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The agents advanced on Jason, guns drawn. Jason cursed and held Lisa in front of him, a knife placed against her throat. Turk rushed forward, trying to flank Jason, but Jason reached a corner of the wall next to an animal enclosure and kept Lisa in between himself and the K9, forcing Turk to stay away.

Faith caught movement out of the corner of her eye and flinched when she realized what enclosure Jason was next to. The mountain lions slammed into the fence, nearly knocking Jason over. They clawed at the two humans next to their cage, snarling when the thick steel mesh prevented them from reaching their prey.

Jason recovered and returned to the corner, just far enough away that the lions couldn’t hit him. When they realized they couldn’t get to Jason or Lisa, the lions calmed down and sat, staring at the two humans. One of them looked Faith’s and Michael’s way but evidently decided they were too far away to worry about and returned its attention to the tantalizing meal close by.

Faith and Michael spread out to block Jason’s path of escape. “Jason,” Faith called. “Put Lisa down and come toward me with your hands in the air. I’ll make sure Turk doesn’t hurt you.”

“Can we talk first, please?” Jason asked. “I think if you talk to me, you’ll understand.”

Faith heard a soft wail over the cacophony of animal noises behind her. Backup was arriving. “We can talk, Jason, but before we do, you should know that the police are here. There’s nowhere for you to run, and we’re going to have more guns here in minutes.”

“There’s a King Cobra loose in the house,” Jason warned. “Its venom can kill people in minutes. You should warn your officers.”

“We did,” Michael assured him. “They won’t come into the house until animal control gets here, but they’re armed too. You’ll have us, armed animal control officers and armed police officers to get through if you want to escape. Which means you won’t escape.”

“I’m not trying to escape. I just want to talk.”

“We can talk after you release Lisa Hartley.”

“I can’t do that,” Jason replied. “Please. Let me just explain myself.”

Faith and Michael shared a look. Faith was more concerned with Lisa being released safely than with hearing a serial killer explain himself, but right now, Merrill had them at a disadvantage. Turk couldn’t reach them, and neither of them had a shot. When the other officers made it inside, that would change. They could set up different shots and press the issue, but right now, keeping Jason talking might be the best chance they had.

“Okay. Go ahead.”

“My name is Jason Merrick,” Jason began. “If you look up that last name, you’ll find a criminal record. I used to operate a dogfighting ring in Des Moines.”

Faith saw Michael’s grip on his handgun tighten. He had infiltrated a dogfighting ring in Atlanta on one of their cases and seen dogs torn apart in the cage.

Jason noticed his reaction. “Yes, it was horrible. Despicable. I was a piece of shit, but I didn’t realize it until one of my trainers brought a Scottish Terrier puppy in to warm up the dogs. I stubbed my toe inspecting it, and… and…” His voice trembled, and Faith saw tears shining in his eyes. “And the puppy nuzzled me to make me feel better. I was going to feed it to a bunch of Dobermans, and it was trying to comfort me.”

Turk had stopped barking. He watched Jason warily, but he must have sensed that there wasn’t any immediate danger.

He sniffed. “I took the puppy and left the ring. I had that puppy for nine years until it got sick with cancer a year ago.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Faith said. “I understand how much you must have loved your dog.”

“I don’t deserve that love, though. I never did. I have so much blood on my hands.”

“So you kill people instead?” Michael challenged. “Where’s the logic in that?”

Faith snapped a hard gaze over to him. He pressed his lips together but fell silent.

“I kill people who hurt animals,” Jason said. “It’s my penance. There’s more than just me. I’ve learned that. There are a lot of people who hurt innocent creatures. I’m atoning for two crimes, my own and the fact that I let the other people working with me get away. I never reported them.” He sniffed. “I was afraid they’d hurt Charlie.”

“Charlie was your dog?” Faith asked.

“Yes. But I don’t know how many other dogs died. I just hate thinking about how many animals got hurt because of me. They didn’t deserve it. I deserve it.” He shook Lisa. “ They deserve it.”

He took a deep breath, and when he spoke again, the tears were gone. “I killed them the way they deserved to be killed. All of them. I tore Marcus Reeves’ throat out the way the lions and tigers he abused should have. I poisoned Alison Chen with King Cobra venom out of respect to the reptiles she trapped. I tore Elena Vasquez apart like the poor wolverine forced to get his checkups from her drunken hands. I ripped into Sarah Clement the way her birds should have ripped into her. Now I’m going to feed Lisa Hartley to these mountain lions. It’s a better meal than she ever gave her own cats.”

“You don’t have to do that,” Faith insisted. “There’s a better way to make up for what you’ve done.”

“How? Go to prison where no one will care?”

“You can write a book. You can tell your story. People will sympathize with you. Animal rights is a huge cause. People will understand why you did what you did. Even if they don’t agree with your actions, you'll raise attention to this issue. People will take action to stop dogfighting rings poorly run zoos, and people who abuse their pets. You can make a difference. What you're doing now won't make a difference."

“What I’m doing now makes all the difference.”

The back door opened, and police officers poured into the enclosure. Faith turned around and saw they were all animal control. “Get the animals back into their enclosures for now,” she called. “We have a situation here, and we need uniforms ASAP.”

“Will do,” the lead animal control officer called. “But that will still take about fifteen minutes.”

“Faster would be better,” Faith said.

“Take your time,” Jason countered. “It won’t change anything.”

“Jason, we’re trying to be understanding,” Michael said, “but you will not hurt Lisa Hartley.”

“You’d defend her? After what she did?”

“What did she do?” Faith interjected. “Tell us.”

“She lied. She claims to care about animals, but it’s all a lie. She feeds her animals crap. They’re sick all the time. She’s not rehabilitating them. They’re sick because of her. She just wants her name in the news. She thinks she can get famous by exploiting animals. It’s bullshit. I’m going to punish her for it. It’ll be my last atonement.”

"You won't survive this," Michael said. "You hurt Lisa, and you die. If you want to live, if you want a chance to tell your story to the world, then let her go and surrender. You have my word we won't hurt you. You'll get a chance to share your side. But we can't let you hurt her."

Jason nodded. "You're right. I was too late. I let the animals loose, thinking that I was doing something kind to them, but I just wasted my time. I can see you putting them back in cages. I could have finished my atonement if I'd remained focused. I made a mistake."

“It’s a good thing,” Faith told him. “You gave us a chance to help you. This isn’t atonement, Jason. It’s just murder. I know it feels like you’re taking revenge for the animals by killing these people, but you aren’t. You’re just doing more harm.”

Jason sighed. His shoulders slumped, and he nodded again. “You’re right about that too.” He chuckled. “I guess I wanted to believe there’s another way, but you’re right. There’s only one thing I can do to make this right.” He turned to Turk and smiled. “I’m so sorry. For everything I did. I’m sorry. I hope that what happens now will make up for it in some small way.”

Before Faith could react, he drew the knife across Lisa Hartley’s throat. She watched in horror as he shoved her to the ground, blood spurting from her neck.

Jason leaped onto the mountain lion fence and scrambled to the top. Faith’s eyes widened when she realized what he was about to do. The lions grew instantly alert, anticipating the meal they were about to receive.

Gunfire split the night. Jason jerked several times as he was hit. Faith glanced behind her to see that the uniforms had made their way to the habitat. She heard a desperate cry and turned around to see Jason dragging his bleeding body to the top of the fence. Another volley of gunfire hit him at the top. He wavered at the top for a moment, then with a final gasp, grabbed the fence and toppled himself into the cage.

The mountain lions fell on him before he hit the ground. Faith turned away, but she could still hear the sound of the animals tearing his flesh from his bones.

Jason Merrick had atoned for his sins.