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Kai listened to the lock clicking from the other side of the door and looked up as the door opened. Jared studied her for a moment, then waved her inside.
“You just missed Asher,” he said, closing the door behind her. “He’s working late as well. You should both be getting an early night.”
“I know. I waited in the stairwell for him to leave.”
He raised his eyebrows. “In that case, I’ll get us a drink.”
She laughed despite her grim mood and watched him go over to a fridge in the corner. He pulled out two airline bottles of whiskey and two cans of soft drink.
“It’s not vodka, but it’ll do,” he said, setting them on a table and reaching for two plastic-wrapped hotel glasses. “You don’t mind whiskey?”
“No. In fact, that sounds good,” she said, dropping down onto the sofa and watching as he removed the plastic from the glasses and opened the small bottles of whiskey. “It’s as good a last drink as anything else.”
He glanced over his shoulder at her. “I hardly think it will be your last drink,” he said wryly.
“I don’t know. I have a bad feeling about tomorrow. I hope I’m wrong, but if I’m not, I’m ready. I made peace with myself a long time ago.”
Jared walked over to hand her a glass. “Glad to hear it, but there’s no reason anything should go wrong tomorrow. Everything is ready, and the plan is solid. Get in, get Masha’al, and get out. The Americans will never suspect a thing.”
He went back to make his own drink as Kai sipped hers pensively.
“If things go sideways, you’ll leave Cairo?” she asked suddenly, looking up. “Immediately? Promise me you’ll get out of the city and back to Tel Aviv. If we blow it, you can still salvage your own career. That was always the plan anyway. You’d remain here and, if things go south, erase all evidence of the operation and go back to Israel.”
He looked at her for a moment, then went back to pouring soda into his whiskey. Kai didn’t know why she was suddenly so anxious about him not being involved in a bad op, but she was. The anxiety was almost choking her with its intensity and she forced herself to relax. Too late, she realized that he was studying her silently with those piercing dark eyes of his that seemed to see everything, and give away nothing.
“I promise,” he finally said, setting down the soda can and turning to go over to his arm chair. “Now, why don’t you tell me why you have this sudden conviction that everything will go sideways tomorrow?”
“I have no idea.” She rubbed her neck sheepishly. “Perhaps because I’m not working alone? I just don’t know.”
He was quiet for a moment, then he sighed. “All right. Then why don’t tell me why you’re here instead? I know it wasn’t to have a drink and discuss your premonitions of impending doom.”
“The thumb drive,” she said simply. “Or did you think I’d forgotten?”
“Ah. Of course.”
“I tracked down the helicopter in the last video of Masha’al,” she said slowly, watching him over the rim of her glass. “But, of course, you knew that I would. It’s why you gave me the drive, isn’t it?”
“One of the reasons, yes.” Jared sipped his drink.
“Did you know?”
“Know what, exactly?”
“Who was on the helicopter.”
He met her gaze somberly. “I did.”
She exhaled and lifted her drink to her lips. After a generous gulp, she shook her head.
“Your concern about my exposure to anyone who can place me in Bucharest certainly makes much more sense now,” she muttered. “Although, I have to say that I’m confused as to what any of that has to do with any of this.”
“Tell me what you know.” Jared sat back and crossed his legs. “Perhaps I can help clear up some of the confusion.”
“It was a military transport helicopter that was landing outside the building where Masha’al was filming his message. The make and model narrowed down the logged flight plans, leaving only one possibility. The chopper made a thirty minute, unscheduled stop enroute to Kuwait so that its passenger, Senator Martin Davies of the United States, could meet with his country’s most wanted terrorist.”
“Yes.”
Kai stared at him. “A United States Senator met with the Palestinian terrorist who bombed their embassy in India, and all you have to say is, ‘Yes’?”
“I’m afraid I’ve had time for the surprise to wear off,” he said apologetically, a faint smile on his face. “Although, if we’re being honest, I was never that surprised to begin with. But you are, and that does interest me. Why?”
“Call me naive, but I didn’t think the American leaders were as bad as everyone makes them out to be,” she said. “I suppose I still thought there were good men in Washington.”
“I’m sure there are, but obviously Senator Davies is not one of them.” He was quiet for a moment. “I’m sure you noticed that all record of the unplanned stop was erased from public records.”
“Yes. If it weren’t for the fact that we have visual evidence, it wouldn’t even be a question.” She leaned her head back on the couch. “I found the coordinates and reference in the pilot’s log. The airport log has the helicopter going straight to Kuwait.”
“You hacked into the pilot’s log book?” Jared smiled faintly. “Good for you. I uncovered the stop by noting the fuel discrepancy, then pulling satellite footage.”
“They didn’t erase it?” she asked, surprised.
“Oh, they erased their own. I pulled it off a Russian satellite.”
Kai grinned. “Now that’s impressive.” She sobered again quickly. “What the hell is going on, Jared? Why is a US Senator meeting with a terrorist? And what does it have to do with Melnik?”
He sighed and set down his glass on the table next to the chair.
“You were sent after Melnik because of his association with Eisenrennen. You know that. I have since received information that they’ve expanded their operations to encompass not only European countries, but American interests as well.”
“Davies?”
“Among others.” Jared shook his head. “It seems unbelievable that these people are still holding fast to their hatred and genocidal agendas. Not only that, but that they’re pulling more and more supporters into their ranks. They’re even managing to convince an entire generation that the holocaust never happened.”
“But where does Masha’al fit into it? He’s never shown allegiance to any organization other than his own. I don’t see him jumping into bed with a bunch of radical neo-Nazis.”
“Perhaps not, but his cousin would,” he said. “Riyad is a hungry businessman, and he will go wherever he’s assured of gaining the most power.”
Kai was quiet for a moment, her drink forgotten.
“There had to be another reason for Davies to meet with Masha’al,” she said finally. “It’s too far of a stretch to blame Eisenrennen, as much as I’m usually willing to lay just about anything at their feet. It was too dangerous of a move for a man in his position.”
“I would normally agree, but this whole situation is far from normal. My intel is solid. Davies is regularly funneling money into Eisenrennen, and he’s met with several of the leaders over the course of the past three years. Perhaps they have nothing to do with his meeting with Masha’al, but I don’t think we should dismiss the notion entirely. When we have Masha’al under interrogation, we should get some answers, but I don’t know how reliable those answers will be.”
“What do you mean?”
“If Eisenrennen is behind Senator Davies’ visit, there’s no guarantee that Masha’al is even aware of it. They’re notoriously close about their business, and they rarely allow outsiders a glimpse of the inner workings. They’ve learned over the years to conduct their business through shells and middlemen to such a degree that many of their partners have no idea who they’re in business with.”
“Even if Masha’al isn’t aware of the organization behind Davies, he can still be of use in providing information to help us track them down,” Kai said with a shrug. “Any information we get out of him will be useful.”
“Another reason why it’s imperative that we don’t allow the Americans to gain control of him.” Jared picked up his drink again. “If Eisenrennen is involved, you need to be extremely careful. They know we exist, and they know we’re sworn to hunt them down. If they don’t already know it was one of us that killed Melnik, they soon will, and then they’ll start looking for the agent who entered Romania.”
“Best of luck to them,” she murmured.
Jared smiled despite himself. “Agreed, but as I’ve said before, I don’t like taking the risk of using the same agent on connected ops. And these operations are connected. We just don’t know how yet.”
“I’ll be as careful as I always am,” Kai promised him. “Everything is else in the hands of fate.”
Kai’s step slowed as she came around the corner from the stairwell and saw the broken piece of string in the top corner of her hotel door. Someone had gone into her room after she left. She pulled out her phone and swiped the screen, pulling up the camera she’d placed above the window in her hotel room. Concealed by the top of the curtain, it commanded a bird’s eye view of the small room and streamed it to her phone when it was in range. It wasn’t anywhere close to the security she employed in her apartments around the globe, but it was sufficient for when she was on the move. It gave her a heads up if someone had found her room, as someone evidently had. Her brows creased as she tapped the screen and increased the image size so that she could make out the features of the person sitting at the desk in the darkness. A second later, she was sliding the phone back into her pocket as she strode towards the door.
She unlocked it and pushed it open, stepping into the hotel room and flipping on the light.
“Did Asher tell you where I was as well?” she asked, closing the door behind her.
Rina turned to look at her. “Asher? No. I tracked you down myself. Does he know?”
“Yes.” Kai moved forward and tossed the room card onto the desk. “He passed it onto Kodak, who was here earlier. I might as well have taken up residence in the hotel with the rest of you.”
Rina laughed and got up, but Kai waved her back into the chair.
“I don’t know why you didn’t,” she said, sitting again. “My room is three times this size.”
“I like being alone.” Kai dropped onto the edge of the bed and looked at her. “What are you doing here?”
“I packed up for tomorrow, but I’m too restless to sleep,” she said with a shrug. “I don’t remember the last time I felt like this. I’m usually sleeping like a baby by now. What about you? Where were you?”
“Just getting some air.” Kai rolled her shoulders. “I wasn’t ready to call it a night yet either.”
“Why don’t we go get a drink? There’s a cocktail lounge not far from here that’s still open.”
“Not a good idea.”
Rina grinned and reached down to pick up a bottle she had hidden under the desk.
“I thought you’d say that, so I brought my own,” she said with a laugh. “We should have a drink for good luck.”
Kai eyed the bottle suspiciously. “I’m not sure that will bring much luck. Is that wine?”
“It’s something. They make it locally,” Rina said with a shrug, opening the bottle. “The bartender at the hotel said I had to try it, so I bought a bottle. I don’t suppose you have any glasses?”
Kai laughed. “I have two Yeti’s. No glasses.”
“Then drinking from the bottle it is,” she said, raising the bottle to her lips.
Kai watched as she drank some of the wine, lowering the bottle a moment later. “Well?”
“It’s not bad,” she said, holding out the bottle to Kai. “It’s dry. I’m surprised, actually.”
Kai took a sip of the red wine and was pleasantly surprised. “It’s good,” she agreed, standing up. She passed the bottle back to Rina and turned to retrieve one of her insulated bottles from the nightstand. “I’ll get the spare one out of my bag. I can’t watch you drink wine out of a bottle in good conscience.”
“You didn’t grow up in my neighborhood. We drank out of anything,” Rina said with a laugh, watching as Kai lifted a duffel bag onto the bed and unzipped it. “Do you think we’re ready for tomorrow?”
“We have to be.” Kai pulled out a black insulated mug and tossed it to her. “It doesn’t matter what I think.”
“True.” Rina caught the travel mug with one hand and set the bottle of wine down on the desk so that she could unscrew the lid. “Asher’s worried about the tunnel. Turns out he’s got a touch of claustrophobia.”
“What?” Kai stared at her. “Are you serious?”
“Yes. He told me today before we started the run-through. He said he did an estimation of the tunnel because he was going to make a virtual tunnel for us to work with as well, but he ran out of time. When he was working with what he presumed were the dimensions based off the radar images and our descriptions, he realized that it will be very tight in there.” Rina poured wine into the Yeti. “He’s concerned.”
“It would have been good to know that before now.” Kai went over to the desk and accepted the wine bottle from her. “He could have gone with Raj instead of Kodak.”
“I mentioned that and he said he’d rather stay with us.” Rina grinned and sipped her wine. “I don’t think his fear is that serious. Between us, we can keep him focused.”
“Kodak isn’t happy about going in with Raj,” Kai said slowly, pouring the wine into her tumbler.
“I don’t blame him. We have no idea who this Shira person is, or what will be waiting for them when they get there.” Rina sat back and crossed her legs. “Hell, we don’t even know if the cover of workmen will hold up. It’s one thing for Raj to say that she’ll create a need for emergency plumbers, but what if there’s someone there who can fix it themselves? We don’t know. Anything could wrong.”
“Anything can always go wrong,” Kai said, sitting on the bed and sipping her wine. “We both know that. If it does, they’ll improvise. They’ll get inside. I have no worries on that score. I’m concerned about once they’re in.”
“I’m concerned about everything,” Rina admitted after a long moment of silence. “I’m probably the least superstitious person you’ll ever meet, but I’ve got a bad feeling about this. Too many factors are out of our control.”
“Agreed. I’ve been feeling the same. On my way back tonight, I came to the conclusion that it’s all in my head. Think about it. We all do solo jobs now. Aside from Asher, none of us work with teams anymore. We all have our own style and we’re used to controlling every aspect and every phase of an operation. Yet here we are, relying on each other and portioning out tasks. It’s bound to cause us to feel uneasy and uncomfortable.”
“All of us except Raj. He’s completely at ease and ready to roll.”
“Well, Raj is also an idiot.”
Rina raised her eyebrows in surprise. “I agree, but why the sudden of change of heart? You seemed happy enough to see him in the beginning.”
“That was before I realized how reckless he’s become.”
Rina tilted her head and studied her. She clearly wanted to press her more, but was reluctant to do so.
“The transport is confirmed,” she said instead. “Kodak heard from the pilot tonight. He’ll be at the rendezvous. He’s giving us a twenty-minute window before he takes off without us.”
“We’ll make it.”
Rina stared down into her wine for a moment, then raised her head, the usual laugh missing from her eyes.
“If we don’t, I have a small yacht moored just outside of Alexandria,” she said in a low voice. “If things go sideways and we get separated, meet me there. It’s the Martinique, and she’s anchored offshore between Taher Bek and Abi Sofian.”
Kai studied her for a long moment. “All right,” she finally said softly. “But we’ll make the transport.”
“I know, but just in case.” Rina drank some wine and smiled faintly. “The others don’t know, and if things get really insane, they’ll find their own way out anyway.”
“So will I.”
“Yes, but why scramble to find a way out of the country when I have an exit strategy in place? I don’t mind sharing my boat with you. I trust you. Perhaps Asher, as well,” she added thoughtfully. “I’m not sure about the others.”
“You don’t know me,” Kai pointed out. “Not really.”
“I know how you work, and I’ve been watching you the past few days. You have no time for drama or nonsense, and I can appreciate that.” Rina laughed suddenly. “I particularly enjoyed when you shot Raj in the head earlier.”
Kai chuckled sheepishly. “Yes, well, he was irritating me.”
“And you didn’t think twice. That’s the kind of thing I can trust.”
Kai shook her head. “I don’t know that I’d trust that. Some might call it a touch of recklessness.”
“Bollocks.” Rina stood up and set her drink on the desk. “I watched you load the rubber bullets into the gun. You knew exactly what you were doing.”
“That really upset Asher,” Kai said, standing with her. “I think he’s been spending too much time with his computers and not enough with a gun in his hand.”
“Perhaps, but he’ll be ready for tomorrow. He’ll do what needs to be done. I think that’s one of the few things we don’t have to worry about.” She smiled at Kai. “And for the rest, we trust in the plan. Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
Kai set down her wine and followed her to the door.
“I’ll see you in the morning. You’ll be taking the motorcycle?” Rina asked, opening the door.
“Yes. I’ll bring coffee. Once you leave in the van, I’ll do some sweeps behind you until we’re well out of the city. I’ll meet you in Tanta in mid-afternoon.” Kia held the side of the door and watched as Rina went out into the hall. “It will be fine,” she said suddenly. “I don’t think it’ll be a walk in the park, but we’ll get it done and make it to the transport. It’s a solid plan.”
Rina looked at her and nodded, a faint smile on her face. “Shalom ulehitraot.”
“Lehitraot.”
