Kingdom of Darkness (36 page)

Even after losing most of their speed, the landing on unforgiving wood and steel was punishing. Nina, the lightest, was the first to roll to a halt, still clutching the bronze relic.

But Zane and Eddie tumbled onwards, the sledge flying into the void ahead of them as they reached the end of the line . . .

The Englishman splayed himself flat, the wooden sleepers scraping painfully against his back – but the extra drag stopped him. Zane bowled past, screaming as he went over the drop—

Eddie caught his leg. The Mossad agent’s wail was abruptly cut off as he swung back and hit the trestlework below the broken track. He hung upside down for a moment before the realisation sank in that he was not falling to his death, and twisted to take hold of the wooden beams. ‘You okay?’ Eddie gasped, straining to hold him.

‘Yeah,’ came the breathless reply, ‘but get me up, quick! This thing’s going to collapse!’ A sonorous creak as the bridge swayed queasily emphasised his point.

Bloodied and bruised, Nina nevertheless limped to aid them. They dragged Zane on to the bridge, then helped him up. ‘Come on!’ she cried, running back along the shuddering span. Sleepers dropped away in her wake, forcing Eddie and Zane to vault over the gaps.

A loud crack – then a sound like the clatter of giant dominoes falling. Eddie glanced back to see the entire track bed disappearing plank by plank into the ravine after them. ‘Shit!
Leg it!
’

Nina reached solid ground. The two men hurled themselves into dives to land beside her as the bridge cascaded into the canyon in a huge cloud of dust and flying debris.

Eddie stared at the destruction, then looked up at the now-distant train as it continued down the hill towards the dry lake – where he saw movement. ‘Over there!’ he said, pointing.

An aircraft, a large twin-prop cargo plane, was coming in to land on the desiccated lake bed. A second aircraft followed it a few miles distant. ‘Leitz’s transport,’ Zane muttered. He shakily pushed himself upright, then slammed a frustrated fist into his palm. ‘Damn it! We’ll never catch them now. They’ll be long gone by the time we get to the lake.’

‘We know where they’re going, though,’ said Nina as she helped Eddie up. ‘Northern Iran.’

‘That doesn’t help us! They’ll have a head start – and we don’t know exactly where they’re headed. But they’ve still got Banna, and he can take them to the spring.’

‘We can locate it too,’ Nina reminded him. She held up the relic. ‘I can make the same calculations that he did. But first we need to contact the Argentinian authorities, the IHA – and the Mossad, too. If we act fast enough, we might be able to catch them before they leave the country.’

Zane did not seem confident of success. ‘Maybe. But I think Leitz will have arranged something special for them.’

‘Leitz was the guy you went after in Italy, wasn’t he?’ Nina said. ‘What happened there?’

‘Long story,’ said Eddie. He looked towards the distant town. ‘I’ll tell you all about it on the way down.’

32

The Caspian Sea

A day later, Nina was on the opposite side of the globe.

She
thought
it was a day later, at least. Exhaustion and emotion had screwed up her body clock even without factoring in the confusion of multiple time zones. But one thing she was sure of was that while it might help her physically, she had no desire to sleep. Every time her eyelids closed, she glimpsed the horrors she had witnessed in the Enklave. Macy’s murder, Zane’s torture, the burning building with terrified children trapped inside . . . and the crowd of frenzied Nazis baying for her death as the noose tightened around her throat—

Nina drew in a sharp breath. For a moment, she had felt the rope’s strands cutting into her skin. She touched her neck to reassure herself that there was nothing there.

She tried to force the jumble of memories following the escape from the Nazi compound into a coherent timeline. On arriving in Lago Amargo, Eddie had got a policeman named Miranda to call the Argentinian federal police, who arrived in force a few hours later. Not long after that, the survivors from the Enklave were secured, Roland and Julieta having a joyful reunion. Julieta’s father, the mayor, had turned himself in to the
federales
over some connection with Kroll and his people; two badly beaten local cops were taken into custody far less willingly.

By then, Nina had contacted Oswald Seretse in New York. That in turn led to a conference call with the FBI and Interpol in which Zane’s fears were confirmed: the surviving Nazis had indeed left Argentina undetected. ‘How the fucking hell do thirty Aryan shitheads with guns stroll through customs without being spotted?’ had been Eddie’s incredulous contribution to the discussion, and Nina’s own response had been scarcely less restrained.

But she knew where they were going. Iran.

She recalled from her time as the IHA’s director that the Iranian government would not cooperate with the agency, considering it too closely tied to the United States, and it was barely more willing to work with international law enforcement. Seretse relayed the news that the Iranians had been warned about the Nazis, for which Interpol was thanked and assured that the elite Revolutionary Guard would detain them. Zane, silently sitting in on the call, responded only with a sardonic shake of his head. ‘Leitz will already have paid off the local Revolutionary Guard commander to act as their escort,’ he said when it concluded. ‘The Guard like to parade themselves as the moral guardians of the Islamic revolution, but they’re corrupt from bottom to top. Especially the top.’

So now, instead of returning to New York as she had told Seretse, she was in a fishing boat that had set out from Astara at the southern tip of Azerbaijan, heading south-east across the Caspian Sea.

Eddie entered the small cabin. ‘I wouldn’t bother getting up,’ he told his wife as she sat up on the narrow bed. ‘It’s dark, and it’s pissing down.’ He wiped a hand over his damp hair and took off his ravaged leather jacket.

‘How long before we get there?’

He perched beside her. ‘A few hours yet. This isn’t exactly a speedboat.’

‘Unlike those things the Mossad brought.’ Zane was aboard the old trawler with them – along with a small squad of young and determined-looking Israeli agents.

‘Yeah. I’m still not Mossad’s number one fan, but they’ve got some pretty cool gear.’ He smiled, then rested a gentle hand on her stomach. ‘How are you faring?’

‘Fine. A little Dramamine works wonders.’

Another smile, but his eyes were serious. ‘I didn’t mean seasickness. I meant . . . everything else.’

‘I’m trying not to think about it,’ she said. ‘It’s . . . it’s too much to process right now. Especially . . .’

‘Macy?’

She nodded. ‘Seretse will have told her parents by now, but . . . I’ll have to talk to them when this is over. I’ll
have
to. But what am I going to say? “I’m sorry for your loss – oh, and by the way, it was all my fault your daughter was murdered”?’

‘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.