Part 19 (1/2)
”What? I don't understand.”
He took a step toward her. ”Then let me make it clear. I'm not on a mission. There's noteam waiting for me to be done helping you. This isn't a sanctioned killing.”
Her chest felt as if a band were being tightened around her ribs. Her breath caught in her throat. ”What are you saying?”
”Officially I'm on a six-week leave of absence from my job inWas.h.i.+ngton. I got tired of waiting for Kray to make a mistake and get caught. I'm going to take care of him myself. I'm here on St. Lucas to kill your ex-husband.”
Chapter 12.
She physically recoiled from him. Jeff watched as Andie took a step back and folded her arms over her chest. She drew her delicate eyebrows together as if she hadn't understood what he was saying.
”You can't mean that,” she said, disbelieving.
”Every word.”
She shook her head slowly. Maybe she thought her denial would change the truth. ”You're going to kill Kray in cold blood? You're going to murder him?”
It was like watching something from a distance. A play or a movie, maybe. Nothing felt real. ”Yes.”
”I don't understand. Is this to repay him for what he did to Jeanne and your son?”
”In part. But most of the reason is that Kray's evil. I'm tired of waiting for him to make a mistake. It's been five years and nothing has happened. At least this way he'll be gone.”
”Gone? Don't you mean dead?”
He shrugged. ”Whatever. He needs to be stopped.”
”Not like this.” Her eyes widened and she stared at him as if she'd never seen him before. ”You can't do this. It's not right.”
”Whatever's right isn't working.”
”But if you do this...” She turned away and stared at the ocean. ”You can't. I thought you were different from Kray. You're supposed to be one of the good guys. You aren't if you do this. You're just like him, destroying whenever it suits you.”
He narrowed his gaze. ”We're hardly the same,” he said. ”Kray's entire life is based on getting what he wants at any price. He lives in a world outside normal rules and boundaries.”
”Won't you be doing the same thing?”
”No. I'm here to kill my enemy, no one else.”
She spun back to face him. ”And that makes it all right?”
”You're the one so concerned with semantics. A few minutes ago it was fine because I was part of a mission and had my government's permission to take him out. Now that I'm on my own, it's wrong? Explain the difference.”
”Now it's personal.”
”It's always been personal. He killed my wife and child. How can it not be personal?”
She shook her head. ”You're twisting my words. I know what he did and how it hurt you. However, that doesn't give you the right-”
He took a step toward her and stared down. ”Don't talk to me about rights. You weren't there. You didn't see the car explode, or smell the burning bodies. You don't know anything about this.”
She couldn't meet his gaze. She stared at the ground. ”I know, Jeff. It's hard, but you've got to see-”
”No.” He grabbed her arm. ”I don't have to see anything. I've sent men to their death before. I've killed before. What do you think happens in the field? It's not like the movies. We're not exchanging bits of microfilm in cigarette boxes. People do die and sometimes it gets ugly.”
”But then it's for a reason.”
”I have a d.a.m.n good reason for wanting him dead.”
”You have no purpose in doing this except for a.s.suaging your guilt.”
They glared at each other. She blinked first and looked away. He dropped her arm. ”Are you saying the world won't be a better place without Kray in it? That you won't be better off? You should be pleased about this. If I succeed, then all your troubles are over.”
”If you don't succeed, Kray will see you dead.”
”I might be dead anyway. If Kray's men catch me, they'll kill me.”
She flinched. The color drained from her face. ”What happens if you get away?”
”Our government won't take kindly to a rogue agent acting on his own. I'll be arrested and brought to trial.”
”You'll risk everything to destroy Kray?”
”Wouldn't you?”
The sun had risen over the jungle and now shone down on the pool area. Heat from the ground swirled up and surrounded them. Jeff could feel a trickle of perspiration beginning between his shoulder blades and running down his back.
Andie sank down in the middle of the chaise lounge. Her long hair spilled over her lap. She brushed the blond strands away impatiently. ”As easily as that?” she whispered. ”I can't reconcile what you want to do with the man I've come to know here.”
”You never knew me. You made me into what you wanted me to be. I'm the white knight here to rescue you. You didn't want to know anything else.”
”I can't connect your willingness to kill in cold blood with the man who risked his life to save me and Bobby.”
”What about reconciling your former loving husband with a man who killed Jeanne and my son?”
She raised her head and stared at him. Sorrow filled her face. ”You must hate me. I never understood how much before now. Everyday, watching Bobby and me. You've been so nice, but it's all a facade. You want us dead, too.”
”Not anymore.”
She went on as if he hadn't spoken. ”Would it be enough, do you think? Our deaths, an eye for an eye? Maybe our families should die, too. I don't have any relatives, but if I did, should they die? Would that be enough? Where does it end? How much payment do you need?”
”It's not like that,” he said loudly. ”That's not what this is about. It's between me and Kray.”
She stood up. He could see her body shaking. She balled her hands into fists. ”You're wrong. It's about all of us. I can't believe you're going to do this. Even more than that, I can't believe you don't think it's wrong.”
She turned and started toward the house. He thought about calling out to her, but he had nothing to say. She didn't understand. She was a civilian. She didn't know all that he knew, all that Kray had done. If anyone deserved to die, it was that man.