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They reached the blockade around the corner from the clinic.

Two dozen heavily armed commandos from Mishmar Hagvul —the Israeli border police —were waiting for orders to move. Behind them were officers from the sapper unit, already fully dressed in their bomb detection and defusal outfits.

Marcus drew his Sig Sauer. Kailea drew hers. Tomer would have none of it. They were going to need heavier firepower than that. He grabbed M4 assault rifles from two of the commandos, handed them to his American colleagues, and ordered the commandos to hand over their spare magazines, as well. They did so, and Marcus returned his pistol to his shoulder holster.

Tomer then took an M4 and ammo for himself. He explained to the commandos what was about to happen. He radioed the same information to the mirror team at the other end of the street. They all made sure they were on the same frequencies. Then Marcus called Roseboro to quickly bring him up to speed.

The moment he hung up, they moved out.

Marcus led, taking care not to move down the center of the alley. Instead, he hugged close to the buildings on the right side of the alley to cut down both the line of sight and angle of attack if al-Qassab was watching from one of Dr. Husseini’s windows. Kailea was right behind him. Tomer brought up the rear. With no time to spare, there was no point making a slow approach, so Marcus broke into a sprint.

Seconds later, they were at the door of the dental clinic. All the lettering on the windows was in Arabic, which Marcus could not read. When Tomer confirmed this was the place, Marcus reached for the door handle and turned. It was locked. Tomer handed him Semtex plastic explosives and a detonator. Marcus attached the Semtex to the handle, inserted the detonator, and unspooled enough cord for him to back off a safe distance to the left of the door. Kailea and Tomer moved back an equal distance to the right. Marcus silently mouthed a countdown from three.

The explosion was instant and deafening. It didn’t simply blow the door off its hinges; it disintegrated the door entirely. None of them were wearing goggles, but Marcus bolted inside anyway, working on the assumption that anyone on the other side of the door had to have been badly injured or at least had his ears blown out. Either way, he’d have the element of surprise.

Sweeping the M4 from side to side, Marcus saw no one in the waiting room. He headed down the main corridor, keeping his weapon pointed straight ahead. Using hand signals, he directed Kailea and Tomer to check the offices and exam rooms on the left and right. Each shouted, “Clear!” as they did.

At the end of the hall, Marcus found four bloodied bodies in the break room. Keeping his weapon trained on them in case it was a trick, he immediately called his colleagues to join him. Kailea guarded their six, keeping her weapon trained back up the hallway, while Tomer entered the break room and checked each person for a pulse.

“They’re gone,” he said. “Double-taps to the head.”

“Nine-millimeter?” Marcus asked.

Tomer nodded. “Yeah.”

“Same as Haqqani?”

“Looks that way.”

“That’s gotta be al-Qassab,” Marcus said. “How long ago were they shot?”

“Not long,” said Tomer. “Bodies are still warm.”

“Then he could still be in the building,” Kailea said.

“Find the stairs,” said Marcus. “Come on —let’s move.”