Consent To Kill

"Anything else?" Rapp asked.

"I'm very sorry for everything I did to you. I should have never taken the job. Claudia was right."

Rapp acted bored. "Is that it?"

"May I please kiss my baby and my wife good-bye?"

Rapp's eyes narrowed and he nodded slowly.

Gould kept his hands behind his head and he got up slowly. He stepped over to the bed and sat next to his wife. He wrapped his arms around Claudia and they both cried. Gould stroked her hair and told her how much he loved her. He then bent down and kissed the infant on the head.

"My sweet A

Rapp stood there in the corner of the room with his gun pointed at the father, mother, and child. What have I turned into? he asked himself. This was his life, or what it would have been, if only A

The baby woke up and started to cry. "A

Claudia looked up at Rapp, her eyes red and moist with tears.

"You named her A

"After your wife."

Rapp nodded and slowly lowered the gun. He took a deep breath and left the room without saying another word. He stepped out onto the patio and went straight down the stairs to the white sandy beach. He never looked back. He never feared for his life for a second. He would give A

Rapp stood in the surf with his gun in his hand and counted. He got to a hundred, thought of his wife, thought of the baby, and smiled. It was the first genuine smile he'd had in over nine months. He glanced down at the gun and then tossed it up in the air, catching it by its thick black silencer. Rapp hesitated for a moment, and then threw the weapon end over end into the ocean.