Chapter 1
Alec
My eyes were fixed on the door Cooper had just closed behind him. After dropping his bombshell he’d smiled coldly, and left the room. I hadn’t moved. I hadn’t spoken. I’d just sat there slack-jawed, stunned.
Now everything made sense. I knew why Cooper had me down in this basement alone with him. He wanted revenge. He’d already wiped out dozens of the cadets – and now it was payback time for his father’s killer.
I blew out a very long breath.
One of the victims’ faces flashed in my mind. The young girl who’d been jumped by three thugs near the Pantheon. I clenched my numb hands into tight fists trying to contain the anger that was threatening to explode from me. If I hadn’t stopped them they would have raped and killed her. They would have taken their time. I felt sick. Cooper had done that. Maybe not with his own hands but he’d given the order. Yes, he’d suffered. And he deserved some retribution. But nothing warranted what he’d done – what he still wanted to do.
The guy was a monster.
The door opened and Cooper came in and sat down on the edge of the Formica table facing me. He pulled out a packet of Marlboros and a Zippo lighter from his shirt pocket. He took a cigarette out, shoved it between his lips, lit it, and inhaled, sucking his cheeks in as he did. His left eye was still closed – and the bruises on his jaw stood out lividly. I flexed my numb hands again. What I would have given to strangle this son of a bitch! But for now I’d have to settle for words.
“You’re crazy,” I said.
He took the cigarette out of his mouth, blew the smoke in my face, and stared at me through his good eye, like he wanted to drill a hole through my skull.
“No. I’m just not a victim anymore. That sad teenage boy you knew is dead.”
I licked my lips but didn’t answer. I didn’t think that teenage boy was dead at all. I thought he was very much alive.
Cooper mustn’t have liked my silence. His cheek twitched and his lips turned up into a snarl, making him look like a gargoyle. He struggled to get his face under control.
“And what are you, Reader?” he said, finally.
I blew out a breath.
He was crazy. He had good cause, but over the years he’d brooded on his pain so much that it had consumed him. It was all that mattered to him now. I could understand where he was coming from. As far as he was concerned I’d ruined his life. I’d taken his girl and killed his father. Of course there was never anything between Petra and Cooper. It had all been in his mind. And I hadn’t meant to kill Robert Haslem – it had been an accident. If we hadn’t been on the project it never would have happened. But I couldn’t hide behind that excuse. Cooper was right, his father was dead because of me, and I should pay for that – but not yet.
“The cadets were tools. ” Cooper had looked away from me, and was speaking in a monotonous, almost hypnotic voice – his eyes unfocused. “That’s what the Bureau thought. That’s what Langley and the White House believed too.”
“But that’s not how you saw them?”
“We were people , Alec.” His voice was quiet, as if he were talking to himself. “They never should have messed around with us. If they hadn’t, maybe…”
Cooper had stopped talking. His features were slack – catatonic.
“No one would have died?”
He frowned and his eyes suddenly lost that faraway look.
“Don’t try and play me, Reader. I’m not some doughy-eyed female you can twist around your little finger. As you so astutely pointed out, it’s just you and me down here. I can end you whenever I want. You would do well to remember that and not treat me like a fool.”
I stared back at him. He was right. I was helpless and alone in a locked room with a psychopathic maniac, whose father I had killed. And Cooper was no idiot. He’d proved he had brains; how else would he have risen up the ranks of the FBI so
Alec
My eyes were fixed on the door Cooper had just closed behind him. After dropping his bombshell he’d smiled coldly, and left the room. I hadn’t moved. I hadn’t spoken. I’d just sat there slack-jawed, stunned.
Now everything made sense. I knew why Cooper had me down in this basement alone with him. He wanted revenge. He’d already wiped out dozens of the cadets – and now it was payback time for his father’s killer.
I blew out a very long breath.
One of the victims’ faces flashed in my mind. The young girl who’d been jumped by three thugs near the Pantheon. I clenched my numb hands into tight fists trying to contain the anger that was threatening to explode from me. If I hadn’t stopped them they would have raped and killed her. They would have taken their time. I felt sick. Cooper had done that. Maybe not with his own hands but he’d given the order. Yes, he’d suffered. And he deserved some retribution. But nothing warranted what he’d done – what he still wanted to do.
The guy was a monster.
The door opened and Cooper came in and sat down on the edge of the Formica table facing me. He pulled out a packet of Marlboros and a Zippo lighter from his shirt pocket. He took a cigarette out, shoved it between his lips, lit it, and inhaled, sucking his cheeks in as he did. His left eye was still closed – and the bruises on his jaw stood out lividly. I flexed my numb hands again. What I would have given to strangle this son of a bitch! But for now I’d have to settle for words.
“You’re crazy,” I said.
He took the cigarette out of his mouth, blew the smoke in my face, and stared at me through his good eye, like he wanted to drill a hole through my skull.
“No. I’m just not a victim anymore. That sad teenage boy you knew is dead.”
I licked my lips but didn’t answer. I didn’t think that teenage boy was dead at all. I thought he was very much alive.
Cooper mustn’t have liked my silence. His cheek twitched and his lips turned up into a snarl, making him look like a gargoyle. He struggled to get his face under control.
“And what are you, Reader?” he said, finally.
I blew out a breath.
He was crazy. He had good cause, but over the years he’d brooded on his pain so much that it had consumed him. It was all that mattered to him now. I could understand where he was coming from. As far as he was concerned I’d ruined his life. I’d taken his girl and killed his father. Of course there was never anything between Petra and Cooper. It had all been in his mind. And I hadn’t meant to kill Robert Haslem – it had been an accident. If we hadn’t been on the project it never would have happened. But I couldn’t hide behind that excuse. Cooper was right, his father was dead because of me, and I should pay for that – but not yet.
“The cadets were tools. ” Cooper had looked away from me, and was speaking in a monotonous, almost hypnotic voice – his eyes unfocused. “That’s what the Bureau thought. That’s what Langley and the White House believed too.”
“But that’s not how you saw them?”
“We were people , Alec.” His voice was quiet, as if he were talking to himself. “They never should have messed around with us. If they hadn’t, maybe…”
Cooper had stopped talking. His features were slack – catatonic.
“No one would have died?”
He frowned and his eyes suddenly lost that faraway look.
“Don’t try and play me, Reader. I’m not some doughy-eyed female you can twist around your little finger. As you so astutely pointed out, it’s just you and me down here. I can end you whenever I want. You would do well to remember that and not treat me like a fool.”
I stared back at him. He was right. I was helpless and alone in a locked room with a psychopathic maniac, whose father I had killed. And Cooper was no idiot. He’d proved he had brains; how else would he have risen up the ranks of the FBI so
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