Not Gonna Die // Mitch Rapp

12

At HQ, Mitch and Heidi were waiting for Hurley to finish interrogating their mole.

After awhile, he appeared and Annika glared at the couple. "You were right, Mitch. This Iranian mole is a tough nut to crack. All I could get from her was her handler. Azad Ashani. Happens to be a friend of mine. I'm gonna go pay him a visit."

"Okay, we're going with you," Mitch decided, taking Heidi's hand.

Hurley turned to face them. "No. I need you two to stay here. Kennedy's on her way with the CIA team and a Mossad team."

Mitch frowned. "She's gonna ask us where you went. What the hell are we supposed to say?"

"That's right, she is. And you're gonna be smart, and you're gonna keep your mouths shut, and you're gonna cover my ass."

Heidi huffed and muttered, "I see where you get that recklessness."

Mitch frowned. "Rudeness aside, we gotta play our part and act like we know nothing. You think you can you do that?"

"I'm very sorry, but I haven't seen Hurley since last night. Yeah, Mitch, I think I can. Can you?"

He nodded, rolling his eyes lightly. "Yeah, I can."

Kennedy arrived and asked, "Where the hell is Hurley?"

Mitch matched her pace. "You gotta tell me what's going on here. Now. That guy he trained, who the hell is he?"

"That's not something you need to know right now."

"What are you covering up?"

"When you've got a level-5 security clearance and 20 years experience, talk to me. That goes for you as well, King. Until then, shut up and do your jobs."

Annika was taken from the interrogation room as Kennedy said, "I was her cell phone decrypted and scanned."

Another guy, from the other side of the room, said, "Local PD pulled a body from the harbor an hour ago. Gunshot to the chest. Iranian intelligence officer, Azad Ashani."

Mitch and Heidi exchanged a look as Kennedy lifted her head slightly. "Christ!"

Heidi met her eyes. "That's who Hurley went to meet."

"Stupid son of a bitch!"

Mitch and Heidi followed her as he said, "All right, so what do we do? We gotta go after him."

"There's a fucking nuke in play, Rapp," Kennedy replied. "That's the mission, and it's the only mission. This is now a joint CIA-Mossad operation, whether we like it or not. Can you get the director on the phone?"

"So you're just gonna write him off then? That's the plan?"

"Stan Hurley is the closest thing to family I've got. And if he were standing here right now, his only question would be, why are we wasting our breath talking about him? You two are through here. You're going home, and that's an order. Now sit down and shut up."

Mitch noticed something on the screen and motioned for Heidi to follow him. They grabbed a few things and left the safe house.

Mitch drove at an alarmingly fast speed before crashing into the car Annika was in. After knocking out a couple of the guys, he unlocked her handcuffs.

"Why are you helping me?" Annika asked in a venomous tone.

"Your handler Ashani was killed," Mitch told her. "Hurley was with him. Something happened. We're going after him."

"We need your help," Heidi added. "Please."

Mitch handed Annika the phone and she took it. He then said, "We gotta go."

They left the car Annika was in and got back into Mitch's car.