The Third Option

34

They began cruising the Georgetown neighborhood at 10:56 P.M., the standard routine. Starting four blocks out, they worked their way toward the O'Rourkes' house in a box pattern. Coleman was driving his Ford Explorer and was responsible for the left side while Rapp checked the right. They noted several vans parked within the four-block perimeter, but that was it. No individuals sitting behind the wheel of a parked sedan. Rapp felt confident enough to make the call. Besides, any idiot who tried to take on Coleman and him would be in for a very short fight.

Rapp wasn't overly concerned about his diplomatic mission to appease Congressman O'Rourke. Yes, it was a good idea to calm the man down before he started asking too many questions, but Rapp was confident that O'Rourke would have never gone that far. Rapp liked Michael O'Rourke. He was a good man and a good husband. With hindsight, Rapp had to admit it might not have been fair to get him involved in this mess, but no harm, no foul.

Rapp would have liked to put the meeting off until morning, but the truth was, it gave him an excuse to see Anna. His stomach was doing flips over the thought of holding her. He had never felt like this in his entire life. Rapp grabbed his phone and dialed the O'Rourkes' number. After just one ring, Michael answered.

«Michael, it's me. I'm sorry I'm calling so late, but I need to talk to you.»

«I'm listening.» The voice was detached and cool.

«Not on the phone.»

«When?»

«Right now. I'm only seconds away. It won't take long. I just have to explain a couple of things to you.»

«All right, but be quiet. Liz is asleep.»

A minute later, Coleman backed the Explorer into the brownstone's small driveway. Michael O'Rourke was waiting for them at the door with his yellow Lab at his side. Rapp and Coleman bounded up the steps, both men checking the street as they went. They quickly ducked inside the house. O'Rourke held his index finger to his lips and then closed and locked the door. He gestured for the men to follow, and they went down the hall to the kitchen.

Rapp went straight to the back door and pulled back the curtain. After he was satisfied that no one was in the backyard, he sat at the kitchen table. Duke immediately came up and dropped his snout on Rapp's knee. The two had met before, and Duke liked him. O'Rourke asked if they wanted anything to drink. Both men declined. O'Rourke grabbed a beer from the fridge and twisted off the top. He chose to remain standing at the kitchen counter.

«I'm sorry about the e-mail,» started Rapp. «I didn't do it in an effort to blackmail you, I did it so you would take me seriously.»

O'Rourke studied Rapp. «Who do you work for, Mitch?»

«I didn't come here to get into all of that, Michael. I came here to tell you that your secret is safe with me. There is no reason I would tell anybody about your grandfather and Scott.»

O'Rourke looked over at Coleman and shook his head. «Well, I'll tell you what, your secret is safe with me, too. So fill in the blanks for me, and we'll be even.»

«Michael, I'm not going to tell you what I do. Just trust me on this one. Your wife and the woman I'm going to marry are best friends. I like you, I like Liz, there is no reason in the world for me to do anything that would harm you or your family.»

He took another drink of beer and seemed to think long and hard about what Rapp had said. «You know, I like you, too, Mitch, but I'll be honest. If you're involved in the type of stuff that I think you might be, I'm not exactly crazy about having you around my family.»

The words hurt. Rapp didn't let it show, but they hurt. He didn't want this life anymore. He wanted out. He wanted a normal life with a wife and some kids. «I respect that, and if you don't want me around, I'll do my best to stay away. Just know that your secret will always be safe with me.»

«If you really mean that, then tell me who you work for.»

«Michael, you are a congressman. There are certain things you don't want to know.»

«Try me.» O'Rourke folded his arms across his chest. «I did a little digging into your past. There is no record of you serving in the armed forces, yet something tells me you have formal paramilitary training.»

«How is this information going to help you?»

«I want to know who I'm dealing with. Don't worry about the committee. I'd just as soon stick a hot poker up my ass than tell Rudin something like this.»

The comment brought a smile to Rapp's face. «All right, Michael, I'll tell you what I do, but it goes no further. Not even Liz. I've known about your grandfather and Scott for some time, and I've never breathed a word of it to Anna.»

«Whatever you say is between us and no one else.»

Rapp tried to think of the best way to say it, and in the process he was reminded of something he said to the previous attorney general. It was at a meeting during the White House hostage crisis. Rapp had overstepped his bounds and allowed his temper to get the best of him. But it was worth it. In the end, he got his way, and a terrorist he had hunted for the better part of a decade was dead. Rapp looked at Coleman briefly and then said, «I work for no government agency. I want to be very clear about that. I'm what you might call a counterterrorism specialist.»

«Okay… and what, may I ask, does a counterterrorism specialist do?»

Rapp was not well versed in trying to spin what he did, so he just blurted out the hard, cold truth. «I kill terrorists.»

«Say again?»

«I hunt them down, and I kill them.»

The congressman set his beer down. He was expecting something along this line, but he didn't expect to hear it in such a blunt way. After he had rebounded from Rapp's confession, something fell into place for O'Rourke. «Is that! how you met Anna? During the hostage crisis?»

«Yep.»

«Were you involved in the takedown?»

«Yep.»

Coleman laughed. «Shit, he was the takedown.»

«What do you mean?» asked O'Rourke.

«He means we'll have to tell you that story a different time.» Rapp looked at Coleman and shook his head. Then, standing, he approached O'Rourke and stuck out his hand. «Michael, I'm sorry about all of this. Maybe someday after you leave office, I can tell you more, but until then, I'm sorry.»

O'Rourke took his hand and looked into Rapp's eyes, not sure what to make of the whole thing. «I'd like that.»

«Just remember we're on the same team.»

«Yeah.»

Coleman looked at his watch and said, «Hurry up and kiss your girlfriend. We have to get back to the ranch and check on the boys.»

Rapp grinned with a mix of embarrassment and anticipation. «Where's Anna, upstairs?»

«No.» O'Rourke shook his head. «She called just after eight and told Liz she was going to meet you. I thought that was why you were here. I thought she made you come over.»