She started to cry. She couldn’t stop herself. This man she loved, this hero of the country, had been beaten and stuffed into a trunk. It was more than she could take. She put her head down on the table and wept.

An arm wrapped around her. She looked up and saw it was the ramsad. Putting her face into his shoulder, she felt his arms embrace her. All the tension and fear and exhaustion and sorrow poured out through her tears.

“We’ll get him back. I promise you,” he said in his low, gruff voice.

“We don’t even know that he’s still alive.”

“He’s alive. He has to be. They still need his information.”

Nicole pulled back, and the ramsad offered her a handkerchief. She thanked him, then dabbed her eyes and wiped her cheeks. “But what if they’ve already broken him? What if…what if he already told them all about the timing of the attack?”

The ramsad smiled gently. “He can’t, my dear. He doesn’t know.”

Confused, Nicole blinked. “He doesn’t know?”

“Of course not. I would never tell him that. Besides, he was the one who first insisted on maintaining his ignorance. He knows the only person who can never be broken is the person who has no information to give.”

Relief flooded into Nicole, as did hope. She turned back to the monitor to watch as the trunk was closed and then carried away. “So they still need him.”

“Yes, they still need him. These next hours will be very rough going for him. But when night falls, our boys will be there, and they will rescue that man from that boat.” A hard look came across the ramsad’s face. “And then they will make those men pay for what they have done.”

Chapter 57

CHAPTER 57

ONE HOUR LATER

CAFALA BAHR, ARABIAN SEA, OFF MUMBAI, INDIA—17:10 / 5:10 P.M. IST

The chill of water jolted Nir awake. He sputtered, tasting salt in his mouth and feeling a raw blast up his nostrils. His eyes burned when he opened them, and through the blur he saw a soldier in an IRGC uniform stepping away and carrying a water hose.

“Mr. Tavor, it’s good to have you back with us.”

Nir followed the voice and saw Kamal standing with two other men—Saad Salim and General Arash Mousavi. Scattered around were several IRGC soldiers and a few of Kamal’s men.

You can’t let Salim and Mousavi realize you know who they are. Stay strong. Stretch it out. Give your boys a chance to come get you.

“Kamal,” he choked out. Nir cleared his throat and spit. “Good to see you’re still around. Still doing that keto diet?”

“See what I mean about the Jewish arrogance?” Kamal said to the other two men.