Transfer of Power

THE DOOR OPENED slowly. Rapp peered through the crack and saw the light from the hallway spilling into the room. From his angle he could see a man with his back to him taking off his clothes and standing at the foot of the large bed.

The man began to climb onto the bed. Now was the time to move. With his knife in his left hand and the gun in his right, Rapp proceeded slowly.

He took his first step and then quickly looked to the left and the right to make sure no one else was in the room. He stepped silently, without vibration or noise, carefully placing his heel and then the rest of his foot on the floor.

Halfway across the room, Rapp slid his gun back into his holster. The terrorist was holding the woman’s hands above her head and was trying to enter her, the woman’s sobs muffled by the mans body.

Rapp moved quickly to the bed, his right hand open and stretched outward, the left rightly clutching his knife. With fluid precision, he grabbed the hair of the terrorist with his right hand and yanked the man’s head back. With his left hand, Rapp stuck the tip of the knife directly into the man’s neck and thrust it upward. The sharp knife sliced through muscle and penetrated deep into the base of the brain With a forceful twist of the knife, Rapp shredded the fragile brain stem. Abu Hasan never knew what happened in his final second on earth.

Still holding the man’s hair, Rapp pulled him off the woman and dropped his lifeless body on the floor with as little noise as possible. He placed the bloody knife back in its scabbard, and Rapp held out his hands to the naked woman on the bed.

“Don’t scream. We need to move quickly.” The woman looked up with shocked eyes and tried to cover her exposed breasts with her arms. Rapp reached down, untucked the sheet that she was lying on top of, and gently folded it over her body.

He knew he had to move fast. There was no telling when someone else might come along. Looking the woman in the eye, he said, “Listen, I have to move you. I’m going to pick you up and bring you someplace where you’ll be safe.”

Rapp placed one knee on the bed, and Rielly flinched like a scared and beaten dog. Moving slowly, he said, “More of them could come at any minute. I need to get you out of here.”

After giving her several seconds to think about the alternative, Rapp placed one hand under her legs and the other under her upper back.

Cradling her to his chest he stood and whispered, “Everything’s gonna be all right.” Rapp walked quickly across the room and into the closet. In a voice just above a whisper he said, “Milt, turn the light on.” Almost instantly the light inside the stash room came on, and the hidden door opened wider.

Rapp moved the woman inside and placed her on the floor. Then grabbing his backpack, he opened it and extracted a small kit. Handing it to Adams, he said, “Give her some water and a couple of these.” Rapp pulled out a packet of Tylenol 3.

“I have to get back out there and try to figure out what to do with that body.”