The Assassin's Daydream || Mitch Rapp

Chapter 54

                 

Mitch found the knife, dug it out of the man's pants, and crossed the room. He took his gun back from Hurley and stuck it under his armpit while he cut the tape from Hurley's wrists.

The tape peeled free and Hurley said, "Give me the gun."

Mitch held out the knife. "Get your own."

Hurley grumbled and took the knife.

"There are two guys in the hallway." Mitch started dragging one of the bodies across the room and placed it by the wall with the door. "I'll open the door, you try to sound like Ali and yell for them to get in here and I'll pop 'em."

When the bodies were piled out of sight, Mitch placed his hand on the door handle. Hurley stood behind him. Mitch nodded and yanked the door open. Hurley muttered something about a mess and ordered the two guards to get in there. Unfortunately, only one appeared. Mitch shot him in the back of the head while pulling the door open farther and swinging his left arm around, searching for the second man. The tip of the suppressor ended up less than a foot from the man's face. Mitch squeezed the trigger and shot him in the nose. Stepping over the body, he looked left and right. The hallway was empty.

Mitch dragged the guard into the room. Hurley was already stripping the first guard of his pants, shirt, and boots. Mitch did the same with the second guard and told Hurley to grab the man's bandanna. When Mitch found the radio he asked Hurley, "Do you know where we are?"

"No."

"I think I might. What about Richard and Rupert?"

"Richard should be here, but I think they took Grant to the airport. They're trying to auction off our asses."

Mitch looked at Hurley and hesitantly asked "Where is she?"

Hurley knew who he was referring to and said in a low raspy voice "She was in the next room but I think she escaped. I heard yelling and bunch of guards ordering CAPTURE HER!"

"I don't think she escaped. Otherwise she would've tried to contact me first. They must've caught her. This place is crawling with Sayyed's men after all." Mitch said with concern clear in his voice.

"Look we'll find your girlfriend later but first we need to get out of here." Hurley said

Mitch sighed before nodding "We'll look Richard in a second, but I need to call Ridley first." He dialed in the right frequency and hit the transmit button. All he got was static.

"Bad reception down here," Hurley told him. "We'll have to get out of the basement."

"All right..." Mitch looked around the room "Let's grab some clothes for Richard too"

Mitch scavenged up a set while Hurley collected two ammo pouches with eight extra AK-47 magazines. When they had everything, they tied the bandannas around their faces and Mitch checked the hallway. It was still empty, so they ducked out, closing the door behind them and locking it. The next door over was padlocked, so Mitchshot the lock off with his Beretta. Hurley opened the door and froze. There, dangling from the hook in the middle of the room, with a rope wrapped around his neck, was Richard.

"Jesus," was all Hurley could manage to say.

Mitch considered checking for a pulse, but Richard's skin was chalk white. He'd been dead for hours.

Mitch's own heart started beating faster. He didn't want to find Aayat in a similar position to Richard's.

"Should we bring him with us?"

"No." Hurley shook his head.

Mitch closed the door to Richard's cell and told himself he would process it later. They ran down the back hallway, but when they got near the stairs they heard some voices. Hurley started making hand gestures, but Mitch waved him off, pulling him back away from the stairs.

Whispering in his ear, Mitch said, "I have an idea." Mitch handed him the two-way radio. "Try Ridley again. Tell him I think we're at Martyrs' Square. I'm gonna run down to the front of the building and see if I can start a little something." Mitchstarted to move, but Hurley grabbed him.

"What are you talking about?"

"Just wait here. If I'm right, you're gonna hear a shitload of gunfire in about a half minute. Then we'll make our break." Mitch pointed at the radio. "Just try to raise Ridley. I'll be right back."

Mitch tore off down the hallway. Later he stopped and listened for a moment, but heard nothing. Then there was the sound of a foot scraping along the floor and a faint voice.

Midway up the steps he got his first glimpse of a small lobby off to the left. Mitch counted two heads and then three.

Mitch walked straight, he kept his pace casual and started shaking his head as if he was going to tell them just how crappy things were downstairs.

The guy who was standing got the first shot. The two guys playing the board game - one got it in the back of the head and the other in his open mouth. Mitch never stopped moving.

Sure enough, about two hundred feet away was a similar building.

This had to be Martyrs' Square. Mitch slung his AK-47 over his right shoulder, stuffed the Beretta in his waistband, and picked up the dead lookout's AK-47. He didn't want to kill anyone over there, but he did want to make sure he got their attention, so he chose a position on the second floor and let it rip. The bullets shredded the afternoon calm, thudding into the sandbags across the street and then the building itself as it climbed.

Without hesitating, he moved to the peephole on the other side of the front door and took aim of the opposite building with the other AK-47. This time he sprayed the entire building down, firing in controlled bursts. Twenty or so rounds into the magazine the building across the street erupted in gunfire. Mitch hauled ass down the stairs as he heard bullets smacking into the building and gunfire being returned.

Hurley was standing at the other end, waiting for him. "What in hell did you just do?"

"I gave the big FU to Washington and got us a little diversion." Mitch looked up the stairs. The men were gone. "Come on. Let's get the hell out of here."

Hurley followed Mitch out the back door just as a sedan skidded to a stop between two piles of rubble. The two men in the front seat jumped out of the car, yelling and asking what was going on. Mitch couldn't hear them over the gunfire, and since they weren't pointing a gun at him he wasn't in any rush to kill them. All he wanted was their car. Two more men exited the rear of the car, one Caucasian and the other Middle Eastern.

Hurley said, "Merry f*cking Christmas," and then shot the two men in front.

Mitch raised the Beretta and took aim at the fair-skinned guy on the left.

Hurley yelled, "Don't kill the little Commie. Crack him over the head and stuff him in the trunk. I've got the other one."

Mitch and Hurley rushed the two men, their weapons leveled.

Hurley swung the butt end of his rifle and cracked Sayyed across the temple. As the Syrian dropped to his knees, Hurley said, "Sayyed, old buddy. I can't wait to play Twenty Questions with you."