After landing in Germany 13 hours later, she changed the destination for her final leg from Milan to Tel Aviv. And by early afternoon the day after she left Singapore, Nir was hugging her by baggage claim at Ben Gurion International Airport.

Chapter 35

CHAPTER 35

TEL AVIV, ISRAEL—DECEMBER 6, 2020—15:15 / 3:15 P.M. IDT

After laying Nicole’s bags in the trunk of his black Škoda Superb, Nir opened the passenger door so she could get in. Her exhaustion was evident in her few words and slow movements. He wished he could take her back to her guesthouse to rest, but she had too much time-sensitive information. A couple hours with him and a few more with the team, then she could sleep all she wanted.

As he pulled out of the parking structure, he asked, “You want some coffee to wake up?”

She thought for a moment. “No, I’ve been sitting down for so long. I’d rather stretch my legs.”

“A walk it is. Just close your eyes for a bit right now, and if you fall asleep, I’ll wake you when we get there.”

Nir expected her usual push back, saying she wasn’t tired. But she closed her eyes, and he soon heard steady breathing. A half hour later he pulled into a parking space by the Homat HaYam Promenade. He was debating whether to wake her or let her sleep when she saved him the choice by stirring.

“Feel better?”

“Just enough to take the edge off.” Looking outside the car, she said, “Jaffa. Perfect choice.”

They stepped out of the car and walked to the patterned brick walkway.

“Left or right?” asked Nir.

To their left was Old Town Jaffa with its centuries of history. To the right was the skyline of Tel Aviv with its ever-present construction cranes. Old and new—the ongoing contradiction of Israel. Directly in front of them was the Mediterranean carrying on its breeze the sound of surf and the smell of open water.

“Let’s go right.”

As they set off, Nir said, “So you and Alicia made three stops, right?”

“We did. Two near Hong Kong and one by Singapore. One good guy and two bad guys.”

“And…”

“Well, the good guy was really a bad guy, just not in the ways we care about. The Hong Kong bad guy was actually a good guy. I mean, he was very nice and a great host. It’s just that whole funneling of Chinese weapons into the Middle East thing. Anyway, first guy didn’t buy, but the second guy did.”

“Excellent. He was the one we wanted. What about Singapore?”

“Well, there we had the good, the bad, and the just plain ugly.”