ONE HOUR LATER
CAFALA BAHR, ARABIAN SEA, OFF MUMBAI, INDIA—17:10 / 5:10 P.M. IST
The chill of water jolted Nir awake. He sputtered, tasting salt in his mouth and feeling a raw blast up his nostrils. His eyes burned when he opened them, and through the blur he saw a soldier in an IRGC uniform stepping away and carrying a water hose.
“Mr. Tavor, it’s good to have you back with us.”
Nir followed the voice and saw Kamal standing with two other men—Saad Salim and General Arash Mousavi. Scattered around were several IRGC soldiers and a few of Kamal’s men.
You can’t let Salim and Mousavi realize you know who they are. Stay strong. Stretch it out. Give your boys a chance to come get you.
“Kamal,” he choked out. Nir cleared his throat and spit. “Good to see you’re still around. Still doing that keto diet?”
“See what I mean about the Jewish arrogance?” Kamal said to the other two men.
“Want to introduce me to Dewey and Louie?” Nir said as he pushed himself into a sitting position on the floor, ropes tied to his wrists and ankles pooling at his sides. He ached all over, and raw spots burned where his body had no doubt rubbed against the walls of the trunk Kamal had asked for.
“These men are of no concern to you. They’re here to—”
“You’re not even going to introduce me to the general in the Quds Force uni? Shame what happened to Soleimani. You know him?” The general’s face began reddening. Already Nir was getting to him. “You did know him. I can see it on your face. You have one of those red rings too? Like the one on his runaway hand?” Nir held his own hand in the position Soleimani’s disembodied hand had been discovered.
He went on. “Speaking of red rings, what about Fakhrizadeh? I got to watch that one on a monitor. His head just blew apart like an overripe watermelon. Whoosh.” Nir pulled his hands away from his head like an explosion.
Mousavi stepped forward, but Saad put a hand on his shoulder.
“Yeah, listen to your master.” Looking at Saad, Nir said, “Does that mean you’re the Dr. Evil of this secret lair? Between the saltwater in my face and your trendy boat shoes, I’m guessing we’re on the ocean and you’re one of those superrich mama’s boys who never got enough hugs when you were a child.”
Kamal nodded toward Nir’s left. Suddenly, his arms and legs were being pulled by the ropes. He was flung back against the wall and stretched until he was hanging spread eagle. All his joints screamed, and it felt like his arms were being pulled from their sockets. He struggled to suck in a breath.
Through gritted teeth, he managed to say, “How da Vinci of you.”
Kamal said, “You know, you are the only one who finds your comments amusing.”
Nir sucked in another deep breath and nodded toward one of the IRGC troops. “Dude there was smirking.”
“Enough playing. I told my friend, the general, that you are carrying information of interest to him. More precisely, that you know when your nation of criminals is planning on attacking his peaceful nation with an air strike. So I would like you to tell him.”
Whoever had secured the ropes pulled them tighter. Nir cried out, then said, “Sorry. Had it on my phone. Seem to have lost it.”
“Is that the way you’re going to play it? You’re determined to take the difficult approach?”
Between gulps of air, Nir said, “Don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m not air force. My work is one-on-one, like with the general’s friends.”
This time Mousavi didn’t stop when Saad put his hand on him. He strode forward and drove his fist into Nir’s abdomen. The pain radiated throughout his body, and he groaned more deeply than ever.
Then Mousavi’s hand wrapped around Nir’s throat and he squeezed. “You think you can laugh at me, you Jewish dog? You think I will just stand here and take it like my Saudi friend here? He is not a warrior. I am. I have killed trash like you before, and I will kill you too.”
The general released his neck and stepped back while Nir coughed and gasped. Then he took his face in his hand and squeezed again. “You came to tell those Sunni traitors when you plan to fly over their airspace to come to my country and attempt to destroy our nuclear program. You will now tell me when this operation is planned to take place. Or I will bring you pain like you’ve never imagined.”
Dropping his hand, he turned and walked back to Saad.
Kamal took a step forward. “So, you see, Jew—”
“You, shut up,” Mousavi said, pointing at him. Then he snapped his fingers and called out “Ghasemi!” A small, thin man wearing a doctor’s smock walked over. An IRGC soldier followed carrying a table, which he placed in Nir’s sightline.
Here it comes. How am I going to survive this? I’m all out of bravado. Ignorance is my only defense, and that’s only going to make it worse. Nicole’s Jesus, please help me through this. If You protect my life, I’ll know it was You.
The man unwrapped what looked like a knife roll, then began removing instruments one by one and placing them on the table. Blades and picks and hooks. Sandpaper, a corkscrew, a small butane torch.
Nir knew the drill. This was all part of the psychology game. But even though it was a game, it still worked. That was why they did it. He was as terrified as he’d ever been. He was helpless, and he was vulnerable to whatever this man decided to do to him.
“Hey, Doc. While you’re at it, how about—” Nir’s voice faltered as the IRGC soldier returned carrying a cricket bat and some spiny-looking sea creature.
As the doctor continued his prep, he said to the soldier, “Knees and ankles first, please. Carefully.”
The soldier left the sea creature, took the cricket bat, and walked over to Nir. The two locked eyes, and the man’s gaze remained impassive, dead. He stepped sideways, wound up, and swung. The bat connected with Nir’s left knee, and he cried out. The pain was immense.
The man wound up again, and this time the bat connected with Nir’s right knee. From his thighs down to his calves, he legs contorted in hideous cramps. The soldier changed his angle, and the bat slammed against Nir’s left ankle. His teeth clenched, and his respiratory rate skyrocketed. Thankfully, he had only heard thwack but no crack. As long as he had no broken bones, he still had a chance of walking off this boat.
The soldier tried to line up for the right ankle, but he wasn’t able to get the proper trajectory. Another of the soldiers stepped up and took the bat. He held it like a lefty and swung. Nir moaned.
“And now it’s time to begin,” said the man in the smock. He picked up what looked like a dental pick with a sharp hook on the end and walked toward Nir. “Don’t tell the general what he wants to know quite yet, though. I’m finally all set up, and I so very much enjoy what I do.”