Short chap, hope you like it
The leaves didn't even rustle as he moved over them. He slinked through the trees, making no noise, no evidence that he had ever been there. He ducked under a low hanging branch, and spotted what he was looking for.
It was dark, but the beam of light from his flashlight just caught the entrance to the cave. Grinning, he slid through the small hole.
Eli stared out of his window as the Mediterranean disappeared below the clouds, much like his daughter had half a year earlier. His back was perfectly straight, and his shoulders squared. His muscles were tight, as were his lips.
He wanted nothing more than for the damn plane to move faster.
He counted his breaths to get them under control. Getting mad at the pilot would not solve anything. He had to concentrate on getting his daughter back.
He rested his head against the cool wall of the cave. One of his hands was resting on the butt of his gun, the other on his knife. He had made sure he couldn't be seen from the entrance of the cave, in fact, unless a person knew exactly where he was, they would be unable to find him, but he had to be careful.
He was sure that Eli David was on his way at the very moment. There was no way that boy could have withstood the abuse of Mossad 'interrogation'. It had all come down to this.
Checking his watch one last time, he switched of the flashlight, and let himself fall into sleep.
Eli looked down into the cup of what American would call 'coffee'. The dark liquid memorized him for a few moments. He shook his head out of it, and threw the cup, drink and all, into the closest trash can.
He would get some sleep on the next plane. He was at a stop over in DC, and was pacing up and down the waiting area.
The officers with him tried to ignore his anxiety. They had never seen him like this before, and it worried them.
"Yalla, Sara" Ziva said, pulling her friend off the bed.
Sara sat up in a disgruntled lump.
"Really?" she objected.
Ziva shrugged. She was already ready and dressed.
"You should be used to waking up this early now" she pointed out
"Not when I was up past one, trying to finish a project" the older girl commented, letting out a yawn, and running her fingers through her hair.
"Just get ready" Ziva sighed, exasperated.
"Savlanout, let me wake up first."
Ziva turned away, muttering some Hebrew words Sara couldn't make out. She threw her pillow at the Israeli anyway.
Ziva turned to glare at her, only to get another pillow to the face. At that, the two girls burst out laughing.
"Yalla," Ziva said again, walking out the door.
"I'm hurrying" Sara muttered, pulling her clothes on.
They were out the door in the next ten minutes.
Slowly, he opened his eyes. With a flash of light from his flashlight, he checked his watch. Perfect timing, the girls should arrive within a few minutes.
Grinning, he stretched to loosen his muscles, and disappeared into the darkness.
Eli drove down the highway at a breakneck speed. He ignored every speed limit he came across. Fortunately, there were no cops around at that time of night. Not that it would have mattered. He would have let them follow him all the way to Tamales Bay if he had to. His mind was only on his daughter.
They ran the rout they always took. Away from the house, past the empty shops, through the woods once, down the sand, and up through the woods again. They slid into the cave and started their daily spar.
Savlanout- patience
