“How did you get away?”
“Rescued by Josh Cooper and Cal Ross. You’ve met them, I believe.”
Kit grimaced. “They’re the ones who just threw another grenade into my life.”
“Yes, Mr. Cooper is very good at that.”
"How do you get over something like this?"
Lucinda was quiet. Finally, she sighed. "You don't, Kit. You never get over it."
Kit looked at her and she held his gaze.
“You learn to live with it, and when you can’t you come to a place like this to decompress.”
“Is that what you’re doing?”
She grimaced. “I’m trying. I’m not very good at doing nothing.”
“Nor am I.”
"The whole time she had me I thought I was going to die."
Kit stopped walking at the sudden confession. “What was her name?”
“Chyna Moles. Except it wasn’t. She stole that from a grave.” Lucinda kept going. “She killed so many people. She slaughtered my best friends. But the torture wasn't the hardest part.”
Kit glanced at her. Lucinda stared into the distance, not seeing him, maybe lost in the trauma of her past. He didn’t know what to say.
“What was?” he managed finally.
Lucinda's smile was humorless.
“Discovering all the people in my organization who helped her do it.”
Kit couldn’t help flinching at the bitterness in her voice.
“Your brother made his choices," Lucinda continued. “He chose to sacrifice you.”
Kit flinched again. “He's still my brother."
"He is.”
Well, that was blunt.
Kit frowned.
Lucinda stopped walking.
"What happens next is on him, Kit, not you." She was still, looking around, her expression alert.
Kit looked up at the sudden change in her voice. “What’s wrong?”
She didn’t answer, holding up her bandaged hand and Kit became aware of the all-encompassing silence in the woods. He listened intently but there was nothing, no wind, no rustling, not even a bird.
Lucinda’s entire posture changed and Kit saw her not as a tired old woman, battered down by life, but as an operative, on the hunt for a dangerous predator. She flicked her eyes sideways.
At the same time a voice came from the trees.
