Oath of Loyalty (Mitch Rapp #21)(61)

Kennedy let them fall to the ground and just stared straight ahead, seeming to forget everything around her. It appeared that he was the only one who didn’t bother to follow the new generation of private contractors. For everyone else, the word Legion hit like a set of brass knuckles.

She finally removed her reading glasses and rubbed at her eyes with a thumb and index finger. “I don’t think there’s any reason to mince words here. This is a worst-case scenario for us. Not only because of Legion’s reputation, but because we can now pretty much guarantee that the dossier won’t go to any of the people we’ve subverted.”

Claudia nodded. “Once Legion is contracted, he never stops. If the Cooks wanted to put me in jeopardy and keep Mitch occupied, they’ve now officially accomplished that.”

“Irene,” Rapp said. “Can you trace those emails?”

“Impossible. Legion is a little like Gustavo Marroqui. Every intelligence agency in the world has tried to get to them and we’ve all failed.”

“Them?”

“Our best guess is that it’s a team. I’d say three people. Two wouldn’t be sufficient to have carried out the assassinations we suspect them of and with four it becomes hard to maintain the level of secrecy they count on.”

“So, Ruiz was telling the truth. They really are ghosts.”

“Until I read those emails a minute ago, I couldn’t have said with one hundred percent certainty that Legion even existed. Their hits always look like accidents or natural causes, and they’re done so well that it’s possible they are.”

“So that’s it? That’s all we’ve got?”

“I think we can make some assumptions that go a little further. Like I said, it’s probably not an individual but a small team. Well trained to the degree that it’s almost certain they worked for a government at some point.”

“Maybe they still do,” Rapp said.

“It’s unlikely because of the diversity of the people we suspect they’ve killed. Criminals, financial people, a few political operatives with nothing in common…”

“If they were trained by a government, it narrows things down,” Rapp said. “Probably not any of the ones we regularly work with. My front-runners would be the Russians or Iranians. The Chinese and North Koreans could train somebody to this level, but it’s harder to imagine them losing control. The Syrians come to mind, too, but I’d say it’s a long shot.”

“Speculation,” Claudia said. “And vague speculation at that.”

“Agreed,” Rapp said. “How do we get something actionable?”

The question was met with silence. Finally, Kennedy stood. “Let me think about this. We’ll reconvene later this afternoon. In the meantime, maybe it would make sense to review the security measures here.”

“Agreed,” Rapp said. “Scott set us up for more conventional attacks and it sounds like that’s not Legion’s MO.”

Kennedy reached over and gave Claudia’s hand a squeeze before starting back for her bungalow. When she disappeared behind the trees, Claudia suddenly stood and announced that she needed to go for a walk.

“Do you want me to go with you?”

“No. Thank you, but I need some time to think.”

And with that, Rapp found himself alone.



More than thirty minutes passed before Claudia returned to find him exactly where she’d left him. Anna was still asleep and there wasn’t much to do other than sit and think—mostly about spectacularly painful ways to kill Anthony Cook. But they were just fantasies. Say what you will about the man, his twisted plan was working. Rapp had neither time nor resources to expend on him. His entire world had narrowed to one objective and one objective only: neutralizing the threat posed by Legion.

She stopped a few feet away, backlit by the morning sun. Rapp squinted up at her, seeing an expression of resolve that overwhelmed the glint of tears drying on her cheeks.

“I have some things to say, Mitch, and I need you to let me say them without interrupting.”

He nodded silently.

“I’m as good as dead.”

Rapp immediately tried to back out of their arrangement, opening his mouth to protest before being silenced by her raised hand.

“Even if I stay here, Legion will eventually get to me. Maybe it will take a year. Maybe it’ll take ten. Or maybe they’re excavating beneath us right now so that next time it rains, I’ll die in a mudslide. And I know you’d do anything to protect me, but even you can’t kill what you can’t see.”

She took in a breath and let it out. It was dead steady.

“Second, I know you blame yourself for this. But you shouldn’t. Every day I’ve woken up after what happened to your wife…” Her voice faltered for a moment. “Every one of those days has been a gift. I finally found the love of my life in you, and I’ve gotten to spend time with Anna that I didn’t deserve.”

She took a seat across from him, preferring to look into the flames than to meet his eye. “Now, on to more practical things. The good news is that there’s never any collateral damage in Legion operations. So, you and Anna are safe. The problem is that while we still might not have proof solid enough for Irene, we both know that the Cooks are behind this. We also know they aren’t going to let it go. Their security will never be perfect, so they know they’ll never be safe until you’re dead.” A tear ran down her face, leaving a fresh streak among the faded ones. “If something happened to me, I’d decided to leave Anna with you. You’ve become such a good father and you need something to keep you busy in your old age. The truth is, you need her as much as she needs you. But now that’s impossible. And I’m not sure Irene or Scott are in a much safer position than you are.”