Shock, hurt, betrayal, anger, confusion and realization. Mitch couldn't exactly pinpoint what he was feeling right now. Suddenly it all made sense. His theory about Shaikh not being involved in any of this was right after all.
It wasn't Asad Shaikh who was sharing information about the Russian military weapon with Assef Sayyed. It was Aayat, which is why she became Shaikh's intern in the first place. She had easy access to all the information, which Shaikh had.
He also realized it was Aayat who told Sayyed about him and Rupert, hence the attack on him the other night.
One thing was for sure, Mitch was beyond angry now.
He walked towards her and demanded "Stand up"
She obeyed without saying anything. He body checked her for any weapons. She was clean. He ordered again "Sit down" and she obeyed.
Mitch pulled out a chair from the corner of the room and sat across her.
Aayat had the same cold expression on her face as she did at the seminar. He couldn't trace a hint of emotion on her.
"So you're a terrorist and clearly, you know how to keep your cover", he said in a raspy voice.
She still didn't say anything and kept looking at him with her hard stony eyes.
"I'll give you two choices" he continued "Either join us and tell us everything you know about Sayyed and his men, or else I'll have to..." he didn't finish and he didn't have to. She got the message.
This time she finally spoke in a cold voice "I will never betray my people. This means I only have one choice and so do you"
He took a deep breath and stood up, pointing the gun to her forehead. His fingers were on the trigger; she patiently waited for him to shoot her. She didn't even attempt to fight back. He looked at her and his mind went back to all those times when she would smile and laugh. When her eyes were filled with joy. But now she looked like she had never even twitched a smile in her life.
It was as if someone replaced his Aayat with a robot.
He put his hands down to his side, "My name is not Asher Williams and I'm not a journalist. Other than these two things, everything that I have ever told you, everything that I ever felt for you, it was all true" he continued and this time his voice cracked "I just want to know one thing from you. What I saw in your eyes, was that a lie?"
She answered in a deadpan tone, "I was just doing my job and nothing else."
Mitch felt a strong pain in his chest as he felt his heart shatter at her words.
Suddenly the door opened and two men entered. They launched at him but Mitch shot them dead. He heard shouts from outside and left the room before giving one icy look to Aayat.
*******************
Punches, gun noises, shouting, breaking bones. That was all that could be heard in the chaos as Mitch Rapp walked through the dark passage filled with men and other dead bodies.
One of the men came at Mitch with a dagger but before the man could stab him, Mitch kicked him in the chest causing the man to drop the dagger and crash against the wall.
Mitch picked him up by the collar and kept punching him in the face and eventually snapped his neck.
All Mitch could see was red. He was blinded by rage to even consider his action.
None of the men were able to get to Mitch Rapp.
Mitch ran out of bullets so he grabbed the same dagger the man used and killed every single one of those men.
Just slashing them left and right, without even thinking.
One of the terrorists knocked the dagger out of his hand; Mitch kicked the man on his thigh, which brought him down to his knees. He grabbed one of the wires and wrapped it around the man's neck from behind.
Aayat appeared in passage and Mitch angrily looked at her as he tightened the wire around the man's neck. The man kept hitting Mitch's hands in an attempt to be free from the wires but was miserably failing.
Mitch kept looking at Aayat with rage and she kept glancing back and forth between him and the man. He finally saw something on her face. It was fear.
He gave one last squeeze and threw the man on the ground. Aayat gasped. The man was dead.
Mitch had killed every single terrorist that were in the power plant. Except for Aayat.
Mitch walked up to her and stared deeply in her eyes as if he was looking right into her soul and just said one thing to her in a quiet yet threatening tone.
"If I ever see you again, I will kill you"