‘No.’ Eddie’s hand moved firmly to her shoulder as he looked deep into her eyes. ‘No. It wasn’t your fault, and I’m not going to let you blame yourself for it. Okay? I know what you’re going through; I had to tell Mitzi’s parents what happened after she got shot in Austria. I blamed myself at the time, and God knows her mum and dad blamed me too. But now . . .’ He paused, the incident still emotional even after several years. ‘Just because she was with me didn’t make it my fault. It took a long time, but eventually I realised that. That punk-haired Russian bitch killed her, not me. And it was Kroll who killed Macy, not you. I know you want to blame yourself, but you can’t. I won’t let you blame yourself for the rest . . .’ He trailed off.
‘Of my life?’ Nina finished.
A grim nod. ‘It’s not fair. It’s not fucking fair!’ he said with sudden anguish. ‘Everything we’ve been through, everything we’ve survived – but you’ve still got that growing inside you.’ He jabbed his other hand towards her side. ‘Has anything changed?’
‘Yeah, but . . . not in any good way.’ She tugged up her shirt. Even over the short time since she had last examined them closely, when Kroll made his Faustian offer, the growths had become more malign.
The sight made Eddie sag. ‘Christ. It just gets worse.’
‘I know. I know.’ She wrapped both hands around his. ‘Don’t look at it. Don’t even think about it. I’m trying not to. I’ve got more than enough worries as it is.’
‘Me too. Although at the moment, one of the biggest is that we’re about to sneak into Iran with a bloody Mossad strike team. If we get caught . . .’
‘Thanks for reminding me; I’ve been trying not to think about that either!’ They both managed to smile. Nina pulled his hand to her lips and kissed it. ‘Thank you.’
‘For what?’
‘For being with me.’
‘Where else would I be?’ he said, with a mock shrug. ‘Like I said, you’re stuck with me to the end.’
She grinned, squeezing his hand. ‘I’m glad.’ Another kiss, then she regarded his bruised face. ‘God, you look tired. When did you last get any sleep?’
‘I had a bit on the flight from Argentina, but not much. It took ages to get hold of Hafez.’ Nina had long been impressed by Eddie’s extensive list of friends around the globe; Hafez was an Iranian whom she had met on her very first adventure with the man who would later become her husband. ‘You can’t just ring up someone in Iran and say “We’re coming in with a bunch of Mossad blokes, can you meet us?” There’s a lot of buggering around with code words and satphones. Before that? I dunno, probably when I went over to Argentina in the first place.’
‘So you’re planning to sneak into a hostile country on an hour’s sleep? Bad idea. If we’ve got a few hours, you should make the most of them. Come on, lie down with me.’
He seemed oddly reluctant. ‘I’m not sure there’s room for both of us. And you need it more.’
‘No, I don’t.’ Sleep was the last thing she wanted, knowing what visions waited behind her eyes. ‘Edward J. Chase, take off your clothes and get into bed, right now!’
The order was given with humour, and he smiled in response, but he was still reticent even as he peeled off his clothing. She soon realised why. He was covered in angry bruises and cuts. ‘Oh my God!’ she cried. ‘When did you get all those?’
‘Remember those Argie cops?’ he said as he unfastened his belt. ‘One of them was a Falklands veteran. He had a chip on his shoulder about Brits. So he tried to knock a chip off my shoulder. Took one out of my tooth, too.’ He slid his jeans down to reveal more after-images of a beating. ‘Also, jumping off a moving train while fighting Nazis really fucking hurts.’
‘But you came through it.’ Nina regarded him with loving sympathy as she pulled back the sheets. ‘And you saved me.’
Now naked, he stood before her, all the accumulated injuries to his muscular body exposed – not merely the most recent, but old scars too. He looked back in silence for a long moment, then spoke. ‘Get undressed. I want to be with you.’
There was no jokiness behind his words, just a heartfelt desire for closeness, intimacy, that he knew she shared. She said nothing as she slipped off her top. Her own wounds were revealed, but neither looked anywhere but into the other’s eyes.
Eddie climbed into the cramped bunk, tugging the covers over them. ‘Seems like forever since we were last like this.’
‘I know.’ Nina nuzzled against his chest as he wrapped his arms around her, feeling his warmth. ‘Too long.’
‘I hope that bloody door locks,’ he said. ‘Don’t want a load of salty seamen coming in here.’
‘I might,’ she said with a grin that was more than merely suggestive.
He laughed as he reached up to switch out the light. ‘Now I know I can’t let you go,’ he said, running his hands down her body. ‘I’ve made you as bad as me!’
A knock on the cabin door forced the couple back to wakefulness. Nina raised her head, realising with surprise that she couldn’t remember falling asleep – or having any dreams, good or bad. ‘What?’ she called as Eddie sat up.
‘It’s almost time,’ said Zane from outside.
‘This is it, then,’ Eddie told Nina, groping for the light switch.
She kicked away the sheets and swung her feet down to the deck. ‘Did you sleep?’
‘Yeah. I think that was what I needed.’
‘And by “that”, you mean . . .’
‘Yeah. That.’ He grinned.
‘Me too.’
‘We didn’t use any protection,’ he noted. ‘What changed your mind? After all that time not wanting to take any risks?’
‘For one thing, I decided to trust the doctors’ opinion that the eitr infection isn’t transmissible. For another . . .’ She touched his cheek. ‘I couldn’t live what’s left of my life without being so close to you again.’
He smiled lovingly, then kissed her. ‘You know, I’m really glad I married you.’
‘So am I.’ She started to dress. ‘Hmm. I could use a shower, but I doubt this boat’s got much of a bathroom.’
‘What, doing a King of the World on the bow and hoping the waves splash you isn’t enough?’ He retrieved his clothing, giving the tumours on her side a mournful glance. ‘This is it, isn’t it?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘After this, once we’re done, if we’re done . . . it’s only going to be you and me, right? No more little operations to help out the IHA? Just the two of us, together. To the end.’
Nina nodded. ‘Yeah. To the end.’
‘Promise?’
‘I promise.’ A moment as they exchanged looks, then kissed again.
‘Thanks,’ said Eddie as they finished dressing. ‘Okay, so before that . . . let’s go and invade a hostile country.’
Zane was waiting for them on the old trawler’s darkened bridge. ‘Did you sleep well?’ he asked, with a hint of a knowing smile.
‘Best I have for ages,’ Eddie replied. ‘What’s the sitrep?’
The Israeli directed his attention to a GPS screen. ‘We’re forty kilometres off the Iranian coast. Captain Aslanov,’ he nodded towards the bearded middle-aged Azerbaijani at the controls, ‘says that going any closer will definitely draw attention from their patrol boats. They sometimes investigate ships even farther out, so he’s taking a risk just being here.’
‘Well, yeah, with a hold full of Mossad spooks. How long will your little toys take to get us ashore?’
‘Not long. We’ve used them to infiltrate the country before.’
‘Are you sure they won’t be seen?’ asked Nina. The trawler’s hold contained a pair of small, odd-looking speedboats. ‘Don’t the Iranians have radar?’
‘They do, but,’ a grin, ‘our boats don
’t need to worry about it. Your head has a bigger radar cross-section than they do. Well, Eddie’s does, definitely.’
‘You saying I’ve got a big head?’ the Englishman faux-protested.
‘I never even thought about it. Okay, we’re ready to go. Our radar says the nearest other ship is five kilometres to the south-east, and Captain Aslanov thinks it’s probably a patrol boat. So he’ll raise his nets and use them for cover while we drop our boats, then we’ll let him get clear before we move off.’ He checked his watch. ‘It’s 3.36. Sunrise is at about 5.50, so that gives us just enough time before dawn to get to shore, hide the boats and meet your friend. If he’s there,’ he added.
‘He’ll be there,’ Eddie assured him.
‘Good. So are you ready?’
‘As I’ll ever be,’ Nina said, with a sigh.
They headed to the trawler’s deck. To Eddie’s relief, the rain had stopped. Aslanov whistled to his crew, who raised the nets on the starboard side like a curtain, blocking everything behind them from potential observers aboard the Iranian patrol vessel. The Mossad agents brought their boats out of the hold and moved them to the port side.
The vessels, slender launches with angular, faceted prows made from a textured material resembling carbon fibre, were quickly lowered into the sea. ‘With me,’ said Zane, climbing into the lead boat after the pilot. His leg was still stiff from Rasche’s stab wound, but it had been stitched up and treated as best it could. He helped first Nina, then Eddie down. Another agent joined them, the five remaining men boarding the other craft.
‘Bit nippy,’ said the Englishman as a stiff breeze blew across the water. Nina had donned a black parka, but he had chosen to stay with his torn jacket.
‘Why didn’t you wear something else? That’s not just ruined, it’s covered in . . . I don’t even want to know what it’s covered in.’
‘Dead Nazis, mostly. Which is why I’m keeping it on.’
‘To remind you who we’re up against?’ asked Zane.
‘No. To remind me to finish the job. There’s still plenty of ’em left.’
The boats were pushed clear of the trawler. Engines revved, and the old vessel wallowed away. ‘Okay, keep down,’ said Zane. The launch’s seats were set very low inside the hull, the passengers leaning back almost horizontally as if in a racing car.
‘Isn’t it kinda hard for the driver to see?’ Nina asked. The view ahead was mostly obscured by a raised lip above the top of the dashboard, into which was set a softly glowing GPS display.
‘We’re on open water, so we won’t run into anything – I hope!’ The Israeli watched the trawler until it was well clear of the two bobbing stealth boats. A command, and the pilot started the engine, a muffled rumble coming from the rear of the vessel. Another growl from astern told them that the second boat had followed suit.
The pilot slowly opened the throttle to bring the vessel around towards the coast, a flashing green diamond marking a waypoint on the GPS, then increased power. Both boats surged across the water, their shallow keels and ducted propellers barely raising a wake.
Nina was very glad of her motion-sickness remedy. Even though the huge inland sea was quite calm, the same low profile that made the vessel nearly invisible to radar also meant that it was very sensitive to even small waves, each new crest thumping up through the hull into her spine. But she could tell from the speed at which spray was whipping past that the boats were fast.
Zane occasionally raised his head to look for more Iranian patrols, but the sea held only darkness. ‘How much longer?’ Eddie shouted to him over the smack of the waves.
‘Fifteen minutes! You’re sure your contact will be there?’
‘He was sneaking me and my mates into Iran while you were still playing with fucking Lego,’ Eddie replied with faint impatience. ‘Yes, I’m sure.’
‘Just checking.’ In the screen’s glow, Nina saw Zane’s mouth curl into a smirk. ‘So, you operated in Iran when you were young? What was it like there when the Shah was still in power?’
Eddie kicked Zane’s seat. ‘Fuck off, you cheeky little bastard.’ Nina laughed.
The two boats continued onwards. After another ten jolting minutes, the pilot reduced power. The GPS display showed they were approaching the shore. Nina saw with disquiet that there were lights along a good swathe of the coastline. ‘Jeez, are you sure we’ll be able to land without being seen? And how are we going to hide the boats?’
Zane produced night-vision goggles and surveyed what lay ahead. ‘That’s a forest,’ he said, pointing out a gap over a mile long in the line of lights. ‘The Sisangan National Park. We’ve used it as an entry point before. And I doubt anyone will be on the beach this early in the morning.’
‘I dunno,’ said Eddie. ‘You’d be surprised how many people in New York are out jogging at the crack of sparrowfart.’
‘Iran isn’t exactly the world’s jogging capital,’ the Israeli replied. He surveyed the shoreline again, then issued an order. The boats angled for the forest’s eastern end, reducing power to glide up to the empty beach.
To Nina’s alarm, headlights were intermittently visible through the trees behind the shore. ‘I thought nobody would be around?’
‘It’s a highway,’ Zane replied, unconcerned. ‘No one driving along it will be able to see us.’ The pilot brought them in until breaking waves began to rock them, at which point Zane and another Mossad operative jumped out, dragging the craft ashore. The second boat came in alongside. The other occupants disembarked, and the agents picked up the empty vessels and carried them across the sand into the trees. Grubby tarpaulins were draped over them, the coverings weighed down with rocks.
‘That’s how you’re hiding them?’ Nina asked. ‘What if someone looks under the tarps and finds two super-high-tech stealth boats?’
‘Trust me, nobody will look,’ said Zane, scooping up a handful of dirt and tossing it over one of the tarpaulins. The other got the same treatment. ‘Tourists who come here either walk on the beach or go into the forest on the far side of the highway. Even if they see these, they just look like ordinary boats when they’re covered – nothing worth paying attention to. I told you, we’ve done this before.’
‘Yeah, hiding something in plain sight by making it look really boring does actually work,’ Eddie told his wife. ‘Did it a few times in the SAS: we’d park up in a rusty old van to bag someone and nobody’d give us a second look. Well, except that time some little scrote opened the back door to see if there was anything he could nick. Blew the op, but it was worth it for the look on his face when he saw us all pointing guns at him. I think he genuinely shat himself.’
‘Lovely,’ she said, still unconvinced. But the Israelis were satisfied by the boats’ new low-tech camouflage and set off through the woods.
It did not take long for the group to reach a dirt track cutting through the strip of forest between the beach and the highway. A van lurked in the darkness. Two of the Mossad agents drew their weapons and moved into the trees to cover it.
‘Is that Hafez’s?’ Nina whispered.
Zane regarded it through the goggles. ‘I can’t tell if there’s anyone inside.’
‘I can,’ said Eddie. Before anyone could object, he advanced on the van, whistling loudly and tunelessly.
The Israeli made an aggrieved noise. ‘He’s being subtle again. That worked out so well last time!’
The driver’s door opened, a cloud of smoke wafting out. The lurking Israelis’ guns snapped on to the bearded man who emerged. ‘Oi, Hafez!’ Eddie called. ‘You really ought to stop smoking – it gives away that you’re in there when it leaks out of the windows.’
Hafez Marradejan took a long, mocking drag on his cigarette. ‘You used to smoke too, Eddie!’ he rasped.
‘Yeah, but that was a long time ago. I’ve sorted myself out sin
ce then.’ He embraced the older man. ‘Glad to see you again.’
‘And you. Six years, I think it has been?’
‘About that, yeah. Did you have any trouble getting here?’
‘Only from my wife! She was not pleased when I told her I was going to drive across half the country to see an old friend.’ A cackle, which turned into a cough, then Hafez peered past the Englishman. ‘So, where are the others?’
‘In the woods.’ Eddie turned and waved. ‘It’s okay, come on out.’
Nina was first to leave the trees, Zane and most of the other Mossad operatives following more cautiously. The two men keeping watch remained in the shadows, wary of deception or ambush.
But there was neither. ‘Hafez!’ said Nina. ‘Hi, remember me?’
‘Yes, of course!’ he replied, clasping her hand and shaking it. ‘You have become famous since then, no?’
‘Or infamous. And married, too.’ She took hold of Eddie’s arm.
The Iranian grinned. ‘Ah, so he did not sort himself out. I thought so!’
‘Are you okay? The last time I saw you, you’d been shot in the leg.’
‘An old wound now,’ he said dismissively, before giving the other men a quizzical look. ‘And these are . . .?’
‘Jared Zane,’ said Eddie, introducing the Israeli, ‘and his . . . associates. Probably best that you don’t ask where they’re from.’
Hafez finished his cigarette and ground it under his foot. ‘Pfft. I know Israeli special forces when I see them. Or Mossad, but the two are almost one these days.’ Ignoring Zane’s surprise, he went on: ‘You have vouched for them, Eddie, so that is good enough for me. And from what you told me, their business here is not with the people of Iran.’
‘No,’ Zane said. ‘At least not today.’
Eddie sighed as Hafez narrowed his eyes. ‘He doesn’t like the Iranian government any more than you do,’ he told the younger man, ‘so don’t even start waving your cock around.’