“Great to see you again,” Rapp said.
“You,” Moradi stammered. “You!”
The MOIS number two turned to grab the door, but his fingers never connected with the handle. With a speed that would have been difficult to believe had Nash not spent most of his professional career watching Rapp at work, his friend snagged the Iranian. In a measured display of aggression, Rapp spun the slight man and planted him into the open chair at the head of the table. Rapp completed the sequence by throwing the door’s dead bolt and then positioning himself between Moradi and escape.
Game, set, and match.
“I take it you two know each other?” Nash said.
“Ashani said I could trust you,” Moradi said, jabbing an index finger at Nash.
The movement caused the MOIS officer’s sleeve to flutter, revealing what looked like a splint affixed to his forearm.
“Keep your pants on,” Rapp said, stepping closer to Moradi. “We’re here to talk. Unless your start with the shitty attitude again. Then I’m gonna finish what I started on your wrist. Why isn’t your boss here?”
Of course the splint was Rapp’s work.
Why would Nash ever assume differently?
“Ashani promised me we’d be alone,” Moradi said, again to Nash.
The small man completely ignored Rapp in the same way that a child might close their eyes when presented with something scary. As if pretending that Rapp didn’t exist would somehow mitigate the danger he represented. Or maybe the cleric was under the misguided assumption that the CIA organization chart indicating that Nash was Rapp’s boss somehow gave him authority over the assassin.
Better to put that pipe dream to rest now.
“You can trust me,” Nash said, “but the time for subterfuge is over. We have questions that require immediate answers. Help us, and we’ll help you.”
“Or what?” Moradi said. “You’ll unchain your dog?”
Nash laughed. “I’m afraid you misunderstand the situation. I don’t tell him what to do. No one tells him what to do.”
For a split second, Moradi’s indignant expression transformed into one of horror.
Then his head bounced off the table.
“Listen carefully,” Rapp said, yanking the cleric’s head backward by his hair. “I’m done fucking around. Tell me exactly what I need to know, or I will gut you like a fish.”
“They will kill me,” Moradi sputtered.
Rapp thumbed open his ZT blade. “Your countrymen are running around with two shoulder-fired missiles and a team of HIG fanatics. Fanatics they trained. You are going to tell me why Ashani isn’t at this meeting and where to find him or I am going to remove your eyeball. If those Quds Force shitheads employ their missiles against an American target, my president will hold your nation responsible. Our first strike will sink your navy and decapitate your government. It only gets worse from there. You can work with me and stop this madness or be the one-eyed guy who has to explain to the Guardian Council why they should expect random visits from Hellfire missiles. Choose.”
The matte-black blade descended toward Moradi’s left eyeball.
Nash swallowed.
Usually, he had a pretty good handle on what Rapp was thinking.
Not tonight.
Nash considered intervening. Taking the gloves off while interrogating terrorists was one thing, but killing the number two man at the MOIS was something else.
“You fucks are the world’s largest state sponsors of terrorism,” Rapp said, as if reading Nash’s mind. “It’s long past time we started treating you the same way we treat the mindless jihadis you pay to die on your behalf.”
The ZT’s tip dimpled Moradi’s skin.
Nash clenched his fists.
He couldn’t allow this to happen.
“I don’t know anything else,” Moradi said, screaming his answer. “Ruyintan never talked about a secondary target.”
“Ashani,” Rapp said, increasing pressure on the blade. “Where is he?”
A single drop of crimson welled up from the cleric’s cheek.
“They took him,” Moradi said.
“Who?” Rapp said.
“Ruyintan. That’s what I came to tell you. Ruyintan and his thugs arrested Ashani.”
“When?” Rapp said.
“About an hour ago,” Moradi said. “They were going to question him in the embassy and then take him back to Tehran.”
“How?”
“A chartered jet from Islamabad International Airport.”
