Tess Gerritsen - Last to Die

“Icarus would go that far? He’d kill children?”

“Who else would be hunting them? He killed Nicholas and Olivia and Erskine, all dead within a week of each other. Now he’s hunting their children, exterminating the family lines right down to the last survivor. Don’t you see, it’s all about making a point. It’s a message directed to anyone who dares oppose him in the future. Cross me, and I will massacre you and everyone you love .” She paced back toward Jane, and her face seemed etched even more deeply with exhaustion. “He will try again.”

The sound of a car passing on the street made Carole turn around to the window. She watched as the vehicle passed. Long after the sound of the engine had faded, she was still standing there, searching for, expecting, the coming attack.

Jane pulled out her cell phone. “I’m going to call the Maine State Police. Ask them to dispatch a team—”

“We can’t trust them. We can’t trust anyone .”

“Those children need protection now .”

“What I’ve told you is classified. You can’t share any of these details with law enforcement.”

“Or what, you’ll have to kill us?” Jane said, and snorted.

Carole moved toward her, no trace of humor in her face. “Make no mistake. If I have to, I will.”

“Then why are you telling us all this? If it’s so top secret?”

“Because you’re already deep in this. Because your interference could screw up everything.”

“Screw up what, exactly?”

“My best, maybe my only chance, to nail Icarus. That was my plan, anyway. Place all three children in one location, and he won’t be able to resist the target.”

Jane and Frost glanced at each other in astonishment. “You planned it this way?” she said. “You arranged to put those kids at Evensong?”

“It started as a precaution, not a plan. The Company believed they were safe in their various locations, but I had doubts. I was monitoring them. And when the first attack came, on the girl—”

“ You were the Good Samaritan. The mystery blonde who magically showed up on the scene. And then vanished.”

“I stayed with Claire long enough to make sure she’d be safe. When the police arrived, I slipped out of sight. Arranged to move her straight to Evensong, where we already had one of our people in place.”

“Dr. Welliver.”

Carole nodded. “Anna retired from the Company years ago, after her husband was killed in Argentina. But we knew we could trust her. We also knew Evensong was remote enough and secure enough to keep the girl safe. Which is why we sent the next child to Evensong, too.”

“Will Yablonski.”

“It was sheer luck that he wasn’t in the house when that bomb went off. I arrived just in time to whisk him away.”

“So what went wrong with Teddy Clock? You knew what was coming. You knew he’d be targeted next.”

“That attack shouldn’t have happened. The house was secure, the system was armed. Something went terribly wrong.”

“You think?” Jane retorted.

“I had agents stationed outside the residence, around the clock. But that night, they were ordered to abandon their posts.”

“Who ordered them?”

“They claimed I called them off. Not true.”

“They lied?”

“Everyone has a price, Detective. You just have to keep bidding higher and higher until you reach it.” Carole began to pace a restless circle around the room. “Now I don’t know whom to trust, or how far up the chain this goes. All I know is, he’s behind it and he’s not finished. He wants those three children. And he wants me.” She stopped, swiveled to look at Jane. “I have to be the one to end this.”

“How? If you can’t trust your own people.”

“That’s why I’ve gone outside the Company. I’m doing this my way, with handpicked people I know I can count on.”

“And you’re telling us all this because you trust us ?” Jane glanced at Frost. “That’s a change.”

“You two, at least, haven’t been corrupted by Icarus.”

“How do you know?”

Carole laughed. “Two homicide detectives, and one of you a Boy Scout.” She looked at Frost. “Oh, I did a background on you. I wasn’t joking when I called you one.” She looked at Jane. “And you have something of a reputation.”

“Do I?” said Jane.

“If I use the word bitch , don’t take offense. It’s what they call women like us. Because we don’t compromise, we don’t go halfway. We kick that ball all the way to the end zone.” She gave a slight bow. “There is honor between bitches.”

“Geez, I’m flattered.”

“My point,” said Carole, “is that it’s time we work together. If you want to keep those children alive, then you need me, and I need you.”

“Do you have an actual plan in mind, or is this just one of those in principle alliances?”

“I wouldn’t be alive if I didn’t make plans. We’re going to make Icarus reveal himself.”

“How?”

“It involves the children.”

“Okay,” said Frost, “I’m not liking what I’m hearing.”

“You haven’t heard it.”

“You mentioned the kids. There’s no way we’ll agree to put them in any danger.”

“They’re already in danger, don’t you get it?” Carole snapped. “I’m the only reason Claire and Will are alive right now. Because I was there to save them.”

“And now you want to use them?” Frost looked at Jane. “You know that’s what she’s planning.”

“Give her a chance to talk,” said Jane, her gaze fixed on Carole. She knew nothing about this woman, not even her real name, and Jane had not decided if she could trust her. Honor among bitches only worked if you knew the other bitch. All Jane knew was what she saw: an athletic blonde in her forties, wearing expensive boots and an even more expensive wristwatch. A woman who had about her the faint air of desperation. If what Carole had told them was true, then she’d been a Company operative since her midtwenties. For the past two years, she’d been continually on the move, under different names, which would have been difficult if she’d had a family tagging along. She’s a lone wolf, thought Jane. A survivor, who’d do what was necessary to stay alive.

“I know you’re concerned about the children,” said Carole. “But if we don’t end this, they’ll never be safe. As long as they live, they represent failure to Icarus. He needs to show the world that he can’t be fucked with. That if you cross him, he will be relentless. Think about what their lives will be like if we don’t kill him. Every year, they’ll need new identities, new homes. Running, always running. I know what that’s like, and it’s no life for a kid. Certainly not for teenagers hungry for friends and stability. This is their best chance for a normal life, and they don’t even have to know about it.”

“How are you going to keep this from them?”

“They’re already where they need to be. A defensible location. A monitored access road. A school staffed by teachers who will defend them.”

“Wait. Are you telling us that Anthony Sansone knows about this?”

“He knows only that they’re in danger and they need protection. I asked Dr. Welliver to share that much with him, but not the specifics.”

“So he doesn’t know about this operation?”

Carole’s gaze slipped away. “Even Dr. Welliver didn’t know.”

“And now she’s dead. How did that happen?”

“I don’t know why she killed herself. But I already have an agent on the property and more are coming. These are the last surviving children of my colleagues, and I will keep them safe. I owe it to them.”