Ghosts of War (25 page)

J
ennifer took a seat in the back of the last car, Shoshana sitting next to the window and Jennifer on the aisle. They sorted themselves out, then sat in silence, until it grew too long.

Shoshana said, “Pike doesn't believe in me.”

Jennifer said, “Yes, he does. He just needs you to execute what he wants.”

“Is that how you work with him? You do what he says?”

Jennifer considered, then said, “Yes and no. Pike is . . . a little different. He wants you to follow his orders, until he wants you to forget them. I've learned to just do what I think is right. He'll always follow that, without fail.”

Shoshana took that in, then said, “So you can do whatever you want? In your relationship?”

Jennifer turned to her and said, “Shoshana, the relationship has nothing to do with the mission. Can't you see that?”

Shoshana said, “There is nothing but the mission. How do you separate it?”

Jennifer shook her head and said, “I think you need to really look at what you want. When you say ‘the mission,' that's not a relationship. You deserve more than that. The job is not your life.”

Jennifer saw her brain working, actually considering the words like they were something new. She said, “How can it not be? That's what we do.”

The train started to move, and Jennifer said, “Time for an update.” She pulled out her phone, glad to get away from the
conversation, dialing Pike. When she was done, she looked back at Shoshana, saying, “They're on the move. Easy day. All we have to do is make sure Mikhail doesn't leave.”

Shoshana said, “If it came down to it, would you kill for Pike?”

Jennifer had no idea where the question was going. She said, “No. I wouldn't kill
for
Pike. But I'd kill. And I have. There's a difference, and Pike is usually right. And so is Aaron. Why do you keep bringing this up?”

Shoshana glanced out the window and said, “I kill because I'm told to. I was never asked if it was right or wrong. I'm good at it. Better than most.”

Jennifer said, “But you don't have to. It's your choice.”

Shoshana slid her eyes away and said, “It's easy to say that. Much harder to live it.”

Jennifer had no answer for that, wondering how on earth anyone could even believe that killing simply because someone ordered it was a normal thing, as Shoshana seemed to. Like it was the natural circle of life.

Shoshana said, “I'm through killing.”

Jennifer started to answer when the door to their car opened and a beefy man walked in. He looked vaguely familiar. Jennifer tightened up, pretending to work a sudoku puzzle, allowing the man to pass without acknowledging him.

Another man came through the door, and she thought she recognized him as well. She lowered her eyes, and Shoshana said, “Those are the two from the video.”

Jennifer said, “Let them go. Let them walk past us.”

Shoshana tensed her body and said, “They aren't here coincidentally. There's no one else in this car, and nothing behind us.”

“No. Don't. Let them go. They don't know who we are. They've never seen us.”

The first man walked down the aisle, ignoring them both. He
reached their row, and Jennifer saw she'd made a mistake with her command. He pulled out a small pistol and jammed it into Jennifer's chest. He said, “You two are invited to first class. There's a man who wants to meet you.”

Jennifer stiffened, waiting on Shoshana to explode. The second man leaned over the row in front of them, small pistol in hand, and said, “Mikhail said to tell you hello. He's looking forward to talking.”

Everything Shoshana had said about killing faded away. For the first time since she'd known her, Jennifer saw fear on Shoshana's face.

—

Mikhail waited in his cabin, going back and forth about how he would handle the confrontation. He knew he needed to understand exactly what the Mossad had learned about him and, most important, how they'd found him, but part of him wanted to spend time with Shoshana.

She was the prize. He had broken her once, and she'd somehow rebounded, destroying his career. She had always been a flower he could never have. Someone who had defied him. He now had a second chance.

He'd felt the familiar warmth in his groin the moment he'd seen her digital image. Part trepidation and part lust. He despised her, a hatred borne of fear of what she was capable of. But he could destroy that fear, if he had her. And now he did.

He heard a knock, and opened the door. The first thing he saw was Shoshana, obediently walking in front of his security. He studied her face, waiting on the satisfaction of the moment when she recognized him. He got it.

She saw him and began to tremble.

T
he man pushed the barrel against Jennifer's back, forcing her into the sleeping cabin behind Shoshana. She was shoved into a chair. Shoshana remained standing in front of the man they knew as Mikhail. Jennifer swiftly analyzed the small cabin, looking for the way out. Looking for the seam she could exploit, confident that with Shoshana, she could persevere. The men with guns had no idea of the violence she and Shoshana could perpetrate, choosing to treat them like weak women, which was a mistake.

The first security man threw a bag on the table, containing the contents of what they'd found on Jennifer and Shoshana. Mikhail reached inside and poked around, eventually pulling out Jennifer's cell phone.

Jennifer glanced at Shoshana, trying to communicate with her eyes, and was shocked at what she saw. Shoshana was a shell of herself.

Guided to the bed, she sat down without resistance.

Mikhail set the phone on the counter, pointed at Jennifer, and said, “Secure her.” The train began to slow and the men glanced at him. He said, “It's the three-minute stop. Don't worry about it.”

He approached Shoshana and she recoiled. He leaned into her face and licked her cheek like a cat, saying, “Oh, how I've missed you.”

The two men pulled out wire coat hangers from the closet, and in short order had wired Jennifer's legs together, then bound her hands at the wrist. By the time they were done, the train was moving again.

Jennifer gave one feeble attempt at innocence, saying, “Why are you doing this?”

Mikhail glanced at her, then spoke in Yiddish. Jennifer looked confused, and Mikhail smacked Shoshana on the side of the head, hammering her on the ear and slamming her skull into the wall. Punishing her for Jennifer's perceived insolence. Jennifer alone saw her earbud fly out. Shoshana rolled upright, still frozen in fear, taking the blow as if it were what was expected in life.

Mikhail asked Jennifer another question in Yiddish. She once again looked confused, and it broke through. In English, Mikhail said, “You're not Mossad. Interesting. Very interesting. We'll get to the bottom of that, I assure you. I don't know you like I do Shoshana, but I will. Biblically, if you want.” He smiled at his joke and said, “That can be fun, or it can be painful. It all depends on you.”

A phone started buzzing, and Jennifer realized it was hers, lying next to the bag on the counter. Mikhail went to it and picked it up. He let it ring a couple more times, deciding, then answered, saying nothing. He listened for a second, then hung up. A minute later, the other phone in the bag began ringing. He ignored it.

Jennifer gave up feigning innocence, trying intimidation instead. She said, “We have a team tracking us. Harming us would not be wise.”

He laughed and said, “Tracking you on a moving train? Yes, I'm sure they are, but all they have is a cell phone. What I need to know is how you found me. And how much you know about my plans. I will learn that soon.”

He turned to Shoshana and leaned into her. She recoiled, and he held her head in his hands. Unlike Jennifer, her own arms and legs were free, but she showed no willingness to use them. He kissed her lips and said, “I've missed you so much. Remember the fun we had between missions?”

She nodded hesitantly. He slid his hands up from her cheeks and gripped her hair hard, pulling until a gasp escaped her lips. He said, “This will be nothing like that.”

He released her and said something in Russian to the men. He left with one, leaving the other in the room holding a small Walther PPK pistol, the man glowering at Jennifer from under thick eyebrows.

Jennifer fervently stared at Shoshana, trying to get her attention and failing. Shoshana was mentally shattered. Mikhail had left her unbound, and yet she did nothing but rock back and forth, her eyes unfocused.

Jennifer looked at the man on the chair, wondering how she could get to him. The thought was ridiculous, with her hands and ankles wrapped in wire. Shoshana was the only chance.

She said, “Shoshana, you all right?”

Shoshana glanced at her in an offhand, glazed way. She repeated, “Shoshana?”

The man in the chair leaned forward, putting a finger to his lips. Jennifer realized he didn't speak English.

How that would help, she was unsure. She knew they had only minutes before the other two men returned. Which meant one shot to get Shoshana back.

She shouted, “Shoshana!”

Shoshana jerked at her name, and the man in the chair leaned forward, lightly smacking Jennifer in the face, saying, “
Nyet
.”

The roughness of the man brought home her lack of choices, the fear now closing in like the debilitating cloak that Shoshana wore.

Way out. Gotta be a way out. Always a way out. Think.

Her earbud crackled, and she thought it was from the slap. Then she heard her mentor.

The way out.

“Carrie, Koko, Carrie, Koko, this is Pike. You copy?”

She was electrified at the words, but couldn't respond.

It came through again. “Carrie, Koko, Carrie, Koko, this is Pike. Come back.”

She did, glancing at the guard. She mumbled, as if she were just talking to herself. “Pike, Koko. We're in deep shit. Need help. Now.”

The man looked at her, and she realized her first assessment had been correct. He didn't understand English. She kept her head bowed, mumbling. He let her go.

Pike came back, speaking as calmly as if he was ordering a pizza, which meant he understood how bad things had become.

“Need info. What's going on?”

“We've been captured. I'm bound. Mikhail is coming back any second. He's going to torture us for information.”

She heard nothing, then, “Tell him everything. Don't hold back. Give it all to him. Fuck the mission. Where's Shoshana?”

“She's here. Mikhail hit her in the head. Her earbud is gone.”

“Tell her the same thing. Buy time. Tell them whatever they want to know.”

“Pike, I don't think that'll be enough.”

“Can you escape? Did they put regular handcuffs on you? Something you can pick?”

“No. I'm wrapped up in clothes hangers.”

“Shoshana?”

“She's free.”

“What? Say again?”

The guard leaned into Jennifer and tapped her on the head with the barrel of his weapon, saying again, “
Nyet
.”

She moaned, then muttered something as if she were as subdued as Shoshana. He leaned back, satisfied.

She said into the radio, “Pike, she's lost it. She's done. She took one look at Mikhail and shut down. She's no help.”

She heard “What are you saying? Are you talking about Shoshana?”

“Pike, it's like Cougar in
Top Gun
. She's catatonic. I need you here. She's no fucking help. Get your ass here.”

She heard the worst words she could imagine. “I can't get there. I'm tracking the train right now, but there's no way for me to board.”

She was like an astronaut in a space capsule, hurtling out of control to Earth, death on the horizon, knowing there was nothing mission control could do to prevent it. She felt the tears in her eyes and hated them.

She said, “Pike, he's going to kill us.”

She heard nothing, knowing Pike was tearing himself apart at his inability to do anything. Then he came back, with a different tone. “Jennifer, we're about to have to turn off. The road is going to leave the tracks and we're going to lose radio comms. Tell Shoshana something from me. Tell her loudly. Shout it.”

“What?”

“Tell her Nephilim wants to see the Pumpkin King. Tell her she
is
the Pumpkin King. Tell her she holds her own destiny.”

“What the hell are you saying?”

“Just
do
it. Tell her . . .”

The radio broke contact, and the door opened. She had no idea what Pike meant by his words, and was now on the verge of becoming catatonic herself. Mikhail entered alone, saying, “I think we've figured out how to handle this. Once we're through with our interrogation.”

He moved to Shoshana and said, “But before we start with the rough stuff, let's do what we used to enjoy.”

He turned so his belt was in front of her and said, “Remember?”

Resigned, Shoshana began working the buckle. To Jennifer it was surreal. Like she was watching a show outside of her body. Seeing the strongest woman she'd ever known succumb over nothing more than a given command.