Jack knew that the ability to recognize killers was a product of evolution, as was the ability of some killers to in turn recognize those individuals. He had theorized that the process of evolution would eventually produce people who could see into the minds of killers, see what they had done. Kate had proven his theory correct.
But Angela had taken it to an entirely new level. With Angela, he was in uncharted waters. He was looking into the eyes of a new evolutionary step.
He was looking into the eyes of a different kind of human.
He finally mustered the courage to ask. “Anyone else?”
“Lots.”
“Anyone in particular stand out to you?”
The gun stayed steadily locked between his eyes as tears started running down her face. Her jaw trembled. Her voice came in a painful whisper.
“He killed my grandparents. Vito and Gabriella Constantine.”
Jack ached at seeing her obvious pain. “I’m so sorry.”
“Tell me where I can find him!”
He opened his hands. “I don’t know. That’s the truth. I’m looking for him, too.”
“Why?”
“Among other reasons, to keep him from killing you.”
“Who is he?”
“His name is Cassiel Aykhan Corekan. He is a very dangerous man.”
“No shit.”
“Miss Constantine, I came here to help you. We’re on the same side. I wouldn’t be here if we weren’t. I’m trying to stay a step ahead of Cassiel to stop him from killing again, from killing innocent people, from killing you.”
“You didn’t come here just to save my ass. You came here for some other reason. What do you want from me?”
“Do you really need to keep that gun pointed at me?”
“You’ve killed people. A lot of people. You usually use two small knives. You have one in each back pocket. You favor cutting their carotid artery so that they lose consciousness quickly and die shortly after. Simple and quick. There have been times when you’ve had to cut tendons to cripple them, first, and then go for another artery, like the femoral artery. Do you want me to tell you their names?”
“No,” he said quietly. He swallowed back the anguish. “I don’t need you to tell me their names.”
“You’re a lot faster at killing than most people would believe possible. That’s why I have a gun pointed at you.”
Jack knew this woman was not playing games. He suspected that if he lied to her, she would know that, too.
“There have been people, good people, innocent people, that I wanted to protect. People who couldn’t protect themselves. People who were afraid—terrified. People like those Cassiel murdered. I killed those murderers to stop them from killing any more innocent people. If you can see in my eyes those I killed, then you must know I’m telling the truth that they needed killing. Despite what some would say, I really don’t think that’s wrong. Do you?”
After staring at him for a long moment, she finally clicked on the safety and raised the barrel away from him, holding the gun up against her right shoulder, pointed skyward.
“No. That’s not wrong at all.”
Some of the tension went out of his muscles. He sagged just a little with relief. He was relieved, too, to see her finally holster the weapon at the small of her back.
“There are a lot of things I’m unsure of, things I’m trying to find out to help me keep innocent people from being murdered,” he told her. “I think you might be able to help me. In fact, you already have with part of it by recognizing what kind of man Cassiel really is just by looking at his photograph.”
The fury seemed to have drained out of her voice. “I’ve never had that kind of reaction just from looking at a photo.”
He wondered if she had ever seen real killers and had a similar reaction.
“Well, that’s part of why I’m here—to help you understand all of this. I’m hoping that you in turn can help me understand some things.”
She looked back over her shoulder when she heard the bouncer call her name.
He trotted across the lot and came to a stop beside her. “You?” he said, glaring at Jack. “I thought I told you to leave her alone.”
Angela put her arm out to stop him from going around the front of the truck to confront Jack.
“It’s all right, Nate.”
“It is? Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure.”
He leaned closer to look at her face. “You’ve been crying.”
“No, it’s not that,” she said as she pulled a tissue from her pocket and quickly wiped off the mascara running down her face. “It’s the smoke in there from that jerk’s cigar. It made my eyes burn and they’re watering, that’s all. Thanks for letting me know that it’s running my mascara.”
He didn’t look to believe her. “Angela, I don’t—”
She put a hand on his shoulder as she smiled at Jack. “He’s someone I haven’t seen in a very long time. It’s kind of dark back in the bar, so I just didn’t recognize him, especially with the smoke burning my eyes, that’s all.”
Nate still didn’t look convinced. “Really? What’s his name?”
Jack realized he hadn’t told her. He immediately stretched over the hood of the truck to extend his hand. “Hi. I’m Jack Raines. I knew Angela from before. When she was younger.”
Nate shook the hand. “You don’t look that much older than Angela.”
Jack grinned. “Why thank you. Aren’t you kind.”
Angela looked from Jack’s eyes back to her knight in shining armor. “Thanks, Nate. But everything is fine.” She put a hand against his chest. “Why don’t you go back in and watch out for the other girls. I’ve had a long day. I just want to go home and get some sleep. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Nate finally gave in. “Sure. Nice to meet you, Jack.” He turned toward the bar but then turned back. “Sorry about before.” He flicked a hand toward the bar. “You know, in there. Before Angela realized she knew you.”
Jack flashed him a smile. “Forget about it.”
“Smooth,” she said to Jack once Nate had disappeared back inside.
Jack turned his attention back to Angela.
“Look, Miss Constantine, there are a number of serious things I need to talk to you about. I don’t think we have a lot of time.”
She continued to appraise him for a moment. “All right. Get in the truck. I can at least hear you out. But you have to promise me, first, that the minute you find out where Cassiel is, you’ll tell me.”
“Deal,” Jack said as he opened the passenger door.
FORTY-EIGHT
Closing the doors to the truck shut out of lot of the harsh light from the streetlamp. With the sounds from outside also shut out, she didn’t have to talk very loud to be heard.
“All right, this is your chance. Talk.”
“Listen, Miss Constantine—”
“You said you weren’t a cop.”
Not knowing her point, he paused. “I’m not.”
“Then stop calling me ‘Miss Constantine,’ would you? Only the fucking police call me ‘Miss Constantine.’ If you’re not with the police, then who do you work for?”
“I have to admit, I like ‘Angela’ a lot better.”
“Good. I asked who you work for.”
“Actually, I work for myself.”
“Doing what? And what do you want with me?”
“First of all, it’s obvious that you can recognize killers by seeing their eyes.”
“Obviously.”
“The first thing I need to do is to help you understand why it’s possible for you to do that.”
“I know why I can do it. I don’t need your help to understand it.”
Jack hadn’t expected that. He’d never met anyone before who was aware of their ability and seemed so confident in their understanding of it.
“Get on with it,” she said before he could think of what to say. “I have someplace to go.”
She’d just told Nate she wanted to get some sleep, not that she had somewhere to go. He turned to look out at the darkness.
“This late?”
“I asked who you work for. You weren’t entirely honest in your answer. You also said that you came a long way to see me. Where did you come from?”
“Israel.”
“You live there? You work there? This is not making a lot of sense.”
“All right, listen, this is important so I’m going to take a chance here and be completely honest and up front with you in the hope that you will do the same with me.
“I sometimes work for the Israeli government—the Mossad, actually. I help them stop terrorists before they can kill people. I used to do the same thing for various US intelligence services, but not anymore.”