Divine Justice (44 page)

"Precondition. You mean like brainwashing?"

She smiled. "Or hypnosis."

"Really?"

"That
someone
recorded CDs to keep victims compliant and―" She broke off. "Why does it feel like we're moving?"

Zane smiled like a Cheshire cat. "Because we are, love. We're going on a little cruise."

"I'm not going anywhere with you, Zane."

His eyes narrowed. "Too late."

Jasi rushed toward a small window and pushed aside the curtain. There was no sign of the dock. Instead, a gap of rippling water separated the yacht from the shore. With a curse, she moved to a window on the other side. It gave her the same view.

She had to remain calm and not tip him off.

"I don't have time to go sailing, Zane. Take me back."

"There are no sails on this boat, love. Besides, you need a break."

"Don't tell me what I need."

"I'm afraid you have no choice, Jasmine."

Zane's voice was low and threatening. When she looked in his eyes, she saw desperation. He knew that she knew.

Fear gripped her. She hadn't told a soul where she was going. Not even Natassia.

Stupid, stupid idiot.

With all her training she should have known better than to confront a killer without backup. They looked out for one another. That was their strength. Now she was on her own.

With a murderer.

"Where are we going, Zane?"

The smile he gave her made her shiver.

"Have you seen Parliament Hill from the river? It's quite beautiful." Moving toward the stairwell, he paused and blew her a kiss. "Make yourself comfortable, love. I'll be back in a second."

As soon as he was gone, she opened the cabinet underneath the television. And there it was. Sampson's blue binder. She rifled through the pages and found the last bill, one that could potentially eradicate the PSI Division from the CFBI. Sampson's final vote was for it, not against, and he'd already signed it the document.

Damn.
"Time to call in reinforcements."

She was about to send Ben a message on her data-com when she heard Zane returning. She had barely enough time to slide the 'com beneath the sofa cushion.

"Don't you have to navigate this thing?" she asked him, hoping he'd return to the deck.

"I leave that to the captain."

Her heart hammered. Someone else was aboard the yacht.

"Who―?"

"I'm so happy you're here, love."

The smile on his face and the way he said this made her wonder if he suspected that she knew.

"Why is that?" she asked him.

Zane took her hand and she let him lead her to the sofa. He sat down, patted the seat beside him and said, "Now that your case is solved, we can pick up where we left off. You know that I love you."

Her breath hitched at his sudden declaration. Years ago she would have given anything to hear those words. But now…?

"The case isn't quite over," she mumbled.

He feigned surprise, and he didn't do it well. "Really?"

"Deirdre didn't brainwash two prominent politicians and commit murder without help."

"You're right," he said in an even tone. "She had a research team."

She shook her head. "They just followed her instructions and none of them knew enough about her secret project to comprehend what she was really doing. No, Deirdre had a partner."

"Hmm, that's an interesting theory. Any idea who?"

"At first I thought it was her sister." Wishing she had a stronger drink, she downed some ice tea before continuing. "Marilyn knows a lot about communication satellites and radio frequencies. I thought maybe she was after her husband's insurance benefits."

"But all the clues pointed away from her."

"Yes, and I almost missed the most important one."

"Which was…?"

Here it was. The crux of the case.

"Deirdre had a boyfriend."

Zane's gaze dimmed. "Are you sure about that?"

"Marilyn mentioned it the first day I met her. Something about her sister being in love." She gazed into his eyes. "People will do almost anything for love."

"So you think this boyfriend is somehow involved?"

"Deirdre had help."

Zane shrugged. "So she had a lover―"

"A lover who conspired with her to manipulate government policy. And who helped her commit murder."

As Zane finished his ice tea, she could see in his eyes that he was conflicted. Their little cat-and-mouse game was about to end.

She glanced out the porthole again. When she saw how far out they were, her pulse quickened. They were heading east along the Ottawa River. Toward Shirleys Bay. Toward Paragon.

"You need to take me back, Zane."

"Why? What do you plan to do now?"

"I think you've already guessed."

Blue eyes twinkled. "You think you know something? You know nothing, Jasmine."

"I know you're not the person I thought you were."

Zane placed a hand over his heart. "I'm wounded."

There was a cold edge to his voice.

She subconsciously placed a hand on her stomach and thought of the tracking chip that had been implanted behind her bellybutton. Every CFBI agent had a tracker―standard procedure.

Come find me, guys.

The only problem was no one knew she was in danger.

One look in Zane's eyes told her he knew that too.

"So what now, Jasmine?" he asked softly.

She thought about her answer before saying, "Well, I can't allow a killer to go free, now can I?"

"No, not you."

"I'll have to turn him over to the CFBI."

"Or he could disappear, leave Canada."

"I don't think that would be good enough."

"You could forget all about the boyfriend."

She shook her head. "I'd be lying then. I'd have to pretend I never saw the connection."

"And you're too smart. You don't miss a thing."

"No," she said with a sad smile. "I don't."

"Well, before you're ready to turn in this final piece of the puzzle, I'd like to do something."

"What's that?"

"Kiss you." He stood in front of her, took her hand and gently pulled her to her feet. "I'm really sorry things had to work out this way."

"Me too."

"One last kiss then? For old time's sake?"

She knew she shouldn't, but her heart pulled her toward the man she thought she knew, thought she loved. As her lips met his, she wanted to cry out, 'Why, Zane?'

"I'm sorry," he whispered in her ear.

"Me too. But we need to end this."

32

"Exactly what I was thinking," Zane said, releasing her and taking a step back. "Although I have to admit, I'd hoped it would never come to this. I never expected to run into you here in Ottawa. Hell, I never expected a lot of things."

"Did you really think you could get away with this?"

He shrugged. "I hoped. At least for a bit longer."

"You're too smart for your own good."

"Sorry, love." He turned away.

"You will be, Zane."

Her threat amused him. "Really?"

"Turn around," she said. "Slowly."

When Zane complied, his gaze dropped immediately to the gun in her hand. "What are you doing, Jasmine? Put that down."

"Don't think I won't shoot you."

Zane shook his head in disappointment. "Why'd you have to go and mess things up, love?"

She refused to answer him.

"You really should put that thing away," he warned.

"Why'd you do it, Zane?"

"Don't go and ruin everything with your questions. It doesn't have to be this way."

"Of course it does. You broke the law. You're responsible for two murders, Zane. And Deirdre wouldn't have killed herself if it weren't for you."

"Poor Deirdre. She must have been overwhelmed with guilt."

"And you? Do you feel guilty?"

He smiled at her and it turned her blood cold.

"I did what was necessary," he said. "Now what?"

"You've left me with no choice. I have to bring you in."

"That's not going to happen, love."

The calmness of his voice made her furious.

"Tell me why, Zane. Why did you kill those men? I deserve to know the truth."

He gave her a sad look. "I suppose you do."

"Tell me."

"I met Deirdre when she came to me for counseling. She was a mess. She'd killed her father and was having problems dealing with the guilt. When she started talking about her research, I was intrigued." He shrugged. "I had a score to settle and she gave me a way to do it."

"What score?"

"Didn't your beloved Benjamin Roberts tell you?" he snapped. "My career was trashed when I was booted off my last CFBI case. And all because of a freak."

"What are you talking about?"

"The CFBI brought in some psychic who claimed she had visions about the case. I had written up a solid psychological profile, but this bitch said it was based on a witness's lie."

"Was she right?"

"It was a good guess," he said, visibly exasperated. "But my profile and my reputation couldn't hold up in court after that. She made a fool of me. Once the case was over, I knew that our judicial system was going to be corrupted by people pretending they could see things the rest of us can't."

"Maybe they do have a gift."

He held out his hands. "You're a CFBI agent. Doesn't it piss you off that your case could be undermined by one of these PSI freaks? They've got to be taken out of the system, and short of killing them all, the best way to do that is to have a new law in place that will disallow any PSI testimony in court."

Jasi was stunned. "You murdered innocent men so you could take down the PSI Division? Because you were embarrassed?"

"It was more than that!" he said. "They made me look like an idiot. I lost all credibility. Your beloved agency cut me off. No more cases. No income."

"Then you work somewhere else," she snapped.

Zane's jaw tightened. "No one would hire me after that. The psychic contradicted my report. She's nothing more than a lying freak. These psychics make up crap and people believe them. It's time our government stopped relying on psychic bullshit. They wanted to spend millions on researching psychics and hire them more publicly. But it's time for some real change in Canada."

"And you're going to make this change happen?"

He smiled secretively. "You have no idea how big this is. My methods have already been tested."

"What do you mean?"

"What I've developed is a way to control government, to influence major decisions. Do you know how much other people―other governments―are willing to pay for that?"

"So you're doing this for money," she said in disgust.

He shrugged. "Money is power. And right now I hold the power to control even our basic laws. Take Monty Winkler's gun vote, for instance."

She laughed. "You're trying to say you had something to do with that?"

The smile he gave her sent a shiver up her spine.

"You brainwashed him to vote yes," she said slowly.