Vince Flynn - Consent To Kill

"Who is he?" asked Rapp.

"I don't know." Milt shrugged. "It came addressed to you with a note that said this is the man who hired the Salvadorans."

All at once Rapp recognized what was going on. "What do you have for nonlethal?" Rapp asked urgently.

"We have Tasers."

"Where?"

"In that black case right there."

Rapp grabbed the hard black case off the floor, tossed it on the bed, and popped the clasps. He threw one of the high-voltage stun guns to Coleman.

"Let's go."

"Radios!" Milt half yelled. He grabbed two small black Motorola secure digital radios, clip-on wireless mikes, and tiny, flesh-colored wireless earpieces. "They're charged and ready to go."

Rapp and Coleman stuffed the radios in their jacket pockets, clipped the mikes to the inside of their collars, and put the earpieces in. They started for the door.

"Milt," Rapp said over his shoulder, "tell Sarah she's not allowed to kill anyone until I get there. And send that guy's photo back to Langley and have them verify that he's the one I'm looking for."

"What in the hell do the Salvadorans have to do with this?" Milt watched them leave. Rapp didn't bother to answer his question. "Why do I get the feeling I'm going to have a mess to clean up?" Milt pulled down his lip mike and got busy repositioning his team.

Tayyib was beginning to wonder if the woman knew much of anything. They'd taken her from the apartment, shoved her in the trunk of a car, and taken her back to the embassy. Tayyib had started with the fingernails on her left hand. He'd torn them off one at a time. Her story started to change after the third one. She had gone from saying she didn't know where her boss was to telling him that he might be in Italy. Where in Italy, he wanted to know. She sobbed that she didn't know where, just that she thought she overheard him say something about Italy. That was when he decided to let two of the men rape her. They had been eager enough, and Tayyib knew they would be grateful. Tayyib would not defile himself in such a way, but he knew with women, this type of subjugation could put them into the proper frame of mind.

He left the basement storage room and found the kitchen. He gave them an hour. He ate a sandwich, drank a glass of milk, and thought about what questions he would ask her when he started up again. Abel was a man who embraced technology. Tayyib had first met him five years ago. Even then he was carrying one of those combination handheld computers and cell phones. His office would be the key. There would be something there that would tell him where Abel was. Some piece of information stored on a computer. Tayyib could not disappoint Rashid. He had to find the German or the prince would never trust him again.

When he went back downstairs the men were finishing up with her. They had her stripped and bent over a table with her arms tied to the far legs with brown extension cords. She was there for him to take. He felt a rush of excitement and was seconds away from giving in. He forced himself to silently recite the salat ul-jumuah. Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar…Ashahadu an la ilaha ill allah…Ashahadu anna Muhammadar Rasulullah…God is greater, God is greater. I declare there is no god but God. I declare Muhammad is the messenger of God…

The prayer, however, did not subdue his desires and he knew that he could no longer be in the presence of the temptress. One of the men laughed that she had begged them to stop. That she had mentioned something about a safe in the office. It was already past four in the morning. Tayyib angrily ordered the men to rape her again. Going to the office right now might arouse too much suspicion. They would have to clean her up and take her to the office in the morning.

Rapp and Coleman took the stairs. Coleman was down them like a shot. Because of his stiff knee and thigh bruise Rapp fell slightly behind. Coleman waited for him on the street and they walked side by side, quickly, but not so fast as to raise unwanted suspicion. They passed one police officer on the way and paid him no attention. Rapp began gesturing with his hands and speaking to Coleman in French. They were both in jeans. Rapp was wearing his black Polartec jacket, and Coleman was wearing a dark brown bush jacket with oversized pockets. It was one long block and one short block. They arrived at the front door of the building in just under three minutes.

"Taser the big guy," Coleman said as they walked up the steps.

"Yep. I want him alive."

"And the other two?"

"Depends on what they do. You worry about the big guy. I'll handle the other two. Milt," Rapp said into the tiny microphone on his collar, "tell Sarah to give us a quick look. We're headed into the building right now."

Coleman nodded as Rapp began speaking in French again. They passed through the large heavy brass doors and continued across the lobby, straight to the elevators. They managed to catch one by themselves and on the way up, they listened to Sarah as she left the bathroom and walked past Abel's office. "The door is closed, and I think they're in there."

"Wait for us, by the elevators," Rapp said.

Five seconds later the door opened and Rapp and Coleman charged out. They met Sarah halfway down the hall and huddled.

"We go in fast. I'm first, Scott, you're second, and Sarah, I want you to stay by the door. You're silenced, right?"

"Yes."

"Stay low. I don't want any errant shots passing through a wall and hitting one of us. If we find someone in the outer office and they don't do anything stupid, Scott and I will go right past them and it's up to you to secure them. If the guy doesn't do exactly as you say, shoot him." Rapp looked into her eyes to see if this would be a problem. "Are you okay with that?"

She nodded, but then said, "Why don't we get a fiber optic up here and have a peek under the door?"

Rapp shook his head.

"She's right, Mitch," Coleman said. "It'll take five minutes tops."

"I don't want to waste five minutes, and we don't need to make this complicated. We move fast and this whole thing is over in five seconds not five minutes. Shoot anyone except the girl and the big guy."

"Fine."

Rapp started down the hall and turned right at the end. Rapp was picturing the layout in his head. There would be a small reception area and then either a door straight ahead, or on the right or left that would lead to Abel's office. When he was five paces away from the door his left hand slid around and underneath his jacket. His fingers found the hilt of the 9mm Glock and drew it from his waistband. With the silencer attached it was a long draw. Rapp stopped just short of the door and looked over his shoulder to make sure Coleman and Sarah were with him. He held up his right hand and then leaned forward and placed it on the doorknob.

Everything stopped for that instant. Rapp closed his eyes, dropped into a slight crouch, took one more deep breath, and then twisted the knob while leaning into the door with his left shoulder. He did it in one smooth motion with his gun extended. He found himself standing in an outer office that was approximately ten feet wide by fifteen feet long. It had a desk on the right, a couch on the left, and a door straight ahead. Rapp could hear hushed, male voices from the other room. He crept slowly across the room and then he heard something said in Arabic. He slowed for a second and leaned one way and then the other to see if he could tell where they were. He told himself this was no time to stop. They wouldn't have their guns drawn and if they did, they would be at their side.

Rapp charged into the room, checking his left quickly and then sweeping to his right. The three of them were standing behind a large desk. A section of the bookcase was pulled out and behind it was a gray steel wall safe. None of them bothered to turn around so Rapp said, "Hey, guys."