overwhitened teeth. She motioned to Woodman, who finally got an opportunity to talk. He didn’t seem happy about it, though.
“Rapp tortured at least one of the suspects and murdered both. Then he attacked my men and stole a significant portion of the narcotics being held on-site.”
Kennedy paused to consider what she had just heard. Conclusions weren’t hard to come to. Rapp had wanted answers from those drug traffickers that the DEA weren’t able to get. A murkier question, though, was on whose authority? Was he working under political cover that she wasn’t aware of. The president had gone directly to him before. Was this another case of that?
“Are your people going to be all right?” Kennedy asked finally.
“They sustained substantial injuries, but I’m told they’ll recover.”
“Thanks to their body armor and training,” Barnett cut in. “Otherwise they’d be in the morgue with those two suspects.”
Woodman’s face was expressionless. He knew full well that if Rapp had wanted those men dead, they would be.
“Please continue, Bob.”
His expression suggested continued reluctance. What was causing that reluctance, though, was difficult to say. Even if Kennedy had known the man well, it was hard to predict how someone would react to a situation like this. He was smart enough to know that something didn’t smell quite right. But he was also smart enough to know that Barnett was likely to be his boss in a few months.
“Rapp also said something.”
“Yes?” Kennedy prompted.
“That he had financial problems and needed the drugs to settle his accounts.”
“Are you aware of Mr. Rapp’s financial situation?” Barnett interjected.
Kennedy folded her hands in front of her on the table. “Yesterday, my office received a file that seems to detail a number of financial improprieties on Mitch’s part. It’s my understanding that the FBI and IRS received similar files. Of course, we’re looking into the allegations, but they’re complicated and far-reaching, so I don’t have anything to report yet.”
“Financial improprieties,” Barnett repeated incredulously. “My people’s initial review of that file suggests something more like an organized crime syndicate that would put Al Capone to shame.”
It was an exaggeration, but not an outrageous one. The maze of hidden accounts, foreign partnerships, and shell corporations had almost certainly been created by Rapp’s brother Steven. And if that was the case, it would take years—perhaps decades—to get to the bottom of it. His gift for complex financial transactions rivaled his older brother’s abilities with a gun.
The question was why? Rapp had very little interest in money and was already worth millions—as was Claudia Gould. Why had he created a phony financial crisis and then purposely told the DEA that he was stealing the drugs to deal with that crisis? The answer was as obvious as it was dangerous. He was trying to make contact with the cartel that had smuggled the anthrax and infiltrate them.
“As I said, Senator, we’re looking into the allegations. But I’d urge caution. That file gives every impression of having been compiled by a hostile foreign government.”
Of course, that was completely nonsense. The faint whiffs of Russia and Iran were much more likely Claudia’s doing. She was an extremely clever woman.
“An ad hominem attack, Dr. Kennedy? I would have thought that was beneath you. It doesn’t matter where the information came from, only whether or not it’s true. And even if it isn’t, Mitch Rapp murdered two drug trafficking suspects in cold blood as well as—”
“They weren’t drug trafficking suspects, Senator. They were transporting a bioweapon across the U.S. border. The rules of engagement are different for men like that.”
Barnett laughed. “Ah, yes. That’s the comic book, isn’t it? Mitch Rapp, the great patriot, desperately interrogating two hardened terrorists in order to save us all. Don’t insult my intelligence, Doctor. The questions Rapp was asking those men had nothing to do with America. More likely he wanted to know how to get top dollar for the coke he stole and how to stay ahead of the cartel he stole it from. And now while you sit there trying to spin the situation, he’s using the skills you taught him to disappear.”
She didn’t respond, prompting Woodman to speak up.
“We have two separate informants saying that an unknown party has put word out on the street that he’s got a couple hundred kilos of quality product and he’s looking to unload it fast. There’s no question in my mind that this is your man, Irene. There’s a possibility that we can track—”
Barnett put a hand on his arm, silencing him. Clearly, she