CHAPTER 19

Near the Czech Army Camp, 2010

A thick veil of clouds covering the night sky seemed to accentuate the ghostlike shapes of the trees. Elena rubbed her eyes and looked at the softly glowing moon. Little by little, she was regaining her sight, shedding the uncomfortable feeling of perceiving the world through a filtered lens. Relieved, she stroked the coarse, damp bark of the oak tree that she was leaning against. Then she closed her eyes again and took a deep breath. The mossy aroma rising from the earth comforted her.

“Are you hurt?”

Elena felt Eytan’s warm hand on her arm. Her partner was back. She chided herself for being so self-absorbed she hadn’t heard him arrive.

“What do you care?” she replied, angrily jerking her arm away.

She opened her eyes. Silhouettes, colors, and details had all come into focus. At last. Nearby, Branislav was attempting to pull himself together. He gently touched the bump on his nose. Eytan saw the beginnings of two black eyes, sure signs of a broken nose. A few feet away, a stranger with bound hands and feet was sitting on the ground. He was breathing heavily.

Eytan glared at Elena. “What happened here?”

She pointed her chin at the man on the ground. “That jackass jumped us out of nowhere. Don’t worry about your buddy. He just got a little bump on the nose. The other guy looks like he has a broken arm.”

“He saw Branislav’s face without the mask?”

“What do you think?” Elena said.

Eytan squatted beside her. “You and Branislav need to scram,” he said in a low voice. “I’ll take care of the guard and then meet up with you.”

“I’ll deal with him. I’m the one who—”

“No,” Eytan interrupted. He pulled out his gun. “This needs to be handled by someone who doesn’t take pleasure in it.”

No blow could match the violence of the Kidon agent’s words. For a long time, Elena had considered killing one of her job rewards. But her position had other important responsibilities, as well. Eytan had just reduced her to little more than a psychopath. That was harsh. After all, what was the difference between the two of them? How was he in a position to judge her? What gave him the right to think of himself as her moral and emotional superior?

In the end, she was angry with herself. She had failed to carry out the mission that had been assigned to her. This was unbearable. She hid her discomfort and walked over to a dazed and confused Branislav. Together, they headed into the woods.

A few minutes later, Eytan caught up with them.

The trek back to the family abode was awkward. Elena didn’t say a word. Eytan fretted over Branislav’s swollen nose. It was getting bigger by the minute. “I’m habink sub trouble breathink, but it’s find,” Branislav said when Eytan asked him how he was doing. Eytan had no trouble understanding.

Vladek paced in his living room. For two hours, he had been subjected to bitter rants and fits of weeping. That’s how things always played out between him and his wife whenever they got into a Branislav-related disagreement. His good sense told him that he should never have entrusted his son to the strange and obviously dangerous duo. But this was a situation that required a bold solution. He had always been a man of action, and he should have been the one to go in. His son wasn’t cut from the same cloth. Should he have let Branislav stare danger in the face just because he himself had never flinched?

As the two parents faced off for yet another confrontation, the terrace door opened. Branislav came in with Eytan and Elena.

“Oh sweetie, you’re hurt!” his mother cried.

She leaped to her feet and rushed to her son, once again snubbing the other two. “Let me take care of you.” She acknowledged Eytan with a harsh glare. “Congratulations! You’ve returned my son with a broken nose. God knows what else could have happened to him.”

Vladek was relieved. A broken nose was nothing. His own had been broken more than once. With his son home, and his marital spat on hold, he greeted the two agents with a solid handshake.

“Thank you for keeping your word.”

The giant forced a smile.

“You didn’t find what you were looking for?”

“No, we did.”

“How much damage done?”

Eytan’s stony expression said all that was necessary.

“I see,” Vladek muttered as he lowered his eyes. So, what’s your exit strategy?”

“We got what we wanted and even a bit more. The less you know from here on out, the better it’ll be for you and your family. Now if you could, please take us back to the other side of the lake. We have to be on our way.”

“Hold on,” Vladek responded. “Do you really intend to keep me in the dark?”

“That’s how it needs to be, Vladek, and you know it. Follow my advice. Don’t try to find out anything more. And tell Branislav to stay here. People will probably show up with questions in the next few days. What will you tell them?”

“Oh, don’t worry about that,” Vladek said. “Lying to the authorities is a national pastime. I saw nothing. I heard nothing. I know nothing.”

“Perfect. Let’s go.”

Vladek grabbed his heavy jacket and accompanied Eytan and Elena to the pontoon. As he prepared to embark, Branislav came rushing out of the house, cotton stuffed in his nose.

“Are you leavink?” he asked.

“We have to,” Eytan replied tersely.

“I was hopink…”

“To get on with your life? Well, no problem there. Your wish is granted,” Eytan said. He gave the journalist a wink. “Besides, a doctor needs to take a look at that nose.”

“Will we see each oder again?”

“Not likely. As you may have noticed, bumping into me is usually a sign of trouble.”

“Yeah, well, you know, if you eber neeb anythink…”

“Happy trails, Branislav!”

Eytan settled into the boat.

Branislav smiled and felt his nose again. Then he turned to Elena, who was about to board the boat. She looked worse than ever—pale and grim, like an angel of death. He offered her his hand. She didn’t take it.

“Thanks.”

She stared down at him and looked like she might smack him.

“Why are you thanking me? I failed,” she said. There was bitterness in her voice.

This was an entirely new facet of Elena’s personality. The whole time Branislav had known her, she’d behaved like an emotionless machine designed to get the job done. Unlike Eytan, she lacked empathy. But now she seemed disheartened. A feeling like this had to be something new and strange for her.

“You were supposed to protect be, and I’m still alibe. I don’t call that failink,” he said as he stealthily took her hand.

His persistence seemed to throw Elena off even more than she already was. She glanced at Eytan. Branislav wondered if she was worried that he’d think less of her if he saw any chink in her armor. But he was watching stoically. She pried her hand away and joined the men in the boat.

Branislav sat down at the water’s edge and watched the boat get smaller as it made its way to the other side of the lake. Oddly, the pair had grown on him. Of course, their feats during the raid on the camp were beyond his comprehension. Their road trip was far from the vacation he had envisioned, and watching them leave was surely a relief for his mother and father. Nonetheless, he knew that no matter what the future had in store for him, he’d never forget Eytan and Elena.

They’d be continuing their mission elsewhere, as Branislav tackled his new three-part task: comfort his overprotective mother on the verge of a nervous breakdown, cheer up his depressed father as he confronted the reality of old age, and fix his derailed marriage.

Branislav thought about Eytan’s last piece of advice. Maybe that was the takeaway from all of this: it was time to get on with his life.