Hell Island (13 page)

She recalled the scene vividly: trapped in a filling pool of quicksand, she had stood on Stretch’s shoulders
to poke her nose and mouth above the surface, while he had breathed through his sniper rifle’s gun barrel, using it as a snorkel.

Alby asked, “What does the Mossad do to Israeli soldiers who switch sides and fight against them?”

Jack threw a glance at Zoe and Wizard. Zoe nodded silently. Wizard just bowed his head.

When he finally answered, Jack spoke in a low voice, his face serious. “The Mossad isn’t known for showing mercy to its enemies. Traitors like Stretch receive the harshest punishment of all. There are stories of high-security desert prisons, their locations kept strictly secret, where high-grade prisoners are kept under twenty-four-hour guard and . . . mistreated . . . for years.”

“Mistreated?” Lily said.

“For
years
?” Alby said.

Jack said, “If Pooh Bear even manages to discover where they’re keeping Stretch, getting in and busting him out will be an all-but-impossible task. It’d be like breaking into Guantanamo Bay and running off with a terrorist.”

Lily said, “You did that once, Daddy. Can’t we go and help Pooh Bear?”

Jack looked at her sadly. “Lily. Honey. There are some operations that even I wouldn’t dare attempt, and this is one of them. I’m sorry, I really am, but we have to leave that to Pooh Bear and keep our eyes on the larger mission. It’s a hard decision for me to make, really hard,
believe me, but weighing up the possibilities and probabilities of success, I have to make it this way. I’m sorry.”

Jack bowed his head, but not before he saw the look Lily gave him—a look he’d never seen on her face before. It was a look of the most profound disappointment, and at that moment, he hated himself.

“So what
are
we going to do now then?” Lily asked in a sour tone.

“First of all,” Jack said, “Alby is going back to his mother in Perth; she’ll be beside herself when she sees his arm. And after Christmas, I’ll be sending you to join him. Keep you two out of harm’s way for a while.”

“
What!
” Lily protested. “What about the rest of you?”

“We’re going to try to find the remaining Pillars and Vertices before the world ends in March of next year.”

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