𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐚𝐟𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 - Mitch Rapp

21

Thick clouds of smoke filled the entire front part of the building.

From a distance, it was naked to the eye due to how dark it was outside. Ava was thankful for that, because if anyone had caught a glimpse of the aftermath of the explosion, their cover would've been blown.

The brunette didn't wait a further second after hearing Irene trying to coax Mitch to return to the safe house. She knew what his temper looked like, knew how his stubbornness took ahold of him while in distress. She knew Mitch would put himself into danger, regardless of the outcome. And she didn't want to risk losing him.

While Irene cursed the assassin's name and began a rant after the phonecall, Ava snuck out of the office, and headed straight for the arms room. She grabbed as much ammo as possible, and strapped her usual handgun to her waist belt, while taking a duffle bag full of extra arms. If she was going inside the building full of gang members, she would need to be armed.

No one seemed to notice her absence until she got into the car. Ava knew they would bombard her phone, so she turned it off, and sped down the vacant streets of Paris-  Hoping Mitch wasn't in any danger. As the car continued to speed down street after street, Ava recalled the events of the last few minutes.

Stan Hurley; the stern, hard headed cold war veteran, had died. And Mitch had to witness every millisecond of it. His broken voice kept replaying in her head. The heartbreak in his tone was too devastating to not cry to. It made every employee go quiet. In fact, there wasn't a dry eye in the entire office. But still, Ava shook the thought away and fought to remain clear headed. It was vital if she wanted to go to Mitch's aid. If he even needed it.

Quietly pulling up to the vacant looking building, Ava instantly checked her perimeter for any sign of life. Everything was quiet, but Ava wasn't sure whether it was a good or bad thing.  The duffle bag she had strapped to her shoulder fell to the ground with a loud thud. Ava cursed under her breath, wearily looking around the dusty outside of the building.

Silence.

Quickly shoving the bag full of guns to the dark corner full of scattered rubble to hide, Ava made her way inside the entrance. Both of her hands were gripping the nine milimetres, pointing it straight ahead as she carefully surveyed the dark foyer.  She tried to stop herself from coughing, but the smoke was becoming thicker the further she ventured inside the building. Flickering light bulbs coming from the opposite side of the building paved the way for her eyesight to make out the ground below her feet. As she approached a large open doorway that seemed to lead to an even larger living room of sorts, her eyes caught glimpse of a body laying on its side. A muffled gasp escaped her mouth once she realized who it was.

Stan.

She couldn't see him all that well due to the smoke, but she was grateful, because now wasn't the time to break down. She would mourn the man that taught her how to be the better version of herself another day. Right now her focus was on Mitch, and ending this group of scumbags once and for all.

Quickening her pace into the spacious living room, Ava was expecting to pull the trigger. However, once she scanned the room, she found it to be completely empty. In fact, the more she thought about the situation, alarm bells rang inside her ears. This place shouldn't be quiet. It should be full of noise, gun shots, or even shouting. Not wanting to panic herself any further, Ava took a deep breath, and made her way towards the staircase on the far left of the room. Her combat boots made the only source of noise as she crept up the wide staircase one step at a time, her heart bouncing against her chest. Reaching the top, she was met with several different choices of rooms. Opting for the closest to her right, Ava quietly walked toward the threshold. However, just as she entered the room, a large hand roughly wrapped around her mouth, with her back pressed against someone's chest.

"Why did you follow me?", Mitch questioned, his breath against her bare neck.

Ava broke out of his grip, immediatly scanning his face. It had been a while since they last saw one another.

"Do you really need to ask?", Ava countered, noticing little cuts on his cheek. "What happened, Mitch? Where is everyone?".

Mitch grinded his jaw unsubtly, slowly exhaling through his nose. "They're dead".

A sense of relief washed over Ava. A part of her knew he would be okay, but that kind of worry for someone you love never leaves you .

"Good, I was really worried", she replied, her mouth slightly growing into a smile, but quickly fading when Mitch's expression remained dead-panned. "So, what's the plan?".

Mitch awkwardly shifted on his feet, instantly turning his face away from hers. "I got one of the men to fess up on his boss's location- a private boat on the rhine canal. I'll be going there tonight. You can go back to the safe house- out of harm's way".

Ava felt her chest tighten at the latter. He truly wanted to go rogue and complete the mission alone, with or without her.

"If you think I'm gonna let you go there alo-"

"You don't have a say in the matter, Londel", Mitch abruptly cut in, his voice raised with anger.

"It's a fucking death trap. Are you trying to get yourself killed?", she replied, stepping closer to his form. "Is this an ego thing again? You want to prove yourself worthy to everyone? Oh, I don't need any backup. I'm Mitch fucking rapp!".

The second after she raised her voice, a single tear ran down her cheek. This wasn't fair. He wasn't being fair. Mitch wanted to take the lead by himself, unaware how distraught it made her- or perhaps, he didn't care.

-"I can't lose you", she added with a whisper, her bottom lip faintly quivering.

The sadness in Ava's tone pulled Mitch out of his own head. He finally gazed down at her, his dialated pupils scanning her glazed eyes. Before Ava allowed herself to cry in front of Mitch Rapp, he hovered his hand across her cheek, and wiped away her fallen tear.

"Ava", he whispered against her face, staring intently into her eyes.

Just as she was trying to comprehend what he would say next, a loud crash came from downstairs. The pair whipped their heads to the doorway in sync, with Mitch instantly striding towards the staircase, lowering his head by the banister to see if he could make out any voices. Ava crept behind him, lowering her body to the floor. Distinct footsteps could be heard walking around the living room below them. It appeared to be only one set of footsteps however, which only confused them even further.

"Did anyone follow you?", he quietly asked her.

Ava shook her head, and just as she began to mouth a response, a deep voice began talking from the bottom of the long staircase.

"Well done, rookie. You finally found me".

- short update today, but I'm currently working on the next one which should be up soon!💕