Page 136 of Hard Heart

“You would have preferred if I left them alive?”

Jez tore at her hair, and her hands came away bloody. It was then that she realised just how much everything hurt. At a minimum, she’d cracked a couple of ribs, and her leg was broken. Again. A wave of pain steamrolled over her, and she went lightheaded.

“Come and sit down.”

“Sit down where?”

“The heater’s on in my car.”

“Terrific. Because that’s what I fucking need right now—more heat.”

Jericho cast a glance over the bodies. “You want me to toss them on the bonfire?”

And destroy even more evidence?

“No, I want you to tell me who they are and why the fuck they’re doing this. Why you’re doing this.”

“Their names are Grafton Fisk and Renée McColl. Fisk is a monster.”

“You don’t fucking say. I’ve just been discussing his service record with an old acquaintance, but that still doesn’t answer the ‘why.’”

“A rattlesnake lashes out when it’s cornered.”

“He cornered himself. And you?”

He sighed. “That’s a long story, and we don’t have all night.”

“Does it look as if I’m going anywhere?” Jez tried to scooch away from the flames, then quickly regretted that move. “Ah, fuck.”

Jericho hooked his hands under her armpits and tried to lift her, a move that made her cry out because her collarbone didn’t feel entirely intact either.

“Do you want ketamine?” he asked.

“You have some?”

“In the car.”

“Get it.”

He was back in seconds, and the sting of the needle in her thigh was a blessed relief.

“Your team will be here soon,” he said. “They’ll get you to a hospital faster than I could.”

“What the hell do you know about my team?”

“I know why it was created.”

“To make the world a safer place.” Jez looked at the flames, the bodies. “Some you win, some you screw up royally. Where’s Flora?”

“Sleeping in the car.”

“Did you at least take her out of the suitcase?” A little snark crept into Jez’s voice. A little bitterness too.

“Yes.”

“How did you get involved with this? Is it work? Or did you get bored of the Company and cross over to the dark side?”

“It’s work.” Jericho checked his watch. “This all began before you were born. Before I was born. Compass didn’t start out as what it became—the founders had good intentions—but it turned into a Hydra, and nobody can kill it.”