Page 173 of Hunter's Revenge

My first clue was that she wasn’t killed when Gwen was taken.

All the while, as I sat in my office, sentencing my men to the outer limits, Jeanne was on my mind.

It wasn’t just her not being killed, though, that triggered my suspicion. It was how she looked during the entire time.

That aside, Jeanne was the perfect person to deliver Judas’ kiss on my cheek. She has all the passwords. She can walk around like a ghost on and off my property and other places without being seen. She had the passwords to Gwen’s store surveillance, so she knew when to turn off the cameras.

Most of all, being in my home and working as my custodian, being close to the Volkova family all made her the perfect candidate to betray me.

I just can’t pinpoint when she started playing devil’s advocate for the other side.

I don’t fully know what’s going on right now, but I got the notification of the emergency tracking alarm. All members of staff who work for the Knights use it when in danger and in need of backup. The message goes out to everyone. When I realized it was Jeanne’s and saw she was missing, I went upstairs to find Gwen.

Realizing she was missing, too, and suspecting Jeanne pushed me to fill in the blanks and do the math.

Then I knew like Jim, Jeanne had stabbed me in the heart.

My blood heats when I spot Jeanne’s car ahead.

I pull up next to it, but when I see her lying on the ground in a pool of blood, I jump out of the car and panic propels me to her side.

Betrayal or not, I didn’t want this for her.

In the moonlight, her pale skin makes her look like a ghost, but to my surprise, she moves. Zakh and Desmier join me, staring down at Jeanne’s bloody form.

“Jeanne.” I look her over, and my heart squeezes when I notice the wound in her chest. “Guys, call an ambulance,” I blurt, but Desmier is already dialing 911.

“See if you can wake her,” Zakh says.

I scoop her up and hold her. “Jeanne.”

She opens her eyes and blinks several times, but it looks like it takes her great effort. “Trap. It’s a… trap.” Her voice is weak and barely there. “Diego discovered that I set off the alarm. They’re hiding, waiting for you. They have Gwen and Dru in the hangar. I’m so sorry for what I did, Malik.”

“Let’s talk about that later. We’re going to get you to the hospital.”

“Please wait. I have to tell you why I betrayed you.” She coughs blood, and my chest seizes. “They took my Zoe.”

Fuck.I knew there had to be more to this because it would take a lot for Jeanne to betray me the way she has. Now I understand why, but I wish she could have found a way to come to me. “Do you have any information about where they’re keeping her?”

“No.” Tears slide out of her eyes. “Diego threatened to sell her if I didn’t help him. I’m so sorry, Malik. I didn’t know what to do. I … also didn’t know about Captain Davison until tonight. When I saw things were getting out of hand, I had to do something to fix it. I’m… I’m…”

The words fade in her throat, and her eyes close.

“Jeanne, no. Please.”

Leo walks up to me with two of his men.

“You guys go with the rest of men to get Gwen and Dru,” he says, taking charge. “We’ll take Jeanne away from here and wait for the ambulance to arrive, then we’ll join you.”

“Yes, let’s do that.” Desmier nods.

Leo picks Jeanne up and carries her to his car, then I watch him drive back the way we came. I pray that wasn’t the last time I got to see Jeanne alive.

Forcing myself to focus, I look back at Desmier and Zakh then at the two gigantic hangers in the distance by the river.

A jet is parked on the landing strip, looking like it was getting ready to leave.

That’s not going to happen tonight.

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