He shook the hand of the younger man too. Their resemblance confirmed what Nir already knew—they were father and son.

Speaking in Arabic, Nir said, “Thank you for your help. We have a long journey ahead of us.”

“Yes, we do,” the father said. “I have put food in the back as well as water. And I know of places where we can stop out of sight every two hours for anyone who might need to relieve themselves.”

“That is much appreciated, but I would just as soon not risk being seen. We’ll be fine.”

The man nodded. “As you wish.”

Nir climbed into the truck, and when the son pulled the door down, Nir heard him fasten the latch. It was dark in the box, the only light coming from a small vent window near the cab.

“Did I just hear you tell that guy we don’t need bathroom breaks for the next seven hours?” asked Yaron.

“Since when have you started understanding Arabic?”

“Listen, I’ve learned how to say the word pee in many languages.”

“Not surprising with how big your prostate must be by now, old man,” Doron said.

Lahav seemed agitated. “Wait. Did you say seven hours without a bathroom? I can’t go seven hours. I have a delicate system.”

“Just pretend you’re in solitary and they forgot to leave your bucket,” said Imri, joining in the fray.

Laughter filled the back of the truck—but not from Lahav. “Seriously, guys, I kind of feel like I have to go already.”

And so it begins, thought Nir.

Chapter 25

CHAPTER 25

ABSARD, TEHRAN PROVINCE, IRAN—11:45 / 11:45 A.M. IRST

The lug wrench popped the nut loose, and Nir spun it off. Once it was free, he threw it off into the field, then blew on his fingers to warm them before starting on the last nut. The temperature had reached 11 degrees Celsius, but it was humid, and the moisture was giving him chills.

Through his com, he could hear Lahav and Imri arguing.

“To the left. Your other left, Einstein!” Lahav shouted.

“That is my left!”

Nir could hear the slight phase separation between Imri’s digitized voice in his earbud and the real thing coming from the back seat of the beater sedan.

Lahav paused. “Oh. Yeah, my bad. But if you guys had parked the car straight, we wouldn’t have to be repositioning the camera.”

“Quit whining and do your job,” Nir said.

So far, Lahav had been remarkably professional during the operation. But now it seemed the stress was getting to him.

The final nut removed, Nir sent it flying after the others. Leaning down again, he pulled the rear driver’s side wheel from the car. “Be careful up there, Term 5. I don’t know how stable this jack is.” Term was short for Terminator, chosen because of the futuristic nature of this operation’s technology.

“Root.”