Merciless (Option Zero 1)

“She was getting desperate. And we know desperate people do desperate things. We…Kate and I…believed we could not only buy some time by creating the mercenary Jessie Diamond, but we could control whatever threats came at Ash.”

She took another breath and added, “I’m just very sorry it involved lying to all of you. Causing problems for OZ, for any of you, was the last thing I wanted to do.”

She deliberately looked at each person before moving on to the next operative. She had shown them she was a good liar and could only hope that she could prove that she had the honor and integrity of truthfulness as well.

Jazz gave her a quick smile and a thumbs-up. Though she was sure the operative had kept most of the things Jules had told her to herself, she felt certain Jazz had been advocating for her.

She shifted her eyes to Serena, who gave her a nod and a smile. Sean was seated beside his wife, and though there was no smile, he did give her a nod as well. Okay, three out of three.

Taking a breath, she shifted her gaze and faced the man who had seen her at her worst. Gideon Wright wasn’t smiling, and there was no nod. What she did see brought a lump to her throat and a wash of tears to her eyes. She saw compassion.

Grateful for the peace offering, she moved her gaze again and came to an abrupt stop. Eve Wells was not going to be so easy to persuade. That wasn’t a surprise. They’d barely exchanged a word with each other. All Eve knew was what she’d observed.

“Eve, you have questions?” Ash’s voice broke through the staring contest Jules and Eve were waging.

“Questions? No. Reservations? Yes. Lying is our business, and while I’m damn good at it, I draw the line at lying to my teammates. You crossed that line, Jules.”

“Yes, I did.”

“Your reasons were just, but the outcome could have been catastrophic.”

She couldn’t argue with the statement, so she just waited for Eve’s judgment.

“Very well. We don’t know each other yet, and we’ll remedy that soon. However, I trust the people in this room more than I’ve ever trusted anyone in my life. Their judgment has always been sound. If they believe in you, then so do I.”

Jules nodded her thanks and continued to the other team members, waiting for each one’s judgment before moving on to the next. No one else objected, and Jules knew a peace she’d never experienced. This was her team…her people…her tribe.

She was where she belonged.

* * *

Ash blew out a silent sigh of relief. Even though he’d been certain of the outcome, he hadn’t been sure what questions might be thrown at Jules before the team agreed to accept her explanation. Having her go into detail about what she’d gone through was not something he would allow. She had explained herself enough, but she did need to make peace with the team. As much as he wanted to shield her from any more pain, he knew she needed to do this on her own.

He was proud of her and his team for making the right decision.

“Now that we’re all together again, let’s take a moment, belated though it is, and give each other a big oorah for the op in Slovakia. It might not have gone completely as expected, but it worked all the same.

“Carl Lang is being held at an unknown detention site while several countries vie for the right to decide his punishment. Not only that, we were able to identify two other up-and-coming organizations we need to keep an eye on. Plus, both the CIA and MI6 were appreciative of the intel on the winning bidders for the other weapons that were auctioned.”

“In other words, we done good,” Jazz said.

“Hear, hear,” Xavier added.

“What about Turner?” Sean asked. “What’s going on there?”

“Right now, we’re in a holding pattern. Even though we have more intel from the helo pilot, we’re still a long way from being able to make anything against Turner stick.”

“Does he have any idea what the meeting was about?” Serena asked. “Who was involved?”

“No. He was hired and paid through an anonymous source. Swears he never met anyone until he picked them up that day.”

“How did he know to pick them up?”

“He said he’d been told to fly to a certain location and wait for further instructions. He was about a mile from the meeting site when the attack came. He got a text telling him the coordinates. He picked up Turner and the others and flew them to an abandoned airstrip about twenty miles down the road. They got onto a waiting plane, and he was told to tell no one about what went down.”

“And that’s it?”

“Basically, yeah. He did remember a few snippets of conversation he overheard. Seems everyone was surprised at the attack, but one or two of them made accusations against each other for picking such a dangerous location for the meeting. He also said they didn’t seem to like or know each other very well. They were wary…distrustful.”