Protect and defend by Vince Flynn Read Free Book Online Page B

doesn’t give a rat’s ass about anything other than seeing your guy win. You ran that campaign, and you wanted to see Jillian Rautbort dead just as bad as Ross did.”
    “That woman was not without fault.”
    “Why, because she cheated on her husband?”
    “I’m just saying, if she would have kept her legs crossed, none of it would have happened.”
    Rapp grabbed Garret’s hair with his left hand and pulled his head back. “Why don’t you join the Taliban? You’re going to sit here and tell me because a woman cheated on her husband, she deserved to die?”
    “No,” Garret struggled, “I’m just saying, if she would have kept her dress on, none of this would have been set into motion.”
    “And the fourteen other people who died?”
    “That was unfortunate.”
    “Unfortunate,” Rapp hissed. “You stole a presidential election by blowing up a motorcade and killing fifteen people, and the only word you can come up with is
unfortunate
?”
    Garret could sense the anger in Rapp’s voice. “It was bad. It was wrong. I should have stopped him.”
    “You’re damn right you should have, you fucking sociopath.” Rapp withdrew the blade from Garret’s throat and put it back in its scabbard. With his left hand still holding on to Garret’s hair, he said, “And that’s why I’m going to kill you.”
    Before Garret could react, Rapp yanked him to the left. Garret’s reaction was to lurch his body to the right so he wouldn’t fall in the water. This was what Rapp wanted. Using Garret’s own momentum, Rapp reversed direction and yanked Garret’s head back toward the port stern corner of the boat. Garret’s temple struck the hard fiberglass with a thud, leaving him dazed and barely conscious, his arms limp at his sides.
    Rapp let go of Garret’s hair and wrapped his arms around the man’s chest in a bear hug. He took a deep breath and propelled himself and Garret over the edge of the swim platform headfirst. When they hit the dark cool water, Rapp began calmly kicking his legs, driving them away from the surface. The water seemed to have shocked Garret back to alertness. He began struggling, but it was no good. Rapp had his fists locked around Garret’s chest. As he drove them deeper, Garret tried to claw at Rapp’s gloved hands. Not having any luck, he reached for Rapp’s face, the only part of his body other than his feet that wasn’t covered.
    Rapp responded by lowering his fists a few inches to restrict Garret’s ability to move his arms. He then gave him a quick Heimlich, forcing more air from his lungs. All the while, Rapp’s legs kept them under steady propulsion, moving them farther away from what Garret needed most—oxygen. Garret began twisting his body and moving his legs violently. Rapp kept his eyes shut and drove them deeper. Based on the number of kicks, he guessed they were around twenty-five feet beneath the surface. It was more than enough. Garret’s lungs would be on fire. He would feel like his chest was going to explode.
    Rapp stopped, allowing them to level out and then exhaled a little air from his lungs. They’d been underwater for less than half a minute, but Rapp knew Garret was near the end. His movements were diminishing in both frequency and force. Rapp loosened his grip a bit to see if Garret was playing possum. His arms stayed limp at his sides. Rapp opened his eyes and looked up toward the ever-so-faint light on the surface. He released his hold on Garret and grabbed him by the hair. If the man was still alive, this was when he would make his break for the surface. He didn’t, however. He simply floated in front of Rapp, a dark silhouette against a slightly lighter backdrop. Rapp put his hands on Garret’s shoulders, pushed him farther down, and then started for the surface.
    Rapp could see the dark underbelly of the boat and headed for the narrow bow, exhaling small amounts of air as he went. Ten seconds later he quietly broke the surface and finished exhaling