Vince Flynn - The Third Option

«Yeah.»

«If anything unusual happens, call me.»

«Will do.»

«I HAVE ON E individual. He looks to be standing post at the rear of the house on the bay side.»

Rapp, Coleman, and Dumond had all donned headsets equipped with lip mikes. Using the van's secure communications equipment, Dumond had uplinked to a satellite so they could communicate with the chopper and see what they were viewing in real time.

Rapp listened intently as the faceless voice described the situation at his house, the van rocking slightly as they drove east on Highway 214. The lower screen in front of Dumond showed a picture that looked like a film negative-black and-white with varying shades of gray in between. The shots were being taken by an IR thermal imaging camera. The picture on the screen changed to one filled with mostly black and areas of red, yellow, white, and blue. Rapp stared at an area he knew to be his kitchen and listened to the technician say, «The crrtains are drawn, but I'm getting two… maybe three more heat signatures on the inside… that's on the first floor of the house… and possibly one more upstairs on the second floor.»

Rapp lifted his eyes to the area above the kitchen. He eagerly asked, «Can you tell if any of them are female?»

«The guy in back is definitely male. The people inside are sitting down, so I can't tell.»

«What about the one upstairs?»

There was about five seconds of silence and then, «It could be male or female, it could be a dog. I can't tell. I'm only getting a small heat signature.»

«Are you getting any audio?» asked Rapp.

«A little background noise, but that's it. I think they might have the TV on.»

«Can you get me an idea of what's happening on the other side of the house?»

«Affirmative. Give us a minute to relocate.»

Rapp pushed the lip mike on his headset up and said to Dumond, «Get Irene on the horn, and tell her to get the Special Operations group airborne and en route to my house immediately;» While Dumond was making the call, Rapp looked at Coleman and asked, «What in the hell is going on?»

«It looks like someone is having a party at your house.»

Rapp actually smiled. This was good news. He finally had an enemy he could engage. «What do you think the chances are that the Professor is in there?»

«Based on his cell tower usage, I'd say it's a pretty good bet that he's sitting at your kitchen table as we speak.»

Rapp looked at his cell phone. «We could confirm that pretty easily.»

«How?»

«Call him right now. The bird should be able to pick up noise of his phone ringing.»

Coleman thought about it for a second and said, «Wait the time is right. Let's get out there and get the SOG in place. We don't want to spook him.»

«All right.»

«Do you think that's Anna upstairs?»

«l hope so.»

The faceless voice came back over their headsets. «We have a couple of cars in the driveway.» Rapp, Coleman, and Dumond looked up at the screen and watched. «We also have one individual standing near the front door. He ears to be carrying a weapon. Let me see if I can get a little closer.» The picture zoomed in on the warm body standing on the front porch. The man's body was mostly red with a yellow glow around the edges. Near his waist was an elongated area of blue.

Coleman spoke before the technician did. «It looks like a machine pistol with a suppressor attached to the end.»

«Either that or an assault rifle.» Rapp squinted at the image.

A second red figure appeared on the front porch and then a third. Rapp's immediate fear was that they had somehow sighted the chopper. Using their call sign, Rapp asked, «Libra Three, have you been discovered?»

«That's a negative.» It was a different voice this time. «We're two miles out and obscured by a tree line.»

One of the men left the porch and walked over to one the cars. He climbed in, and a moment later the car started moving. The technician announced, «One, of the cars is leaving.»

«We see it.» Rapp flipped up his lip mike, looked at Marcus, and snapped, «Find out where we are, and tell him to step on it!» Pulling the lip mike back down, he asked, «Libra Three, can you keep contact with both targets?»

There was no response at first, and then, «That depends on how big the separation gets between the two.»

«Keep an eye on both for as long as you can.»

Dumond left the small door to the front of the van open and sat back down at his console. «He said we just passed Queen Anne Road.»

«That means we should be at the Muddy Creek exit in five minutes.» Looking at Coleman, Rapp pointed behind them with his thumb and said, «Tell the boys to be ready for some action.» Rapp watched the screen and listened to the technician call out the car's maneuvers. Rapp's thoughts kept going back to Anna. He was going to have to decide pretty quickly if the chopper was going to keep an eye on the house or follow the car.

Coleman knew what Rapp was thinking and said, «The house isn't going anywhere.» Rapp didn't say anything, he just kept staring at the screen. Coleman said, «Did you hear me? I said the… «

«I heard you.»

The secure phone on Dumond's console started ringing. Dumond grabbed it and then turned to Rapp. «It's Irene. She wants to know what's going on.»

Coleman persisted. «Mitch, the Professor could be in that car.»

«I know, I know.» He looked at Dumond and said, «I can't talk to her right now.»

The pilot of the chopper came over the headset. «You're going to have to make a decision between the car and the house.»

I can't afford to lose contact with the car,» Coleman persisted.

Dumond held out the phone a second time. «She says she wants to talk to you.»

Rapp felt like ripping the phone from the console and throwing it out the door. It wasn't what he wanted to do. But he knew what was right. Rapp lowered his lip mike and said, «Libra Three, stay with the car.» Then, tearing the headset off, he grabbed the phone and growled, «What?»

Rapp was at his core a lone wolf. He was not a team player unless he was the leader, and he expected others to support him and follow without question. In a business that was filled with huge egos, he often found it easiest to work on his own. Rapp never apologized for his behavior. He let his results do the talking. His government had sent him on dozens of nasty missions, and he bad achieved the primary goal in almost every single one of them.

Clutching the phone firmly in his left hand, he said, «Irene, I am really busy right now.»

«I know you are, but I need to be kept in the loop.»

«We have at least four individuals in my house,» snapped Rapp, «that I obviously didn't invite over. I think Anna might be there, but I can't be sure. A car just left the house with one occupant that we think might be the Professor. These are all things that Marcus could have told you. I've got my hands full right now, Irene. I will call you when I need something.» He leaned forward and slammed the phone down.

He turned to Dumond, his face red with anger. «We are in the field, not back at Langley! I am calling the shots, and I expect my orders to be followed to the letter.» Rapp turned his glare on Coleman. «I expect and want your input, but when it's time to take action, the debating is over. Are we all clear on this?»

Coleman and Dumond both nodded – Coleman out of respect for the need of a chain of command and Dumond out of fear. A moment later, Dumond touched his headset and said, «The car is stopping.»

Rapp's head snapped around and looked at the monitor. The sedan was pulling into a gas station. Rapp tried to figure out which one it was. He yelled to the driver up front, «How far until the Solomons Island Road?»