Merciless (Option Zero 1)

“I’m not trained to fight.”

“Fighting is one thing. You could have sent someone in to save us, but instead, you’ve spent more than a decade trying to bury it.”

She shrugged. “Casualties of war.”

Fury surged, and he ground his teeth to keep from going after her with his hands. That would solve nothing. “This was no war, Turner.”

“Life is a war, Mr. Drake. We’re all fighting for one thing or another. You and those other men lost that day. And now you think you’ve finally beaten me. That you’re going to get what you want. You think you’re going to make me pay. Are you happy about that?”

“Happy? No. Relieved? Yes.”

“You probably don’t agree, but I was a victim, too.”

“You’re right about that…I don’t agree.”

“Look, I wasn’t even in politics then. I was a—”

“You were the CEO of a very successful tech company. Yeah, I know exactly who you were. You think that absolves you somehow? You were a human being abandoning other human beings to die.”

“I didn’t know they were just going to leave you. How could I? We were all in shock.”

“And when did you find out we were left behind?”

Her eyes slipped away from his for just an instant. “It was a couple of days. I assumed you were dead. We all did.”

“And you didn’t give enough of a damn to find out.”

“I just wanted to put it behind me. I don’t see why you can’t do the same. You lived. You should be happy.”

His jaw clenched, Ash ground out, “Yeager Bates, Jeff Mason, Cort Dunley.”

Her frown of confusion was real, and then he saw the recognition in her eyes. She knew those names.

“Yes, those are the names of the men you left to die. The other two were locals. I never knew their names. They got covered up like everything else. Swept under a rug like they never mattered. Each one of them mattered. They had hopes, dreams, aspirations.”

Ash had sworn to himself that if he ever got the chance, she would at least know their names, know them.

“Yeager was twenty-eight years old, still single, but he had a mother who loved him. Neither Cort nor Jeff had families, but they had people who cared about them. They mattered.”

Instead of remorse, he saw something like exasperation in her expression. Hell, had he really expected her to care?

“Again, it’s not like I was the one responsible. I don’t even remember you.”

Of course she didn’t. “I am the one who saved your life.”

Her eyes widened as realization dawned. “I was being trampled, and you picked me up and carried me out. I knew somebody did. It was a horrific experience for me.”

“It was no picnic for the men you and your people left behind.”

“So where do we go from here?”

“I would think that’s obvious.”

“Not really. Do you think I’m going to just sit back and let you ruin my career?”

“Your career is the least of your worries, Senator.”

“Ah, I see. You think I’m going to be indicted and put in jail. My sources told me you’re an intelligent man.”