Free The Great Deception by davidberko Page B

everybody.
    The teacher backed away from the boy's desk
in alarm. "Good God! Where could you have learned that!"
    Azriel could actually look down on the man
who stood only five feet four inches. But he sensed that sort of
intimidation didn't work on a guy like this.
    He had already stepped on toes, no way did
he want to be added to the list.

    "Is it a sin to know a thing or two?" Azriel
contended.
    By now the teacher had already returned to
the front of the class. He had had enough humiliation to last him
for the rest of the class period. "Tell me Mr. Markov, would you
like to enlighten your classmates then and tell them why the bubble
burst on the economy in the mid-20s?"
    "The 2020s, sir?"
    "Yes, yes, yes," the teacher impatiently
confirmed with a frown.
    "Due to the fact that our economy became too
dependent on hedge funds which so happened to be with the financial
institutions of Wall Street...when the U.S. markets entered a
permanent freefall, it was too late. We were already sunk."
    "I should take a day off and let you
substitute."
    Azriel blushed. Using his cell phone's
screen as a mirror, he had it pointed to his right, hoping to catch
the girl who stared at him. On occasion her head would begin to
turn around, but then abruptly stop. She's on to me.
    Ten minutes later a shrill bell brought the
period to a close. The class emptied out into the hall in a
confusingly loud jangle. Azriel got bumped around a few times. This
would take some getting used to. School life, that is. He had been
out of the schools for so long that the quick immersion threw him
off kilter .

    ...

    "He's smart."
    "What did I tell you? Eh?"
    "He's headed to pre-cal next. Let's see how
he does."
    "You don't understand. He's the son of Seth
Markov. The man who graduated summa cum laude from MIT--who's now
running Mossad operations in the field." Assistant principle
Rafael's eyebrows hiked. "I had no idea sir."
    "By the end of the day I think you'll get
the picture. This kid is the stuff."
    "The prospect is exciting."
    Rafael ended the call feeling good about the
situation. He kept his expectations low on the new student though
despite the reports he had read about him.

    A single bulb hanging from a thread threw
its glow down to a simple desk the eavesdropper sat at. Every
minute or so he checked the monitors like he was a night watch
protecting a vault loaded with stacks of bills.
    A paperback opened up towards the middle
laid on the surface waiting for him to resume his adventures in the
action-packed tale of a double agent trapped in the Amazon.

    Azriel had found his locker and fumbled
around with the combination lock for longer than was necessary. He
had no books in the narrow storage unit yet. No four by six of a
sweetheart taped to the mirror. No bag of contraband to munch
on.
    Nothing to see here, Rafael decided.
His hand swooped up the fiction novel rather eagerly. And to think
he would get paid for this. It was a good life.

    --

Chapter 5

    The Ozarks

    Heather stretched her cramped muscles.
Although no one came into her cell to bring the pain, neither did
they come to bring the food either. Malnutrition became a dangerous
new reality.
    Her dry cracking skin, mangy hair, and dirty
jumpsuit plagued her night and day. Sleep didn't come easy. She
exhaled heavily and sat, reflecting on that morning's visit.
Christophe and Damion.
    Heather smiled thinking about the French
scientist. He had made a good impression on her. Damion she was
more uncertain of. His resume and long list of achievements were
impressive. And so was his appearance. Probably a charmer no doubt.
Good with the ladies....
    She looked forward to another meeting with
the inmates from the adjoining cell. She had a lot she wanted to
tell them. Suddenly the thought hit her. They were in far more
danger than she was. She didn't hold any secrets that needed to
come out, but they did.
    Scorpion would pump them for facts. Anything
that would make their abduction especially worth