Merciless (Option Zero 1)

His expression was solemn, but there was a twinkle in his light green gaze. “I thought I told you to stay out of it.”

“Following orders is not my strong point.” She glanced over at Meeks, who was lying on a gurney, handcuffed to the railing, and babbling about a crazy female stalker who had attacked him without provocation. “He going to be okay?”

“Healthy enough to stand trial for five murders.” He nodded toward the ice bag on her hip. “You hurt?”

“Just bruises and scrapes.” She gave a smile of thanks to the paramedic and stood. “So, are we okay?”

Sheridan held out his hand. “We’re good. We’ll be in touch.”

After shaking his hand, Jules headed slowly to her car. A hot bath and the carton of ice cream in her hotel mini fridge were calling her name.

She was almost to her car when Sheridan called out from behind her. “You ever think about working for us? We have some cool toys.”

She threw him a grin over her shoulder. “Thanks for the offer, but I told you I don’t follow orders very well.”

With one last wave, she opened her door and climbed into the driver’s seat. She was already stiffening up and would likely have to crawl out of her car to get to her hotel room. It would be worth it, though. Meeks would never be free again. He’d left too much DNA at his crime scenes to get out of this. She’d done the job she’d set out to do and felt damn good about that.

Tugging off the blond wig, Jules pulled pins from her hair, sighing in relief as a cascade of strawberry-blond strands settled around her shoulders. Moving her neck and shoulders to get the kinks out, she steered her car back toward Memphis. Bright lights outlining the bridge twinkled in the distance, and Jules had to fight the unusual temptation to stay just one more day to explore the fascinating city. She pushed aside the unusual longing. She didn’t do tours or take vacations.

Most people would call her crazy for getting involved in something so risky. It wasn’t like she didn’t have a full-time job already. Because of her reputation and the skills she’d acquired, she had more than enough work to keep her busy without seeking out more. Others might consider her arrogant. Risk was the least of her worries, and arrogance had nothing to do with it. She had survived the unimaginable. So many others hadn’t. And while she had long passed the point where guilt and grief made her wish she had died, too, she couldn’t live without doing all she could.

Keeping herself out of the limelight was getting harder. Barely a handful of people knew about her. The more she involved herself, the greater her chances of being found out. Serial-killer cases tended to get more publicity, which meant the people who caught them got noticed, too. Publicity was the last thing Jules wanted. She didn’t hunt serial killers for fame and most certainly not for money. Some might call this her destiny. Jules didn’t know about that. All she knew was she had survived for a reason. If she had the skills to save a life or bring a monster to justice, how could she not do all she could?

Her phone buzzed, and she glanced at the caller ID on the dash screen. There were only one or two people she could bear talking with tonight. When she saw the area code, her heart skipped several beats. Not a friend, but most definitely someone she wanted to talk to.

Giving herself no time to hesitate or second-guess her decision, she slid into another persona, answering with a brisk, “Yes?”

“Is this Ms. Diamond? Ms. Jessie Diamond?”

“Yes. This is Jess. Who’s this?”

“Ms. Diamond, my name is Lisa Steiner. I’m Senator Nora Turner’s personal aide. The senator wondered if you’d have time to meet with her about a possible job opportunity.”

“I’m not into politics.”

“Politics aren’t involved.”

Jules rolled her eyes at that extremely false statement. “What kind of job, then?”

She asked the question more to see what kind of reason Steiner would give. She had been speculating about how Turner would approach her.

“This is a personal matter. Not one we can discuss on the phone.”

“The payout?”

“Let’s just say you won’t be disappointed by our offer.”

“When and where?”

“The senator is on the road in Ohio, conducting town hall meetings. Can you be in Cincinnati on Thursday afternoon?”

“That should work. Where and what time?”

“I’ll text you the details.”

Ending the call, Jules took a moment to savor this victory. She had a lot of work ahead of her and would likely experience more emotions than she’d allowed herself to feel for years, but she could not turn her back on this. For a short time, she would put aside her need to hunt killers and do what she had dreamed of doing for years. It was time, way past time, to pay a debt.

Chapter Five