Chapter 13 #2
Charlotte ripped her attention from Logan and peered over at her boss.
“You had dinner at Logan’s hotel. Room service that was delivered up to his suite.”
Yes, Logan had ordered the dinner.
“It’s possible you were drugged there,” Jezebel mused. “We do not know how fast-acting the drug could have been. Or maybe no drugs were in any food or drink that you had. Perhaps you were injected with a syringe.”
Logan had turned to gape at Jezebel.
Jezebel ignored him. “Did anyone brush against you when you were at Ares’s place? Did you feel any pricks on your skin? It could have been very, very fast.”
“You’re saying she was poisoned at my hotel?” Anger didn’t simmer in Logan’s voice any longer. It boiled.
Jezebel nodded. “That’s certainly an option we must explore.
Especially if she truly had such a small amount of the champagne Ares offered at his place.
The drugs could have been in her food at your hotel.
Perhaps the drugs were slow-acting, and it just took a while for them to take her out.
We can’t say for sure yet. I’m merely running through possibilities. ”
“I don’t recall a needle. Or anyone sticking me.
” But things were a little blurry. “I just…I knew I had to get out of that study.” Remembered panic flooded through her blood.
“The plan was to catch the guy, not to wind up like the others. I wasn’t ready to be taken.
I wasn’t ready—” Charlotte broke off before she tripped up and said…
I wasn’t ready to die.
“How, exactly, did the others wind up?” Logan wanted to know. He delivered his question in a dangerously low voice. “Oh, sure, dead. They wound up dead, I get that part. But before they died? What happened to them? Inquiring minds want to know, and they want to know now.”
He wasn’t going to like this part. Charlotte swallowed. Her throat ached at the small movement. “May I have some more water? Please?”
Instantly, Logan poured more water for her. He brought the cup to her lips, but Charlotte took it from him. Her fingers brushed against his. “I’ve got it.”
“I’ve got you.”
She still pulled the cup away from him, aware of heat and nervous tension skating through her blood.
She gulped the water, drinking too quickly, before she handed him back the empty cup.
He took it from her, then his fingers gently wiped over her chin, skimming away some of the water that had slid down when she’d been too greedy and gulping.
Her breath choked out because the impact of his touch seemed to echo through her whole body.
He leaned toward her. His head lowered.
“I’m right here,” Jezebel suddenly announced.
Their heads turned toward her.
“Hello.” She waved at them. “Glad to see you two have this pretend-lovers cover down pat. Excellent job. So very believable. Bravo.”
Logan turned his attention back to Charlotte. “What happened to the other victims before they died?” he asked her. He also straightened. His hand fell away from her chin.
“They were kept for a time.”
“How long?”
“From the time of their disappearance until the bodies were found…it was a week.”
His eyes narrowed. “What did he do to them in that week?”
She nibbled on her lower lip. “I’d really rather not say.” He hurt them. Tortured them. Did things that would give you nightmares. The pictures she’d seen of the vics had certainly given her nightmares.
“And you want to be his victim?” Logan glowered at her.
“Are you shitting me?” He pointed at her, then at Jezebel.
“Pretty sure I told you both that I wasn’t operating in the dark any longer.
But did either of you mention potential drugging to me?
Because I don’t recall you mentioning it.
I also don’t recall you telling me that this creep keeps his victims and tortures them for a week!
What. The. Fuck? You seriously believe that I will let this happen to her?
I will kill anyone who tries that shit with Charlotte and—” Logan stopped.
Broke off. Blinked. Then laughed. A rough, angry bark of laughter.
“Right. Of course. I understand now.” Another nod.
What could have been admiration glinted in his eyes as he cut his stare toward her boss.
“Well played, Jezebel. You are a master. My turn to say bravo. Remind me to invite you to one of my future poker games. Bet you’d clean house. ”
She needed out of that bed. Out of the paper-thin gown. Charlotte felt far too vulnerable, and honestly, lost. “What are you talking about?”
“Jezebel’s master plan. I understand it now. Would have been better if she’d just told me what she wanted from the beginning but, hey, I get it. Have to play the cards close to the vest, am I right, Jez?”
Jezebel backed up a step.
That was a very, very rare thing for Jezebel. She normally didn’t retreat. Not from anything or anyone.
“Let me guess.” Logan tapped his chin. “The previous CIA operative who was taken by this perp? The last vic? You said she had CIA training so I’m assuming she was a field operative, like Charlotte. Makes sense, yes?”
Yes, it did.
“She was someone close to you, wasn’t she, Jez?
Not a daughter, but maybe like one.” Logan snapped his fingers together.
“Okay. Got it. My money is on either goddaughter or niece. Probably the whole reason the lady entered the CIA was because she wanted to be like you. There she was, following in your footsteps, and then this bastard came along and took her. He tortured her. He left her body for you to find. And all you want now—your final mission before you leave the CIA behind—is to stop him. Got personal, huh? Very personal. You want your vengeance.”
Charlotte was far too conscious of each hard beat of her heart.
Jezebel cast a fast glance her way.
Charlotte shook her head. A quick no. No, she had not revealed any of this information to Logan.
No, she had not told him that the last victim had, indeed, been Jezebel’s niece.
The daughter of a brother she’d worked so hard to protect, to keep out of her CIA life. Only that niece had been determined.
Jacqueline Foster had been so much like Jezebel.
“All your power, and you couldn’t save her.
” Logan’s knowing voice. “So you came up with this mission. You knew Charlotte would take any risk because she hero worships you. Also, you’re her damn boss so she has to follow commands.
But you knew she might balk at the final order, didn’t you?
That meant you needed a backup. Or maybe I should say, a failsafe. ”
Charlotte tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “Logan, you’ve lost me. What final order are you talking about? I’m going to catch the target. I’m going to stop him before he hurts anyone else. That is my job. My mission.”
Once again, Logan’s laughter filled the room.
Like before, it held no amusement. If anything, the sound made chill bumps rise on Charlotte’s arms. “She doesn’t want him caught, sweetheart.
Don’t you see that? That’s not why I’m here.
That’s not why she wanted me pulled in on the case.
She wanted me pulled in because she knows that I excel in one particular area.
” A grim smile still twisted his lips. “The masterplan. Want it? It’s easy and obvious.
The masterplan is for me to kill the sonofabitch. ”
Shock rolled through her. “What? No, it’s not.
” Enough of this. She shoved aside the covers.
Swung her legs to the side of the bed. The stupid IV burned, so she yanked it right out.
Unfortunately, that made her hand bleed and burn more, but whatever.
Charlotte shoved up and out of the bed. She might have wobbled just a bit.
Logan’s hands immediately settled over her shoulders. “What in the hell are you doing?”
“Getting out of the bed.” Obviously. “Getting out of here. I’m the one who is tracking him.”
His grip tightened. “Yes, you are, but I’m the one who is supposed to kill him.”
Now she was the one to laugh. A shocked, you-can’t-be-serious laugh.
“I get that plenty of people think the CIA goes rogue in this world, but we’re not killers.
This isn’t some action movie where we go off the rails.
My job is to apprehend the perpetrator. To lock him away.
I will get justice for his victims. I will follow the law. ”
His head lowered toward her. “Sweetheart, you missed an important point.”
She had not. She’d covered all the points.
“I am not the CIA. Jezebel fully understands that important point. She wants this bastard dead. She knows that, under the right circumstances—hell, under the wrong ones—I’ll do exactly what she wants. I will put him in the ground with no hesitation.”
Frustrated, her head jerked toward Jezebel once more. “Tell Logan that he’s wrong. This is about catching the guy. Not killing him.”
But…
Jezebel didn’t speak. She made no denial.
“Jez?” Charlotte’s chill bumps seemed to get worse. “We aren’t killers. We stop killers.”
“It’s my final mission,” Jezebel told her softly. “And I want to make sure it is final.”
Charlotte sucked in a deep breath.
“Sometimes, in order to achieve a goal…” No emotion entered Jezebel’s voice. “You have to think outside the box.”
Silence.
Then…
“Hi, there,” Logan murmured.
Her head slowly turned back toward him.
“I’m outside the box.”