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“There aren’t a lot of second chances in life,” Rapp said, leaning across the passenger seat. “Do the right thing, Joel. Or I’ll be coming for you.”
He turned the car and was about to floor the accelerator, but instead paused to point toward Malik and the pack of wild dogs he was desperately trying to crawl away from. ?
??And you might want to consider running.”
CHAPTER 52
I THINK you’re completely insane.”
“I know,” Rapp said.
Claudia was sitting on the edge of the bed, wearing exactly the expression he’d expected. She hadn’t really been a citizen of any particular country since she was a child. Her life had been about moving around the world in search of jobs or to stay ahead of whoever was chasing.
His history was different. Sure, he’d originally joined the CIA out of anger and hate, but those emotions had been replaced over the years by a sense of duty. At the end of the day he believed in what he did. He believed in America and the idea that everyone had a right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Where Jefferson had gone wrong was in thinking that those rights were inalienable. In truth, they had to be fought for every hour of every day.
Claudia motioned with her head in the general direction of the door. “As your logistics person, I feel like I have to point out that when the team you built is gone, your only ally other than me is Joel Wilson. A man who spends his nights dreaming about how to destroy you.”
“Uh-huh,” he said, leaning back against the wall.
“I can make us disappear, Mitch. We can get Anna and fade away. The only person who would have a chance at finding us would be Irene, and she wouldn’t be looking. Even if some other intelligence agency got lucky, what would they do? Any of the people they’d send probably owe you their lives. And the three or so private contractors good enough to take the job are also smart enough not to.”
“What about what’s happening in Saudi Arabia?”
“What about it?” she said in an exasperated tone. “They brought this on themselves. If Nassar and ISIS want it, let them have it.”
He wasn’t surprised that she’d see it that way, but the truth was far more complicated. While it was a fact that this was a wound the royalty had inflicted on themselves, it was the average person who would suffer. What would happen to them when ISIS rolled across the Middle East? He didn’t have to ask because he’d seen it with his own eyes. And what about America’s soldiers who would be sent when the U.S. could no longer stand by and watch the horrors that would be created by a Saudi-ISIS alliance? How many of them would bleed out in the sand?
“I can’t just let this go, Claudia.”
“Then I’m going to ask you again to call Irene.”
He shook his head. “I can’t drag her into this. She has to make that decision on her own. We’ll wait and see what Joel does.”
She snatched up a throw pillow and threw it at him, missing his right ear by less than an inch. “Joel Wilson is probably in Aali Nassar’s office right now, plotting how to find you! Or he’s in Washington telling Senator Ferris that you murdered his entire team!”
“Maybe.”
“Stop being so calm!” When she reached for the alarm clock he moved in. She had a pretty good arm, and the heavy plastic looked like it could do some damage.
She resisted for a moment when he wrapped his arms around her but then rested her head on his chest. “I haven’t had much of a life, Mitch. Except for Anna, I wish I could forget everything that happened before I met you. But now . . .” Her voice trailed off for a moment. “You’re the best at what you do. But even you can’t survive with the whole world against you.”
* * *
Rapp stepped out onto the safari camp’s terrace to find the rest of his team waiting. Donatella had retreated to the shade of a flowering arbor and Kent Black was tanning in a lounge chair next to a pyramid of empty beer cans. Predictably, Azarov was sitting with his back to the building, sipping sparkling water.
“All of you have lived up to your reputations,” he began as Claudia took a seat. “And I want to thank you for everything you’ve done.”
“What’s next?” Black asked, slurring a bit.
“There is no next. You’ve already stayed on a hell of a lot longer than I had a right to expect.”
“What about that towelhead who’s trying to frame you, Mitch? I thought we were going to pop him.”
“It’d be better for all of you if I handled that myself.”
“So you’re releasing us?” Donatella said.
“Yeah. And that brings us to the subject of payment. After expenses, Orion Consulting still has bank balances of . . .” He looked over at Claudia.
