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“Me too,” Piercesaid with a chuckle. “But now it’s my life. I’m charged with multiple murders,all of people I have no recollection of. I’m supposed to go on trial this year.It’s actually pretty terrifying, and in my view, unfair. Whoever that person was,I’m not her anymore.”
“But if you killeda bunch of people,” Hannah posited, “shouldn’t you pay for what you did, evenif you don’t remember it?”
“That’s certainlywhat some people say,” Pierce conceded without argument.
Behind her, Hannahsensed Officer Gaston shift nervously and knew he was getting anxious. Shedidn’t have much time.
“Another thing, ifit’s not too rude to ask,” Hannah said.
“Go ahead,” Piercetold her. “I’ve had all kinds of stuff said to me in the last month.”
“Well, I’m justwondering, how did you become a contract killer in the first place?” she asked.“I mean, you probably weren’t some bookkeeper or retail clerk or housewifebefore all this, right? You must have done something that prepared you formurdering innocent people?”
She allowed hertone to become slightly confrontational at the very end of that comment, hopingto get a rise out of the woman. But instead of speaking, Pierce put her hand toher mouth and coughed. There was no way to know whether it was legitimate or ifshe was covering her displeasure with Hannah’s relentless probing.
“Sorry,” she saidafter a moment, “still not fully recovered yet. But to answer your question, Iused to work for the military in an elite unit that targeted leaders of enemycombatant forces. I remember that time vividly. I guess it trained me for what theysay I did later on. It would technically make sense, even if that doesn’t soundlike a road I would have gone down. I remember myself as a patriot who wasdefending the interests of her country. I can’t imagine how that would havecurdled into something so dark.”
Hannah had toconcede that she was good. Ash Pierce was saying all the right things, whethershe meant them or not. She hadn’t shown any clear sign that Hannah’squestioning had angered her. She projected genuine confusion at how she was inthis circumstance. Nothing she’d said or done, save for that brief twitch and aconveniently well-timed cough, had suggested any awareness of who she used tobe.
“Have you tried toreach out to the people you hurt to make amends?” Hannah asked, hoping thatchanging tactics might unsettle Pierce.
“No,” sheadmitted. “In all honesty, I’m worried about how they might react if I tried todo that. Do you really think they’d accept an apology? Do you think they’dbelieve me?”
Hannah stared ather, unable to keep the coldness out of her voice when she replied. “I doubtit.”
“That’s what I’mafraid of,” Pierce said with a guilt-ridden smile. “I think it might just makeit worse.”
She suddenlyyawned, bringing her hand up to cover it.
"I'msorry," she said. "I think I'm starting to hit that mid-morningwall."
“We’ll have toleave things there,” Office Gaston said. “Ms. Pierce has been more thangenerous with her time.”
The way he said itmade it sound like the woman was a head of state deserving of respect andHannah was a pesky reporter he was shooing out of the room. If Pierce wassuckering him, and the rest of the security detail was as susceptible to hermachinations, they weren’t just not up for the job, they were in danger. Butshe couldn’t say any of that without blowing her cover as an aspiring nurse.
"Well, thanksfor making the time for me," Hannah said, slipping back into the naïvestudent persona. "Maybe we can do it again sometime."
Pierce chuckledlightly at that.
"I doubtOfficer Gaston or his friends will allow that to happen," she said,sounding regretful. "But I'm a big believer in fate. If it's meant to be,I'm sure we'll see each other again."
Hannah smiled tohide the renewed shiver that ran up her spine. Maybe the comment was intendedto be harmless, a polite way for a changed woman to part ways.
But to Hannah, itsounded more like a threat.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Jessie didn’t lovehow things were going.
She would haveliked to have gone straight to the apartment of their next suspect, privatetutor Danielle Robertson, immediately after they questioned personal trainerLandon Powers, but Captain Parker had made that impossible.
She insisted theydelay that interview to give her an update on how things had progressed so far.It wasn’t an unreasonable demand, as they hadn’t fully briefed her since lastnight. The problem was that they didn’t have much new to offer.
They couldn’t saywhether Landon Powers could be excluded as a suspect for the same reason theywere having trouble eliminating anyone: the timers and motion sensors on thepoison canisters meant that they could have been placed in these women’s homeshours, days, or potentially even weeks before they went off.
Parker also seemedhung up on the fact that Clarissa Langley’s marketing firm had worked for NaomiHackett’s tech company. Even after Ryan patiently explained that Jamil and Bethcouldn’t find anything to link Tabitha Reynolds to the other women professionally,the captain remained fixated on the possibility.
“Listen,” Parkertold them, wrapping up, “Despite all our efforts to put a lid on the nature ofthese murders to avoid creating a citywide panic, word is starting to get out.No media outlet has reported on the connection between Langley and Hackett so farbecause we haven’t released the victims’ names yet. No one wants to be thefirst to go public with that and face potential blowback. But once that’s out,those companies are going to be swarmed with press and amateur sleuths tryingto uncover a connection. Unless you find another theory that’s more compellingin the interim, things are going to get messy.”
