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“Always to the point, Ash.” A softness entered her eyes as she said, “How’s Jazz?”
“Why don’t you tell us, Kate?” Xavier snapped. “Seems like you know a helluva lot.”
“I know less than you might think, Xavier. But I would like to know how Jazz is doing.”
“She was shot three times. Did you also know that?”
“Yes, but fortunately they were non-life-threatening injuries.”
“She was kept in a fucking kennel like an animal,” Xavier snarled. “Almost starved to death. You act like it’s no big deal.”
“On the contrary, I’m infuriated that she was hurt. You may not believe this, but I’m extremely fond of Jazz.”
Holding up his hand and giving Xavier a telling look, Ash turned to Kate. “We know you are, Kate. And that’s why you’re going to tell us everything you know about the people who took her.”
“I’ve already told you that I?—”
“You told us to go to Chicago and look at people with the name Byrne. Why?”
“Did you ask Jazz what she knows about who took her?”
Xavier ground his teeth. He wasn’t sure he’d ever been more disappointed in anyone. It was obvious that Kate was holding out on them.
“Jazz was unconscious when we found her,” Ash answered. “She had to undergo surgery to have three bullets removed. She’s suffering from blood loss, dehydration, and exposure. So no, Kate, we didn’t ask her for intel. We were waiting to see if she was going to live.”
Though Ash never raised his voice, it was more than obvious that the man was teetering on the edge of losing his famous cool. And that was just fine with Xavier. He was seconds away from pulling his gun and making threats. It would likely get him shot—he was sure Kate had more than one weapon on her—but he was willing to take the risk.
A flicker of distress traveled across her face, and then she sighed. “Ash, there are things at play here that are bigger than me, bigger than you, and bigger than Jazz.”
“Don’t give me that. We’ve known each other a long time. We’ve kept secrets that would make the devil himself tremble if he knew them. There is nothing you can tell me that would be detrimental to you or anyone else.”
“What I can tell you is that I believe Jazz’s abduction is related to her past—her childhood.” Twisting round, she pulled a folder from a nearby credenza. Sliding it across the table, she gave them both a determined look. “Here is everything I know about Jazz and the people who might have abducted her. That’s all I can give you.”
Ash opened the folder, then pushed it toward Xavier so they could both read the brief, short sentences within and see that Kate was very likely telling the truth.
“How much of this does Jazz know?”
Just for an instant, Kate showed a momentary guilt as she said softly, “She knows absolutely nothing.”
The minute Ash and Xavier walked out of the room, Kate let loose a long, shaky breath. That hadn’t gone well, but she really hadn’t expected that it would.
All her energy had been focused on not thinking about what Jazz had gone through. If she had known exactly who’d taken her, she would have rescued her without a qualm. She wasn’t heartless. Jazz meant the world to her, but that didn’t mean she could distract key players from the bigger picture.
But now, not only was her relationship with the entire Option Zero team in jeopardy, she needed to make another phone call. One she had put off for too long.
Retrieving her satphone, she punched in a series of numbers. The instant the call went through, she said, “Before I tell you what’s happened, I’ll say up front that Jazz is safe.”
“What does that mean?”
As she explained what had happened, she could feel the explosive anger all the way across two continents. If he were here in front of her, she had serious doubts that she would survive his wrath. She wasn’t afraid of this man, but she did respect his skills.
“And the reason I wasn’t told?” he growled.
“There wasn’t anything you could do. The team was working the case. I had no real intel on who was responsible. It could have been one of a hundred or more. You know that.”
“That wasn’t your call to make.”
They could argue that point, but she wasn’t going to even try. They had more than enough on their plate as it was.