Depraved 2 (37 page)

In her heart, she believed her father was guilty of all the things Zelda claimed. It all fit too perfectly and jibed too well with things she’d learned since her second escape from Hopkins Bend. But it was all circumstantial. She had no concrete evidence at all, other than the word of one woman who was now dead. Didn’t she owe her father the benefit of the doubt one last time? The apparent lack of a security detail also fed into this last minute resurgence of uncertainty. What if the old man didn’t have people watching his house because he had no reason to believe he was in danger from anyone, least of all his daughter?

Fuck.

The possibility of his innocence had occurred to her more than once, of course, but each time she chalked it up to sentimentality. She had learned to trust her instincts in matters of intrigue and life and death and those instincts were rarely wrong. But there was an exception to every rule, right? What if this was one of those rare exceptions? She didn’t want to hurt the man who’d raised her unless she was absolutely certain he was the monster she believed he was.

She thought about it a moment longer.

And then she knocked on the door, three hard, strident raps that communicated urgency and authority. It was a policeman’s knock. At one time, she had considered going into law enforcement after her military service was over, but that was just one of so very many options no longer available to her.

Her father opened the door, his expression uncharacteristically taciturn. He was a trim man an inch shy of six feet tall, with eyes the same cold shade of blue as hers and iron-gray hair cut very short. The lack of outward emotion told Jessica all she needed to know. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen the man without him immediately breaking into a big smile and drawing her into a rib-crushing hug.

“I suspect you want to talk.”

Jessica didn’t say anything.

Her father stepped aside. “Come on in if you want. I imagine you feel like me. The sooner we get down to it, the better.”

When Jessica didn’t move, he turned away and moved deeper into the house, leaving the door open. She realized he was giving her one last chance to go away and put off this unpleasantness indefinitely, perhaps forever. It was so damn tempting to seize the opportunity.

But Jessica couldn’t do that.

She walked into the house and shut the door behind her. The house was silent save for the ticking of a grandfather clock in a corner of the foyer. The clock was an heirloom, handed down on her mother’s side of the family for generations. It had stood in the foyer of the home she grew up in throughout her childhood. Seeing it in this unfamiliar place triggered feelings of bittersweet nostalgia.

Her father was waiting for her in a living room dimly lit by floor lamps. He sat in the middle of a long black leather couch. In front of him was a coffee table with a beveled glass top. On the coffee table was a manila envelope, an open bottle of bourbon, and two whiskey glasses.

Jessica took a seat in a recliner to the right of the couch.

They sat there in silence for a longish time. Her father’s subdued manner surprised her even more than the lack of a security buffer. He looked like a man charged with conveying very grave news to someone not prepared for it, like a cop who has to tell a mother her child has died in an accident. The impression heightened Jessica’s already intense state of apprehension.

Her father reached for the bourbon bottle and poured an inch of amber fluid into each glass. He handed one to Jessica, who accepted it without hesitation and tossed it back in a single gulp. The possibility that it might have been poisoned didn’t occur to her until after it was sliding down her gullet. But then Captain Sloan sipped from his own glass.

Jessica set the empty glass on the table. Her paranoia was out of control. She had good reason to be wary of everything associated with her father, but this wasn’t some cold war spy movie. If her father tried to kill her, he’d do it in a more direct way.

Jessica decided it was time to break the silence. “I did a lot of checking, even hacked into some law enforcement databases, and as far as I can tell there are no warrants out for me anywhere in the world. Isn’t that interesting? I think it is, because it’s the exact opposite of what you told me a few days ago.”

Her father took another small sip of whiskey. “Did you come here armed, Jessica?”

“What do you think?”

“I think that jacket is a strange summer wardrobe choice.”

Jessica said nothing.

“Of course you’re armed. You always are.”

“I’m my father’s girl.”

The corners of Captain Sloan’s mouth twitched at that. “You certainly are.”

“Why no security, daddy?”

He shrugged. “I was sure it wouldn’t be necessary. You’re my own flesh and blood, after all.”

“I’d like you to tell me what this was all about.” For the first time Jessica spoke with some heat in her voice. It worried her. She didn’t want to lose control. Not yet. “I ran from the house of a murder victim. I left DNA evidence behind. Someone should be looking for me, the local police at the very least, but no one is. What makes it even stranger is that I can’t find a news item anywhere about the murder. It’s as if it never happened.”

Her father made direct eye contact with her for the first time since greeting her at the door. “In a way, it didn’t happen. The body was disposed of and the scene thoroughly scrubbed.”

“You orchestrated the whole thing, didn’t you?”

He nodded. “This was a test, Jessica.”

Jessica clamped down on another surge of anger. There were still things she needed to know before she could fully give in to it. “What about Zelda? Was she a test, too?”

“Yes.”

Jessica’s hands curled into fists. “She might have killed me!”

Her father sighed and poured more whiskey into his glass. “Yes. And that would have been unfortunate. But you needed to be tested in the most strenuous manner possible after your mistakes. The threat had to be real.”

Jessica shook her head. “What’s the fucking point? I’m a civilian now.”

Her father smiled, but the sadness in his eyes belied the expression. “No, Jessica. You’re not. And you never will be again.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean you are still active military. Your discharge was part of the charade.”

Jessica didn’t want to believe this. It was absurd, the kind of thing one assumed never happened in real life, and yet it fit with everything else. As surreal as it seemed, the strange truth was inescapable. Her father, in conjunction with the others in charge of her unit, had conspired to put her through a cruel psychological ordeal, a mind fuck of truly epic proportions.

Her anger burned brighter, surged closer to the surface. “So what now? Am I to be sent back into the field? Because I don’t want that. I want out. For real and for good.”

“I told you, that can’t happen.”

Jessica scooted to the edge of the recliner. “This is bullshit. I’ll run. I’ll go somewhere where you’ll never fucking find me.”

Her father laughed. “No such place exists. Not for you. Let me break this down for you.” And now he was the one with an edge in his voice, one so pronounced it made Jessica afraid of him in a way she hadn’t been before. “I stuck my neck out for you. I pulled strings and got you an opportunity few ever get, the chance to serve in a unit so elite hardly anyone knows it exists. I did this because I thought you had what it takes to excel in the most ruthless business in the world. And for a while you distinguished yourself. But that didn’t last. You botched too many big operations, including that last one in Kabul. God’s sake, Jessica, you were sent to take out one fucking person and killed hundreds!”

“We all make mistakes.”

Her father glared at her. “Well, your mistake nearly cost us everything. There was a lot of blowback. The unit was almost shut down. Some of my colleagues wanted to have you eliminated, but I went to bat for you again, despite the embarrassment you caused me.”

Jessica grimaced. “And so you came up with this test to pacify your friends in the unit. If I survived, all is forgiven, kind of. If not, oh well. Right?”

“That’s the long and the short of it.”

Jessica sat there and shook her head as she let this sink in. Accepting what her father was telling her meant going back to a dark existence she’d hoped she was leaving behind forever. But her old masters weren’t going to let that happen. She was their slave and their weapon, a tool to be utilized however they wished.

“I don’t like this. Not one bit.”

When her father spoke again, the harsh edge was gone from his voice. “I know you don’t, sweetie. But for good or ill, this is your lot in life now. You’re being given yet another chance to excel at something you’re very good at. I suggest you embrace the opportunity.”

Jessica glanced at the manila envelope. “That have something to do with my second chance?”

Captain Sloan picked up the envelope. “Indeed it does. This contains a picture of your next target. But, sweetie, what I’m about to show you is more than just your next assignment. It’s the final part of your test. Accept the assignment and execute it successfully with no blowback to the unit and your reinstatement in good standing will be complete.”

“And if not?”

The lines around his eyes and mouth deepened. “You know what happens then.”

“I guess I do. All right, then.” Jessica nodded at the envelope. “Let’s see it.”

Her father opened the envelope and removed a single sheet of high quality photo paper. He set it in front of Jessica, turning it so it faced her squarely. She thought it was to her credit that she managed to suppress any outward evidence of shock, but the glossy image printed on the paper had her reeling inside. After staring at it for nearly a full minute, she looked at her father. “So. All I have to do to get back in the unit’s good graces is kill one of the most powerful men in the world?”

“I know it’s a tall order, but I’m confident that a properly motivated Jessica Sloan is more than up to the task. You will have all the resources you need at your disposal. Of course, apprehension is unacceptable. If you do this and are unable to get away, you will have to kill yourself.”

“Goes without saying.”

Her father picked up his whiskey glass. “So what’s the verdict? Are you on board?”

“Did you have mom killed?”

The question startled him and he almost dropped the glass. “What? Who told you that?”

Jessica felt her heart sink as the last of the love she’d felt for her father withered and died. It didn’t matter what he said from this point forward. The truth was in his eyes. He was better than most at hiding truth, but he’d never been in a situation quite like this one. “That operative you sent after me, Zelda, or whatever her real name was. It’s bullshit, of course.”

He stared at her a moment, no doubt gauging her tone and overall demeanor. In another moment or so, he relaxed again and forced a small smile. “Yes, of course it’s bullshit. She was taunting and pushing you to the limit, as per her orders. It’s a shame she was killed, really. She was a superlative agent.”

Jessica shrugged. “I wasn’t fond of the bitch, but she was sort of a badass. I can admire that. In retrospect.”

Her father drained the rest of the whiskey from his glass. “So, again, what shall I tell my superiors, sweetie? Are you with us?”

Jessica smiled. “You know me, daddy. I’ll do whatever it takes to keep on breathing.”

Captain Sloan beamed at his daughter. “Excellent!” He reached for the bottle of bourbon. “Let’s mark the occasion with a toast.”

Jessica opened her jacket and took out her gun.

She pointed it at her father.

He gaped at her and the bourbon bottle slipped from his suddenly shaking fingers, struck the edge of the table, and dropped to the floor. “Jessica! Sweetie. What are--”

“Stop calling me sweetie, asshole.”

Jessica Sloan shot her father in the face.

Then she stood up, replaced the gun in her jacket, and calmly walked out of the house.

EPILOGUE

One year later.

The girl sat in a pew in a church in the Lower East Side neighborhood of Manhattan. She had been coming to the church once every week since her arrival in the city several months earlier. The former brunette had dyed her hair blonde around the same time. Blonde was her natural color anyway, but for the first time in her life it felt right for her. There had been a lot of changes in her life, though, and this was one of the more minor ones.