Merciless (Option Zero 1)

“It’s just me.”

“Sorry. This thing has got me twitchy.”

“What happened to you?”

Gideon touched a finger to a busted lip and a rapidly blackening eye. “Jules happened.”

“She did that?”

“And a lot more.” Gideon shook his head. “She went berserk on us, Ash. Jazz had to take Lowell to the emergency room. He’s got a nasty hole in his side where she kicked him with one of her heels.”

“Where’s Jenkins?”

“He’s in the kitchen, icing his balls.”

There was no explanation needed for that.

“Where is she?”

“In the bedroom. She’s awake but probably a little loopy. Not sure you’ll get much out of her for a while.”

“How the hell did this get so messed up?”

“There’s more to your girl than meets the eye. She’s definitely hiding all kinds of shit, but you’re going to have to dig deep to get to the truth.”

“What did she tell you?”

“Just that things aren’t what they seem. That she would never do anything to hurt you. Said she wouldn’t talk to anyone but you about it, though.”

Determined to get to the truth, Ash opened the bedroom door.

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Ash halted in the doorway and took in the scene. Jules lay on the bed, her eyes were closed, but her breathing was slightly rapid. She wasn’t asleep.

Closing the door behind him, he walked to the middle of the room and said quietly, “Talk to me, Jules.”

“Knew you’d find out the truth.” Her voice was gravelly and lifeless, sounding nothing like Jules. “Just didn’t expect it to be like this.”

“Look at me.”

When she opened her eyes, the misery in them gave him pause. Reminding himself that she was a good liar wasn’t helping. She looked totally defeated.

Pulling up a chair, he placed it beside the bed and sat. “Gideon said you would only talk to me. So…talk.”

“My name is Lucy Carson.”

What had been crooked and off-kilter before began to adjust itself. Just those few words gave him answers to so many questions. And instigated a dozen more.

“You were John Leland Clark’s first victim.”

“Actually, no. That would be my parents.”

Feeling as though he’d entered another dimension, he could only shake his head. Where the hell was this going, and why hadn’t she told him before this? Hell, they’d talked about Clark. Discussed his capture. Why hadn’t she said anything?

So many clues he’d missed came flooding to the forefront. When they’d been headed to Washington to assist Liam, he had known something was bothering her, but he had allowed himself to ignore the signs of distress. When they’d been in the shower in Schrader’s house, she had almost slipped up. He had asked her about sign language, and she’d started to say something about her mother and then stopped. Lucy Carson’s mother, Gail, had been hearing impaired. It made sense that her daughter would be fluent in sign language.

And the scars. He had seen and kissed every inch of her body. Jules had some significant scarring on her arms, legs, and torso. With seeming ease, she had explained each one away with various reasons—dangerous jobs, her story of abduction in Europe, a bicycle accident when she was a kid.