Jade: There's an abandoned barn on an old ranch on Willow Creek Rd west of Bandera. I'll be there at sunset tomorrow. Come alone. If I see anyone else, you won’t see me. I’ll disappear.”
Keira: I’ll be there. Stay safe.
No more messages came across.
“You’re not going alone,” Rogue said softly.
“She won’t show up if she sees anyone with me.”
“Then she won’t see me. I’ll move in from another direction before you set foot on the ranch.”
Keira shook her head. “I don’t know.”
He took her hand. “You can’t go alone, Keira. It might be Jade, all right. But it also might be a trap.”
“I don’t think she’d hurt me,” Keira said.
“They might be forcing her to set up this meeting.”
Keira knew he was right. They’d manipulated the girls of Onyx for so long that it was easily something they would do to get to the one who’d dared to escape. She stared at his hand on hers and then met his gaze. “Okay. Tomorrow. Sunset.”
Chapter 6
“Before anything happens to either one of us, we need to get your statement—something on record that can be used in court.” Rogue held up a hand. “Not that I plan on letting anything happen to you. When we get to Jade, we’ll want her testimony as well. The more we document, the more chance we have of shutting down Onyx and freeing the girls being held, trained and coerced into performing crimes for the people pulling the strings.”
“I’m all for it,” Keira said. “What do you need me to do? Write it down? Sign something?”
“I was thinking of making a video of you talking through your experiences, about how you were recruited, your training and assignments, the names of the people involved in all aspects and their brainwashing techniques—anything that can be used in court.”
Keira nodded.
“Give me a minute to set up my laptop to record the session.” Rogue pulled his laptop out of his go-bag, plugged it in to charge and booted it. “Once we have it all recorded, we need to send it to Royce. If something happens to either one of us, Royce will ensure the recording will make it before a judge.”
Once Rogue had the recording session set up, he laid the laptop on the coffee table in front of Keira. “Do you want me to be in the room while you make your statement? I can step out, if you’d prefer?”
She shook her head. “Stay in case the technology glitches.”
He sat on the other end of the sofa, not wanting to crowd her.
Keira frowned and patted the cushion beside her. “Closer. You can’t fix the settings from over there.”
Rogue’s lips twitched on the corners. He moved to sit beside her, careful not to get in view of the camera. He pointed to the keyboard. “Press that button, and the recording will begin. Start with your full name and the date.” He glanced at his watch and gave her the date and time. “Ready?”
She nodded and pressed the correct button.
For the next hour, she spoke to her reflection on the monitor, detailing everything she could remember over the past years she’d been with Onyx.
Rogue sat quietly beside her, holding her hand, his chest tight, the pain he felt for her almost overwhelming. How could people be so cold, calculating and heartless, stealing girls from playgrounds, from foster care, from homeless families down on their luck, and then turning them into killers who were sold a bill of goods about doing it for their country? Telling them they were taking out bad people who drowned puppies or sold drugs to little kids.
This video would be a damning confession that could get Keira thirty years to life in prison.
She talked about how she’d ended up in the police station, the social worker who’d recommended Onyx, Viktor’s first words to her and the many hours she’d spent honing her body and combat skills.
She mentioned Alan Strickland as one of the people who’d handed down orders, claiming the hits were to keep the country safe from domestic as well as foreign terrorists. She mentioned how she’d overheard Strickland and Viktor talking about a man named Kaufman, whom she later identified as Marcus Kaufman, leader of the Kaufman syndicate, a border czar who, on the surface, operated within the law while conducting illegal operations on the side, making billions of dollars under the noses of law enforcement officials.
When she was done, she sagged back on the couch and stared up at the ceiling, her face pale, her body limp.
“You did good, Keira,” Rogue said as he stopped the recording. “Are you sure you want me to deliver this to Royce?” he asked. “You could go to jail for murder.”
