Merciless (Option Zero 1)

“Lars was an amazing man. Without him and Kate, I never would have made it.”

“So once you became Jules Stone…what did you do?”

“I had some scarring on my face so I had to have a lot of plastic surgery. Plus, thanks to the media’s obsession with Clark, my face was everywhere. Once I recovered from the surgeries, I began to train. I still didn’t know what I wanted to do, but one thing I swore: I would never be helpless again.”

“How does Ash fit into the picture?”

That was both easy and hard to answer. Helping the man who’d singlehandedly taken down Clark, not once but twice, was a no-brainer. He had become her hero the moment he captured Clark. But when Clark had escaped and murdered Ash’s wife, a new emotion had been added. Jules felt a massive amount of guilt.

Kate tried many times to talk her out of it, claiming that she was allowing the people who blamed her before to influence her decisions. And while some of that might be true, she knew she was partly to blame. Megan Drake would not have died if Jules had killed Clark when she’d had the chance. Some things were undisputable. Facts were facts.

“When Kate told me about Turner, about what she did to Ash, I was infuriated but knew I could do nothing to change that. I continued to train, to find my path. I started a security agency, began to establish a reputation for being able to suss out traitors and spies. It was lucrative, but ultimately not what I wanted to do.”

“Is that when you started hunting serial killers?”

Jules winced. Apparently, there were no secrets left for her. “Yes. The first one was a fluke, but it made me realize that I could do more.”

“How did you get involved with Turner?”

Weariness began to tug at Jules. For the past twenty-four hours, she’d barely slept. Every time she closed her eyes, Ash’s face would appear. The hurt in his eyes, the disappointment in his expression had torn her heart to shreds.

Talking with Jazz helped. The load of shame and remorse didn’t seem as heavy, but exhaustion was taking a toll. Determined to get everything out in the open, Jules gave her the condensed version of how she and Kate created Jessie Diamond and why.

“And then Turner decided that Ash needed to die instead?”

“Yes. I don’t know why she’s suddenly in a hurry. The last time I talked with her, she seemed set to wait until I could give her something substantial.”

“You haven’t talked to her since she texted you to kill Ash?”

“No.”

“So you don’t know what’s happened?”

The dull thud of her heart spiked to rapid. “No. What happened? Is Ash okay?”

“Ash is fine. Much better than Turner will be soon. They found the helicopter pilot that left them in Colombia. He should be able to place Turner there. Ash and Kate are on their way to interview him now.”

Chapter Forty

Key West, Florida

Kate Walker stood on the tarmac of the private airfield and watched Ash come down the steps of his plane. He looked tired. After what he’d been through, he had earned every one of the shadows beneath his eyes. She knew he was furious with her, and there was little she could say to defend herself. She had believed, and still believed, she’d done the right thing. Getting Ash on board was another matter.

They had agreed to interview Pete Lawrence together. The former airline pilot turned helicopter pilot for hire had agreed to meet with them, but that didn’t mean he would spill his guts. Ash had asked Kate to assist with the interview. At the FBI, they’d interviewed numerous suspects together. They complemented each other and should be able to use those skills to get what they needed. She knew there was another reason he’d asked for her help, and despite his anger at her, she was grateful he’d seen past his fury.

Asher Drake was one of the most controlled men she’d ever known, but he did have triggers. Cowardice and greed were two of them. Lawrence was guilty of both. He had left those men to die. Instead of doing the right thing, the brave thing, he’d kept his mouth shut, taken a payoff of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and disappeared.

“Hello, Ash.”

Ash nodded. “Kate.”

“I’m assuming you want to talk before we go see Lawrence.”

“You assume correctly.”

“I’ve got a private room in the hangar. Let’s go.”

Ash raised a brow, but didn’t ask how that’d come about. Kate had to admit that being wealthy had its advantages. The money was nice, but she’d give up every penny for just one more day with the man who left her a brokenhearted but very wealthy widow.