Page 171 of The Vigilante's Lover

Mark laughs. “You better talk nicer to me,” he says.

“Cloak it,” Jovana growls.

“Okay, okay,” Mark says. “Initiate all cloaking levels.”

The car responds. Still, my heart is in my throat. Colette knows where I am!

“So who is this Colette person anyway?” Mark asks.

I want to jump in and say that she is Jax’s friend, but I keep silent. If Colette says Jax is dead, doesn’t that mean it’s true?

But then, why would she want me?

Except to take me back to Jax.

“Just some Vigilante who took an interest in our prisoner a ways back,” Jovana says.

“What’s so interesting about this girl you’ve nabbed?”

Jovana shrugs, her hand gripping Mark’s arm again. “I was just instructed to bring her with me to Washington and to keep it quiet.”

Really? This is the first I’ve heard of this, although I’ve been drugged for most of the day with Jovana. Maybe Sutherland talked to her, and I don’t know it.

Mark commands the car to go super speed to arrive in D.C. in time for the Vigilante committee hearing.

Mark and Jovana start talking normally again, the argument between them seeming to dissipate. She really must be doing something to manipulate him. Maybe she did it to Klaus too.

And Jax too, back in their day. I doubt it’s her sparkling personality that reels them in.

“Show me the footage of the execution,” Jovana purrs. Her hand continues to stroke his arm.

Mark pulls up a video. I’m torn between watching it and staring outthe window, unable to cope with the visual of Jax’s death.

But I’m a Vigilante now, and I don’t believe Colette would have randomly discovered me in Mark’s car. She was watching for me. Maybe Sam has been scanning the network for any trace of my identity.

And they wouldn’t do that unless Jax asked them to.

The screen shows the inside of a white room. Carter, the guy I met at the Missouri silo, stands next to Jax.

“It’s time to go off grid for good,” Carter says and clicks an invisible button on the table. A panel slides open, and he lifts a silver case from a hidden compartment.

“You going to fight or can I do this with just us?” he asks.

“I don’t need an audience,” Jax says.

My heart hurts. He’s just standing there, preparing for the end.

Carter pulls out a syringe, and Jovana cheers when he holds it up to the camera to show it is a yellow snuff dart.

“I’d ask for last words, but I don’t really give a shit,” Carter says.

“Do what you’ve got to do,” Jax answers.

I watch Jax’s eyes. I’m overcome with emotion. I love this man. He’s perfectly calm in the face of his own death. I don’t think I could ever be nearly so composed and strong.

Carter pricks Jax’s arm.

I’m glued to Jax’s handsome, perfect face. It’s bruised. They must have beaten him after they took him from the hotel. Jax told me they’d take his body to a crematorium. There would be no trace of him left. I’d never see his face again.