“This is not her fault, James!” my mom shouted. It was the first time I’d heard her, or anyone, use his first name. He flinched.
“I warned you about her, Jane!” he shouted back. “That she’d grow up to be just like her father.”
What was that supposed to mean? What did he know about my real father?
“I told you she was damaged goods,” Martinez continued. “That one day she’d snap!”
“But you made her do it,” my mom said, coming to my defense. “You set her up! You entrapped her!”
“Are you serious? I didn’t make her follow those five criminals.” He was incensed that she was standing up for me. “She did that all on her own. I watched her go out several times a week to stalk one of her Filthy Five.” He followed me? “I’ve seen the thick criminal profiles she spent weeks and months accumulating.” He broke into my house and went through my things? “Do you think that’s normal behavior for a seventeen-year-old girl, Jane? No, she happily killed all those men. Don’t be deceived by her innocent act. Jack knew exactly what she was, and he did his best with her—to rein her in and teach her about his holier-than-thou ‘shoreline’ crap.” That’s what the training was about? “But it didn’t work with me when Jack and I were partners, and it didn’t work with Ruby. As soon as Jack was gone, she became who she was always going to be—a sociopath. I told you that no amount of money or therapy would change that. And you still chose this over me!” Martinez was losing his mind, and control of his voice.
“Do me one last favor, Jane. Take a good look in Ruby’s eyes when she pulls the trigger on you…or Violet. You’ll see what she really is—the greatest mistake of your life!” He stopped waving his gun around to point it directly at my heart.
“Martinez, remember our agreement,” Silver warned—except he held no weapon to back himself up.
“Of course, our agreement. How could I forget?” Martinez dialed it back a notch, suddenly amused by something. “Tell me, Ruby, did you know the blood of an assassin runs through your veins? Did you know your little hobby of taking out bad guys is a shared pastime of dear-old biological dad here?”
Silver pursed his lips as if he thought about defending himself but decided not to.
“Of course you didn’t,” Martinez continued. “But now that you do, I bet it comes as very little surprise. Sure, Silver’s kills have always been sanctioned by clandestine government agencies, but he certainly knows how to get the job done. Which was shocking and troublesome information to the young Jack and Jane, who so quickly fell in love with you—or fell in love with the idea of you saving their marriage. But this information is probably a little less shocking to you at this point. Especially since Silver was your accomplice, in terms of cleanup and concealment detail.”
I thought back to what cleanup Martinez could be referring to.
Target 2—Taking out the two human traffickers at the warehouse to save my friends and me.
Target 3—Cleaning up the boat and removing Father Michael’s body from the water so I couldn’t go to the police.
Target 4—The fire. A memory came to me, and I almost gasped when I realized that Silver had carried me out. My eyes strained to see his eyes once more. For a moment, I swore I could still see the flames in them.
“Tell us, Silver, have you kept track of how many dozens of lives you’ve taken in your career in special ops? I mean sure, Jack and I both had our share of forced shootings, but you—”
“This has gone far enough.” Silver cut off Martinez.
“OK, I get it. You won’t accept the trophy for the most accomplished killer of us all. But perhaps the District Attorney will.” Martinez’s eyes roamed all over her. “No, she’s never actually pulled a trigger or set a fire. But as Ruby now knows, all it takes is a choice. And Jane Rose’s choices have led to more deaths than we can even estimate. Make no mistake, Jane Rose will lie and cheat to get what she wants, no matter how many people are destroyed in the process.”
Mom sat in her defendant’s chair in the center of the room, while Martinez stood to prosecute her with the facts. Violet was the bailiff keeping her in place. Silver was a coconspirator—though I wasn’t sure about that. They seemed to be at odds, and yet they shared some kind of agreement.
Which left me to be what?
The judge?
The jury?
The defense?
Or the victim.
“You have a choice, Ruby,” Martinez said, his voice low, watching me. “Either you kill her, or Mr. Violet does. Who deserves to die more? A man who rapes and murders innocent women? Or a woman who destroys the lives of those she purports to love and protect?”
Really? Did he honestly believe I would shoot my own mother? Even if she wasn’t my biological mother?
I would never do that.
He had to know it just as well as I did.
No, he didn’t expect me to kill her. I had to remind myself that what he was truly trying to do was get me to kill Violet. Just like one through four. He started with me saving a stranger, then my best friend and boyfriend, then myself, then Dr. T, and now my mom—each time raising the stakes to ensure that I made the kill. He wanted to prove to my mom that I was the coldhearted murderer he thought I was—the psycho he’d predicted I’d be.
I turned back to her. Her tears were flowing freely.
“You can’t do this,” she said to me. “It’s murder. It’s wrong.”
“Mr. Violet!” Martinez barked. “This is your last chance!”
Violet jumped, looked down at the knife in his hand and then up at me, as if asking for my help. This was it. I had to make my decision.
I raised my gun in the general direction of Violet, aiming somewhere to the right of him, when an echoing noise from above caught my attention.
It started out as a single clank of metal against metal. Then it rose to a chorus of tappings all around the decks of scaffolding. Through my veil of shock and rising panic, I couldn’t work out what was causing it.
Then it dawned on me—coins. I ran my fingers over the engraved metal of my dad’s Challenge Coin in my pocket. His SWAT team had finally moved in. Sergeant Mathews, his unit, and maybe Sammy were up there somewhere with their sights set on me. They were challenging me to do the right thing. And perhaps warning Martinez.
But they didn’t know what was going on! Did they think I was really going to kill my mom or Violet? They wouldn’t let me. They’d shoot me first—a shot to disable me. Lowering my weapon, I looked over to Damon Silver. He’d retreated further into the shadows, along with Martinez. SWAT would have no shot on either of them. Hell, SWAT wouldn’t even be able to confirm that they were ever here. They’d escape the same way Silver had the night he killed my…other dad.
Wait. Silver killed my dad? I didn’t understand. Jack Rose didn’t deserve to die. I was just starting to get the feeling that maybe Silver cared for me. That he was trying to protect me. Not only from Martinez’s setups, but maybe even from Martinez himself. So why would he take away someone I loved?
I turned to him in a flash of anger. “You didn’t have to kill him!” I yelled into the shadows where I could see Silver, but anyone above couldn’t.
“You don’t understand,” Silver replied quietly. “It’s complicated.”
I pointed my gun at him. “Uncomplicate it, then!”
“OK, Ruby, OK.” He paused as if waiting for Martinez to stop him. But he didn’t. “I’ve wanted to meet you for a long time. I don’t expect you to remember this, but when you were three I came for you. I knocked on the door and Jane…your mother…answered with you in her arms.” His deep voice cracked.