Forced Silence

by Vered Cohen Wisotzki

  She tried to get up again, but one of them ran to her and pushed her back down. “Don’t you dare do that again. We have no time to deal with you. Be a good girl and just sit here quietly.”

  “I’m looking for my daughter, that’s all. You must know where she is.”

  This time there was no response at all.

  She crossed her arms and tried to think of a way to flee. She hoped that Doron had not yet discovered that she had left the car.

  ***

  Should I go towards those buildings on the hilltop, or should I get in the car and drive down the streets of the settlement? Doron wondered. Where the hell is Gali? he asked himself as he suddenly noticed a car, apparently hidden behind the buildings. He looked more closely and was struck by a realization: it was the car which had tailed him that afternoon, the one which his assailants had been in. He remembered the make, model, and color well. He reached for his Barretta, quickly drawing it and rushing to slink alongside the path, approaching the buildings without being seen.

  Inside one of those buildings, Asaf and Yehiel were avoiding Galia’s questions. They were looking for some tool to use against the police should they raid the hilltop. They were the last ones there. Everyone else had sought refuge inside the homes of Ein Regev proper. There was some rustling nearby, then barks.

  “That poor dog, he’s getting soaked in the rain. Why don’t you let him in?” Galia asked. She already was planning her escape.

  One of the young men went to the door, opening it a bit to whistle at the dog. They could hear the dog padding towards the door, and a few seconds later, it appeared, panting. One of the young men invited the dog in, beckoning him to enter. Galia realized this was her chance. She got up off the mattress, moving towards the dog to pet him.

  “Sweetie, you poor thing, you’re totally soaked…” Suddenly, with a courage she had not known she possessed, she pushed the young man in the doorway and started running pell-mell towards the path which led down to the convoy of police cars. She heard steps behind her and accelerated her pace. The rain slapped her in the face, and it was hard to see the way. The path was unpaved, and it became muddy; Galia tried desperately to avoid slipping in the mire. Someone was calling her name, which made her unsure. She stopped for a moment. Hands grabbed at her again, and when she tried to call for help, once again a wet hand was clamped over her mouth.

  “Calm down, you crazy bitch,” one of the young men whispered in her ear.

  She groaned deep in her throat, but with the hand over her mouth, no sound came out.

  Suddenly, a voice rang out, “Let her go or I’ll shoot!” It was Doron. She could not see him, as the soggy strands of her hair were covering her face, but she felt a sense of relief pulsing through her.

  “I said, leave her alone, or you’ll regret it.” Yes, now that he could see their faces, these were definitely the two young men who had beaten him up earlier.

  It didn’t look like the young men would give up easily. They started to drag Galia back. With gun drawn, Doron trailed them and drew closer to them. If he fired in the air, he knew that this might cause a riot in the yeshiva. Who knew what might happen next? He had to rescue Galia from her captors quietly and then apprehend them. The barking dog was still audible between their legs as they stepped back towards the building.

  “Go home! Home!” the two yelled at the poor canine, trying to chase him away with their legs, but the dog didn’t listen to them, as it continued to bark at them.

  The wind blew Galia’s hair out of her face, allowing her to see Doron, mere feet from her, his arms extended in front of him, holding his Barretta. She saw the tension in his face. His steps were measured and considered, and the same deliberation was exhibited by her abductors. She knew why Doron hesitated to shoot. She understood his thinking; she too was worried that raising a ruckus would endanger Shir, if she was still in the area.

  The rain wasn’t stopping, nor was the barking. Galia felt that she had no alternative; she had to free herself. It wouldn’t be easy, but Doron stood in front of her, his gun drawn. She simply needed to fight them, to free herself, and to run to him.

  And so she did. Suddenly, she surprised the young men, pretending that she had tripped over something on the ground. In the fraction of a second in which her abductors’ grips were loosened, she broke free and ran to Doron. These few feet seemed to be an interminable journey to her, and the whole time she kept her eyes riveted on Doron.

  “Don’t you dare move!” he yelled at them when they tried, unsuccessfully, to run after her. They immediately stopped and put up their hands. Doron’s handgun was still drawn towards them, and he looked from them to Galia, who reached his side panting, her entire body shaking.

  “Are you all right?” The worry in his voice was honest.

  “Yes, yes…” She clung to him tightly.

  “Why did you leave the car?” he asked, but didn’t wait for an answer. He motioned to the young men to turn around and to advance towards the building they had left only a few minutes ago.

  “Galia, open the door and then move aside.” Doron surveyed the empty room, motioning with his gun that the two young men should enter.

  They sat down on the mattress and looked at Doron. “We should have finished you off there, on the roadside,” one of them hurled at him.

  “You’re exactly right. You should have done that. It’s a shame you didn’t, because now you’ll regret it.” He looked around… “Galia, do you see the rope over there? Take it, and tie their hands up.”

  Galia did as she was asked. She was shaking as she stood so close to them again.

  “Don’t be afraid, I’m right here. Just make sure you tie them up tightly.”

  Glia hurried, and once she was done, she stepped back.

  “You’ll never catch Naama. There are many others just like us who are helping her,” said one of the young men, trying to keep his voice even and calm.

  “Shut up, you son of a bitch,” Doron yelled and kicked his leg. “Don’t you get it? Before I’m finished with you, you’ll have to tell me where Naama is and where my daughter is.”

  “You cannot kill us. You want to arrest us, go right ahead. We have nothing to tell you.”

  “Doron?” Galia asked, her voice shaking. She knew that time was running out, and they had to find Shir quickly, before she disappeared with her sister.

  “Gali,” he stated. “Go outside and see if there’s anyone around.”

  Without arguing, Galia left the room and stood by the door outside.

  Doron approached the two young men.

  “Now, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. Your choice. Just know that I will arrest you no matter what. The only question is what condition you’ll be in when you get to jail — on your feet or on a stretcher?” His voice was cold as ice.

  They remained silent.

  Doron yelled: “I want to know where my daughter is RIGHT NOW!” However, they seemed determined to remain quiet.

  His eyes flashing with unrestrained fury, Doron advanced and struck one of the young men on the head with the butt of his gun. The young man immediately fell back against the mattress unconscious. His companion looked horrified. “You, you can’t do this. You’re…”

  “I’m what? A cop? Do you think I give a fuck about that? I’m looking for my daughter…” He looked at the fallen man nonchalantly. “You know, that shithead is the lucky one. He’s already unconscious. You’re the one who’s going to experience some serious pain now. I’m about to fuck you up, and if I have to, I’ll start shooting. Unless you tell me where Naama is.”

  “I…” the terrified young man stammered. “I — I don’t have any idea where she is.”

  “Don’t you fucking lie to me!” Doron yelled as he smashed his gun into the frightened young man’s face.

  Blood spattered on his clothing, but Doron did no
t care at all. He looked at the bloodstained gun, wiping it off with his shirt.

  “You broke my nose!” the young man blubbered.

  “Stop whining, you piece of shit, and tell me what I want to hear!” Doron reached down to put his gun against the young man’s temple.

  “I — I can tell you where her house is, but I don’t know where she is. She wouldn’t tell anyone where she was going.” His voice shook with terror.

  “Good boy!” Doron said once he’d gotten the information. He then turned to leave the room, but not without warning him: “Don’t you dare try to leave this room. Or a lot more than your nose is going to end up broken.”

  Galia, who was freezing in the cold outside, was glad to see him. “Well?”

  “He knows where her house is. She was too smart; she didn’t tell anyone where she’ll be spending the night. I hope we can find someone who has more to tell.”

  Galia was shaking. Her clothing was soaked, and the wind was blowing strongly. Doron hugged her as they made their way to the path. They walked towards the lights, and they observed as Rabbi Bender, his aide, and some of the students were being taken to police cars.

  Doron approach Yuval, who asked, “What happened? Where’d you go?”

  “It doesn’t make a difference. Go, do your job, interrogate them, find out what their connection is to this whole clusterfuck. I need to snoop around here some more, and then I’ll meet you at the airport, if we find no other leads. Oh yeah, by the way, in that building you’ll find, in one of the rooms, two young men. They’re the ones who beat the shit out of me earlier today. Watch them carefully. I have a score to settle with them.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Galia and Doron got into their car. Slowly and silently, they drove towards the houses in the instance.

  “He said the house has a blue Subaru parked in front of it,” he told her as they drove.

  It didn’t take long to find the car and park alongside it.

  “There’s no reason to ask you to stay here, right?” he asked, as he got out and slammed his door.

  “No… don’t even try.”

  They went up to the house and knocked on the door. Time passed agonizingly, without any noise in response. Doron tried to open the door, and it easily swung open. It was dark and quite inside. They stopped for a moment, as a sound was audible inside. Doron touched Galia’s shoulder, gesturing that she should stay where she was. He followed the noises, opening door after door. When he got to the backroom, he realized that it was the source of the muffled sounds. Carefully, gun drawn, he opened the door; he could barely see a figure seated on a chair, trying to stand up.

  He hit the light switch.

  An older woman sat on the chair, her hair covered with a kerchief. She looked at Doron, her eyes begging him to come closer. A rag had been stuffed in her mouth. Doron hurried to her side, freeing her from the rag in her mouth and the ropes around her arms.

  “Thank you, thank you so much. You must be Galia’s husband. Is she here? Is Galia here? Please, I’m Naama’s mother.” She was panting, trying to catch her breath.

  Galia entered the room.

  “Doron? Is everything okay? I heard noises.” Suddenly, she stopped.

  The older woman looked at her. “Galia?”

  “Yes, I’m Galia. You must be her mother…” Galia approached and stood before her.

  “Yes, my name is Daniela. I hoped you’d get here earlier. I’m so sorry I couldn’t stop her. I couldn’t persuade her to leave Shir here. She hasn’t been thinking straight these past few days, and Immanuel insisted they take Shir with them.”

  “Immanuel?” Galia and Doron asked in unison.

  “Immanuel, her husband. The rabbi’s son…”

  Now Doron understand the cloud he had seen pass over the rabbi’s eyes. He’d had many secrets to hide.

  “I would explain, I would tell you about him, about Naama, but there isn’t time. You must hurry. They took Shir, and they intend to flee with her. You have a wonderful little girl, but it was so hard for her here without you. I tried to calm her down. But now you have to go after them to get her back.”

  Galia approached her and hugged her. She could easily see that Daniela had a good heart but was clearly in pain thinking of how her daughter was about to be captured by the police.

  “But can’t you tell us something that will help us find them?” Galia begged.

  Daniela sat back on the chair. “I heard them whispering in secret last night. They didn’t want anyone to hear them, but I heard something about waiting for passports and plane tickets. They got them tonight, so they must be on their way to the airport.”

  “But Shir, what about Shir?” Galia’s heart was frozen in fear.

  Hesitantly, Daniela responded, without looking them in the eye: “Shir is with them.”

  Galia looked questioningly at Doron.

  “All right, if you don’t have any information to give us, Daniela, we must be on our way. Maybe the other cops have managed to uncover some additional info.”

  Galia hugged Daniela again and kissed her on the cheek. “Thank you, thank you so much for protecting Shir for me. You are a good woman.” Galia was crying.

  “Thanks, Daniela.” Doron nodded and left. Galia stayed for another moment.

  Daniela nodded her head, eyes downcast. “I am so sorry…”

  Galia went outside to the car. Doron had already turned the ignition key and was waiting to depart. Once Galia had closed her door, he drove off, returning to the yeshiva campus. He called Udi, giving him all details they had learned. Udi notified Doron that massive police and GSS forces were about to deploy at Ben-Gurion Airport.

  “Udi, I hope they’ve been warned to keep out of sight. If Naama notices them, she could take off again, and we’ll lose the one lead we have.”

  “Don’t worry, Doron. Our forces will be out of view. We also have unmarked cars stationed along the highways approaching the airport, and they’ll investigate any suspicious movement. They have pictures of Naama and Shir. They won’t get past us without being caught.”

  “I certainly hope so.” Doron’s voice was suffused with worry.

  “So you and Galia are on your way to Ben-Gurion? Be careful on the road.”

  “Yeah, thanks,” Doron said and hung up.

  The car became quiet once again. The road in front of them was dark, with no cars visible on the horizon. Doron was troubled. The road on which they travelled was not truly safe for Israeli cars travelling on their own. The lights of Arab villages along the road, which had seemed so far away before, now seemed too close. He felt his body grow tense. His Barretta was under his seat. He had often travelled on dangerous roads, but now his worry increased exponentially. He was not alone; Galia was with him in the car, and they were both speeding along to find Shir.

  When would they reach the Israeli town of Kfar Saba? Its lights seemed to twinkle in the distance, misleading him—perhaps they were actually the lights of the Palestinian town of Qalqilya on the horizon? He shot a look at Galia. She sat wrapped in her coat. Her eyes were closed. He supposed that the brief encounter with Naama’s mother had aroused Galia’s emotions; she was probably still thinking of it. He fought the impulse to reach out a hand to her, but he was still too angry. The silence between them became oppressive.

  Galia preferred to argue with Doron; at least that way she knew what he was thinking and feeling. Still she remained silent. She didn’t want to distract him; she knew that he was planning the steps he would need to take over the next few hours.

  Doron broke the uncomfortable silence. “Didn’t you know that your sister was married? Don’t try to lie to me, I’ll know!”

  “No, I didn’t know. And I have no reason to lie to you now.” She tried to keep the conversation going.

  “You had no reason to lie to me before, but you di
d anyway,” he accused her.

  “That’s what you want to talk about? Should I explain again why I lied to you?”

  “No, not at all. I have no desire to hear your excuses. All I’m thinking about is how to arrest your sister and what Shir must be going through because of all of your lies, secrets, schemes, whatever you call it.” He shot a furious glance at her. He knew that his words hurt her. She herself understood his anger and disappointment, but she could not accept the way Doron characterized her subterfuge.

  “Excuses? I never have given excuses for my actions. You know me better than that.”

  Doron shot a view at her. “I know you better than that?” He grinned humorlessly. “After the last few days, how can you say that? I don’t know you at all!” he declared bitterly.

  “That’s bullshit — hey, watch out!” she screamed. A car which had been following them suddenly passed them, threatening to send them off the road onto the steep shoulder.

  Doron resourcefully maneuvered and kept them on the road, as he hissed, “Assholes…”

  They continued for a few moments, but then some other car which had been following them too suddenly appeared. Again and again, it swerved close to them, almost running them off the highway. Doron stepped on the gas, accelerating and trying to get away from the other car; but the highway was dark and wet, with the heavy rain reducing visibility to near zero.

  Galia’s heart was gripped by terror once again. Her life flashed before her eyes, image after image as if it were being projected onto a blank white wall. Moments from her life, experiences, memories — except the blank white wall was actually the dark of night and the rain spread across their windshield. Doron, again and again, tried to get away from the other car, but it stuck to them and pushed them to the edge of the road repeatedly.

  Doron yelled abruptly, “Hold on tight!” He had to suddenly swerve wildly to avoid colliding with a road sign on the side of the highway.