Chapter 20
Jet and David endured the clusters of stopped cars until they were out of Jerusalem, at which point the road opened up and they were able to make better time. On the outskirts of Tel Aviv, David announced that he was hungry, so they stopped for lunch at a seafood restaurant and took a table at the back, where they were alone. When the fish came, it smelled heavenly, and they eagerly devoured it as they debated their next move.
“It’s dangerous to the point of being foolhardy,” David stated flatly.
“Not if we’re careful.”
“It also has us acting as judge and jury.”
“Like all the operations I’ve ever been on. The only difference is that in this case I’m making the judgment, not some anonymous wonk I’ve never heard of,” she argued, “and we might gain useful intel on Grigenko.”
“What if we’re wrong?”
“We aren’t.”
“The man is a legend in the Mossad. He deserves better than this.”
“No, he doesn’t. Nobody argued my needs and wants, or tried to defend my right to fair treatment when the gunmen were trying to kill me.”
They sat, eating in silence, David troubled by her intentions.
When they’d finished their meal and were back in the car, he was still obviously upset.
“What if I refuse to participate?”
“Then you can sit this one out. I’ll deal with it myself,” she said.
“Is there anything I can say to talk you out of this? Or at least to get you to slow down a little?”
She didn’t answer, just threw him a look he knew too well as she drove wordlessly to the cottage.
They found a parking spot a block away from the house. Jet retrieved the bag from the back seat before David could get it. He was still recovering, and there was no reason for him to carry the weapons, even if she was annoyed with him over his stubborn objections to her latest scheme.
When they rounded the corner, Jet grabbed his arm and slowed.
“What?” he asked.
“Up ahead. Hundred yards. Two vehicles. SUVs. Drivers are still in them. Not moving.”
“You sure? Shit.”
“Is the MTAR loaded?”
“One in the hole.”
She pulled the Glock free of her purse, slipped it to him and unzipped the duffle. Then all hell broke loose.
Six men came running up the street wielding submachine guns and pistols. Jet pushed David away from her and dropped to one knee just as the lead man opened fire. She heard the telltale whistle of bullets slicing through the air as David’s Glock barked from a few yards to her right, where he’d taken cover behind a car. Throwing herself to the sidewalk, she whipped the MTAR free and squeezed off three short bursts. The two lead men went down hard, their weapons slamming into the pavement as her rounds tore through their torsos. A third man spun and fell after one of David’s shots clipped him, but they were too far away for the Glock to be accurate. Jet fired another burst, and the fourth man’s throat erupted a bright crimson arterial spurt. She crawled to the garage as David lay down covering fire.
She just made it when slugs pounded into the wall. Jet let loose two more percussive salvos as David ran in a crouch to her. Firing down the street, she reached into the bag with her free hand, groped around, and then handed him another full magazine for the Glock. They changed positions. David peered around the corner and emptied the pistol at the gunmen as Jet stuck another magazine in her back pocket and ran to the rear of the house. David followed suit, slamming the new magazine into his weapon as he moved.
Jet made a hand signal – David shook his head, no. She wanted to circle back around and take on their pursuers. What they needed to do was to get the hell out of there. Jet ignored his agitated expression and edged to the rear corner, then sprinted to the opposite side and tore as fast as she could for the front again.
Footsteps thudded on concrete as the remaining men ran toward the garage. Crouching low, Jet set the MTAR on full auto and took cover behind a garbage can. One man passed her, then another. She sprang up and unleashed a hail of rounds, cutting the pair down before they had a chance to turn and face her. She spun and ejected the spent magazine and slapped the second into the gun, then carefully loosed a short burst at the first SUV that was bearing down on her in reverse, tires smoking.
The fuel tank detonated, and the vehicle exploded with a whump. She felt the force of the blast on her face, and then David was pulling on her arm, dragging her back.
“Let’s get out of here. Now. Come on.”
She jerked her arm free and gave him a withering glance.
“We don’t know how many there are,” he hissed, “and the police will be here in minutes. Think. If we want to fight another day, it’s time to move.”
She took another look at the street where the truck was belching flame and nodded.
“Let’s go.”
They jogged together through the backyards of the surrounding homes, listening for sounds of pursuit. When they reached the car, she thrust the keys at him.
“You drive.”
Within seconds, they were pulling onto the cross street.
The second SUV skidded around the corner, and they could just make out three heads inside. David floored the gas and headed for the highway.
She saw a gunman pointing a weapon out one of the windows.
“Evasive maneuvers!” she screamed and turned in the seat, rolling her passenger window down.
David swerved to present a more difficult target, and Jet’s hip slammed into the door as she fought to get the MTAR free of the car.
A horn blasted at them, and an oncoming truck missed their front fender by a whisper. It continued honking as the SUV barreled at it, and then came the distinctive burping report of automatic rifle fire from behind them. David swerved again, and Jet braced herself, sighting at the SUV before spraying it with everything in the magazine.
At least a few of the shots hit home. The windshield went snowy white, and smoke began streaming from under the hood. She pulled herself back into the car, and David rocketed around a corner, taking the left turn on two wheels.
The engine roared as he floored it again. He wrenched the wheel to the right, propelling them up another street.
David’s palm slammed against the horn as they nearly rear-ended a slow-moving old sedan taking up most of the lane. The driver stomped on the brakes, and David had to twist the wheel and slow to avoid smashing into the parked cars. He inched past, narrowly missing the sedan’s mirror, and was rewarded with an outthrusted middle finger in a universal symbol of insult offered by a wizened old woman barely able to see over the dashboard.
The corners of Jet’s mouth twitched and the tension broke. She lowered the gun, glancing at David before returning her attention to their pursuers. David accelerated to the end of the block and executed another turn, and then they were on a large boulevard, headed for the freeway, no sign of the SUV anywhere.
Once they were a few miles down the highway, she relaxed and turned to face him.
“Still think I’m being rash?” she asked.
“How…how do you think they found us?”
“There are only three things I can imagine. Either they traced the supposedly-untraceable IP mask I used, or Rani told them, or they somehow found out about him and followed him.”
“No way he would tell anyone, and you’re the only person I’ve ever told about him. So that leaves technology. Can you think of any way they could have tracked you?” he demanded.
“Not really, but then again, I’m very, very good, but I don’t know everything that’s possible, especially at the Mossad level. I think a better question is, who was that?”
David frowned. “What do you mean? It’s got to be the Russians.”
“I tend to agree, but how did the Russians know we were nosing around in the Mossad servers? It has to be the mole. There’s no other explanation, unless you believe that the entire agency is working fo
r Grigenko.”
They were quiet for a long time. The implications were nothing but bad. David glanced at her with a dour expression then pulled off after two exits.
“David. What are you doing?”
“We need to warn Rani.”
“There’s such a thing as a phone.”
“He won’t take it seriously unless I do this in person.”
She hated that he was probably right.
They stopped at Gabe’s deli, pulling around to the back, and David called while she inspected the vehicle for damage. He had a short conversation then returned to the car.
“He’s coming. I told him it was an emergency and to meet me at the last place he met my friend.”
“We got lucky. No bullet holes in the car,” she said.
“That’s what happens when you have an expert driving.” They both rolled their eyes and laughed together.
Rani pulled up six minutes later, looking flustered. They watched the lot to make sure he wasn’t followed, and then Jet walked into the building. Rani followed and edged close to her by the sodas.
“What’s the emergency? Are you all right?”
Jet gave him a brief synopsis of the shootout on the street in front of his guesthouse. By the time she was done, he was white as a ghost. David joined them as she was finishing her summary, and put his hand on Rani’s shoulder.
“You need to disappear for a while, Rani. Now. It’s just a matter of time until they figure out whose house that is. I wouldn’t even go back to the office. Just go somewhere you can melt into the background.”
“Are you nuts? I can’t just leave without giving my patients notice!”
“A small army is dead in the street in front of your house. The cops are already there. Some of the bad guys got away. You’ll be the natural place they’ll be looking. They have no other leads,” Jet explained.
“How will they know I own the house?” David just stared at Rani. “But I don’t have my ID…”
David pulled out ten thousand dollars and handed it to him.
“This will keep you for at least a month, maybe a month and a half. Don’t go within five miles of the guest house. Go directly to your place and get your passport, then get the hell out of there, and I mean in seconds, Rani. My guess is you have fifteen minutes at most, but if I’m wrong, you don’t want to find out the hard way. Then drive to your bank and pull out a bunch more money. Head to any of the border checkpoints and walk across, and then get to an airport and go somewhere far away. I would suggest something tropical and third world. Someplace where there isn’t a lot of recordkeeping and you can pay cash for a hotel and sign in without ID under a phony name.” David paused, taking in Rani’s shocked expression. “Don’t use your credit cards. Leave your cell phone in the trash here – it can be tracked. I’ll send you an e-mail when this is over and it’s safe to go home. I’m sorry, buddy. I’m really sorry. But there’s no other way…”
When Rani left, he looked like a condemned man.
They both knew the feeling.
Jet and David went back to the car and sat inside, lost in their own thoughts.
She took his hand. “How are you holding up?”
“Great. What’s for dessert?” he quipped.
Jet smiled. “Rani did say he wanted you to get out and move around a little.”
“I’m guessing he didn’t mean this.”
They took pause for a while, holding hands, and then she leaned over and kissed him softly on the cheek.
“You still think I’m crazy?” she whispered.
“Always.”
“Ready to put my plan into motion?”
He sighed, defeated. “Do I have a choice?”
“Not really. Not after all this.”
He turned the key and glanced at the gas gauge.
She pushed her other hand through her hair, brushing it out of her face, and gave him a small shrug. David nodded and put the car into gear.
“Looks like you win,” he said.
“Let’s hope so.”