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PRELUDE
THE man flew through the air, propelled by one of the other recruits. CIA handler Irene Kennedy watched from inside the house with casual interest as he failed to tuck and roll. He hit the ground flat and hard—the kind of impact that more than likely knocked the wind out of him, maybe even bruised a rib. Kennedy pursed her lips and calculated his odds of making it through the remaining eight weeks of the training program. She’d seen so many men roll through here that she could handicap them like a Vegas bookie. This one she gave a less than 10 percent chance.
Kennedy’s thoughts, however, were not really with this batch of recruits. She was more concerned with a certain man who had waltzed through the rigorous training program a little more than a year ago. Mitch Rapp had been her rookie, and in the year since they had unleashed him on the purveyors of terrorism, he had left a steady trail of bodies from Geneva to Istanbul to Beirut and beyond. His record to date was perfect, and that in its own way added to Kennedy’s tension. No one was perfect. Sooner or later, no matter how much talent they had, the mighty got tripped up. To complicate the odds, Kennedy had pushed to allow him to operate on his own. No backup. Just an advance team to scout things out and then he moved in all by his lonesome to do the dirty work up close and personal. No team members to bail his ass out if things went south. Rapp had argued that a small footprint would mean less chance of being caught.
Instinctively, Kennedy liked the simplicity. She’d seen more than her fair share of operations that had become so cumbersome in personnel and scope that they never got off the ground. Rapp had successfully argued that if he failed he was just one man with a foreign passport who could never be traced back to Langley. Hurley the hard-assed spook and trainer, had pointed out that his little game worked only if he was dead. If they took him alive, he’d talk, just like everyone did, and then their exposure would be horrible. Theirs was not a risk-free business, however, and in the end Thomas Stansfield was willing to roll the dice on Rapp. The young operative had proven himself very resourceful and Stansfield needed to cross more names off his list of most wanted terrorists.
This mission was different, though. The stakes were considerably higher. It was one thing when Rapp was lurking about some Third World country practicing his craft, but at this very moment, he was about to do something very illegal, and unsanctioned in a country where he could not afford to make even the slightest mistake.
So intense was Kennedy’s concentration that she hadn’t heard the question from the man sitting behind the desk. She brushed a strand of her shoulder-length auburn hair behind her ear and said, “Excuse me?”
Dr. Lewis had been studying her for the last few minutes. Kennedy was a complex, confident, and extremely guarded professional. It had become an occupational obsession for Lewis to find out what made her tick. “You’re worried about him.”
Irene Kennedy’s face remained neutral despite the fact that she was irritated by her colleague’s ability to read her thoughts. “Who?”
“You know who,” Dr. Lewis said, his soft blue eyes coaxing her along.
Kennedy shrugged as if it was a small thing. “I worry about every operation I’m in charge of.”
“It seems you worry more about the ones he’s involved in.”
Kennedy considered the unique individual whom she had found in Upstate New York. As much as she’d like to deny it, Lewis’s assessment of her concern over Rapp was accurate. Kennedy couldn’t decide if it was the man, or the increasingly dangerous nature of the operations they’d been giving him, but in either case, she did not want to discuss the matter with Lewis.
“I’ve found,” Lewis said in a carefree tone, “that I worry about him less than most. Always have, I think.”
Kennedy flipped the comment around in her head. She could easily take it two ways—maybe more. “It’s a lot easier when you’re sitting on that side of the desk.” Kennedy flashed him a rare smile. “I’m his handler. I put him in these situations, and I’m his only lifeline should something go wrong. I would think that clinically”—she raised an eyebrow, mimicking one of Lewis’s overused facial expressions—“even you would understand that.”
The shrink stroked his bottom lip with his forefinger and said, “Worrying about someone, or something, can be normal . . . and even healthy, but if taken too far . . .” Lewis shook his head and made a sour face. “Definitely not good.”
Here we go, Kennedy thought to herself. This was not an accidental conversation. Lewis had been thinking about this for some time, plotting his line of questioning. Kennedy knew from experience that to try to run from the tête-à-tête would only make it worse. Lewis was patient and tenacious, and his reports were given serious weight by the deputy director of operations. The doctor would zero in on a problem and pepper you with questions until he was satisfied. Kennedy decided to lob the ball back onto his side of the net. “So you think I worry too much.”
“I didn’t say that,” the doctor said with an easy tone and a soft shake of his head.
“But you implied it,” Kennedy said.
“It was merely a question.”
“A question that you asked because you think you’ve noticed something and you’re worried about me. And since you initiated it, I would appreciate it if you would explain yourself rather than treat this like one of your therapy sessions.”
Lewis sighed. He’d seen Kennedy get this way, but never with him. Usually it was with Stan Hurley, who was exceedingly adept at getting under people’s skin. She was always calm and analytical in her dealings with Lewis, so the fact that she was so quick to anger now was proof that his concerns were valid. “I think when it comes to a certain operative . . . you worry too much.”
“Rapp?” Kennedy asked.
