Page 109

Gideon issued a disgusted snort. “You’re right. That’s not a lot to go on.”
“We’ve come this far. We found the pilot after all this time. We’ll keep digging. I’ve focused on Turner because she’s the only one we’ve been able to find. Hopefully, with this new intel, slight though it is, we can identify some of the other players. There are more out there, and we’re going to find them all.”
“And in the meantime, what happens?” Eve turned her gaze to Jules. “Aren’t you supposed to carry out Turner’s orders of termination?”
“Yes.” Jules met Ash’s eyes and smiled. “But we know how I am about orders.”
“What will you tell her, then?” Serena asked.
“I’m going to tell her what she wants to hear. That I followed her orders.”
“What?” Xavier glared at them both. “How the hell is that going to help?”
“Even though it pains me to say this, looks like…at least for a little while, Asher Drake is going to have to die.”
Ash sent his friend a tiger-like smile and added, “Congratulations, Xavier, you are my successor.”
Chapter Forty-Three
Washington, DC
“Drake is dead.”
“So I’ve heard.”
Clutching the phone in her hand, Jules met Ash’s eyes. Just those three words told them so much. Only a handful of people had been told that the leader of OZ had been killed. Which one of them told Turner?
“Do you have proof of death?”
“Photo work for you?”
“Absolutely.”
“Good. I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
“What? You’re here in DC? Why? Can’t you just send it to me? Why do we need to meet?”
“Because I have a proposition for you.”
There was a long pause, and Jules held her breath. Their plan depended on her meeting in private with Turner. If that didn’t happen, the whole thing would go up in smoke.
“Very well, but not at my office. There are too many eyes and ears. There’s a private club called Millie’s Spot on K Street. Meet me there in an hour.”
“See you then.”
Jules returned her phone to her pocket and turned to Ash. The difference between the photograph on her phone and the man standing, healthy and whole, beside her was like night and day.
Rose Wilson’s talents were numerous, and makeup artist was one of them. After working on Ash for over two hours, Rose had called Jules in to see the results. Just thinking about it caused her to shudder. I
t had been much too realistic looking.
But now she had several photographs showing Asher Drake lying in a filthy, damp alleyway in Madrid. Two holes in the middle of his forehead and one in his chest had ended the life of the OZ leader.
Rose and Ash had done their jobs. Now it was up to Jules. She would weave a tale of how a cold, cunning killer had gotten the drop on Asher Drake and destroyed Turner’s archnemesis.
“Turn around. Let’s check you out again.”
At Eve’s words, Jules dutifully turned. If there was anyone who knew about undercover and subterfuge, it was Eve. Since learning of Jules’s plan to trap Turner, Eve had been her biggest supporter. And while she sincerely appreciated the help, as well as the turnaround in her attitude toward Jules, it wasn’t always comfortable. Eve Wells was a perfectionist.