Oath of Loyalty (Mitch Rapp #21)(83)
Rapp exited through the kitchen door with both a nice meal and some time to think under his belt. The thrill of the operation, combined with having Cyrah Jafari taped naked to a weight bench, had been enough to drag Sadie back into reality. He’d thought his problems with her were more or less solved until the act of preparing food kicked her right back into Claudia mode. Her desire to go medieval on the Iranian had now been overpowered by her desire to create a celebratory meal fit for a French king. Bebe, who was back from returning the ambulance, had closed herself up in her room again. Probably sitting on the edge of her bed with bags packed.
Rapp opened the door to the shed and snapped on the lights again. The woman didn’t react at all and he stopped at the base of the weight bench, looking down at her. She stared defiantly into the bright light, teeth chattering and skin covered in goose bumps. He couldn’t help being intrigued by what he saw. She was tough, well trained, and extraordinarily creative. But the main thing he got from her was drive. This was a woman who knew what she wanted out of life and was either going to get it or die trying.
“What happened to the guy who taught you that last lesson and put you in the typing pool?”
“I cut off his genitals and choked him to death with them.”
“Harsh.”
“We had history.”
He grabbed a paint-spattered drop cloth and threw it over her before sitting again.
“So, what now, Cyrah?”
“I’d be grateful if you just killed me. Everything I’ve told you is the truth and I don’t know any more.”
“You wouldn’t rather I just let you go?”
“That’s not possible. You suspect that I’d just try to finish what I started. Legion is built on success. A single failure would cause it to collapse.”
“Because the person who took out the contract would spread around that you’d run off with his money and not done the job.”
“Yes.”
“You were hired by a man named Enzo Ruiz. I met with him about it a few weeks ago and I can guarantee that he isn’t going to talk to anyone about you or anything else.”
“Still, you have no reason to release me. It’s all risk and no reward. Why are you toying with me? You don’t seem like the type, and you know full well that none of this was personal. If you want something from me, tell me what it is. If you don’t, then a quick death isn’t too much to ask for.”
He grinned. “It isn’t?”
“No. It isn’t.”
“What if instead of me killing you, we were to talk about a job.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I have someone I’d like dead, but I’m not really in a position to do the work myself. It occurs to me that we could both come out on top here.”
“You’re saying that if I take a contract, you’ll just let me go?”
“Yes.”
“Then I accept.”
“Not so fast. You haven’t heard the target.”
“Does it matter?”
“It might.”
“Who then?”
“Anthony Cook.”
“The president of the United States?”
“So, you’ve heard of him.”
Her brow furrowed in exactly the way he’d hoped. It was an expression he’d seen many times before. Hell, he’d seen it in the mirror. She was calculating. Trying to figure out if she could pull it off. When she spoke again, it was as though she’d completely forgotten she was taped to a weight bench.
“I don’t follow politics, but it seems like I’ve read he’s cut back on his personal appearances and increased his security. Because of some ISIS threat, if I remember right. They caught one of the men involved, no?”
“All fabricated. It’s really me he’s afraid of.”
“That’s why you have an American team watching you.”
“Me and my people. The minute any of us drop off the radar, they stuff Cook in a bunker and surround him with a hundred Secret Service guys.”
“It’s something I’d consider. But I can’t speak for Nasrin and Yasmin.”
“How bad do they want to keep you alive?”
“I honestly don’t know.”
“Terms?”
She didn’t hesitate. “Five million euros up front, another five when the job’s done.”
“I thought your fee was two million?”
“This is a different kind of job with different secrecy protocols. More risk to me and likely extremely costly. We cover our expenses from our fee.”
“Still, ten million seems steep. I assume that comes with a guarantee?”
“I won’t take another job until this one’s done or I’m dead. That’s the best I can do.”
“And you’ll do it in a way that won’t blow back against me.”
“Absolutely. Against either of us.”
“One last question.”
“Okay.”
“Did you once kill a guy by getting his own cows to trample him?”
“Yes.”
He nodded appreciatively and pulled her cell phone from his pocket. “What do you say we find out if your friends are taking your calls?”