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Shoshana scoffed, saying, “There’s a big difference. Aaron doesn’t control me.” She gazed out the windshield, then sat upright. “That fucking Pike. I lost the target while talking to him. Where is he?”
Je
Shoshana did and said, “He’s close to the hive. He’s thinking of the operation. He’s making a plan before he meets the team.”
She pulled into an alley and put the vehicle in park. “Time to go. Keep your head covered. Walk steadily and don’t make eye contact.”
“No. We go nowhere. We’ve necked down the location enough for the Jordanians. They’ll handle it.”
Her radio came alive with an exasperated Pike. “Koko, Koko, status?”
She said, “I’m here. We think we’re within a block radius of the terrorist team. The Brit is still on the move, but he’s no longer ru
Pike said, “I’ve got your location on my phone. Sit tight. No action. Keep eyes on, and we’ll relay location to the Jords.”
Je
“Je
Trying to talk without giving anything away to Shoshana, Je
“Take her down.”
Shoshana opened the vehicle door and said, “Come on. We’re going to lose him.”
In one fluid motion, Je
Shoshana’s face grew dark. She slammed the door closed and said, “You fucking Americans. It’s all about the orders. Never about the true mission.”
Je
Shoshana said, “That terrorist you’re letting go cut the head off a man. Of many men. You’re happy with him in a Jordanian prison? Do you know who else was in a Jordanian prison? Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. The fucking spawn of the Islamic State. The man who cut the head off of Daniel Pearl and murdered more American soldiers than anyone else.”
Je
Without warning, Shoshana lashed out, slapping one hand on the weapon and whipping an elbow at Je
The fight was short but brutal. Shoshana landed two well-placed elbows against Je
She launched her legs against the footwell and drove Shoshana into the back of the van. They hit together, and Je
She saw the opening, felt an elbow tear into her scalp, slamming her head into the floor of the van . . . and then she had the bar. She twisted her body, hunching her hips and bringing Shoshana forward, into her deadly embrace, and she felt the joint lock set deep. Perfectly positioned.
Shoshana slammed a fist into Je
Je
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Knowing she was trapped, Shoshana went rigid and let out a keening wail, sounding like a wounded animal, then went limp, sagging into the floor of the van and giving Je
She closed her eyes and said, “You’re letting him get away. You’re going to allow that murderer to go free. Why did you care about catching the American so much, but not al-Britani? Why do you fight me?”
Maintaining her position, not relaxing at all, Je
Shoshana wiped her eye with her free arm, no longer fighting. She said, “Because they’re evil. They aren’t human. They tossed aside all humanity when they embraced the ideology, then set about killing. I’m no more like them than a hog farmer is. Yes, I butcher, but like the farmer, it’s for a greater good. We’re both killing a beast, but the hog is a much greater sacrifice.”
Je
Shoshana scoffed. “You are so naïve. I hate that philosophy. Of course I can’t kill them all. When a policeman arrests a rapist, do you say, You can’t arrest them all? I can only kill the ones I can reach, and I’ll gladly do so, just like the policeman.”
Je
Shoshana looked at the ceiling of the van for a moment. She said, “No. No, I wouldn’t. I couldn’t.” She gave a bitter laugh and said, “It’s a weakness, I suppose.”
“Weakness how?”
Shoshana waited a beat, then said, “You call me a butcher, but some in the Mossad would say differently. I was ‘discarded’ to the Samson team because I refused to take out a Palestinian. He wasn’t a terrorist, and our information was wrong.”
Now genuinely interested, having had moments of doubt while working with the Taskforce, Je
Shoshana turned her head in surprise. She said, “No.”
Je
Staring intently at her, Je
“I’m honestly not sure. I just feel it. I can tell. On that mission I . . . I slept with him.” She looked to see a reaction from Je
“How, though? How did you know?”
Je
Je
Je
“It is that simple. You make it complicated. This man beheaded at least four people. Cut off their heads with a knife. It doesn’t get any simpler than that. Our world is gray, but this is black and white.”