His eyes darkened. “No, you don’t, do you? You die? Who gives a shit? No one to care.”
“No one-?”Don’t let him bait you. Just ease back. “I guess that’s right. It’s not like I have a husband and kids at home to worry about.”
“Got no one. Few friends. Everyone else pissed off after Franco. Never came back.”
My nails dug into my palms. “Thank you so much for reminding me of that, Jack.”
“Didn’t mean it like that. Was just-”
“Pointing out that no one would notice I’d died today?”
“No. Just meant-What happened to you. Lost every-thing. Family. Friends. Career. Future. Whatever you thought your life was going to be? Gone. Won’t come back.”
“Well, when you put it that way, maybe I shouldn’t have stopped Wilkes. Just let him put me out of-”
“You want this bad. Knew that. But I fucked up. Didn’t realize how bad. How far you’ll go.”
“How far-?” I could barely get the words out, my heart hammering. “I want what so bad? To kill myself? I am not-”
“Suicidal? Nah. But it happens? It’s a risk? You’ll take it. Won’t let it get in the way.”
“Get in the way of-?” I swallowed the rest, swept aside the cornstalks and headed for the car.
“ Dee…”
I didn’t answer. “Nadia…”
I picked up my pace.
I climbed into the backseat. Evelyn turned to look at me, then sighed.
“He wouldn’t talk, would he?”
“Oh, he talked.”
Another keen-eyed study. Another sigh. “And it was one of those times when he does, and you’re left wishing he’d kept his mouth shut.” She shifted to face me. “Jack isn’t very good at expressing himself.”
“I think he expressed himself very well.”
I looked out the windshield. There was no sign of Jack. I glanced at my watch.
“He’s just walking it off,” she said. “He hates confrontations. I remember this time, years ago, a middleman was bad-mouthing Jack behind his back and…” She noticed my wandering gaze. “And you’re really not in the mood for ‘insight into Jack’ stories, are you? In that case, I’d suggest we discuss something that it takes very little insight to know he’s not going to want to discuss. Our next move.”
“It’ll need to involve me. Up close and personal with Wilkes again. I’m the eyewitness who got away.”
She nodded. “And this whole thing started because he wanted to shut up his last-and only-witness. Meaning if he can get a shot at you, preferably before you go to the Feds, there will be no luring involved-he’ll jump hurdles to get to you.”
“Question is: how to make sure he finds me?”
“I have an idea for that, but Jack will absolutely hate it.”
“At this point, not a concern.”
She looked at me, and her mouth opened, as if she wanted to say something, then she gave a sharp shake of her head.
“He’s a big boy,” she murmured. “Okay then, here’s what I’m thinking…”
By the time Jack returned to the car, fifteen minutes later, we’d hammered out the skeleton of a plan. When it was time to tell him, I let Evelyn do the honors. As he listened, his face darkened. He let Evelyn get into it, then interrupted.
“Involving the Feds is stupid.” He looked at me. “That your idea?”
I smiled. “But of course. If it’s stupid, it must be my idea.”
“I didn’t say-”
“We can’t just make Wilkes disappear. You saw the scene in that Vegas diner. People need to see a body, to know this is really over. They need resolution. We need resolution or every pro is still on the Feds’ hit list.”
“And no, it wasn’t Dee ’s idea,” Evelyn said. “It was mine. If this agent in charge is as ambitious as Quinn says, he’ll make the trade. He gets the glory of the arrest, and in return, plays down Wilkes’s past, doesn’t portray him as a psycho hitman. Things go back to normal. Sure, the cops still want us gone, but they won’t be seeing us all as potential serial killers. That’s what we’ve been trying to do all along, isn’t it? Get back to business as usual?”
“Pulling Feds in-”
“One Fed. Maybe two if he needs someone to hold his hand. As for exactly how he’ll manage it without involving his team and his superiors, that’s his problem.”
“This okay with you?” Jack said, twisting to look at me, eyes unreadable. “Taking Wilkes down by yourself?”
“Sure, Jack. Why not? A chance to catch a killer and redeem my sorry life, and if I fail, well, it’s not like anyone will give a damn if I turn up in a Dumpster somewhere.”
Evelyn looked at him. “What the hell did you say to her?” When neither of us answered, she leaned back into her seat. “Oh, boy. This will be fun.”
Next we had errands to run. Jack phoned Quinn to summon him and Felix to West Virginia. Then we drove out of town to dispose of my things and pick up supplies. By the time we got to our hotel, it was evening, and my mood had lifted. We had a plan, and I was an integral part of that plan, so there was no time for sulking.
As for Jack, well, he was quiet, maybe still simmering, or maybe just gone back to his normal self. Either way, I wasn’t dwelling on it.
I walked through the door joining the two hotel suites Evelyn had checked us into.
“Better digs than he puts you up in, I’ll bet,” Evelyn said, shooting a look at Jack.
“We had a nice place in Ohio,” I said. “Real flowers, Jacuzzi tub…”
Evelyn sniffed. “And a heart-shaped vibrating bed? Classy, Jacko.”
“Do you want this room?” I asked, moving into the bedroom doorway. “Or I guess if the other has two beds, you and I should take that-”
“This one’s yours. You took on Wilkes today, you deserve something special, and this hotel is my way of saying ‘good job.’” She glanced at Jack. “You can take the sofa.”
I shook my head. “We all need a good rest tonight. There are four beds-”
Evelyn cut me off with a sigh. “Fine, share my room with me. You don’t snore, do you?”
I thought about the nightmares, but Jack said, “She’s fine.” He paused. “Or she will be. Gotta get those hands fixed.”
I picked up the drugstore bag he’d laid on the table. “I’ll do that now.”
“Can’t bandage your own hands.” He took the bag from me. “Sit down.”
“I’ll be unpacking,” Evelyn said, and left.
Jack was still cleaning my wounds when Felix rapped at the door. Jack opened it. Quinn walked in and stopped dead, staring at my hands.
“Shit, are you okay?” he said.
I nodded.
“How did you-?”
“Garrote wire.”
Felix stepped up beside me and frowned down at my wounds. “A garrote wire can be tricky to use. The instinct is to wrap it around your own hands, but if it’s sharp enough, then you see the damage you can inflict.”
“This isn’t-I wasn’t using it on someone; he was using it on me.”
“And you managed to get your hands under it? Excellent reflexes. However, it does beg the question…”
“Who the hell tried to garrote you?” Quinn said as he crouched and took my hand.
Jack waved him aside and took his place, then unrolled the bandage.
“Wilkes,” he said when I was slow to answer.
“Wilkes attacked you?” Felix said as he sat in a chair. “So he knows we’re in pursuit? That could lead to some difficulty-”
“Doesn’t know,” Jack said. “Picked Dee as a victim. She-” A hard look my way. “Lured him in.”
Before anyone could comment, Evelyn walked from the other room. As Felix and Quinn greeted her, Jack inspected the cleaned wounds.