They were silent as they walked together toward the hangar. Waves of tension were coming from Ash. So much so that she wondered if he’d be able to control his temper until they got into the hangar. He did, but barely. They entered the small office, and the instant the door closed behind him, he exploded.
“What the hell, Kate?”
“That’s what I like about you, Ash. No preliminaries.”
“Cut the bullshit and tell me why the hell you kept all of this from me.”
“First things first. How is Jules?”
“I figured you would have already talked to her.”
“She texted me…asked me to wait. She assured me she was fine, just needed some time.”
“There you have it. She’s fine. She’s holed up in a hotel room until we can get this figured out.”
“I mean emotionally, Ash. You said she had some kind of mental breakdown.”
“I sent a doctor to see her. Other than exhaustion, she’s physically sound.”
“And emotionally?”
“That remains to be seen.”
“All right. And I’m assuming she told you her real name? And what she was doing working for Turner?”
“Yes. But I want to hear it from you.”
“I knew Turner was looking to infiltrate OZ. I mentioned that to you at one time, and you blew me off, saying there’s no way you would bring someone into OZ that you didn’t fully vet.”
“And so you, what, decided to prove me wrong by sending Jules to me?”
“Of course not. You know me better than that. I did it because I knew that Turner was going to get to you no matter what. If she couldn’t do it by infiltrating OZ, she was going to take you out. By creating Jessie Diamond, we bought you some time.”
“Why Jules? Why not someone else?”
“For two reasons. First, Jules is incredibly talented at undercover. I trained her myself, and she’s exceeded every expectation.”
“You trained her?”
“Yes. After she recovered from her surgeries, I thought she could move on. She couldn’t. She was determined to never be vulnerable again, and she was determined that, no matter what, her life would mean something. I helped her focus that anger into becoming the best.
“She’s the one who decided to open a security agency. I backed away then. She needed the independence, not me hovering over her every decision.”
“So I’m assuming it wasn’t your suggestion that she hunt down serial killers.”
Kate visibly shuddered. “Absolutely not. But it didn’t surprise me. Jules has always gone her own way.”
“Okay, so Jules is good at undercover. What’s the other reason you sent her?”
“Because she wouldn’t have it any other way. I don’t know if you know it or not, Ash, but Jules Stone has a backbone of solid steel and a stubbornness to match yours.”
“Don’t give me that, Kate. You could teach stubborn to a mule. If you had told her you were going to use someone else, she would have backed off.”
“I think you underestimate our girl, but okay, yes, there is another reason. When Jules was found, she was so damaged, so hurt, but she was rallying. She could have gone on to have a normal life if it wasn’t for that bastard Clark. He continued his tortur
e by leaving those letters, and then mob mentality ensued.”
“I know the story, Kate. I was there.”