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She hung the phone up and I said, “What does that mean?”

“It means this man is mine. I will get my vengeance.”

I started to say something, and she gave me a look of pure venom, saying, “Don’t tell me to stop, Pike. I’ll wait until we find out his plan, but when we do, I’m going to extract all the pain he gave myRamsad.”

I was taken aback at her rage. I’d seen it before, but not in such a controlled state, sitting right next to me. I said, “Okay, Carrie. We solve this problem, and he’s all yours.”

She nodded and we continued racing down the road, going twice as fast as the law allowed. Like magic, ahead of us, I saw an SUV. I said, “Is that him?”

She said, “I never got a license plate. I don’t know.”

The SUV was driving the speed limit, lazily heading down the road. I increased my own speed, came up behind it, and then attempted to pass, just to see.

I came abreast, and from the passenger seat, Shoshana said, “That’s him.”

I sagged back into our lane behind him and said, “Disable the vehicle. Right now.”

She reached behind the seat, pulled out an MCX rifle, and lowered the window, taking aim at the left rear tire. She pulled the trigger three times, and nothing happened.

I said, “Are you even aiming?”

She glared at me and said, “I hit the tire.”

The SUV sped up, racing ahead of us. I said, “I’m going to bring you up next to him. Put that fucker down.”

I floored the pedal, jumping into the next lane and getting abreast of the SUV. Shoshana leaned out of the window, the rifle stabbing out. I saw Garrett flinch, and she began firing, the bullets creating nothing more than small divots in the glass, like she’d hit a regular window with a pebble.

And it hit home.It’s armored. That’s why the tires didn’t go. He’s driving with run-flats.

At that moment, he swerved into us, and his vehicle was much, much heavier than ours. It was like having an M1 Abrams tank pushing a golf cart at speed. He hit my rear quarter panel, punched his engine, and we spun off the road, colliding with the ditch on the far side hard enough to cause both of us to slam about like a couple of marbles tossed into a dryer.

I shook my head, looked at Shoshana, and said, “You okay?”

She nodded and said, “He’s going to get away. I can’t let him get away.”

I said, “He’s not going to get away. Sooner or later, he’s leaving that vehicle. And when he does, he’ll be a turtle without a shell.”

Chapter 74

Garrett swerved back onto the road, seeing the car behind him spin out into the ditch. Breathing heavily, he wiped the sweat from his brow and continued on. He was committed now. Highway Four was a one-way road to the end of Israel. He thought about circling back around and driving to Tel Aviv just to hide for a day, but then realized that if Michelangelo actually accomplished his mission, he’d never get out. The entire country would be locked down because of the coming war.

He drove as fast as he could push the heavily armored vehicle and eventually began passing settlements. He looked at his phone, saw he had a strong signal, and initiated the Zello app, saying into the speaker, “Mikey, what’s your status?”

“I’m halfway to Jerusalem. I’ll be inside the Old City in about thirty minutes. What about you?”

“I’m driving back to Tel Aviv. I should be there in an hour.”

“And the Grand Master? Is he with you?”

“No, you idiot. Do you think I’d be calling if he was in my car? He wanted to stay behind to talk to the prime minister. The Israeli security detail will bring him home, but we’re going to be gone by then.”

“Okay. Hey, look, I can’t set these charges off inside by myself. I’m going to have to do it remotely. Is that okay?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean I’m not a suicide bomber. I’m not going to get blown up doing this. I’m going to emplace them, and then leave, setting them off by cell phone.”

Confused, Garrett said, “I’m fine with that. Why are you asking?”