"No," he finally admitted.
"That"s all right," replied Rapp.
"We all have to start somewhere.
How many of your men have seen action?"
Again, Jackson hesitated while he tallied the number.
"Five of the twenty-three."
This was not exactly what Rapp wanted to hear. In his mind he started moving people around like pieces on a chess board. Hackett"s experience was too valuable to attach him to the cover force. His steady gun would be needed down where the action was taking place, and for that matter it would be nice to have Coleman at his side too.
The only problem there was that Coleman needed to be in a position where he could take in the whole picture.
Coleman got off the radio with the captain and Rapp apprised him of his concerns. Before considering them, Coleman asked Jackson to bring his men in for a final briefing.
When the young lieutenant was gone, Rapp said, "He"s never seen action."
Coleman seemed unfazed by the revelation.
"It doesn"t surprise me."
With a detached look in his eyes Rapp added, "I"m going to need some hardened guys down there with me to mop up when we"re done."
The two men looked at each other and communicated an unspoken thought.
"Yeah, I know," said Coleman.
"No prisoners. No survivors."
He"d been through the drill before.
"I"ll make sure I communicate it to Jackson and the chiefs. Believe me, he"s green, but he"s heard it before."
"Yeah, hearing about it"s one thing, but until you"ve had to put a bullet in a wounded man"s head" Rapp frowned and looked down at the ground.
"It"d be nice if we could spare the kid from having to think about it for the rest of his life."
Coleman agreed.
"Don"t worry, I"ll take care of it."
Jackson came back to the group and his men started appearing through the underbrush. When everyone was a.s.sembled, Coleman and Jackson began briefing the men on the specifics of the mission. Few questions were asked. The men had all gone through the drill before.
Contingencies were addressed and for a final time they went over handling the hostages and getting them out of the line of fire and secured as soon as possible.
Coleman went on to state in very clear terms this was more than a hostage rescue. He explained to the men that if they wanted to make it back to the ship they needed to decimate the enemy. They were an inferior force in numbers and could offer no aid or quarter. The men had all heard this before from their various instructors, but for the majority of them it was the first time it held such relevance.
The last thing Coleman did was point to his own forehead and say, "Remember double taps to the foreheads and keep moving."
Then one by one he ordered each element to their jumping-off points. Coleman then directed the cover force into position and when everything was ready he gave the word to move out. Rapp led the group up the middle. Crawling on their bellies, they slid from their elevated position down toward the rushing creek. Before the rains had come the creek could have been crossed with one step; now it was a raging waist-deep river that would have to be forded with caution.
Even with the cover noise of raindrops. .h.i.tting the thick jungle leaves, the men moved with great care. Footing was so slippery that everyone had been ordered to crawl, lest someone slip, go tumbling down toward the creek and possibly alert the terrorists. Behind Rapp followed Lieutenant Jackson and ten of his men. The remaining twelve SEALs who were not a.s.signed to the cover force were now working their way into position to flank the camp. As per the scouting report that Wicker had given them, six men had gone to take up position on the west end of the camp and six more to the east side. These two groups were to watch the two main paths that led into the village and then strike the four lean-tos when the order was given.
All twenty-nine men in the operation had been briefed on the entire scope of the operation. This was crucial, not just so that they could carry out another man"s a.s.signment if he fell, but to understand where everyone else was. With so much firepower concentrated in such a small area, the men needed to be aware of what the various elements were up to, lest they shoot one of their own.
When they reached the overflowing banks of the creek, Rapp waited to hear from the two flanking elements that they were in position.
He looked out from under the brim of his jungle hat across the rain-peppered rushing stream and toward the village. From his vantage he could see directly into one of the lean-tos without the aid of his gun-mounted night vision scope. The men inside appeared to be playing a game of some sort under a single hanging lantern. At the moment one of the men appeared to be yelling at one of his companions about something. The others stood about and laughed boisterously at the angered man. As Rapp watched he couldn"t help but think that the discipline of this group was really lax. It was really an embarra.s.sment that someone hadn"t freed the Andersons sooner.
While waiting for the go-ahead Rapp"s thoughts turned briefly to his wife. If she knew what he was doing right now, she"d cut his nuts off. Instinctively knowing that there was probably a pretty good case to be made that he was an irresponsible and somewhat dishonest husband, he decided to not explore the issue further. At least not for now.
The awkward denials and recriminations could wait until he was back in Washington.
It was always questions with Anna. She had an insatiable desire to know things, and the more she was told something didn"t matter, the more it mattered. This trait, of course, treated her well in her job as a reporter, but in their relationship it was something that had to be monitored closely. Anna was a very pa.s.sionate woman. Nothing was done in a halfhearted manner. If it was worth doing it was worth doing to the fullest. In this regard, Rapp wasn"t all that different; he just went about things in a more a.n.a.lytical, stoic way, whereas Anna was more pa.s.sionate and determined.
Coleman"s voice crackled over his earpiece, pulling him back to the present.
"Teams three and four are in position, Mitch. Let me know when you"re ready."
Cradling his suppressed MP-5 in his arms he edged forward, entering the rushing water headfirst. The force of the stream rushing down the mountain was stronger than he thought it would be. He hoped it wasn"t any deeper than his waist or they might have a more difficult time getting across than they"d planned. As the water deepened, Rapp found his footing and carefully picked his way across, ready to drop down into the water at a moment"s notice if someone appeared from one of the two tents.
Fortunately, the water never got above the middle of his thighs. As long as none of the other men lost their footing, they would have little difficulty in fording the stream. When he reached the other side he crawled up the gra.s.sy bank and took up a cover position a mere thirty feet from the hostages" tent. Using hand signals he gestured for Jackson to bring the other two teams over.
This had been Jackson"s idea. The original plan was to send Rapp over on his own and see if he could get close enough to the one tent to somehow tell them where the hostages were positioned inside. They all agreed that most likely the Andersons were huddled together at the far end of the tent. Nonetheless, it would be nice to know exactly where they were.
SEALs regularly trained in shooting rooms set up for hostage rescues.
They"d have to burst through a door, window or sometimes even a wall, and in a matter of a second or two differentiate between the hostages and the terrorists and then kill the latter.
Jackson"s suggestion had been to get the remaining two teams across before Rapp tried to sneak a peek. This way if things went wrong they"d be in a much better position to execute the takedown.
No one wanted to return without the Andersons, so Jackson urged that they hold nothing back.
Rapp looked over his shoulder and saw Jackson reach his side of the creek and then gesture for the next man to follow. As he waited for Jackson to join him he was startled by a flash to his left. Rapp"s whole body tensed as light spilled out from the other tent. Looking through the gra.s.s he saw a man holding back the flap of the tent and relieving himself.
Rapp didn"t bother to train his gun on the man. He knew Wicker would have already done so. Looking over his shoulder he could barely make out one of Jackson"s men crouching down in the middle of the rushing water.
With no fear of being heard due to the falling rain, Rapp whispered into his lip mike, "Everyone relax. This guy can"t see more than twenty feet."
When the guy finished his business and let the flap of the tent close there was a collective sigh of relief. The fording continued and before long all of the men were across and in position to move should Rapp be discovered.
Sitting atop the slight ridge just 200 feet from the village, Coleman had an un.o.bstructed view. He"d watched intently as Rapp and then the others crossed the rushing stream. Both flanking elements were not visible as they worked their way through the jungle. Wicker had already scouted that terrain and reported that it was free of b.o.o.by traps.
When each element was ready Coleman spoke to Rapp.
"Mitch, when you"re ready, go sneak a quick peek and then get out of there. Lieutenant, have your conga line ready." The conga line Coleman was referring to was an entry technique the SEALs used. The men lined up as if dancing the conga and then entered the structure, every other man peeling off and responsible for clearing a given area within the room. It was a tried-and-true technique used by all hostage rescue teams.
Whispering into his mike, Rapp let Coleman know he was going in. Crawling through the gra.s.s he inched his way forward toward the tent. Now out in the relative open, protected only by darkness and rain, he moved quickly. Across a muddy path and then up a slight slope of shorter gra.s.s, he was careful to keep the barrel of his weapon clear.
Less than ten feet from the tent now, he began to hear voices. He continued toward the far side of the tent where the Andersons were most likely situated. He was now within the stakes.
Carefully, he crept up to the edge of the tent. A thin sliver of light spilled out from under the green canvas where it floated just above the wet ground. Rapp made no effort to look under the side at first. Instead, he repositioned himself so he was lying in the right direction and listened to the voices.
Over the din of the rain pelting his hat, the tent and the ground, he could barely make out the voices of men speaking Filipino. Rapp crawled toward the other end of the tent and the voices grew louder.
He also saw shadows cast from the interior down along the gap at the bottom. Satisfied that they"d guessed right, he scooted backward through the gra.s.s and mud to the other end.
Before looking under the side of the tent, Rapp stared momentarily at his suppressed MP-5 with its night vision scope and long thirty round magazine extending from the underside. If he had to shoot, the weapon might be difficult to bring up under the side of the tent. Rapp laid the weapon down on the ground in front of him and reached for his silenced 9mm Beretta. After quietly drawing it from his thigh holster, he held the weapon lightly in his left hand. Unlike the movies, there was no need to chamber a round, take the weapon off safety and c.o.c.k it. Rapp operated with his weapons hot at all times.
He listened for another moment, but gleaned nothing further. If the hostages were inside they weren"t making any noise. Cupping his hands over his lip mike he whispered, "I"m going to sneak a peek. Be ready to move."
Twisting onto his back he positioned himself so he could look under the side by pulling the bottom up slightly with his right hand, leaving his left hand free if he needed it. Laying his head almost on the ground he took a look. He was rewarded with nothing more than the sight of the rotten wood boards that served as a floor for the tent.
Cautiously he lifted the side of the tent. Only an inch at first, though he was confident that the wind and rain would conceal any noise that he made. Rewarded with an up-close look at a dirty foot, he paused, not knowing if it belonged to a Filipino or an American.
Raising the side another inch, and pulling it out slightly, he was saw part of a hairless calf encrusted in mud and bug bites and a separate foot that was so small it could have belonged only to a child.
Rapp"s spirits instantly rose and he pulled back the bottom of the tent a little farther. As in the other tents, a single lantern hung from the ceiling. In the dim light he spied two of the children and the back of the mother, their red hair making them instantly recognizable. Rapp continued to scan for the father and the other child. Knowing exactly where everyone was would allow them to execute a clean takedown.
Rapp thought he could make out part of the father"s leg on the far side of the tent. Pulling on the side a little more he lifted his head to try to get a better angle. Suddenly he was met with a pair of wide eyes, and that was when it happened.
FORTY.
Coleman watched everything from his perch. Even in the relatively warm air, he was chilled. He ignored the physical signs that he needed to find a dry, warm place. His body had been through worse. Even at his age, he knew he could tolerate quite a bit more.
Silently, he urged Rapp to hurry. It was important that they verify the position of the Andersons, but it was not imperative. He"d never gotten used to the anxiety that went along with these types of operations.
That was probably a good thing, but one would think that after all the operations he"d been part of, it would get a little easier.
Looking through the scope of his M4 carbine, he watched Rapp draw his pistol and then roll onto his side. Then he heard Rapp"s voice warn everybody to be ready. Coleman kept the scope on Rapp. His finger was nowhere near the trigger. If things got hot, his eyes and commands were more important than his shooting skills. That was unless they were routed into a full retreat. In Coleman"s mind that wasn"t even a possibility. Not with surprise on their side and the skill of the shooters he"d deployed.
As someone who had often commanded men in battle, Coleman had a real feel for when things weren"t going well, and conversely, when they were. So far all seemed to be going very well.
That sentiment instantly died when a scream came clamoring over his earpiece. Coleman instinctively winced at the sound of something so ominous and unwanted. Before he had a chance to find out what was going on, Rapp began shouting orders over the net.
Rapp SAW the look OF FEAR begin to form on the face of the young redheaded girl cradled in her mother"s arms. In an effort to forestall the inevitable, Rapp smiled at the girl and mouthed the words, it"s okay. It was about this time that he remembered his face was smeared with green, black and brown paint. He could smile at this young child all he wanted, but it wouldn"t change the fact that he looked like a monster coming to get her and her family.
As soon as the little mouth started to open, Rapp knew what would follow. He hesitated for only a fraction of a second and then brought his gun up just as the girl let loose a bloodcurdling shriek. A subsonic 9mm round spat from the end of the silencer striking the nearest kidnapper in the side of the head, instantly dropping him into the lap of the man who was sitting next to him. The terrorists were sitting around a rickety table, and for the briefest of moments they froze.
With a tone of urgency, but not panic, Rapp shouted the Go word over and over into his lip mike, as he moved from one target to the next. His gun moved as an extension of his arm, efficiently seeking out targets, sweeping from left to right. The pistol carried sixteen rounds, one in the chamber and fifteen in the grip. Each depleted round registered in his mind as its bra.s.s casing was ejected.
He got off three clean head shots before the tent became so filled with terrorists diving and lurching every which way that he had to resort to aiming for chests and backs. One of the men got hold of his weapon and Rapp shot him in the shoulder, sending him sprawling and the gun clattering to the floor.
Remembering Jackson and his men, Rapp yelled, "Spray down the right side of the tent! The hostages are all down by me!" The last thing he wanted was to hit one of them with a stray bullet as they came through the tent. Or worse, have one of them hit him coming the other way.
Rapp saw two muzzles coming around. One was tracking toward the hostages, but Rapp couldn"t get a clear shot. A body was in the way. Screaming "Shoot at the d.a.m.n tent!" he squeezed off three quick rounds directed at a target he couldn"t fully see.
The terrorist teetered backward, the dead body of his comrade knocking him off his feet. His finger squeezed the trigger on the way down, sending a three-round burst tearing through the wall and roof of the tent. Rapp saw more movement to his right. His eyes moved faster than his gun. He saw the flash of the rifle muzzle and then the wood floor in front of him splintered with the impact from a bullet, followed by another flash and another. The man was shooting the a.s.sault rifle on full automatic, shredding the rotten floorboards before him.
Rapp rushed his first shot, hitting the man in the shoulder. He needed only a split second more to place the terrorist"s head in his sights, but he never got the chance. The searing pain of a bullet slammed into his flesh, sending his shot wide of the target.
Before he could react to what had just happened, a fusillade of bullets ripped through the canvas wall of the tent, sending the terrorist who had just shot him into a spastic sideways dance. No fewer than six shots propelled the man over a plastic chair and to the ground. The bullets did not stop coming for another five seconds, over a hundred of them in total.
Rapp finally called out for Jackson and his men to secure the hostages. Keeping his weapon and eyes trained on the ma.s.s of bodies at the other end of the tent, he tensed as the first wave of pain radiated to the extremities of his every limb.
He watched as Jackson"s men came into the tent. Several quick shots were fired from the end of the thick silencers, but most of the work had already been taken care of. They were just mopping up. Letting his head rest on the ground, he looked over at the huddled family in the corner. He was about to call out over the radio that he"d been hit, but stopped. The other elements would still be in the thick of it.
Coleman didn"t need the distraction just yet. No, Rapp decided he would just lie there and relax for a bit.
FORTY ONE.
A slight headache gnawed at the base of Kennedy"s brain. She knew in truth it was due to the second cosmopolitan that she"d had with Anna Rapp. It had been worth it, though. Her private conversation with Anna had broken through some barriers.
The two women had reached an understanding of sorts. Mitch was their link. They both loved him, and if they truly cared about him they would make the effort to get along. Kennedy was magnanimous in her understanding of Anna"s plight, but insistent that Mitch would not be happy leading the indolent lifestyle of an intelligence a.n.a.lyst. He was an incredibly talented individual who just so happened to be in the business of counterterrorism. His skills and his commitment had aided countless individuals and led to the prevention of death and destruction.
Now, as Kennedy was returning to the scene of last night"s festivities, she wondered how she could look like anything other than a liar to the woman whose confidence she had just gained. She"d gone to great lengths to calm Anna"s fears over her husband"s safety. Speaking with true conviction in regard to Rapp"s talents and penchant for survival, she"d told Anna that Mitch had been involved in much more dire operations, and that he, in fact, would be nowhere near the point of battle while on his current mission. Since he had already succeeded in eliminating General Moro, she felt this was close enough to the truth.
Others would be taking care of the hostage rescue, and Mitch would be monitoring the operation from a safe distance.
That had at least been her understanding of how things would proceed. All that changed when her phone rang this morning at precisely 5:00 a.m. Jake Turbes, the director of the CIA"s Counterterrorism Center, awoke his boss to inform her that the operation in the Philippines had been a success. This fruitful conclusion to an international situation was all a very big surprise to Kennedy, since the operation wasn"t supposed to have begun yet. After thanking the director of the CTC, and giving him no sign that she"d been somehow left out of the loop, Kennedy pulled herself from her bed and went straight to Langley.
When she got there the puzzle of what had occurred some six thousand miles away began to fall into place. The mission had been a complete success. The Andersons and all of the operators were safely onboard the Belleau Wood sitting out a rather ferocious tropical storm, and there was only one injury to report. All things considered, Kennedy should"ve been very pleased with the outcome.
On the surface she appeared her calm, cool self; nodding at the right times and asking only the most pertinent of questions, but inside, she was seething. Someone had been shot, and as luck would have it, it was none other than Mitch.e.l.l Rapp.
Kennedy was furious. How in the h.e.l.l did Rapp get shot when he was supposed to be sitting on a warship ten miles off the coast, and more important, why in the h.e.l.l was the timetable for the rescue operation moved up without her knowing about it? Kennedy resisted the urge to call General Flood and ask if he"d given the green light. She would need some time to gather her thoughts, and her intuition told her that Flood had also been left out of the loop. Asking halfc.o.c.ked questions that she didn"t know the answers to was a good way to invite inquiry into how she ran her agency.
Mitch Rapp was going to have to answer some very tough questions when he got back. Kennedy"s only solace right now was that ultimately, Rapp would pay for his cowboy att.i.tude far worse at home than he would at work. At Langley he was the golden boy, capable of doing no wrong. A mythology had been structured around him. He was a walking, talking legend, a man with rugged good looks who could point to a dossier of more successful clandestine operations than any operative in perhaps the history of the Agency.
That resume would protect him. There wasn"t a person at Langley who would dare lock horns with him, and only a handful of politicians on the Hill who would even consider taking such a risk. Not that this most recent incident would offer them any real opportunity. Rapp was a hero, and Americans loved their heroes.
As her predecessor Thomas Stansfield had taught her, Kennedy suppressed the desire to get Rapp on the phone and read him the riot act. It would be better to cool her emotions and let him sweat it out for a while. Maybe even the entire long flight home.
No, Kennedy would let the one woman who truly mattered to him take care of things. It didn"t matter how good Mitch was, his little powder keg of a bride was going to kick his a.s.s like it had never been kicked before. It would almost be worth it to bug his house just to hear the interrogation. No matter what Rapp said or did, he could not lie his way out of what he had done. He couldn"t hide behind national security because Kennedy wasn"t going to let him, and unless he kept his clothes on for the next month, there was no way he was going to be able to hide the fact that he"d been shot.
In an effort to keep up her newfound friendship with Mrs. Rapp, she called Anna shortly before 6:00 A.M. and told her that the mission was a success and that her husband would be on his way home shortly.
Anna, grateful for the call, thanked the director of the CIA profusely.