The Avenger

every single one. He told himself that if Randolph expressed a single iota of remorse, guilt, or contrition, he wouldn't do it. He'd let him serve out multiple life sentences in a cage.

Imprisoned, but alive.

He knew it was an empty bargain. Psychopaths were incapable of such emotions.

After a few minutes, Jack returned to the interrogation room. He turned his back to the prisoner, reached up to switch off the video recording camera in the corner at the juncture of the wall and the ceiling, and removed the plastic handcuffs. When he turned back to Randolph, Jack saw pure terror on the man’s face.

He’d give Randolph one more chance. He sat down opposite the prisoner. One more chance, you fucking monster, he thought, one more chance at redemption. He fought through the euphoria of the fentanyl and forced himself to step into Howard Randolph's mind one last time.

A ghastly montage raced through his head like the jerky movement of a silent film. The sexual thrill Randolph experienced even in the face of his death sickened Jack. Blood and death, gore and violence. Pain beyond imagination, exultation and sheer primal pleasure in the suffering of another human being.

Jack knew what he had to do.

He stared impassively at the Dead Language Killer, remembered the years of suffering he'd caused, the fear and pain of his victims. He read the lust in Randolph by the slackness of his mouth and the glitter in his eyes and tried to conjure up the beast inside himself.

No regret at all.

Randolph sat calmly, a pleasant expression on his face, and clearly had no idea what Jack intended for him. 'That bully posturing won't work on me,' Randolph said as he rubbed his wrists theatrically. 'But I'd love to tell you all about my exploits.'

Seven minutes later the Judge's words reverberated in Jack's head as if he were actually in the room. Finish the mission, Jack, one last detail to take care of. Do whatever you have to.

Revulsion swept over him. Disgust at himself, at the Judge, at the whole self-righteous organization that'd sucked the humanity out of him.

'Go to hell, Warren,' he spat and walked out of the interview room.

*

When they were childhood friends, Olivia had always known when Jack was lying to her. Right now his right eye jerked in a telltale movement so miniscule that if she hadn't been looking for it and straight at him, she would've missed it. His face was composed, his hands were steady, and his voice was calm.

But Jack was lying to her.

She had agreed to try, no conditions attached. They loved each other, and she believed against rational thought that they belonged to each other, always had. She couldn't envision a deeply satisfying life without Jack.

But still, she was afraid of the future. And Jack was lying to her.

They stood in her kitchen. She leaned against the counter by the sink and he sat on a bar stool, his hands dangling between his knees. He looked weary and defeated and she wanted more than her next breath to go to him. Hold onto him.

Instead, she rooted her feet to the floor.

She freely admitted that she didn't know quite how her life could go on without him in it. But she wasn't blind. Jack had to care more about her than his Invictus family, and right now she was afraid that he'd done something terribly wrong.

'A heart attack?' She caught her bottom lip between her teeth and looked again for the minute jerking of his right eye. Gone now. 'I don't understand. Howard was so fit, so healthy.'

A shiver ran through her, a premonition of doom. Why are you lying to me?

She could take the job, she thought. She could adjust to it, but not to the lies.

Jack shrugged. 'Stranger things have happened. The local police are handling the details with the medical examiner.'

'Did Howard confess?'

'Oh yeah, he confessed all right.' Jack slid off the stool and stood close to her, his arms braced on either side of the counter, pinning her in. 'He confessed to everything.' He nuzzled her neck, sending a different kind of shiver running through her.

'My student? Keisha, too?'

Jack nodded and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, his fingers trailing across her cheek.

What wasn't he telling her?

'Carl and Henry and Susan?' She spoke their names respectfully as if the victims had become personal friends even though she'd never known them.

'All of them,' he confirmed. The heat of Jack's body brushed against hers, inviting her to bury herself in the security of it.

She fixed upon his chin, arms wrapped around her body, afraid to let go. 'Howard confessed and then just keeled over from a heart attack?'

He lifted his hands, palms upward in a what-else gesture.

'You're lying to me,' she said flatly, scooting under his arm. 'You're lying to me and I don't know why.' She hurried down the hall and started up the staircase to the master bedroom.

Jack caught up with her at the door to the bathroom, wrapped his arms around her waist from behind, and swung her around to face him. 'What do you want me to say, Olivia? Tell me, and I'll say the words. Randolph's dead. The Dead Language Killer's violent rampage is finished. Isn't that all that matters?'

Uneasiness hovered at the edges of her mind. 'When I saw you back there in the church, that look on your face I… ' She shook her head. 'I'll never forget it, Jack. You were a stranger, someone I've never known.'

'I told you what happens when I go through the transformation, how the drugs enhance the Change.'

'But that… that was something different. I know I said I could live with it, but I don't know if I can live with the secrets.'

'You won't have to,' he said and pulled her close.

His lips whispered against her temple and, oh God, a thrill of desire shot through her. He had such power over her. It frightened her at the same time it rippled hot waves of pleasure through her blood.

'What do you mean?' Her words came out unsure and breathless.

'I don't want to keep secrets from you.' He slipped his clever hands beneath the waistband of her shorts.

'But – '

He slid his hands over her hips and lifted her up, pressing her into his groin. She couldn't think clearly. Her heart thundered in her chest, the pull of need for him stronger than anything she'd ever known. Flames of fire danced along her nerves. God, how had she lived without this all those years?

She pulled back, held his face in her hands. 'You want me to trust you.'

He covered her hands and rubbed one thumb over her lips. His voice was kind and gentle. 'Yes, Squirt. You have to trust me.'

'I do,' she answered, breathing into his mouth. She trusted him, believed in him, she thought. What else mattered?

She opened her lips and probed his mouth with her tongue in urgent, desperate jabs. His big hand cupped her breast and teased the nipple through her thin cotton top while his fingers tangled in her hair.

'I want you so much,' she whispered beneath his lips. 'I've waited so long.'

Jack moved his hands over her gently at first and then with increasing ardor. He groaned a deep growl of desperation. 'God, Livvie, I promised myself I'd go slowly, be considerate, prove I could control my lust for you.'

His fingers tugged at her slacks, slipping them over her hips. She ripped the buttons from his shirt and trailed her fingers over his chest, down his hips and thighs to take him in her hand.

'But I can't,' he moaned. 'When you… hell, I lose all control around you.'

And that was perfect, she thought, because this wasn't the time for tenderness.