Consent To Kill

He made his way downstairs slowly, and in the process realized that his right leg was definitely in worse shape than his left. He paused near the front door and looked out the side window. The sky was gray and there wasn't a person in sight. There was a mirror on the wall and he stopped to look at his reflection. His thick black hair was unkempt, and his face was covered with stubble. The entire house felt unusually quiet. Rapp, so used to being alone, suddenly felt the need to be around people. He wanted information. He wanted to know what was going on. He shuffled his way down the hall to the kitchen. His legs were begi

Out of the corner of his eye, Rapp caught some movement. He shuffled over to the sink and looked out the window. Two people were sitting at a table on the patio. It was Irene Ke

Rapp set his coffee down and made his way over to the door. He twisted the handle and pulled. The door didn't budge. Rapp remembered he was in a secure CIA facility. Just like his house, the door jambs were reinforced and reversed so they only opened out. He pushed the door open and stepped carefully onto the brick patio. He pulled at the knot on his robe and slowly made his way over to them. Tommy noticed him and stopped fidgeting. He sat up straight and appeared hesitant. Ke

Tommy began sobbing uncontrollably. In between quick gasps of air he choked out the words "I'm sorry."

Rapp fell into a chair and held him as tightly as his ribs could take. The sight of someone he cared so much for, someone he knew adored his wife, melted what little resolve he'd managed to muster and the tears flowed once more.

They sat underneath the umbrella like that for a long time. He tried to tell Tommy everything would be all right, but even he could hear the uncertainty in his voice. Everything wasn't going to be all right. The one person he loved more than anything in the world was gone, and he found himself teetering on the verge of complete despair. How did his life get to this awful place?

Rapp heard a dog bark and he looked up to see Shirley, his collie mutt, ru

"One of your neighbors took her in after the explosion," Ke

Rapp scratched Shirley's neck some more and looked at Tommy. "Thanks, buddy."

"You're welcome." Tommy reached out and petted the dog. "If you need me to, I can take care of her."

"That'd be nice."

"I also brought my Game Cube."

Rapp nodded, touched that the little boy was so concerned.

"Maybe we could play later." He started kicking his leg. "I thought it might help."

Rapp wanted to cry all over again, but managed to keep it together. "Thanks, Tommy."

Ke

"Starved."

The three of them went back into the house and Ke

The hard part came when she brought up A

They ate breakfast outside next to the pool. Rapp devoured four pancakes and three sausage links. Tommy tried to keep up with him, but only managed two of each. They were just finishing when Scott Coleman showed up. He entered the backyard through a side gate. He was wearing jeans, hiking boots, a blue T-shirt, and a baseball cap. A large black nylon bag was slung over his shoulder. He stopped next to Rapp and dropped the bag.

"I picked up a few things at some stores. I assume you're still wearing extra small."

Rapp ignored the barb and slowly leaned over to unzip the bag. His ribs were giving him some difficulty. There were several North Face T-shirts, a fleece vest and jacket, sunglasses, hiking boots, pants, underwear, socks. The colors ran decidedly toward muted greens and light browns. At the bottom of the bag he found a brand-new Glock 17 pistol complete with silencer and hollow-point ammunition.

Coleman rubbed Tommy's short hair and asked, "How are you doing?"

"Fine."

"Do you think I could have a minute alone with your mom and Mitch?"

Tommy looked at his mother and then said, "Sure." He stood. "I'm go

"Be careful," Ke

When he was far enough away Rapp pulled the pistol from the bag and held it up to the sunlight for a better inspection. He grabbed the back of the slide between the meaty part of his palm and his fingers and yanked it back. He moved the weapon around and checked out the chamber and barrel. The piece was well oiled and clean.

"What in the world are you doing bringing him a gun?" Ke

Coleman ignored her. "I added the night sights and had them shorten the trigger pull."

Rapp pointed the gun toward the ground and squeezed the trigger. He nodded. "Thanks." Rapp set the 100-round box of ammunition on the table and began loading all three clips.

"Did you bring him a razor?" Ke

Rapp scratched his thick stubble.

"You're not going to want to shave that just yet," said Coleman.

"Why?"

The former commander of SEAL Team 6 looked at Ke

Rapp's dark eyes narrowed. "Waheed's father?"

"Yes."

"How solid is the intel?"

"For obvious reasons the Jordanians are not revealing their source, but they say the man has never let them down before."

"What else do we have?"

"Yesterday the NSA picked up a phone call made by Abdullah. We don't know who he was calling, but he was extremely upset. He told the person to finish the job or refund his twenty-two million dollars."

"Twenty-two million," Coleman said in disbelief.

Even Rapp was shocked by the number. "What did the other guy say?"