“Oh, look, the girl has fallen in love with the master of women,” Jovana says. She leans over Mark again. “Let me give you a clue, girl. Jax didn’t care about anybody. A woman was an object he could dress up in Armond’s lavish creations to be more entertaining when he poked her hole.”
Tears blur my eyes, but I will them away. I don’t answer her. Obviously anything she says is tainted by whatever went down last year.
But this is my time to get information out of her. If I do anything in these last days, it will be exonerating Jax. And I no longer care at all if I die doing it. I have nothing left to lose.
Buck up, baby. Don’t think about Jax. Just do your job.
“So why did you spend so much time with him, then?” I ask her.
Mark pulls the last rope from my arm, and I rub my skin where it is marked and bruised. I revel in the pain. It will keep me sharp. I want this evil woman to pay, and for Jax to be remembered for the Vigilante he was before her.
“All part of the plan, Mia dear. All part of the plan.” Jovana lets out a sardonic laugh.
Mark holds out a hand to me. I refuse to take it.
“I want to see the video,” I say.
“Ho ho! She wants to see Jax die,” Jovana says. “Maybe she’s not the ninny that I thought!”
“She doesn’t believe it,” Mark says softly. “She needs to see it with her own eyes.”
His kindness makes me tear up again. He extends his hand once more, and this time I take it.
“I’m down with watching that,” Jovana says. “Let’s get to the car so we can get to D.C.”
I stand up stiffly, my muscles protesting the movement. Everything hurts. Not just the rope burns. But my joints. My head. My heart.
I refuse to believe that Jax is dead. I just can’t.
We’re in a field in the middle of nowhere. A dirt road leads out to the spot. There might have been a barn or something here before. There’s a clearing where we stand. The tall brown grasses undulate in the breeze. It’s chilly and I shiver despite my leather jacket.
Mark leads us to a sleek gray sports car. “You ladies can take the front,” he says.
“Oh, no,” Jovana says. “This little troublemaker is sitting in the back with a laser harness.”
Mark looks at me with compassion. “It’s more comfortable than the ropes,” he says.
I have no idea what they are talking about. Mark opens the back door of the car. I slide onto the seat.
Jovana opens the front. “You drive,” she says to Mark. “I have to figure out what Sutherland is up to.” She tosses my backpack onto the floor. I wonder if everything is still in it. The ring. My nightie. The weapons and phone. I slowly try to reach for it, trying to avoid getting their attention.
“The alert went out,” Mark says as he takes the wheel. “Everything has gone according to plan.”
“So Bronson took the fall?” Jovana asks.
“According to the transmission. You want to see it?” Mark punches at the dash.
“Get the girl secure,” Jovana says. “And make sure we are cloaked. I don’t want anyone following our path.”
My fingers brush the strap of the backpack.
“You don’t even want the network to see?” Mark asks.
“Not unless we’re forced to.” Jovana glances back at me. “I want to keep this girl with me and they might intercept.”
My hand closes on the bag. I wonder why they would do that. I guess because I’m a special. Jovana must know that.
The bag is closed up, but I pull it next to me on the seat.
