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These were the reasons he would give to the President and Kennedy, but there was a third. It was one that he would never speak of. It was one that only a warrior would understand. Colonel Gray knew it without question. The challenge, the thrill of such a mission was something that very few would ever experience. This operation was the sort that could shape history. It would be written about years from now as either one of the greatest Special Forces successes of all time or one of the most spectacular blunders. It would be looked at as the Mount Everest of covert operations. For Rapp to walk away from such a crusade was unthinkable.
He looked at President Hayes and said, "Sir, you can count on me."
President Hayes let out a sigh of relief. "You'll never know how comforting it is for me to have you involved."
"I'll do my best."
"I'm sure you will. Any ideas yet, on how you're going to get in?"
"I've got a couple, but I want to run them by Colonel Gray first."
"Understandable."
"Sir," interjected Kennedy. "There's something else we need to discuss with you."
Hayes could tell by the tone of her voice that it was serious. He leaned back in his chair and formed a steeple with his hands. "Let's hear it."
"We know who killed Peter Cameron."
The President bounced forward immediately. "Who?"
"Her name is Donatella Rahn. She used to work for Mossad, and now she's what we refer to as an independent contractor."
The President cocked his head to the side. "You said she used to work for Mossad."
"That's correct, sir."
"What in the hell is she doing killing former employees of the CIA and American citizens?"
Rapp spoke up. "She didn't know who he was, sir. She was simply hired, wired a sum of money and given the basic information on her target. Nowhere in the information did it say that Cameron used to work for the CIA."
"Who hired her to kill Cameron?"
Rapp didn't feel it was his place to answer the question so he turned to his boss. Kennedy scratched the tip of her nose with the back of her hand and said, "We don't know who took the contract out on Cameron, sir, but we know who Donatella's handler is." Kennedy looked down briefly, taking a moment to steel herself against the ensuing explosion.
"Who?"
"Donatella's handler is Ben Freidman."
"What?" the question spat from the President's mouth as if it had a bad taste to it.
"Somebody, we do not know who, contacted Ben Freidman and took out a hit on Peter Cameron. It was a rush job and it paid well. Freidman in turn gave the job to Donatella."
"And she succeeded! "The President stood and started pacing. "How in the hell did we get this information?"
"Mitch has worked with Donatella before."
The President stopped and spun around. Looking at Rapp he said, "You've worked with this woman. What in the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"When she was with Mossad, sir, we conducted several operations against Hezbollah." Rapp w
as not the type to be unnerved by a little emotion, even if it came from the President. "I have a lot of trust and respect for her, sir."
Rapp's words caused the President to back off a bit. Turning to Kennedy he asked, "What in the hell is Ben Freidman doing involved in something like this?"
"I'm not sure, sir."
Before she finished her answer Hayes had resumed his pacing. "Why is it that I get this horrible feeling that Israel has been meddling in the affairs of this country?"