A Death in Vienna

into the coat, his eyes were on Navot.
    There was a knock at the door, two sharp reports that echoed from the high ceiling and marble floor of the corridor. The bodyguard released Radek’s overcoat and turned the latch. Two men in plainclothes pushed past and entered the house.
    “Are you ready, Herr Vogel?”
    Radek nodded, then turned and looked once more at Navot and Becker. “Again, please accept my apologies, gentlemen. I’m terribly sorry for the inconvenience.”
    Radek turned toward the door, Klaus at his shoulder. One of the officers blocked his path and put a hand on the bodyguard’s chest. The bodyguard swatted it away.
    “What do you think you’re doing?”
    “Herr Kruz gave us very specific instructions. We were to take only Herr Vogel into protective custody.”
    “Kruz would have never given an order like that. He knows that I go whereverhe goes. That’s the way it’s always been.”
    “I’m sorry, but those were our orders.”
    “Let me see your badge and identification.”
    “There isn’t time. Please, Herr Vogel. Come with us.”
    The bodyguard took a step back and reached inside his jacket. As the gun came into view, Navot lunged forward. With his left hand, he seized the bodyguard’s wrist and pinned the gun against his abdomen. With his right, he delivered two vicious open-handed blows to the back of the neck. The first blow staggered Halder; the second caused his knees to buckle. His hand relaxed, and the Glock clattered to the marble floor.
    Radek looked at the gun and for an instant thought about trying to pick it up. Instead, he turned and lunged toward the open door of his study and slammed it shut.
    Navot tried the latch. Locked.
    He took a few steps back and drove his shoulder into the door. The wood splintered and he tumbled into the darkened room. He scrambled to his feet and saw that Radek had already moved away the false front of a bookcase and was standing inside a small, phone-booth–sized lift.
    Navot sprang forward as the elevator door started to close. He managed to get both his arms inside and grab Radek by the lapels of his overcoat. As the door slammed against Navot’s left shoulder, Radek seized his wrists and tried to break free. Navot held firm.
    Oded and Zalman came to his aid. Zalman, the taller of the two, reached over Navot’s head and pulled against the door. Oded slithered between Navot’s legs and applied pressure from below. Under the onslaught, the door finally slid open again.
    Navot dragged Radek out of the elevator. There was no time for subterfuge or deception now. Navot clamped a hand over the old man’s mouth, Zalman took hold of his legs and lifted him off the floor. Oded found the light switch and doused the chandelier.
    Navot glanced at Becker. “Get in the car. Move, you idiot.”
    They bundled Radek down the steps toward the Audi. Radek was pulling at Navot’s hand, trying to break the vise grip over his mouth, and kicking hard with his legs. Navot could hear Zalman swearing under his breath. Somehow, even in the heat of battle, he managed to swear in German.
    Oded threw open the rear door before running around the back of the car and climbing behind the wheel. Navot pushed Radek headfirst into the back and pinned him to the seat. Zalman forced his way inside and closed the door. Becker climbed into the back of the Mercedes. Mordecai accelerated hard, and the car lurched into the street, the Audi following closely.
    RADEK’S BODY WENTsuddenly still. Navot removed his hand from Radek’s mouth, and the Austrian gulped greedily of the air.
    “You’re hurting me,” he said. “I can’t breathe.”
    “I’ll let you up, but you have to promise to behave yourself. No more escape attempts. Do you promise?”
    “Just let me up. You’re crushing me, you fool.”
    “I will, old man. Just do me a favor first. Tell me your name, please.”
    “You know my name. My name is Vogel. Ludwig Vogel.”
    “No, no, not that name. Yourreal name.”
    “That is my real name.”
    “Do you want to sit up and leave Vienna like a man, or am I going to have to sit on you the whole way?”
    “I want to sit up. You’re hurting me, damn it!”
    “Just tell me your name.”
    He was silent for a moment, then he murmured, “My name is Radek.”
    “I’m sorry, but I couldn’t hear you. Can you say your name again, please? Loudly this time.”
    He drew a deep breath of air and his body went rigid, as though he were standing at attention instead of