American Assassin

Chapter 52
BEIRUT, LEBANON

RAPP was in his boxers, pistol at his side, staring at the door of the apartment and trying to decide what to do. It was dark and he had no idea how long he had slept. Whoever was trying to get into the apartment had picked the lock. Rapp raised the pistol and took aim. Either that or he had a key. He eased his finger off the trigger. Maybe it was a nosy landlady, or Hurley was testing him. No, it wouldn't be that. If they were still in training it would be something he'd gladly try, but not in the thick of it like this. For all he knew, Rapp might use it as an excuse to shoot him.

Rapp stayed in the hallway that led to the bedrooms so he could use the wall as cover. The door started to move and then stopped. The rubber stop he'd placed underneath it was doing its job. The door opened a crack and Rapp heard someone saying something, whispering as if they were talking to someone else. But then Rapp heard, "Hey ... Open up," in English.

Part of the problem was that he had no idea how long he'd slept and consequently what time it was. He had awakened with a start as he heard some soft knocking on the door, followed by the sound of metal on metal, and now whoever was out there was talking to him and getting louder.

"Hey, shithead ... Open the damn door. We've got big problems."

The contraction of we have was what caught his attention. It was not Hurley or Richards so the we thing threw another level of mystery into the equation.

"I know you're in there. Open this f*cking door, so I don't have to break it down."

Rapp quietly crossed the room on the balls of his feet. The door was cracked about an inch. "Who is it?"

"F*cking Goldilocks. We've been compromised. Open the door. I need to get you the hell out of here."

Rapp's heart started trotting. Goldilocks ... compromised ... What the hell was going on? "What's the password?" Rapp heard the word shit followed by a heavy sigh.

"I'm not part of your merry little band. I don't know the password." There was a pause and then, "There's a leather case in the bedroom closet with a few handy things in it. You're probably holding one of the silenced Berettas right now. I'm the guy who put it there."

Rapp frowned. "Were you in Istanbul a week ago?"

There was a pause and then, "Yeah ... was that you?"

"Nice little garden flat with alley access."

"Case was in an armoire."

"With a pillow and blanket on top," Rapp said.

"Bingo."

"Let me close the door first and then I'll let you in."

"Roger."

Rapp pushed the door closed and kicked the doorstop out of the way. With his pistol in his right hand he opened the door and then stepped back, holding the gun in a two-handed grip. The guy entered the room and closed the door behind him. He was wearing brown pants, brown shirt, and brown baseball hat. Where had Rapp seen that outfit before?

The visitor dropped the box he was carrying and raised his hands. "Kid, could you lower the gun. If I was a terrorist I would have blown the damn building up."

Looking over the iron sights of the Beretta, Rapp said, "A few more questions. What's going on?"

"You've been compromised. I was ordered by Washington to come get you."

"Who?"

"Irene."

Rapp lowered the gun. "Why?"

"Follow me," the man said as he picked up his box and started for the bedroom. "Stan and your other buddy were picked up at their hotel this morning."

"This morning?" Rapp asked, dumbfounded. "What time is it?"

"Almost six-thirty. They were grabbed by the cops and then handed over to those a*sholes from Islamic Jihad."

Rapp stopped moving. "Say that again."

"Don't stop moving, kid. They could be on their way here right now, and I don't think we want to be standing around talking when they show up." He opened the box and pulled out clothes that matched his. "Here ... put these on. I'll grab your shit." He tossed the clothes on the bed and went to the closet, retrieving Rapp's suitcase as well as the beat-up leather case.

Rapp's mind was swimming upstream trying to process what he'd just learned. "But..."

The man turned on him, a frightened, wild look in his eyes. "No buts," he hissed. "No questions, no nothing. We need to get the f*ck out of here, and I mean now."

Rapp nodded and began putting on his clothes. This stranger was right, of course. He quickly put on the brown uniform and stuffed his clothes in his suitcase, while the stranger wiped down the doorknobs. In just under two minutes they were out the door and on their way to the street. The stranger went out first and after casually looking up and down the street motioned for Rapp to follow. They threw the suitcase and empty box in the back of a simple white minivan, then left. Rapp glanced at his rental car and almost said something, but thought better of it. They had bigger problems.