Jenna heard the sound of the train approaching but she didn’t look away. She couldn’t.
Lisa had negotiated a role for her?
It was another kick in the stomach and she realized with a sickening feeling that that’s what Fred had meant when he’d opened the door to her and said he’d been expecting a phone call to discuss it, not a visit.
But words were only words. He would’ve betrayed them both—people always did what served them best. Jenna had done what served her best and she didn’t regret it.
She loved the life she’d built with Lisa and she was not going to give it up.
Suddenly they were cast in light and James’s voice cut through her thoughts. “We need to get off the tracks! Off the tracks, Lisa!”
But Lisa didn’t move. Her eyes stayed fastened on Jenna and the look in her eyes killed Jenna before the train did.
It was a look of pure hate.
“No,” Jenna whimpered, acting the remorse that she knew Lisa needed to see. If she could make her believe she was sorry, that this was all just a misunderstanding, there was a chance Lisa would save her. “Don’t do this. We’re a team—the best team. I—"
The wind of the train drowned out her words.
LISA
His arm grabbed her, pulling her from the tracks as the train almost brushed her shoulder.
“No!” Lisa screamed as her mind reeled. It wasn’t fair, she didn’t want the train to kill Jenna. She wanted more time, she wanted to wrap her own hands around Jenna’s throat.
But his arms wrapped around her, holding her tight as the train flew past them.
She heard the thump and squeezed her eyes shut.
Jenna had been like a little sister to her. She had taught her everything she’d known, and that had been her biggest mistake. Fred had paid the price, but now she would have to live with the guilt for the rest of her life. She should’ve seen who Jenna had become—she should’ve seen through her manipulation.
Lisa wondered why Jenna had left her mark on Fred—she hadn’t had a chance to ask her. But if she had to hazard a guess, it would’ve been because Jenna then knew that there was no way the CIA could ever offer Lisa a role. She’d known they would come looking for her. In fact, it was Jenna who had thrived while they were in hiding because she’d had Lisa all to herself.
Jenna had been happier than she’d ever been during that time and she’d done her best to convince Lisa to remain there. But Lisa would not let her brother’s death go unavenged, and more than that—she would not let the world think she’d killed him. So despite Jenna’s protests, they’d left hiding when Lisa had deemed Jenna skilled enough to assist her because history had taught her she couldn’t kill James Thomas on her own. She needed help, and she’d thought Jenna could be that help.
Lisa had known that all she had to do was make herself known and James would find her.
The train passed and she inhaled a shaky breath, running a hand through her tousled hair.
“Are you okay?” he asked beside her.
She didn’t look at the tracks, but instead to James Thomas. For so many years he’d been her nemesis—the one she could never get to. She’d been hired to kill him more times than she could remember, and every time she’d failed. Yet, here they stood, side-by-side.
“I wanted to kill her,” Lisa said, shaking her head.
“That’s one thing we have in common. But, the end result was best. She’s dead, and we’re both alive. We should be thankful for that,” he said.
She nodded reluctantly.
“We need to go,” he said, searching her eyes, then added, “Don’t blame yourself for this.”
“For which part?” she asked, bitterly. “For failing to see who Jenna really was? Fred is dead because of me, whichever way I want to spin it.”
“No, Fred is dead because of Jenna. The people closest to us are the most dangerous because we’re blinded by them. You’re not the first person to make that mistake,” he said gently.
She raised an eyebrow. “Have you made that mistake?”
He looked at her a long moment. “I’m different because I have resources available to me to screen and monitor people in ways you never could.”