Half an hour later, the pair were back at their car in Amalfi, the taxi driver having taken a winding alternative route to bypass the chaos along the cliff — and also to minimise the chances of the police or anyone connected with Leitz spotting them.
Eddie used the journey to try to call Nina, without success. That didn’t bode well, nor did the fact that he couldn’t reach Macy either. Not having contact information for anyone else in Egypt, he finally resorted to calling the IHA in New York and was put through to Seretse… only to have his worst fears confirmed.
After bandaging his arm, Zane had stayed outside the Lancia to make a call of his own. Seeing Eddie’s grim expression as he got out, he ended it. ‘What is it?’
‘Leitz was telling the truth,’ Eddie said, trying to control the cold sickness he felt. ‘Nina’s convoy was attacked on the way to Cairo. They took her, Macy and the head archaeologist, Banna — and killed everyone else.’
‘What about the statue?’
That Zane didn’t know about the bronze fish told Eddie that the Mossad wasn’t as omnipotent as it liked others to believe, but that gave him little comfort. ‘They got that too. Fuck knows where they are now. Probably on their way to wherever that fat bastard Kroll’s hiding.’ He banged a fist in sudden anger against the car’s roof. ‘Fuck! I should have been with her! I could have—’
‘You could have what?’ Zane cut in. ‘You just said they killed everyone else, and they had an armed escort. You wouldn’t even have had a gun.’
‘But I could have done something — anything!’
‘You would have died, Eddie.’ The use of his first name caught the Englishman by surprise. ‘They only took the archaeologists with them, and killed the rest. That means they need them for something. There’s still a chance to find them.’
Eddie turned away in frustration. He knew Zane was right, but that didn’t make him feel any less helpless. ‘How, though? They could be fucking anywhere.’
‘I know where.’
He spun sharply back to the Israeli. ‘What?’
‘I just spoke to my people. Remember that IP address I got from Leitz’s computer? They traced it.’
Hope surged in Eddie’s heart. ‘To where?’
‘Argentina.’
‘Argentina’s pretty bloody big. You’d better narrow it down a bit.’
A sigh. ‘We have… mostly. But we could only pinpoint it to a small town in the south-west of the country. Everything there goes through a satellite hub, but not even the telecom company knows the physical locations of the computers linked to it. Kroll and his people might be in the town, or just outside it… or twenty kilometres away.’
‘But Mossad’ll search now they know roughly where they are, right?’
Zane looked uncomfortable. ‘Yes — but they still have to recall agents from other assignments back to CSU.’
‘How long will that take?’
‘Since we haven’t got absolute confirmation of the Nazis’ location… two or three days.’
‘Nina and the others might be dead in two or three days,’ Eddie growled. ‘We should get the UN or Interpol involved.’
‘They’ll take even longer! They won’t act without proof. That’s why I already arranged a flight — for both of us.’ For the second time in minutes, Eddie was surprised by the young agent. ‘We can try to locate Kroll’s base ourselves. If we find it—’
‘We’ll find it. We’re not fucking leaving until we do.’
‘When we find it, the Mossad can take action. Interpol too — if there’s anything left for them.’ He gave Eddie a dark look. ‘We both have personal reasons for taking out these bastards.’
‘Rescuing Nina and the others takes priority, though. Even over revenge.’
Hesitation, then: ‘Agreed,’ said Zane.
‘Okay.’ The Yorkshireman extended his hand; Zane regarded it for a moment, then shook it firmly. ‘So it’s not the Boys from Brazil — it’s the Arseholes from Argentina. Let’s go and wipe ’em out.’
19
The first thing Nina heard as she struggled back to wakefulness was the crackle of gunfire.
The sound sent a shock of fear through her system, driving away the fug. She was in a moving vehicle, lying on a dirty metal floor with her hands tied behind her back. Panic rose. Where was she? What had happened—
‘Sie wacht auf,’ said a man behind her.
Nina twisted to see the huge form of Walther sitting on a narrow bench. He stared back with contempt. The rumbling truck had a canvas cover over its cargo bed, grey daylight picking out the truck’s other occupants.
Macy was unconscious on the floor, Banna beside her. Both were bound. Two men sat behind them, sub-machine guns on their laps.
Memory returned. She’d been drugged! The Nazis had hauled the survivors of the desert ambush into their van — and forcibly injected them.
How long had she been unconscious? The light outside suggested it was late afternoon… but her gnawing hunger told her that more than a few hours had passed. She pushed herself up to look over the tailgate — and realised she was not in Egypt any more.
They had climbed up a hill from a vast plain, the vegetation more brown than green. A lake was visible several miles away; a small town stood amongst desiccated farmland near it.
There was something else about the scene, something wrong, but she couldn’t pin down what… until a shiver gave her the answer. It was cold. Not merely a high-altitude chill, but a deeper frigidity, seeping into her bones. It was winter. In June.
That meant she was in the southern hemisphere, below the tropics. Too cold to be Australia or southern Africa, too dry for New Zealand. Which left… South America. Almost certainly Argentina, then; narrow, mountainous Chile was lacking in great grassy plains.
‘Shoulda guessed,’ she mumbled. She didn’t need to be a Mossad agent to know that the country had been a magnet for escaped Nazi war criminals.
‘What was that, Dr Wilde?’ She turned to see Rasche through an opening in the back of the truck’s cab.
‘Argentina,’ she told him. ‘It makes sense that you’d have found yourselves a little rat-hole here. Lots of your buddies hid out in Argentina after the war, didn’t they? Mengele, Eichmann — Juan Perón really laid out the welcome mat for you.’
‘How do you know where we are?’ Walther demanded.
Rasche gave him a sneering smile. ‘Because she is as clever as her reputation told us. I hope for your sake, Dr Wilde, that you will use that mind of yours to give us what we want. And for the sake of your friends,’ he added, glancing at the two sleeping figures.
Another burst of gunfire, closer. Nina squirmed to the bench opposite Walther and with an effort levered herself up to sit upon it. The big German shot her a warning scowl, but did not kick her back down. She peered through the opening.
The truck was crossing a large plateau that gradually rose towards a distant range of snow-capped peaks. Stands of trees dotted the landscape between empty fields. A rusty narrow-gauge railroad track ran parallel to the dirt road, heading for a cluster of buildings at the heart of the upland plain.
The escaped Nazis had not spent the past seven decades hiding in a hole.
It was more than a mere farm; they had constructed an entire colony. Several large houses stood at the centre, with ranks of long, low structures resembling military barracks lined up nearby. There were also barn-like storage structures, garages and workshops, even a water tower.
More shots caught her attention. Off to one side was a military training ground, an obstacle course alongside a target range. A group of young men were firing rifles.