Deadly Fierce // Mitch Rapp

VI

A loud bang woke us up and we heard Stan's voice. "Why is there no one on watch? You're all dead."

"Yeah, yeah. I got it. I got it."

Stan stood in front of me. "You're dead. What? You wanna say something to me? Say it. Go on, say it." I remained silent. "You got 30 seconds!"

We made our way to another area and were shown images of people. "These are your targets. Memorize them. It's your responsibility to be able to identify them. You shoot a combatant, you get a point. You miss, you get a shock. You shoot a noncombatant, you get a bigger shock. Combatant shoots you...Let's just say you're gonna feel it. Ready? Go."

I looked around for a combatant and shot one. The terrorist who had taken Sam and killed Katrina appeared and I shot at him.

I kept shooting at the terrorist and got the biggest shock of my life. It was worth it.

Our next training exercise was kind of like a maze. We were in a box with several rooms and had to find the target.

I walked up to someone to see if he was the target, but he wasn't. The cashier looked at me as I said, "Hi, excuse me."

"How can I help you?" She answered.

"Question."

I caught sight of a man that looked like the target and she asked, "May I help you?"

"No thanks, I'm okay."

I snuck over to the other side and started shooting. I hit a "pregnant" woman and Stan yelled, "Rapp! God damn it! You have to stay under control."

"Dickhead!" The woman said.

"Asshole doesn't know when to quit." One of the trainees said.

I turned to him. "You're kidding me, right? I just saved your ass."

"You gotta know when the mission's been accomplished, Rapp." Stan chastised.

"Sir, he's a fucking..." The trainee began.

"Which he did. Never assume your target is the only target. The enemy dresses like a deer and he kills like a lion. And that's what we gotta do. We just gotta do it better. Alright."

He walked off and the woman said, "You're an asshole."

I got word that Stan wanted to see me, so I walked to his office and knocked on his door. "You wanted to see me, sir?"

Stan looked at me. "Yeah. Shut the door." I did as he asked. "We're shipping out. Set those down here. You like movies?"

"Sure." I mean, doesn't everyone?

"I got something for you."

I got up and turned to the door. "What the fuck is this?"

"Yeah, I thought so."

"You thought so?"

"Yeah. Why are you even alive, Rapp? You ever asked yourself that? Why you? You know, of all those people? You're special, I guess."

"Oh, my God!

"You want me to turn it up?" Stan asked and did so.

"Take it."

"I'll marry you!"

"You're a fucking coward, you know that? Turn that shit off."

"What do you think? It's my mom's ring."

"You gonna turn it off?" I asked again.

"Katrina!" I saw her get shot again.

"Am I supposed to feel sorry for you? I don't."

I lunged at Stan and he easily countered me. He wrapped a wire around my neck and I ended up on the floor. Stan continued. "You made a big mistake. You let emotion cloud your judgment. Never, ever let it get personal. You understand?"

My neck was released and I coughed. "Yeah, I got it."

"Be ready to go by 5:00."

"See you at 4:30."

We boarded a plane and landed in Istanbul, Turkey. As we walked towards the airport, Stan asked, "You know what you're gonna do here?"

"No, sir." I answered.

"Correct. You don't. So keep your eyes open and your mouth shut. And wait for my orders."

A woman stood outside the driver's door and we greeted her. I noticed another woman in the passenger's seat. She looked eerily like Sam, but she couldn't be. Sam was long gone.

[Sorry about the wait for Sam to reappear. I wanted to get Mitch's story in.]