The League of Night and Fog by David Morrell Read Free Book Online

lie. The next time we were attacked, they’d have looked out for themselves instead of …”
    In the dark, Chris nuzzled against him.
    Erika hugged him tighter. “You’re a dope.”
    Surprised, he stifled his tears. “What?”
    “We’re professionals. Or used to be. We both know what combat means. Personal needs are a luxury. If the group doesn’t defend itself, no family has a chance. The minute the shooting started, I grabbed Chris with one hand and this Uzi with the other. I told myself that if you were still alive, you’d do what the rules required—and so would I. Which in my case meant hiding our son and protecting him. And which in
your
case meant doing your best to protect the village. There’s no need for tears. I dearly love you.
My
job was to guard the family,
yours
to defend the group. I’ve got no complaints. If anything, I’m proud of you. We did it right.”
    Saul had trouble breathing. “I love you.”
    “After the village calms down, when we organize a sentry schedule and it gets dark and we put Chris to bed, I’d be glad for you to show me how much.”
2
    T wenty minutes later, an Israeli combat helicopter circled the rocky fields around the village, checking for other invaders. Two trucks filled with soldiers jounced along a potholed road and stopped at the outskirts. Their eyes reminding Saul of hawks, the soldiers scrambled down, scanned the devastation, and snapped to attention while a captain gave them orders. Well-trained, strongly disciplined, they established defensive positions in case of another attack. A squad searched the pockets of the enemy corpses.
    A hot wind blew dust.
    The captain, his face like a shale slope furrowed with gullies, came over to Saul. “Your radio team said the attack had beensubdued.” He gestured toward the bodies. “Isn’t ‘crushed’ more accurate?”
    “Well”—Saul shrugged—“they pissed us off.”
    “Apparently.” The captain lit a cigarette. “The way I hear it, the last thing anyone should want to do is piss you off. It’s Grisman, right? Saul Grisman? American? Former CIA?”
    “That gives you a problem?”
    “Not after what just happened. This must be Erika.”
    Saul turned. He hadn’t heard Erika come up behind him.
    “Christopher’s next door,” she said. “He’s still afraid, but he promised he’d close his eyes and try to sleep. He’s being watched.” She faced the captain.
    “You were with the Mossad,” the captain said to her. “I’m surprised this village isn’t boring for you.”
    “Today it certainly hasn’t been.”
    The captain cocked his head toward the teenagers holding M-16s. “Where are the men?”
    “In the military,” she said. “Or Jerusalem, or Tel Aviv. This is a village of widows, orphans, and deserted wives. It was barely hanging on when we got here.”
    “But that’s what we wanted,” Saul said. “A place on the edge of the world. So we decided to improve the civil defense.”
    “You’re telling me these
kids
, with some help from you, took care of this team?”
    “All they needed was a little encouragement.” Grinning, Saul hugged the two nearest teenagers.
    “My source says that
you,”
the captain told Saul, “had a reason for wanting to get away from it all.”
    “Did he say what my reason was?”
    The captain shook his head no.
    “Allergies.”
    “Sure. My source also said that
you,”
he told Erika, “could have stayed in Israeli intelligence. Your record was clean. So you didn’t need come here.”
    “Wrong,” she said. “I had the best reason possible.”
    “What?”
    “To be with him.” She gestured toward Saul.
    The captain drew on his cigarette. “Fine. What happened here—I have a few problems about it.”
    “I know,” Saul answered. “So do I.”
    “For starters, this team wasn’t just a bunch of amateurs. They’re well armed. Soviet weapons. It wasn’t impromptu—they’d planned the attack, six approaching this side of the village, the other