeny.

"Is there anything bothering you?" Simona asked.

"I was thinking. We need to track Sabina and see what she is up to. Did she order any equipment or only accommodation?" I asked.

"She ordered the whole kit. Phone, Laptop, fake ID, prepaid credit card and clothes." Simona replied.

This was great news. If Sabina ordered a phone, we could track her movements by inserting a tracking chip on her phone. The only problem was that she might discover it. Someone tech-savvy, ordering new gear, paying with crypto-currency over the darknet, could detect if we tracked her. But if she was a real pro, Simona wouldn't have figured out Sabina's real identity. I decided to ask Simona to insert a tracking chip in the phone.

"Can you insert tracking chips in the phone, the laptop and the clothes?" I asked.

"That would be against my professional code. My reputation would be irreversible damage if it came out that I was tracking my clients." Simona objected.

"Like I promised before, I can pay you enough to leave this city for good!" I replied.

"My code is not about money, it's about the principle!" Simona exclaimed.

I sighed. I hated dealing with political idealists. They were always so self-righteous and hard to persuade.

"But there is one thing that I want. But it's not about money." Simona revealed.

I nodded. I suspected that money would have been easier, but I wanted to hear Simona's conditions. "So, what do you want, Simona?" I asked.

"I want justice. I want to kill Ben Yehuda to avenge Leah." Simona replied.

I sighed. I wanted to kill Ben as well, but if I did, Pierre, Szymon and Vladimir would come after me. They would also send a vast array of assassins. But, If Simona killed Ben, and I could convince the others that I wasn't involved, that would kill two birds with one stone.

"Deal. Help me with this mission, and I'll get you within reach of Ben Yehuda. Killing him will be on you." I replied.

"Deal. I would better get going. I promised to deliver by midday tomorrow." Simona said.

"I'll need to inspect the products before you deliver them. I'll pay you an extra $10,000 for your troubles."

"Okay, meet me here at 1130 tomorrow!" Simona said and left the premises.

***

I was waiting for Simona at the meeting spot. I felt exhausted. This life was too stressful for me, and I needed to get out of here. I dreamt of going back to Kiribati to enjoy the solitude on my secluded island. I dreamt even more about returning to 2018 before this whole mess began. But neither would happen, at least not the time travel option, and I needed to focus on the task at hand.

Without a word, Simona left the package on a table for me to check out the goods. I scanned the devices to make sure that that Simona had inserted tracking bugs, which I could connect to. I also checked the ID.

As I checked the ID, I stared at the letters forming the name. They read 'Keila Eisenstein'. The same name that Brahma had tasked me with finding 18 years earlier. This could not possible be a coincidence.

"Who picked this name?" I asked in shock.

"What's the matter with the name?" Simona asked in confusion.

"There is nothing wrong with the name. But I want to know who picked it." I replied.

"She did," Simona replied.

"Very well. Here is your cash, I'll send you the rest in SplitCoin. Now hurry up and deliver the package!" I said and handed Simona a wad of Shekel notes.

Simona took the money without saying a word, grabbed the package and left the building.

***

'Woah, that was a close one,' I thought as the police officer who had stopped Sabina, let her go. I realised that we needed to intercept Sabina. The sooner that we could convince Sabina to help us, the sooner I could get out of Jerusalem. I thought of the fates of my fellow templars, James and Michael. If things came to worst, I would have to betray them to reach my goals. That would be a bittersweet end to my time in Jerusalem.

"She has entered a coffee shop. Prepare to move." I told the others.

"Shouldn't you fill me in, first?" I heard Ben Yehuda say from behind me.

'Oh shit!' I thought, and I turned around. Ben Yehuda, together with two police officers dressed in combat gear stood behind me.

"So, you were planning to move on the sorceress without telling me first. How disappointing!" Ben Yehuda remarked.

"We had to move fast. I did message you" I lied.

"But of course, you did! How unfortunate that the mobile network is so unreliable here." Ben mocked.

I didn't say anything, and Ben spoke again. "Al-Sham, I have ways of keeping track of you. Remember the plan. Enter the coffee shop, lock the door behind you, speak to her for a short while. Then I'll bang on the door. Make her hide and let her witness our conversation where we mention the locked door in the Templar Tunnels. Then my men will shoot you guys, and you'll play dead. Once the girl has snuck out, I will give the all-clear and we can leave."

"Understood!" I replied.

"Oh, and one more thing. Take off your monocle. It doesn't make sense that we are wearing the same monocle if we are enemies." Ben ordered.

I did as Ben instructed, and I took off my monocle, put it in my pocket and inserted a blue-tinted contact lens.