~ ~ ~
Jet returned to the room fifteen minutes later. The stink of burned flesh hung like a pall in the air, and David was leaning against the wall, sweating and breathing heavily. Eli’s head was resting on his chest, what remained of his mouth burbling incoherently.
“We should leave, David. It’s just a matter of time till they shut the town down and start searching every vehicle. You know there had to be a protocol for him to check in once he was settling in for the night. They’re sure to send someone around, and when they find his car…”
David looked up at her. “Okay. I’m finished with him, anyway. He told me everything I need to know.” He spat on Eli.
“What about him?”
“I’ll deal with it. Give me a minute. I’ll meet you by the car,” David said.
When he walked into the main section of the abandoned warehouse they’d commandeered for the interrogation, he looked grim. She studied his face before turning to the vehicle.
“Eli?”
“No longer with us.”
“That will save the Mossad the work of making him disappear, I suppose. There was no way he could have faced any sort of formal charges, was there?”
“Not a chance. He knew where far too many bodies were buried. This way is best. He won’t be talking to anyone about us, or helping the Russian any longer, and whenever someone finds him, the Mossad will keep it under wraps.”
“So now what?” she asked.
“We’ll need to get out of the country as soon as possible, but I don’t like our odds going through the border to Jordan on foot. Unlike Rani, I’m in databases, and for all I know, I’m already on a watch list because of the shooting at the safe house. And airports are obviously out. That means I’m going to need to make a few calls.”
“Tonight?”
“No better time I can think of.”
David walked over to the roll-up door and pulled the chain, raising it five feet. Jet started the car and inched out with the headlights off, and David ducked under the door as it dropped shut.
“What did he tell you?” she asked as they moved toward the highway.
“He confirmed some things I suspected, and some others I didn’t. For him, it was all about money. He claims Grigenko’s people got in touch with him two years ago and made him an offer he couldn’t refuse. Millions of dollars for helping, or a bullet to the brain if he didn’t – not just for himself, but also for his daughter, who lives in New York. They seemed to know about the existence of the team, but not our identities. The payment was blood money to sell us out.”
They rode in silence for a minute, and then Jet pointed to the road signs. “Where to?”
David thought about it. “Haifa. There are a lot of hotels where we can get a room and we won’t be bothered…and they’ll take cash.”
She took the road north.
“Eli swore that the only information he provided them was the identities of the team members who participated in the Algiers attack. So Rain wasn’t the Russians. It was just coincidental timing. Looks like the cell figured out it had a problem and decided to do something about it.”
The road rumbled beneath their tires as she changed lanes.
“Eli also said that we were too late. That the Mossad had gotten wind of something in Belize. It wasn’t specific, but I think we can guess it has to do with the oil find.”
“Did he say why the Mossad was involved in that?”
“He didn’t know. It’s possible that there are others on Grigenko’s payroll in the agency. I believe he told us everything he knew. But he did say one thing that’s disturbing. He told me just before you came in. Right before he lost consciousness for the last time.”
“What was it, David?”
He adjusted his position in an effort to get more comfortable in the cheap seat.
“Eli said that whatever was going on in Belize was already in play. That there was no stopping it now.”
Jet Page 41