“I live here. I know what’s going on.
You two don’t.” She wagged her finger at Nash and then Rapp. “I’m not going to have you come in here and screw up a year’s worth of work because you’re upset that one of your black-bag guys got kidnapped.
No fucking way that’s going to happen. So let’s be real clear about this.
I don’t want you two going to the bathroom without asking me for permission first. You don’t talk to anyone who’s involved in reintegration unless I clear it. Do you understand me?”
Rapp raised his hand as if he was waiting to be called on by his teacher.
“What?” Vinter asked.
“I have the answer to your question… I think you’re an imbecile.
There could be some underlying psychological issues as well but I’d need to spend more time with you, which isn’t going to happen. Beyond that, I’m pretty sure you’re stupid.”
Vinter’s even complexion became blotchy with anger. “Don’t fuck with me. I’m not going to warn you again. You two are not in charge.
I’m in charge around here. I make one phone call and your lame ass is on the next military transport out… in fact I’ll make sure it’s one of those big ones with all the props that makes you feel like you’ve been in a blender.”
“A C-130,” Rapp said, “the vibration helps me sleep.”
“I don’t give a shit if the vibration gives you a hard-on. One wrong move and you two are gone.”
“Listen,” Nash said, “we’re all on the same team.”
“I’m not on your team,” Vinter said with absolute conviction. Rapp turned his attention to the CIA station chief. The fact that he had decided to sit on the other side of the table spoke volumes about him. “Did you bother to brief her on who we are?”
Sickles cleared his throat. “I gave her some basic background.” “That’s it?”
“More or less.”
Nash dropped his head into his hands and waited for what was about to happen. There could be no blaming Rapp this time. This woman had clearly picked the fight.
Rapp knew Sickles was holding back. They’d revisit all of this later when they could keep it within the family and Rapp would remind
Sickles in a very persuasive way where his loyalties were supposed to lie. But for now Vinter was the problem. He looked across the table with his near black eyes and said, “Do you like your job?” “Let me guess… this is the part where you’re going to ask me a bunch of questions and then threaten me. Well, I’ll save you the time.
You can’t threaten me. I’m untouchable. I’m the president’s point person in Afghanistan. I run the show here.”
“There’s a few generals and an ambassador who might disagree with you, but I don’t have the time to argue with you. If you’re in charge, all the better. We need you to hand over everything that you were working on with Joe Rickman.”
“That’s not going to happen. It’s highly classified information.” Rapp shook his head in semidisbelief. “You do realize we’re the
CIA? Our job is classified information.”
“Not my classified information.”
After nodding a few times, Rapp stood. “So there’s not going to be any cooperation?”
“I told you the deal. You two don’t move without talking to me first. We’ll see how you behave and then we’ll revisit the cooperation.” Looking at Sickles, Rapp asked, “Have you briefed her on how serious this is?”
“She understands the situation and she also knows about your reputation. We’ve worked long and hard on reintegration and none of us are too happy to see you barge in here and begin destroying everything we’ve accomplished.”
Rapp stared at Sickles for a long moment. He could scarcely believe what he was hearing. He pointed at the station chief, snapped his fingers, and then hooked his thumb toward the door. “You’re done.
Get out the hell out of here. I’ll come find you in your office when I’m done.”
“You have no right to-”
“Darren,” Rapp yelled, “shut your mouth. I have every right. I have the DCI’s full backing on this and I swear to God, if you’re not out of this room in the next five seconds you can kiss your pension good-bye.
As it is, your ass is in hot water. Joe Fuckin’ Rickman got snatched on your watch. Do you have any idea how bad this is?”
“I…”
“Never mind. Just get the hell out of here. We’ll talk about this in your office. Go… now… move it.”
Sickles had tried to call Kennedy three times this morning and
Kennedy had not taken any of his calls. Maybe Rapp was telling the truth. The station chief got up and left the room without saying another word.
When the door was closed again, “Rapp looked at Poole and said,
“If you’d prefer to leave as well you won’t hear me complain.” “I’ll stay.”
“Fine.” Turning his attention back to Vinter, Rapp said, “You might think you’re connected… you might even think you’re important and in certain circles you might be, but not this time around.” “Oh, really?”
“Yeah… Let me explain how this works. We’re the guys they call in when the shit hits the fan. Go ahead and call your boss when we’re done. She’ll tell you the same thing. In fact I’m pretty sure she’ll tell you to do what we ask and then get the hell out of our way.” Vinter shook her head. “The secretary of state has complete confidence in me. After I tell her what you did to Commander Zahir this morning, you’re the one who’s going to be praying they let you keep your pension.”
“You go ahead and make that call, but just remember, I warned you. This reintegration crap is a circle jerk and everyone who’s anyone in D.C. knows it. It’s a gimmick so we can declare victory and get the hell out of here. Joe Rickman getting snatched is serious shit and they all know it. You see, his head is full of a lot of nasty secrets that will embarrass your boss and a lot of other heavy hitters back in D.C. They don’t like being embarrassed, so your little circle jerk is going to take a backseat to my problem for a while. I don’t really care if the papers print nasty stuff about your boss or anyone else, but I do care about all the agents that work for us who will more than likely end up dead if we don’t find Rick and find him quick.”
“You have no idea who you’re screwing with, Mr. Rapp.” “Actually, I have a really good idea. You’re some spoiled brat who’s gotten her way her entire life.” He pointed at her wedding ring and added, “Your husband is miserable. Some poor browbeaten son of a bitch. You probably keep his balls in a little box on your desk, and based on your selfish attitude this morning I’d say there’s a pretty good chance you’ve been having an affair with the colonel here. The point is I don’t give a shit who you are, but you’d better care who I am and understand that I’m the meanest son of a bitch you will ever meet. That’s why the president sent me over here. Because he wants results and he knows I won’t put up with people like you. So you go ahead and call your boss and anyone else you need to and after they’ve all told you what I’ve just told you, you will hand over every shred of information you have regarding Joe Rickman and the scumbags you had him making deals with. And if you don’t, I can guarantee you will be the one on the next flight out of here.”
Chapter 11
Jalalabad, Afghanistan
He lay on the floor wearing only a pair of U.S. Army-issue boxer shorts, curled up in the fetal position, his face and body battered to a pulp. Joe Rickman tried to open his eyes, but they were either too swollen or too caked with dry blood to yield. He had never felt such pain. Never even imagined that it could be so bad. His trainers back at the Farm had warned him, and he had nodded as if he understood everything they were saying at the time, but they said he didn’t. Anyone who hadn’t been through it could never really understand just how bad it was. Now Rickman understood. He’d kept it together so far, but just barely. There had been a few moments when he was on the verge of calling it quits. He told himself that they would know when to stop. After all, Rickman had always known when to
