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“Still, when I say I owe you, I mean it. The meeting we had . . .”
Unwilling to talk about it even on an encrypted line, his voice faded. “Well, let’s just say it wasn’t my finest hour.”
“What meeting?”
“Thanks, Mitch. And not just from me. King Faisal also wants me to convey his gratitude.”
“So he’s going to thank me through back channels while he quietly throws me under a bus at home?”
“Oh, it’s worse than that. We’re going to call what happened in Iraq a joint operation. And I know how you like your anonymity, so we needed someone to give the credit to.”
“Nassar,” Rapp said, starting back for the house.
“He dies a hero and the king doesn’t have to admit that a traitor got that close to him. Now isn’t the time for him to look weak. You probably know that better than I do.”
“Another half-assed political accommodation stacked on top of a bunch of other half-assed political accommodations.”
“No one’s ever summarized my job more eloquently. Enjoy your time off, Mitch.”
The line disconnected and Rapp set a course for Anna’s room. It was still a complete disaster, and she was sitting on the bed, reading.
“How’s it going?”
“Done!” She waved a hand around at the hard work she imagined she’d completed.
“Looks good,” he said, stepping inside. “I got you something.”
“What is it?” she asked, looking over the book and eyeing the box under his arm.
“Why don’t you open it and find out?”
She bounded off the bed and tore into the box, shredding the paper and pulling out a squirt gun nearly half her height.
“It’s for those closet monsters.”
“Awesome! Can I fill it?”
“Sure. Doesn’t do much good unless it’s loaded.”
She darted into the bathroom and he heard a clank that sounded suspiciously like a toilet lid going up.”
“The sink, Anna. Use the sink.”
“Okay,” she said, sounding a little exasperated.
When she reappeared, she was struggling under the weight of her new weapon.
“You think he might be in there now?”
“It’s a she. And I don’t know.”
Rapp slunk to the side of the closet, pressing his back against the wall and giving her a silent countdown as she lined up on it.
He threw open the door, but before she could take down her target, a shout froze them both.
“STOP!”
What was it about mothers and their uncanny timing? Rapp’s own had been the same way. The second he and his brother had lit a fuse, tied something to the cat, or climbed onto the roof, she would magically appear.
