guards. “But what am I looking at instead? A jail cell and a piece-of-shit president who’s never lifted a finger for anyone but herself.”
It was pretty much a retread of all the things Claudia had been telling him, but there was no reason it wouldn’t work as well on Esparza as it had on him.
“And your woman? My people tell me she left you for a friend of yours.”
“Her boss and my backup man Scott Coleman,” Rapp spat out. “Who knows how long that’s been going on? Turns out that when the money and power goes away, so do they.”
“It seems you’d want to kill them,” Esparza said, interested enough to keep probing, trying to find a crack in Rapp’s story.
“I wouldn’t mind. Believe me. But Scott’s a dangerous son of a bitch and the Agency’s going to be looking for me to make a move like that. For now, I’m just going to have to let it go. When all this dies down and I get my feet under me, though, you can bet your ass I’m going to be paying them a visit.”
Esparza fell silent, watching the man in front of him. As insane as it seemed, all indications were that he really was Mitch Rapp. And that created both opportunities and dangers that he never thought he’d be contemplating. Over the years, he’d managed to put many important people on his payroll. But Mitch Rapp? None of his competitors—even those with revenues that would get them on a Forbes list—had anyone who could compare.
Vicente Rossi appeared, took a few steps across the terrace, and stopped dead. It was an understandable reaction, but one that Esparza couldn’t be seen sharing. Instead, he cut a slice of the pineapple on his plate and casually waved his business advisor over.
“I don’t think formal introductions have been made. This is Vicente.”
Rapp nodded in the man’s direction but otherwise didn’t acknowledge him.
“What do you have for me?” Esparza said, taking a bite of fruit to cover his nervousness. He had killed countless men. Tortured them and their families. Built a cartel that commanded fear and respect that far outstripped the scope of its operation. He refused to allow his fear of this unarmed American to show.
Rossi, still standing, had no similar qualms. “Perhaps this is something that would be better done in private?”
Had he discovered something that would cause the CIA man to go for the knife still within his reach? Esparza met Rapp’s dead gaze, refusing to turn away. “Now.”
Rossi gave a reluctant nod. “I’m satisfied that this is indeed Mitch Rapp.”
It wasn’t a surprising conclusion at this point, but still the cartel leader felt a surge of adrenaline. “And the DEA men?”
“We were able to get people into the hospital where they’re being treated. There’s no question that they were shot, but because of their body armor, their injuries are relatively minor.” He paused. “Unlike our men, who are dead.”
Esparza leaned back in his chair, gazing up at the younger man. The reason the DEA men had survived was obvious. There would have been no reason for Rapp to antagonize the Americans any more than necessary. And the reason so many of his men were dead was equally obvious.
“Did my men talk?” Esparza asked.
Rapp shook his head. “That’s why I didn’t know the shipment was yours. My compliments on your management style. I took off one of their hands with a set of bolt cutters and they were still more afraid of you than they were of me.”
Esparza smiled at that. In the end, he and Rapp were much alike. Two predators who got what they wanted. “Go on, Vicente.”
“Mr. Rapp seems to have left his official capacity at the CIA some time ago to pursue what appears to be a vendetta in Saudi Arabia, though it’s impossible to know how much Agency involvement there was. Irene Kennedy is quite clever at covering her tracks. He was recently in Yemen, most likely working as a private contractor in her employment.”
“And now?” Esparza said.
Rossi seemed reluctant to continue but understood that he had no choice. “The allegations of long-term financial impropriety combined with the shooting of the DEA agents and the murder of two Mexican nationals has very much changed his status. Not surprisingly, everyone is backing away from him as quickly as they can.”
“Including Kennedy?”
“Unclear. But her ability to support him at this point is nonexistent. People are abandoning her almost as quickly as they are Rapp. If Senator Barnett