The Unwilling(115)

“You’re telling me you got bored?”

“Jaded. Weary. Barren. I chose those words with care. Life was worse than bland. It was a drain. Food had no taste. Money didn’t matter. I had no reason to wake up, no desire to go to sleep. Nothing mattered.”

“What about the people you murdered?”

“They helped for a while.”

He sounded wistful. Jason wanted to kill him.

X turned so he could face Jason more directly. “You asked, once, how the police caught me. There was news coverage, as you know, and reporters did their best, I suppose. Most would say I made a series of ever-larger mistakes, that I grew arrogant or careless, or that time is the great leveler. None of those things are true.”

“You wanted it,” Jason said.

“Wanted it, facilitated it. Frankly, I was ready to die. That’s a truth I’ve never shared. It’s been the great secret, the last of my shame. It’s a relief to speak of it aloud.”

“You murdered sixty-nine people. You don’t deserve relief.”

“Not even one as small as this?”

“You should have pulled the trigger yourself.”

“Come, Jason, how often have we spoken of weakness? Suicide was never a possibility.”

“But suicide by cop was?” Jason scoffed. “Or suicide by electric chair?”

“They seemed the only options, though I have, at times, hoped you might do the honor.” Jason’s jaw dropped. X shrugged again. “It would have been a good death.”

“So why this?” He meant outside, escape. “You don’t want to die anymore?”

“Yesterday, I did. Then I found reasons to live: one man to love, another to hate, good reasons, and unexpected.”

Jason pinched the bridge of his nose. His head ached. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Because some things haven’t changed. Dead or alive, the good of me or the bad, I still want an admirable man to bear witness, one who can see past the headlines and the fury. A man who knows me, and whose soul I know in return. It’s not so much to ask, is it, to be thought of on occasion, to be known and remembered?”

“I’m not your friend or your priest.”

“Nor am I in search of absolution. But you do understand me better than anyone alive, my thoughts and the things I’ve done.”

“I’m sorry. No. No way. I don’t want this. I can’t.”

Jason needed out of the car, needed to move. He opened the door, but X stopped him with four simple words.

“Reece has your brother.”

Half out of the car, Jason froze.

X slid across the seat, peering upward. “Reece did something to make me angry. I’m very upset, and he knows it. He took your brother to hold me off. It’s why we’re here, why all of us are here.”

“Get out of the car,” Jason said.

“Let me help you.”

“I said get out of the fucking car.”

“Very well.” X swung out his legs, and folded at the waist. Jason hit him before he was off the seat. It was all he had, and it felt good!

For about half a second.

He took a rifle butt in the head, another in the kidneys. He bent, but didn’t go down. X said, “Enough! That’s enough!” Armed men stepped away, fingers on the triggers. X took Jason by the arm, and straightened him up. “I can help you, but time is short. Are you able to focus? Good.” X led Jason past the men who’d struck him down. The car was a Mustang, but not like Gibby’s. A hardtop. “The keys are in it.” X handed Jason an envelope. “Reece’s address. His floor plans and alarm codes, plus a full set of security schematics. That’s where you’ll find your brother.”

Jason opened the envelope, and flipped pages. Numbers. Diagrams. Sight lines. “How did you get this so fast?”

“I’m a paranoid billionaire. I bought Reece’s security consultant the day after the system was installed. The system is good, but not perfect. You can get inside.”

“Why are you doing this for me?”

X ignored the question. “Reece won’t hurt your brother until he knows I’m dead. The boy’s an insurance policy. It’s not personal.” He looked at his watch. “It’s almost four. You can be at Reece’s house in eighty minutes. Don’t drive fast enough to get pulled over. If your name’s not out yet, it will be. You’ll find weapons in the trunk. Reece will want to be at the execution. He’ll need that. He’s planned for it. I can promise that. If you can bear to wait, the house will be yours, and you can get your brother out, easy. If you can’t wait, you can’t. I know the boy matters.” X paused for a beat. “I’m sorry about this, Jason. I truly am. I did not foresee this behavior from Reece.”

An armed guard approached. “Sir, we don’t have much time.”

X gave Jason a searching look. “You should go.”

Jason got in the car, his thoughts running hot. He started the engine; turned on the headlights.

“I do have one request.” X stooped at the window. “Don’t kill Reece unless you have to. Protect yourself, save your brother. But Reece has become … meaningful to me.”

“In what way?”

“The kind he will not like.”