Walther and Schneider joined them at the building, the latter giving Nina and especially Macy lecherous looks. The corpulent Nazi leader was waiting within, as was Gausmann. The latter wore a pair of heavy leather gloves, and to Nina’s alarm had a set of knuckledusters clutched in one fist. The dull metal was spattered with blood. ‘Dr Wilde,’ said Kroll. ‘Dr Banna, Miss Sharif. I hope you are making progress.’
‘Not much,’ said Nina, trying to mask her dread. Someone lay on the floor behind Kroll and Gausmann, back to her and hands secured behind him by a plastic zip-tie. The man’s head was blocked from her view by the obese German, but more spilled blood was visible in little pools around him. ‘All our calculations still say that the spring’s latitude is six and a half degrees north of Alexander’s tomb, but…’ A groan came from the slumped figure.
‘But what?’ Kroll prompted, ignoring the sound. Gausmann kicked his subject.
Nina continued, mouth dry. ‘We’ve tried taking into account possible calculation errors by Andreas, but even then the results are the same — it always ends up in the Caspian.’
Kroll fixed his gaze upon her. ‘You would not be lying to me, would you, Dr Wilde?’
‘No, I’m not lying,’ she insisted. ‘We just need more time to work it out.’
He shook his head. ‘You are out of time. We are all out of time.’ He stepped aside to give Nina a clear view of the man on the floor.
She gasped in shock. It was Jared Zane.
The Israeli’s ripped clothes were stained with blood, cuts and angry bruises visible through the torn fabric. He weakly turned his head, revealing the damage done to his face. One eye was swollen and purple, and a bloody lump marked where his nose had been broken. A thick line of blood and saliva oozed from his mouth.
Macy and Banna both reacted in horror at the sight, but Kroll’s full attention was on Nina. ‘I believe you know this man, Dr Wilde.’
There was no point denying it; Rasche had seen Zane rescuing her in Alexandria. ‘Yes,’ she whispered.
‘And you know that he is an agent of the Mossad?’
She said nothing, in case it was a trap; Zane might not have confessed that fact. Rasche sneered at her. ‘He is a Mossad agent. Trying to protect him will gain you nothing.’
Nina still did not reply. Rasche raised a hand as if to strike her, but Kroll waved him off. ‘It is of no consequence whether she admits it, or not,’ he said. ‘What is of consequence, Dr Wilde, is that a Mossad agent — a member of their Criminal Sanctions Unit, the so-called “Nazi hunters” — has found the Enklave. Where one comes, more will soon follow, like rats. Our secret has been discovered. So we must act quickly to protect ourselves. But our first priority is to locate the Spring of Immortality.’ He crossed the room to stand in front of her, close enough for her to smell the stale tobacco on his breath. ‘You will do that for us. And you will do it now.’
‘I can’t,’ she said. ‘We need to go back to the original Greek, in case we missed something. There must be—’
‘No!’ Kroll barked. ‘I do not believe you.’ He stepped back and regarded each of the trio in turn. ‘I think you already know where to find the spring, and that you are keeping it from us.’ His gaze returned to Nina. ‘You will tell us.’
A fearful silence followed — broken by a faint voice from the floor. ‘Nina…’ croaked Zane. Gausmann kicked him again. The Israeli gasped, but forced out another word. ‘Eddie…’
‘Eddie?’ Nina echoed. Kroll had turned to look at Zane; she ducked around him to get closer. ‘Jared, what about Eddie? Where is he?’
Rasche yanked her back. ‘Who is Eddie?’
‘Her husband,’ said Kroll. The answer was matter-of-fact — but then realisation made him whirl back to Nina. ‘Wait — your husband was with this man?’
A sudden fear rolled over her. ‘Yeah…’
‘In Italy?’
The feeling became more intense. ‘Yes, he was…’
‘Leitz said there was someone else with the Mossad agent,’ Rasche reminded Kroll. ‘He must have been the other man that Santos arrested!’
Kroll’s piggy eyes widened. He addressed the others in German. Nina picked out an obscenity easily enough: Scheiße! Whatever had happened to Eddie, the Nazi leader was displeased about it.
Fear was replaced by hope. Zane had found the Enklave, and he had been travelling with Eddie — so her husband was here too. And judging from Kroll’s reaction, he was causing as much trouble as ever. She exchanged a look with Macy, who had reached the same conclusion. There was still a chance they might get out of this.
But the other Nazis — Gausmann, Walther, Schneider — didn’t appear as concerned as their commander, while Rasche merely shrugged. Then the sense of hope curdled in her stomach as she saw Schneider’s face break into a nasty little smile. Something was wrong, very wrong…
Kroll scowled, then stood over Zane. ‘Tell her,’ he growled, nudging the Israeli’s bruised side.
‘Tell me what?’ Nina demanded.
Zane lifted his head, coughing wetly to clear blood from his mouth. ‘Nina, I’m… I’m sorry, but… he’s dead.’
‘No,’ she breathed. ‘I don’t believe it.’ Behind her, Macy choked back a shocked sob.
‘I’m sorry,’ Zane repeated, ‘but… it’s true. Cops in the town… Nazis paid them to keep this place secret. They… arrested us, brought me here, but… they were told to kill Eddie.’
‘They did kill him,’ said Kroll, annoyed. ‘The mayor himself told me. Idiots!’
‘What does it matter?’ asked Rasche, dismissive. ‘He was a threat, he was eliminated.’
‘You are an idiot too, Rasche!’ Kroll snapped. ‘Are you deaf? She is his wife.’ He pointed at Nina. ‘We could have used him to force her to tell us the location of the Spring of Immortality!’
Nina was no longer listening, the discussion receding into the distance. Eddie couldn’t be dead! She had thought more than once in the past that she had lost him, only for him to reappear with a quip and a cheeky smile — not least right before they finally took the plunge and got married. It would happen this time, too.
Wouldn’t it?
But it wasn’t just Kroll giving her the news. Zane had no reason to lie to her. If Eddie was still out there, potentially able to help, then his best course of action would have been to say nothing at all…
As if reading her thoughts, Zane spoke again. ‘Nina, I’m so sorry… I tried to help him, but—’ He was cut off by Gausmann’s boot to his stomach.
Kroll finally turned away from his subordinates with deep irritation. ‘The situation has not changed, Dr Wilde,’ he said. ‘You will still tell me what I want to know.’
Nina struggled to speak, choked by raw emotion. ‘If Eddie’s dead, then — then you can go fuck yourself. All of you. Without him, I’ve got nothing left to live for.’
‘You will not die slowly,’ said Gausmann, almost with relish.
‘Shut up,’ Kroll told him. ‘Dr Wilde, we may not have your husband, but we have other people you care about. Your friends here.’ He looked first at Zane, then Banna and the tearful Macy. ‘Will you let them die to keep your secret?’
‘There is no secret,’ Nina spat. ‘We followed Andreas’ instructions exactly, and the results always end up in the sea. Either there’s something missing from the clues, or the spring’s not where he thought it was — if it even exists any more. I don’t know how to find it!’