to do the exact opposite. If I find out you're fucking me, I'm going to text your photo to every jerkoff with a gun in this town and on the other side of the border as well, and I'm going to put a five-hundred-thousand-dollar bounty on your head. And if you think about heading for the hills I'll have a Predator on you twenty-four seven. If you make a call, if you step into the clear for a second I'll shove a Hellfire missile up your ass and blow you to hell."
To Zahir, the threat was all too real. He had used the CIA to decimate his own enemies by giving up their locations and phone numbers. The drone strikes were very effective. After a little consideration Zahir realized that at least for the moment he had no choice but to go along with this man. He slowly nodded his head and said, "I will see what I can do."
"If you want to live, you'll do more than that." Rapp lowered his gun and said, "Give me your phone."
Zahir scrambled to retrieve the phone from the breast pocket of his blue-gray uniform shirt. He surrendered it to Rapp, who handed it to Hubbard. "Go upstairs and give this to Sid. Tell her I want the usual and have our friends stateside move it into heavy rotation. Tell her I need a clone as well." Hubbard left and Rapp turned his focus back to Zahir. "We're going to be listening to everything you say, and if at any time I'm not satisfied with your efforts, our deal is off."
"Off?"
"Off means you broke the deal and you're dead."
"And what if I don't like this deal?"
Rapp raised his pistol and pointed it at the man's face. "It's pretty simple. I blow your brains all over the floor right now and you end up like those four guys over there." Rapp motioned toward the four bodyguards.
"You're not giving me much of a choice."
"And when you kidnap villagers and hold them for ransom, do you give them a choice?"
Zahir stubbornly refused to respond.
"I know you don't like this, Abdul, and the reason's pretty simple. You're a bully. You're used to pushing people around. Threatening them and their families with violence to get what you want. Now you're the one being bullied and you don't like it and I don't give a shit. The only thing that's important is that you understand and accept our deal. Do you?"
With the barrel of a gun in his face, Zahir knew he had only one option - to acquiesce. Later, when he was away from this madman, he could figure out a way to go back on the deal. "You have left me with no other choice."
"Good. I'd shake your hand but I know it wouldn't mean anything since you plan on fucking me over the first chance you get, so here's what we're going to do." Rapp grabbed his phone with his right hand, tapped a few icons, and then held it out to take a photo of Zahir. "Smile. This is for the poster I'm going to send out with a fifty-thousand-dollar bounty on your head."
"But you said . . ."
"Relax, I know what I said. If you come through with what I need, you'll be fine. I might even give you the fifty grand, but if I get even the slightest whiff that you're screwing with me, you're done. You have enough enemies as it is, if I put a bounty on your head, they'll be lining up to collect. Hell, it's probably cheaper than wasting a missile on your ass."
Hubbard came back with Zahir's phone and gave it to him. He handed a plain black flip phone to Rapp. Rapp held it up and said, "This is how we're going to talk to each other. I'll be able to track you with both phones, but this is the one we'll use to communicate." Rapp gave him the phone. "I'm going to call you in two hours and if you don't answer you're dead. If you answer the phone and tell me you haven't discovered anything you're dead. Do you understand how this is going to work?"
Zahir reluctantly stuffed the phone in his pocket and nodded. "What do I call you?"
"Harry," Rapp said, giving him one of his aliases. "Now get out of here and find out what happened to Joe Rickman."
Chapter 4
BETHESDA, MARYLAND
JOEL Wilson impatiently tapped the fingers of his right hand on his