Chapter 24

Pearce unlocked the door to the room where Jade was being kept, and they found her still cuffed to the table.

"See?" Em said. "I told you. Now can we go back to Jep?"

Pearce sighed. "We can't."

"Why? You promised?"

"I know." He walked over to Jade and uncuffed her.

Jade watched him but didn't speak, just rubbed her wrists once they were free.

"What are you doing?" Em said.

"I hate to keep you in the dark here," Pearce said, "but it's for your own good."

"What are you talking about?"

"There's a lot going on that you don't know about. I need you to trust me."

"Trust you with what?"

"I need you to take your sister and find somewhere to hide. Can you do that for me?"

"No." Em's head was spinning now. She'd lost track of the twists and turns and had no idea which way was up anymore. "Tell me what's going on."

"We don't have time for this. Em, you've known me a while now. You know I would never do anything to put you in jeopardy. If you don't go now, your sister could die."

She looked at Jade, who quickly stood. "Are we getting out of here?"

Em's heart warred with her head. God, you said to ask you if we ever need wisdom. I need it now.

"Go, Em." Pearce said. "I'll cover for you."

"But where should I go?"

"It doesn't matter." He herded them toward the door. "You just need to go. Now."

"How will I know when it's safe? We can't hide forever."

She saw a flash of frustration cross his face. "Call me in forty-eight hours, okay? I'll let you know where we're up to."

She turned toward the door but was hit with a pang of indecision, and as much as she tried, she couldn't put a foot forward. "I can't."

"What?" Pearce said.

Jade took her hand. "Em, we have to get out of here before it's too late. Come on."

She let Jade tug her closer to the door, then resisted. "No. I can't. Not yet. Pearce, you need to tell me what's going on."

"You don't want to know," Pearce said. "Okay? Don't ask me to tell you."

"I'm in this deeper than anyone. I need to know."

His jaw worked for a second before he said. "Jep's the one."

"The one what?"

"The one who's behind all of this. He's been working for the enemy."

"No, it's Gardener. She told me."

A flash of anger appeared on Pearce's face, then disappeared. "Then I guess you were right. She was in on it too."

"She hit Jep over the head. She wouldn't do that if they were working together."

"Unless she got greedy and wanted him out of the way so she could get a bigger piece of the pie."

"Jep is not involved."

"I didn't want to believe it either."

"He would never?—"

"You better be careful you don't let your emotions get in the way of the truth. I know you like him, but that's what makes him so good at what he does. Even I was starting to like him."

"It's impossible. He's only just returned to the team. He couldn't be behind everything that's happened."

"Did you ever ask yourself why Jep came back?"

"Because of you. I was there, remember? You put his name forward, and I went with you to get him."

"You don't know all the facts."

"Then tell me."

"Em," Jade tugged on her arm, but she pulled away.

"No. None of this makes sense."

"I don't want to drag you into this," Pearce said.

"Too late."

He growled but then said. "The only reason I asked to bring back Jep in the first place was because he reached out to me a few months ago. Said he wanted to come back. Begged me to bring him back. I told him I'd look into it. That scene at his place was all for show. He'd already made his decision. Em, think about it. He knows this agency inside and out. He knows how we act, how we think. He knows all our procedures. Why do you think he wanted you for a partner?"

Em wanted to explain, but the words that formed in her mind sounded ridiculous. "I've done okay. I've helped out."

"I don't mean to sound harsh, but you haven't. Not really. It was all Jep. Everything that's happened. Come on. You're a smart woman. He wanted someone he could manipulate and control. When you went to bring him back the second time, he knew he had everything he wanted. He had you wrapped around his finger, and I'm sorry for my part because I'm the one who sent you to him. If I'd known?—"

"You've got it all wrong. He's not like that."

"I'm sorry. I know this is hard for you to hear. That's why I didn't want to tell you."

"Then what about Jade? If what you say is true, then why are you letting her go? All this means is she's working with him."

"I'm not saying she's completely innocent, but Jep set her up."

"And Jep's cuffed to a desk in the other room, so why do I need to get out of here so quickly?" As she spoke the words, fear crept into the tiny places in her mind and spread. Something wasn't right. As hard as Pearce was trying to explain, nothing he said could stand.

"I don't know who else is involved," Pearce said. "I don't know how deep this goes. I didn't know about Gardener. If someone else is connected and they discover their plans are unraveling, they'll start killing off the loose ends. Isn't that right, Jade?"

Jade's eyes shot to Pearce, then slid across to Emery. She licked her lips. "Yeah."

"You have to go now. This is your last chance. You're running out of time."

"Where's Lawson?" Em said. "When's he getting back?"

"We don't have time to wait for him. Go. Now. Jade? Go."

Jade turned for the door, but Em said, "Wait."

"Please," Jade said, "let's just go."

"No. None of this makes sense. It still doesn't explain?—"

Pearce tsked, then pulled Jep's weapon and pointed it at her. "I was hoping it wouldn't come to this. Jade, come here."

"What are you doing?" Em said, as her sister obeyed with her eyes on the floor.

He handed her the gun.

"You're going to force me to take her?" Em said. "You're really that convinced that Jep is the bad guy here?"

"You have to admit," Pearce said to Jade, "I tried my best."

"There's still time." Jade said. But he shook his head and pointed at Em, and Jade lifted the weapon, aiming it at her sister. "Emmy. Let's go."

"No," Pearce said. "I told you. It's too late for that. I was hoping, Em, to keep you alive. You would have been a great witness. Everyone would have loved you."

All the heat went out of Em's body as the truth settled on her like a heavy dew, chilling her to her bones.

"You don't have to do this," Jade said to Pearce.

"Don't start getting all emotional now. You can't tell me you suddenly care about your estranged sister."

Jade scoffed. "I don't care. I just think keeping her alive is a better option. We've talked about this."

"It was the better option. Now, the better option is to say she was an accomplice. This wasn't the ending I had picked out, but you have to work with the clay you're given."

"Pearce?" Em said. "How could?—"

"You ask too many questions. So, this is how it's going to go. You and Gardener were scheming together—Gardener is going to kill me for this. But after knocking Jep out with the statue in Gardener's office, you stole his gun and cuffed them both before coming in here to save your sister. Little did you know, she didn't want saving from you because she's been radicalized. She stole the gun and shot you before she escaped. How do you like that story?"

"You want me to kill my sister?" Jade said.

He pointed his own gun at her. "We could amend the story to—before you could escape, I shot you dead. Would you rather do that?" He clicked his tongue. "Come on. Don't look so sad. It's all for the greater good, right? Right?"

"Right." Jade looked at Em before lifting the gun higher. "I'm so sorry, Em. This was never?—"

"Wait," Em said, frantic. She should have taken her sister and escaped when she still could have. But the other agents would return eventually. Maybe if she could stall long enough… God, please help.

"Pearce," she said. "Why are you doing this?"

"Same reason Gardener is. Money."

They were good. She had to admit. Even now that she knew, she couldn't see it.

"You're the one she called from her office after she knocked Jep out?"

"Yeah."

"Then why the act at her office? Why pretend like you weren't involved?"

"Because that's how we do it. I wanted to keep my options open, and she caught on as soon as I entered and played along."

"Who was involved first?"

"If you're trying to stall, you're wasting your time. They won't be back for a while. I've sent them all on a wild goose chase. A master stroke actually."

"I'm not stalling. I'm just trying to piece everything together."

"Trying to figure out how you could have stopped it? You're not smart enough. We've put too many years into perfecting it, and you had no reason to suspect."

"It was Gardener, right? She was involved first?"

"Good guess. She knew about a few of my indiscretions and thought I'd be the right man for the job. It's been a long game, but it's about to pay off big time."

"What about Lawson?"

"What about him?"

"Is he involved?"

"Lawson? No."

"I didn't think so."

Pearce laughed. "And that's your problem, Em."

"What?"

"You're the kind of girl who likes to see the best in everyone. Even me. And don't even get me started on Jep."

"You don't know anything about him."

"Oh no? I know he's too righteous to play along, although he's made an excellent pawn without even knowing it."

"Why bring him into it in the first place? He's half the reason we found out Gardener was involved."

"That was unlucky. I brought him in because Truman was going to shut the task force down. Right when we were so close to our goal. Gardener and I would have been transferred to different departments, and we would have lost our momentum. I only brought Jep in to keep things moving a little longer. But it turns out he'll also make the best scapegoat. There are enough who don't like him and assume the worst, so it will be easy to pin everything on him. I'll say exactly what I said to you about him running the whole thing."

"You never called the medic, did you?"

"We're back to that, are we? No. I didn't. Whether he lives or dies right now isn't my concern."

"Gardener wanted us dead."

He tsked. "Yes. That was not my idea. I was pretty cranky about that, but I'm coming around to the idea of you both being dead. Your lives are giving me a headache. It's a pity. The public love to froth over the living when they think they're a horrible human being." He shrugged. "I did my best. Even at the apartment, I only knocked him out. I could have killed him then and no one would have known. I should have."

"And it's really only about money?"

"Very good money. If that makes you feel any better. It's nothing personal."

"I thought you were a decent man."

"I am. If you ask my friends, they will tell you I'm a really good guy."

"That's because they don't know you murder innocent people."

Pearce groaned. "Here we go. I'm not interested in listening to your rant on morality. So if you've asked all your questions… Jade, if you please. For the greater good. I've got things to do."

"There has to be another way," Jade begged.

"They said you were prepared to kill if necessary."

"Not my own sister."

"Jade, if you do this, they'll know you're serious. They'll know you are fully committed. Otherwise, it's clear you have not sacrificed everything."

"Like you can talk," Em said. "You've given up nothing. All you do is take."

"We all have our place. Jade, pretend she's someone else if you have to, but do it."

Jade closed her eyes in pain as she aimed. "For the greater good," she said before swinging the gun toward Pearce and firing.

But Pearce had better reflexes and fired too. Only Jade fell.

"Jade!" Everything in Emery tugged her toward her sister, but in the clarity of the moment, she caught sight of Pearce's shoulder dropping where Jade's bullet had hit him. With her momentum already starting forward, she shifted it and jumped toward him. After pushing his arm into the air, she struggled to reach for the gun, and another round went into the ceiling.

He swore and twisted his arm around, dislodging her grasp before he threw her against the wall, driving the breath from her lungs. She dropped to the floor and looked up at him.

"I liked you, Em." He had the gun pointed at her, holding it with two hands. "I really did. You were one of the pure souls in this place. That's why I preferred you to be a witness in all of this instead of a casualty. So I want you to know, I take no pleasure in this."

Em closed her eyes and folded into herself. Jesus.