The taller masts were just becoming visible in the distance. Probably only another kilometer until halfway. Once Nir Tavor reached the marina on the southern edge of Herzliya, he’d swap out the sandy shoes he was wearing for the clean pair in his backpack. Then he’d jog cement paths and roads for the five-and-a-half kilometers back to his car parked just this side of the power station at the north end of Tel Aviv. When he first attempted this route, he had run barefoot in the Mediterranean sand. It took less than two kilometers before his calves burned and he felt like his ankles were going to break. Lesson learned.
Later this morning, he was booked for a flight back to Brussels. From there he’d take the train to Antwerp and his European home. In the past, he’d always relished his times not too many kilometers from the eastern shore of the Atlantic, where he lived his life dealing in precious stones. But the appeal was wearing off. There was so much going on in his home country of Israel. Every time he had flown out lately, he felt as if he was shirking his duty by going off to live the good life in Europe.
The music in his earbuds faded as an electronic voice alerted, “Call from Yossi.”
Nir double tapped his right earbud, sending the call to voicemail. The music, a song by an Israeli rapper named Tuna, rose back up.
But it wasn’t like he was abandoning his country. Hadn’t he just two days ago returned from leading a Kidon operation in Cyprus? Some Turkish mechanical engineer needed to be encouraged to offer his talents to someone other than the Iranian government. Nir and his team had employed their own brand of persuasion, and the man had quickly acquiesced. But now, while the rest of the team stayed here in the country, their leader was jetting off once again.
Maybe it’s time to get out of the diamond business. I already have more money than I need. I claim that it’s my cover, but really, it’s become my comfort. When’s the last time I used my diamond-broker alias? Almost a year ago in Russia. And before that? At least a few years.
Tuna faded again, and the electronic voice repeated, “Call from Yossi.”
Dude, I’m working out.
He double-tapped the earbud. The rapper came back up.
It used to be that Nir took every call that came his way. That led to his workouts becoming hours long, filled with starts and stops as he dealt with issues that could easily have waited. Out of frustration, Nir decided that only two people would be allowed to interrupt his jogs—Efraim and Nicole. Efraim Cohen was his best friend and his superior at the Mossad. Nicole le Roux was…
What is she? The best analyst I know. The most beautiful woman I’ve ever met. The only Jesus-follower I can tolerate listening to for more than five minutes. The love of my life, who is breaking my heart because she’s letting her Christian convictions come between us.
Nir shook the thoughts from his mind and focused on the music. This guy had some deep lyrics. Besides, it was too beautiful a morning to let himself go down the Nicole rabbit hole. As soon as the Cyprus operation ended, she had hopped a flight back home to Milan, where she had a photo shoot for some cosmetics company. He had no idea when he would see her again.
Half a kilometer to go. Nir took a sip from a straw that led to a water pouch in his backpack.
The music faded and a voice said, “Call from Yossi.”
Nir tapped the earbud once. His frustrated tone showed a little more than he intended when he blurted, “Achi, I’m in the middle of a workout. Can I call you back?”
“Sorry, boss, I wouldn’t be bugging you if I didn’t think it was important,” Yossi replied.
Nir sighed. “You’re right. Ta’ut sheli. What’s up?”
“Adira and I are down at the Nova rave in the Negev.”
“Heard about it. You staying away from the Molly?”
Yossi’s pause was as good as an admission of guilt.
Yeah, we’re going to talk about that when I see him next.
“Let’s just say it’s been a crazy time. Anyway, we were watching the sun come up when suddenly a huge barrage of rockets came flying out of Gaza. Not unusual, I know. But some of them seemed to be coming our way, which was weird.”
Nir slowed his pace down to a walk. “Why would they target a party? Did anything make it through?”
“Not that I could tell. Looked like the dome took most of them down. So they called a red alert, then told us all to bug out.”
“Probably smart.” Nir tried to picture the notice about the rave that had popped up as an ad on his social media. “You’re where? Re’im, right? I’m going to give Efraim a call and see if he knows what’s going on.”
“Yeah, Re’im. But there’s something more. We’re looking toward Gaza and we’re seeing these things in the sky coming our way. They’re too low and slow to be rockets. They almost look like parachutes. But they’re moving parallel to the ground instead of vertically. And the weirdest thing is that there are people on them. They’ve got me a little creeped out.”
Parachutes traveling parallel to the ground? What the heck?
Nir began cutting up toward the road. “Achi, I’m not liking this. Can you hear anything?”
Again, Yossi paused. “There’s too much noise here. Everyone is trying to head out, so it’s all car engines and horns honking.”
What kind of parachute travels parallel?
All Nir could picture were the parasailers off the shore in Tel Aviv. But Yossi was in the desert.
His analyst’s voice interrupted him. “Nir, some guy here just said they’re gliders. I think he’s right. Again, it’s too loud here to hear them, but it looks like there’s an engine below the parachute, and someone is sitting in front driving it.”
Why would gliders be carrying people from Gaza?
Then it hit him. “Yossi, you and Adira get out of there now! Tell me, do you have earbuds?”
“Motek, we need to move faster. Hurry!” Nir heard Yossi’s breathing begin to accelerate. “I’ve got earbuds, boss.”
“Put one in and leave this call open. If we get cut off, call me back. If it sounds like I’m gone, it’s because I’m talking to Efraim. Run, brother, and don’t stop until you’re out of there.”
Nir heard Yossi tell Adira to hold his phone for him. After finally reaching the road, Nir stopped and got his phone out of his pocket. He was about to switch lines to call Efraim when he heard the pop of gunfire through his earbud.