Jessie Humphries - Killing Ruby Rose

Suddenly, he put his hand to an ear-comm unit as if he was getting an urgent message.

“Speak of the devil,” Martinez said with an evil edge. “It appears that the man of the hour, Commander Damon Silver, has returned to Grissom Island—and he is most eager to finish what he started the day he killed Sergeant Jack Rose.”

D for devil.

D for D. S.

D for Damon Silver.

D for Dad…

I felt him before I saw him.

He entered from the door behind Martinez, also wearing a bulletproof vest. I recognized his groomed salt-and-pepper-stubbled beard from the school surveillance photo. But unlike Martinez, he wasn’t wearing a helmet or neck guard, and he didn’t seem to be armed.

“Welcome, Commander Silver,” Martinez said, his body turned midway between the door and us, his weapon firmly pointed at my heart. “You’re a little behind schedule, but at least the introductions have already been made. All except for the formal father-daughter one, of course.”

Silver said nothing. He just moved slowly to the edge of the scaffolding’s cover where a dash of light spread across his face.

The way he looked at me didn’t speak of anger or insanity. He was calm, steady, and maybe even—sad? His strikingly pale eyes creased around the edges, like he was trying to communicate something without words. He wasn’t the raging lunatic I’d imagined him to be. Instead, his expression and body language spoke of submission and surrender. He even looked a little beat up.

Why did it feel like I knew him? Like his face, his manner, his eyes, were familiar to me. Not just because of that grainy surveillance picture, or because we were biologically connected—but because I’d seen him face-to-face. I couldn’t find the exact memories, but I was sure they were there.

“I’m sorry, Ruby,” he said quietly. “This isn’t how I dreamed of meeting you.” A heartbreaking grimace formed on his face. Why was he pretending to be decent? Where was his sadistic grin? If his strategy was to sedate me with his gentle approach—good cop/bad cop style with Martinez—it was working. I didn’t know what to make of him.

“Very touching,” Martinez mocked. “But we must be getting down to business. Despite the fact that Jane might want to kill herself after witnessing this little family reunion, I doubt she will. Mr. Violet will have to do it for her.” Martinez shifted his weapon in Violet’s direction. “Are you ready to make your choice, Mr. Violet?”

“Wait, no!” I raised my weapon, not knowing in which direction to point. “Don’t do this.” I looked at Martinez with his self-satisfied smirk. “Why? Because my mom chose my dad over you? Because he turned you in to Internal Affairs? Tell me why you’re doing this!” The barrel of my gun settled on him.

“Oh, Ruby, do I really need to spell it out for you?”

“Martinez, no—” Silver started.

“If it weren’t for you, Ruby,” he said, “none of this would have ever happened. Jack would’ve walked away from the marriage, Jane and I could’ve been happy together, and Damon Silver never would have been involved. There would’ve been no need for all these lies, all these cover-ups, all these deaths!”

My jaw dropped. He blamed me for all of this?

“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.