Aharon’s face paled in anger. “Who are you to teach me about being tough and decisive? The subject’s closed. You can go now, and for your own good—I’m going to try to forget we ever had this conversation.”
Ya’ara knew she was right. She respected Aharon, but she was sure he was wrong. Whatever information he was hoping to get out of Cobra, he just didn’t have the time. She actually felt the Russian escape plan being put into motion. If she, or one of her fellow operatives, was cornered, in danger of being apprehended, they would execute the emergency protocols immediately, without hesitation. Quick, decisive reaction, this was what professionalism required. And there was no reason to think that the SVR was not as professional as the best of them. Cobra was in imminent danger and they were going to get him out. Unless she was faster than they were. Unless she unleashed her fury without hesitation.
64
Army Radio was the first to carry the report, which was the third item on the list on the midnight news. “Businessman Alon Regev, a close confidant of the prime minister, was killed this evening in a hit-and-run accident nearby the community of Nitzan, north of Ashkelon. Regev was driving a sports car and appears to have been hit by a truck, which fled the scene. An investigation into the incident is under way, according to a statement from the Israel Police’s Southern District.”
65
TEL AVIV, APRIL 2013
They had assembled again in the apartment. Everyone but Ya’ara.
Aharon looked at them one by one: Michael, Adi, Amir, and Aslan. “This won’t take very long,” he said.
Amir opened the window and the smell of blossoms drifted into the room along with the noises of the city. Aharon gestured for him to shut the window again.
“I want to thank you for the good work you’ve done,” Aharon said. “For your willingness. Your dedication. We were given a job to do and we came through. And it’s time now for each of us to return to what we were doing before. Life didn’t come to a halt. We simply took a break. Those of you who still need to be reimbursed for expenses can arrange that with Amir. Michael, I want you to be responsible for ensuring that all material related to the operation is destroyed. Including Adi’s computer.” He paused. “If anyone ever happens to question you about the Cobra affair, you obviously don’t know what he or she is talking about. Total denial. If it’s someone official, on behalf of the state, refer him to me. Only to me. Without saying a word.”
“That’s it?” Adi asked. “We’re wrapping things up just like that? Without discussing what happened?” Her eyes filled with tears.
Michael put his hand on her shoulder. “Adi. Not now. We’ll talk about it. You and me.”
“Yeah, sure, we’ll talk.” The tears streamed down her cheeks. “But it can’t end like this. Aharon’s thanking us for the good work but we all know things got out of control at the end. We were supposed to have questioned Cobra, and we failed. He slipped out of our grasp and also managed very conveniently to get himself killed on the way. And I don’t buy that accident story. Where’s Ya’ara? Why isn’t she here? What did she say to you here, Aharon, after our previous meeting?”
“You’re upset, Adi. I get it,” Aharon said. “And yes, it didn’t end exactly as we had planned. I didn’t tell you that, but the state president called me last night, at about one-thirty. He told me that his military secretary informed him of Alon Regev’s death in a car accident. He asked me if I know anything about it. And truthfully I said I didn’t. Adi, we did not plan it this way, but we achieved a great deal, and you played a very big part in that. We exposed a spy who caused us terrible damage, and it’s over now. And sometimes an accident is simply an accident, even if it appears to be an improbable coincidence.”
Adi didn’t respond. She gathered herself and wiped her hand over her face, which looked suddenly to Michael like that of a young girl. All the members of the small team stood up and weren’t quite sure how to bid one another farewell.
Amir busied himself with tidying the apartment. There wasn’t really much to tidy, so he simply moved chairs from one place to another, adjusted the angle of the table slightly, and then returned it to its original spot, picked up a few pieces of paper he managed to find and vigorously put them through the shredder he had purchased at the start of the operation. “Darling,” he said to Adi, somewhat embarrassed by her outburst, which had echoed his own sentiments, “I’m taking your computer now. There’s nothing personal on it, nothing that you need, right?”
Adi nodded.
He removed the computer’s hard disk and smashed it to pieces with a hammer he found in the toolbox in the kitchenette.
“Careful, bro,” Michael said. “Don’t destroy the apartment. I still have to open a law firm here, unless Aharon decides that we’re going to continue working for him.”
“I heard that just fine,” Aharon called out from the other room. He was struggling with his raincoat, and trying with all his might to remember if he had brought an umbrella with him or had forgotten it elsewhere. The fact that it was a pleasant spring day, bathed in soft sunlight, didn’t seem very relevant to him.
“Okay, guys, we’re locking up,” Michael said. “Get out of my office already. If you have nothing to do, don’t do it here.” He looked at Adi tenderly and said, “Come, let’s go for a coffee on the boulevard. And then I’ll take you home.” Adi smiled at him gratefully.
Through the window Michael saw Aslan putting on his helmet and starting up his huge BMW motorcycle. Aslan hadn’t said good-bye when he left, but he caught Michael’s gaze now and waved to him.
“I’m closing, Aharon,” Michael called out, and Aharon hurried toward the door. He stood there for a second, looked Michael straight in the eyes, nodded to Adi, who managed to bring a faint smile to her face, and left the apartment. He appeared to Michael to be talking to himself, or making an important point in an argument. He then saw him stop for a moment alongside Aslan and say something to him, but Michael of course couldn’t hear.
“She worked her magic on you,” Aharon said to Aslan, who was sitting on his motorcycle. “She worked her magic on you.”
Without waiting for Aslan’s response, Aharon continued walking and disappeared around the corner. Michael heard the roar of Aslan’s motorcycle, which accelerated powerfully, pulled into the traffic with another mighty roar, and disappeared in seconds.
“Amir?”
“Right here, sir. I’m just making sure that everything is closed.”
“They asked about you at the university, you know.”
“Don’t you start with me now, too.”
A pleasant breeze caressed their faces as they headed off in the direction of the boulevard.
“You know,” Adi said to Michael, “I’m sure I’m going to enjoy being with my girls a little. To read them stories about rabbits and balloons. They say that childhood goes by so quickly. I have to go back to work in a month and a half. To start anew.”