The Assassin's Daydream || Mitch Rapp

Chapter 44

                 

Aayat winced as she received another slap.

"What is his name!" Sayyed demanded

"I don't know!" Aayat shouted

"You know Rapp's name but not Sherman's real name. I don't believe that. I am sure Rapp told you his real name."

"No he didn't okay. I just know Rupert's name that's all."

Sayyed sighed. Figuring out Rupert's and Richard's name wasn't so hard. After an hour of blows and loss of a finger nail, they finally cracked and revealed their names.

Sayyed took a handful of Aayat's hair and forced her look at him.

"Aayat, what is Bill Sherman's last name?"

Aayat tried to think. Surely Mitch had never really spoken to her about his colleagues but he did tell her that he was in Ankara with a team of four men including him. Him, Rupert, Richard and well Sherman.

Aayat tried to think of her time with Mitch at the beach house. A warm feeling passed through her as her mind was flooded with those beautiful memories.

She remembered Mitch's childish behavior when he refused to get up until he received a phone call.

Her eyes widened as something clicked. She remembered checking his phone to see who was calling him. The caller id said Stan Hurley.

That has to be it.

She was sure that Bill Sherman's real name was Stan Hurley.

Aayat wasn't sure whether she should be giving this information to Sayyed so for right now she acted dumb.

"I swear I don't know." And she started tearing up.

As soon as Sayyed saw tears rolling down her cheek, he pulled away from her and left the room.

He needed a break.

Aayat's current face, all bruised up and cheeks covered in tears reminded Sayyed of the time when he brought her to his house when she was a child.

As much as he hated her now, he still couldn't bring himself to torture her the way he had tortured Sherman, Rupert and Richard.

*****************

Mitch had arrived at the hotel and fell asleep immediately since no one was there.

After god knows how long, he heard a loud knock on the door.

Mitch cautiously got out of bed and walked towards the door.

He was in his boxers, pistol at his side, staring at the door of the suite and trying to decide what to do.

Mitch then heard, "Hey ... Open up," in English.

Part of the problem was that he had no idea how long he'd slept and consequently what time it was. and now whoever was out there was talking to him and getting louder.

"Hey, shithead ... Open the damn door. We've got big problems."

The contraction of we have was what caught his attention. It was not Hurley or Richards so the we thing threw another level of mystery into the equation.

"I know you're in there. Open this door, so I don't have to break it down."

Mitch quietly crossed the room on the balls of his feet. The door was cracked about an inch. "Who is it?"

"Yo Goldilocks. We've been compromised. Open the door. I need to get you the hell out of here."

Mitch's heart started trotting. Goldilocks ... compromised ... What the hell was going on? "What's the password?" Rapp heard the word shit followed by a heavy sigh.

"I'm not part of your merry little band. I don't know the password." There was a pause and then, "There's a leather case in the bedroom closet with a few handy things in it. You're probably holding one of the silenced Berettas right now. I'm the guy who put it there."

"Let me close the door first and then I'll let you in."

"Roger."

Mitch pushed the door closed and kicked the doorstop out of the way. With his pistol in his right hand he opened the door and then stepped back, holding the gun in a two-handed grip. The guy entered the room and closed the door behind him.

The visitor dropped the box he was carrying and raised his hands. "Kid, could you lower the gun. If I was a terrorist I would have blown the damn building up."

Looking over the iron sights of the Beretta, Mitch said, "A few more questions. What's going on?"

"You've been compromised. I was ordered by Washington to come get you."

"Who?"

"Irene."

Mitch lowered the gun. "Why?"

"Follow me," the man said as he picked up his box and started for the bedroom. "Stan and your other buddies were picked up at their hotel this morning."

"This morning?" Mitch asked, dumbfounded. "What time is it?"

"Almost six-thirty. They were grabbed by the cops and then handed over to those a*sholes from Islamic Jihad."

Mitch stopped moving. "Say that again."

"Don't stop moving, kid. They could be on their way here right now, and I don't think we want to be standing around talking when they show up." He opened the box and pulled out clothes that matched his. "Here ... put these on. I'll grab your shit." He tossed the clothes on the bed and went to the closet, retrieving Mitch's suitcase as well as the beat-up leather case.

Mitch's mind was swimming upstream trying to process what he'd just learned. "But..."

The man turned on him, a frightened, wild look in his eyes. "No buts," he hissed. "No questions, no nothing. We need to get the hell out of here, and I mean now."

Mitch nodded and began putting on his clothes. This stranger was right, of course.  He quickly put on the brown uniform and stuffed his clothes in his suitcase and tried calling Aayat, while the stranger wiped down the doorknobs. He felt his heart drop when he again heard the same monotone message saying the mobile phone you are trying to call is switched off.

He was now sure that something must've gone wrong with her. He knew in his heart that she wouldn't betray him.

She loves him.

Sayyed had planned all this and as usual Aayat was a pawn in his plan to lead the CIA right in his trap and clearly his plan was a success.

He still had a hard time believing that Hurley was kidnapped but again terrorists should never be underestimated.

Mitch and the stranger in just under two minutes they were out of the hotel and on their way to the street. The stranger went out first and after casually looking up and down the street motioned for Mitch to follow. They threw the suitcase and empty box in the back of a simple white minivan, then left. Mitch glanced at his rental car and almost said something, but thought better of it.

They had bigger problems.

They had to save the team.

More importantly, Mitch had to save Aayat.