Schooled in Revenge (21 page)

“Look at it this way,” Wells said. “we’re doing you a favor, reuniting you with your mother.”

Remembering Takeda’s words, Reena masked her rage, consigning emotion to a dark corner of her mind where it couldn’t affect her mission.

“Do what you want,” she said. “But if you kill me, then you better start running. Out of Napa, and into hiding.”

“What are you talking about?” shouted Wells impatiently.

The gun was still pointed at her, but he wasn’t shooting. Not now. He was too interested in what she had to say next.

Reena laughed. “You don’t think Charlie knows I’m in here? He’s been collecting information on you guys for months. And he has almost enough to bring you down. Killing me would be the last piece of the puzzle to send you away for a very long time.”

Lowering the gun, Wells grabbed Reinhardt and pulled him aside. They spoke in low murmurs as Reena watched their frenzied discussion with satisfaction.

Finally, Reinhardt walked back over to her. “Let’s make a deal, Miss Fuller.”

“I’m listening,” she said.

“We’ll double whatever Charlie’s paying you.” His tone was almost conciliatory. “In return, you leave Napa and never come back, never speak a word of this to anyone.”

“And if you do,” Wells said, “they’ll be the last words you ever speak.”

“What about Charlie?” Reena asked, playing her part to the hilt. “He’ll come after me if I betray him.”

“We’ll take care of Charlie,” Wells said.

Reena pretended to think about it. “Deal. But I don’t want your money.”

Reinhardt narrowed his eyes. “What do you want?”

She gave them a slow smile. “Let’s just say it’s enough to know what I know. Call it my own little insurance policy.”

“Just remember,” Wells said, “that tattoo on your neck is more than a circle. It’s a permanent target. If you ever talk, we’ll come for you, just like we came for your mother.”

Reena stepped closer to the man who had eradicated her family for a new suit and a used Senate seat. She whispered something in his ear and turned for the door.

Jane closed her eyes, bracing herself for the impending confrontation. She had wanted the truth, only the truth, for so long. But now that it was in front of her, she felt nothing but fear.

She glanced around the magnificent house. A palace with a dark and dangerous underside. Even before she’d lost her memory, she’d been living in a palace of secrets and lies.

She turned the knob.

It was time to step into the light.

Reena stepped into the empty hallway, leaning against the wall to catch her breath, her heart pounding crazily in her ears. Finally in the clear, she allowed herself a rare moment of accomplishment.

Not only did she know where Marcus was hiding, but she had rattled Reinhardt and Wells’s cage. They would be looking over their shoulders for a long time.

Certainly until Reena could come back and finish the job.

She rubbed the tattoo on her neck, smiling slightly to herself. She might not be able to bring Cruz or her mother back, but she wouldn’t let their killers walk away unscathed.

And she wouldn’t let Simon rot in jail, either.

Mission accomplished. For now.

She was turning to leave when she heard footsteps gallop toward her down the hall.

Inside the bedroom, Reinhardt and Wells poured stiff drinks. Walking to the large window overlooking the terraced lawns of the Starling estate, they peered out into the darkness.

“What did she say to you?” Reinhardt asked the senator.

Wells finished his drink in a single gulp. “She said the next time she sees me, she’s going to kill me.”

“Ava! Shay!” Reena said, surprised to see them around the corner of the hall. “What are you doing here? Why aren’t you waiting in the car?”

“It’s Jane,” Ava explained. “She knows who she is. We need to find her before she exposes herself to Reinhardt.” Reena shook her head. “I haven’t seen her.” “Where the hell is she?” Shay said.

Suddenly, the hallway linen closet burst open. A tall, good-looking guy emerged wearing an expensive suit. “Jon?” Ava said, mouth open.

He started down the hall, Jane flung over his shoulder. “Jane was just leaving. Let’s go.”

As the gala shows signs of waning, Jane leaves Shay behind in the car and moves through security, flashing them an irresistible smile. One of the guards, Steve, with a thick neck and thicker mustache, is happy to grant Jane entry. As she goes, he nudges the arm of another man working security next to him.

“That one’s easy on the eyes, ain’t she? Must be one of Reinhardt’s girls.”

“Something like that,” Jon says, patting Steve on the back.

Jon follows Jane inside, hanging back just enough to not garner her attention. He waits outside her bedroom door, wondering if she’s remembering.

And if so, what it’s doing to her.

He’s patient, in no hurry. This is his mission.

Still, he knows that Ava is in the vicinity and he desperately wants to see her again. To tell her that he’s all right. To explain where he’s been and why he hasn’t contacted her.

But that’s not all. He wants to tell her that he’s missed her. God, how he’s missed her.

The kiss on the porch had been a revelation. It had just taken him some time and distance to figure out what it meant.

But right now his mission is to keep Jane safe.

It’s a mission that’s compromised when she walks out of her bedroom and heads apprehensively toward Reinhardt’s master suite.

She’s going to see her father.

But Jon can’t let that happen. Not yet. Not tonight.

He removes a small cloth and a tiny vial of chloroform from his jacket, offering Jane a silent apology for what he’s about to do.

Then he rushes toward her, grabbing her from behind and covering her mouth with the rag as she moves to open the door to Reinhardt’s bedroom.

Moments later, she slumps against him. He flings her over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry and steps into the linen closet, closing them off, keeping Jane out of harm’s way.

The team raced through the vineyard toward Marie’s parked car, trying to stay in the shadows just in case Reinhardt and Wells had a change of heart.

“Where have you been?” Reena asked Jon as they ran down the grassy hill leading to the road.

It was a question Ava had planned to ask, but now that it was out, she had another one. “Are you the one who killed Cain?”

“There’ll be time for that later,” Shay said as they hit the road. His knowing glance at Jon wasn’t lost on Ava.

“Wait… Shay, you knew Jon was alive? You knew where he was the whole time?”

Shay reached in his pocket for the keys to the car. “I’ll explain everything later.”

The group piled into the car, Shay driving, Jane in the passenger seat. Ava slid in the backseat between Reena and Jon.

As Shay started the car, Ava looked up at Jon.

He held her gaze, his eyes burning into hers through the darkness. He took her face in his hands and kissed her.

The plane was already waiting when they arrived at the isolated field sheltered by towering oaks. They weren’t done. That would come later, the next time they returned to Napa Valley.

Now it was time to go back to the only place they had left to call home.

Rebun Island.

Ava looked up at Jon. “The kiss was a nice touch, but you still have a lot of explaining to do.”

He sighed, giving her a weary smile. “It’s a long flight. And we have all the time in the world.”

They stood there, looking at each other in the light from the plane, newly hesitant. Despite their moment in the car, the night had done nothing if not prove how dangerous revenge can be. A lot went right, but almost everything that went wrong did so because emotion got in the way.

Still, there would be plenty of time for thinking. Plenty of time for reason.

Now was not that time, Ava decided, putting her arms on Jon’s strong shoulders and pulling him in for an embrace. She buried her face in his neck.

“I missed you,” she whispered.

He leaned back, looking at her with tenderness as he brushed the hair from her face.

“So come on, let’s hear it. Where have you been?” Reena demanded as they marched toward the plane.

Before he could answer, a Lincoln Town Car pulled into the field, screeching to a halt in front of them.

They turned as one, immediately on guard, prepared to fight as a team.

A sharply dressed man emerged from the car, tall and proud.

“Deshis.”

“Takeda?” Reena said.

He walked slowly toward them. “I hear you have had an eventful night,” he said. “I hope you have learned that you still have some distance to travel to master the art of revenge.”

“Yes, Sensei,” Ava said as the others nodded.

“I’m sorry, Sensei,” Reena added.

Ava had to a stifle a laugh at Reena’s newly submissive tone.

Takeda studied them quietly. “Training commences first thing tomorrow,” he said, turning for the plane.

Ava looked from Jon to Takeda and back to Jon again.

“Is that whom you’ve been with all along?” she asked Jon. “Takeda?”

Jon nodded.

“Seriously, Jon,” Reena says as they boarded the plane. “What happened to you?”

Jon looked at them. Then he took a deep breath and started talking.

Jon bursts into the alley behind Tavern Red, surrounded by a Dumpster and cheap fencing. He looks around, the air still and murky, but he doesn’t see Cain anywhere.

He does feel something, however: a gun, pressed forcefully against the back of his head.

“Don’t shoot,” he says. This is not the way he wants to go out.

“It’s too late for that,” Cain responds, pushing the gun’s barrel harder against Jon’s head. “You came here looking for this, didn’t you? Wanting to die.”

“What are you talking about?” Jon asks, trying to formulate a plan for overtaking him.

“That’s the only explanation,” Cain says. “Because coming here was suicide.”

“Actually, that wasn’t the idea,” Jon says as a few stray cats scatter from under the Dumpster.

“It’s okay,” Cain says. “I understand more than you think. As long as you kill me it doesn’t matter what happens to you, am I right? Because at least then you’ll be free from the pain of having put her in harm’s way. Must be tough, living with that guilt.” Cain cocks the trigger behind him. “At least you won’t have to for much longer.”

Jon braces himself, prepares to die. Maybe in the next life he’ll be able to do things differently.

Maybe.

A moment later, thunder cracks through the air as a bullet is fired. Jon prepares to feel the impact, prepares for darkness. But all he hears is a thump in the ensuing silence.

He opens his eyes in time to see Cain stagger, holding a hand to a gushing wound in his chest. Jon barely has time to register the strange turn of events before Cain topples over, falling onto the concrete with a dull thud.

Jon turns around, expecting to see one of his revenge partners. The person standing there shocks him to the core.

“Takeda?”

Takeda tucks the gun into his dark blue suit jacket and
steps over Cain’s body, which is seeping blood like a leaky faucet. Jon can’t believe he’s actually gone.

And his sensei is actually here.

“I don’t understand.”

“And you don’t have to,” Takeda tells him. “All you need to do is trust me. Something you didn’t do when deciding to come here. Now come.”

“I just wanted to make them pay,” Jon explains as Takeda leads him to the black Lincoln.

Takeda stops at the vehicle. “There is a difference between revenge and redemption.”

“What’s the difference?”

Takeda opens the door for him. “Revenge is an act. Redemption lives solely in the heart. Only when you forgive yourself for what happened will you be able to truly focus.”

Jon nods. “What do I do until then?”

“Get in the car and I’ll show you,” Takeda says.

Jon looks around. The alley is barren and still, but inside the pub, Jon knows a war is raging, the sounds of fighting and breaking glass making their way outside. He imagines Ava, inside and in need of help, and wants to be the one to protect her.

He shakes his head, moving toward the back entrance to Tavern Red. “We have to help them.”

Takeda grabs his arm. “Your assistance is not necessary. Another version of you is inside. He will help them.” Takeda gets in the car, looking up at Jon. “We have a new mission now.”

The scorched sun rose dutifully over Napa valley as the small propeller plane took off, this time in the capable hands of Takeda’s personal pilot.

The vast estates and châteaus below became glittery specks as the plane ascended, the green fields and purple vineyards fading into a quiltlike blanket.

Ava watched it all with a mixture of relief and sadness. Napa would always have part of her heart, but this good-bye was different from the last one.

Better.

Maybe Emily Thorne was right. Maybe Ava would sleep more soundly now.

She felt the warm clasp of fingers and looked down to see Jon’s hand entwined with hers. They exchanged a smile.

He might help her sleep better, too.

There was still so much about him that she didn’t know, but right now, she was just glad he was there.

“So what happened after you left with Takeda?” she asked. “What was the mission?”

“And why are we going back to Japan instead of going to Sacramento to relocate Marcus?” Reena chimed in.

Jon glanced at Takeda, sitting serenely in his seat. Their sensei nodded, giving Jon permission to disclose the truth.