𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐚𝐟𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 - Mitch Rapp

Chapter Eight - Bleak prominence

Darkly lit street lamps were the only source of light as the unlikely duo strode around the corner with the two men in question under discreet gun point, in direction of the surveillance van.

During the walk, Ava found that she couldn't restrain herself from peering at the infuriated assassin - particulary the pulsating muscles currently being displayed amidst his grip on the back of one of the men's shirts. They soon arrived at the back of the van, having been briefly conversing with Stan through their ear pieces. Ava, while keeping her gun aimed at her guy, used her spare hand to knock on the door. Stan immediatly opened the two back doors, and quietly gestured for them to enter, to which Mitch and Ava roughly shoved the pair of men inside first. Once the men were inside, Stan waisted no futher time and quickly scanned the empty street for prying eyes, before locking the door behind him.

"Mitch, take the wheel and head for the safe house. I don't have the equipment I need here", Stan informed the brunet while grinning at the concerned looking pair.

"What equipment?", one of them asked as he glanced back and forth between his friend and Stan.

The turkish man instantly regretted his question, because Stan didn't even answer him, instead, he continued to grin at him with an insidious look in his irises - then opted to cover their mouths with tape in case they became loud for the duration of the drive.

"You okay, kid?", Stan suddenly asked Ava, who seemed to be deep in thought.

The girl nodded, resting her head against the side of the van. The stern man decieded to leave his questions for when they arrived at the safe house, knowing too well the girl was in the middle of processing everything that just happened. He could only imagine how frightening the ordeal must have been, keeping in mind the men's intentions for her attempted kidnapping. Nevertheless, they arrived at the Safe house, where the investigation would soon turn a dark corner.

"Well done, Ava. You managed to successfully complete your task without so much as a scratch", Irene congradulated the brunette as they entered the more secretive part of the government building. "I knew I could count on you", she added as she took a seat in the corner of the vacant room.

Ava, along with Stan and Mitch, followed the head director into the rather large room, while guiding the gagged turkish men to the centre of the floor. An armed cia agent stood by Irene, closely keeping his eyes on the pair as they struggled to free their mouths from the tape. The distressed girl shifted her feet to find a more comfortable stance, completely unaware that Mitch was now stood beside her, almost touching arms. Once Stan shut the door behind them, he waisted no further time and began gathering his duffle bag, placing it on an empty table in the corner of the room. Although Ava never experienced an interrogation before, she had an idea of what was to come next.

"Take off their tape, Vincent", Irene abruptly asked the armed agent while gesturing towards the criminals.

The bulky man obliged, roughly riping the tape off of their mouths, which led to them screeching from the pain. Ava was used to hearing trecherous sounds such as this, from inflicting it herself many times before the cia tracked her down, but she oddly found herself wincing from the men's pained voices. Her slight movement caught the eye of Irene, and she briefly studied the brunette before a rather obnoxious interruption.

"Fuck you, you american scum", one of them suddenly shrieked, to which Stan swiftly responded by impaling a sharp object into his thigh.

The ordeal became messy fairly fast, and soon the room filled with ear piercing screams and threats being spat by the turkish men. The next few minutes, although vividly distressing for the brunette, continued with Stan inflicting pain onto both of the men, in hopes it would cause them to reveal the ring leader of the vile operation. Ava, along with the rest of the room, watched as Stan slashed and bet the men to a point where their faces were covered by their own blood, and clear exhaustion. Finally, one of them started to speak.