The President nodded. "Yossi Ben-David. That Mossad guy. Locked up for eleven years. Now in Haifa. With his wife there."
He looked at the Chief of Staff. "Tell him the United States owes him a favor."
12 noon, Damascus, Presidential Palace.
Hafez Assad stood at the window, looking at the garden outside. The roses bloomed, red, white, pink, vibrant under the midday sun. The gardener was absent, the hose left on the ground, water flowing, beyond the flowerbeds, onto paths, forming puddles.
The Minister of Defense stood behind him, voice trembling.
