“That’s it. I guess you are used to scaring your enemy so bad they don’t put up a fight.”

I’m hardly used to that, but far be it from me to dissuade him from thinking I’m a badass.

He keeps talking. “Gentry, I’m not like your average bloke. I’m bladdy looking forward to the day we meet.”

“Me, too. Why don’t you give me your address? I’ll pop right over.”

“No such luck. Can’t make it too easy, can I? The boss man wouldn’t be happy with me. Nah, mate, I’ll just do what I do, work within the confines of my job. I’ll let Roxana do what she does, or what she’ll be forced to do soon enough, which won’t be pretty. I’ll just wait for the stars to align and for you to show up in front of me.”

“Hey,” I say. “While I’ve got you, what’s it like knowing you are ruining the lives of tens of thousands of innocent girls? How does that make you feel?”

“How does it make you feel killing loads of people?”

Sharon brings me coffee and I take it, my hand clutching the phone tightly. “Sometimes I feel nothing at all. But sometimes, when it’s just the right person . . . I feel fan-fucking-tastic. And I’m really looking forward to that day I show up in front of you.”

Jaco laughs hard now. “Likewise, mate. You think you scare me, but ya don’t.”

“I don’t want to scare you. I want your confidence at an all-time high when I drive the blade into your gut. Then you’ll get that look of disbelief in your eyes, mixed with fear, mixed with anger. You know the look. You’ve seen it in your victims, haven’t you, Jaco?”

He doesn’t reply, and I know I’m in this asshole’s head, right where I want to be.

Jaco says, “You think you’re some kind of a hero, don’t you, mate? I know your type. I bet you think you are going through all this because you care about the poor defenseless little whores. But that’s not it at all. I can hear it in your voice. You’re the same as me. You do all this not because you want to save people, but because you want to kill people. You need to kill people.”

He’s wrong. Totally wrong. I mean . . . he has to be. I don’t kill because of blood lust, I kill because of the situations I find myself in.

Or . . . put myself in, I guess.

Does this motherfucker have a point?

Pushing my own motivations out of my mind for now, I say, “Well, it’s been a blast catching up. Looking forward to our next encounter.”

“You and me both, mate.”

I hang up the phone, figuring doing so will piss him off a little. I thought about appealing to him to leave Roxana out of this, but I don’t want to do anything more to make him think he has that leverage over me with her.

Sharon brings the coffeepot back to refill me, but I haven’t taken a sip yet. She says, “Landing in a half hour.”

“Thanks.”

Zack is awake now, and he moves over next to me. Softly he says, “I talked to Matt while you were racked out. We have an idea that might help you a little.”

I’m suspicious, despite Hanley’s limited sanction. “Why is Matt helping me with something he doesn’t even want me doing?”

“Hanley doesn’t want you dying for another cause, he wants you dying for him.”

It’s fucked up, but I know Hanley well enough to know it’s true.

I say, “Okay, so why are you helping me?”

“Me?” Zack looks uncomfortable now, weird on the face of a man normally so cocky and self-assured. After a time, he says, “I have my reasons.”

I know his reason. His one reason. “You’re thinking about who I’m trying to help, and you’re thinking about your own kid, aren’t you?”

“My daughter. She lives in Boulder. That’s not a guess. I found out last spring. She and her mom are in wit-pro, long story, but I got a guy at the Bureau to find out about her.”

I know how hard it is to find someone in Witness Protection, so I recognize the lengths Zack must have gone to. “Why did you seek her out after all these years?”

Now Zack looks almost sick. He isn’t the emotional type, so when his eyes glass up and redden, it’s awkward as fuck for us both. He says, “I’m not gonna live forever. Hell, I might not live till Tuesday.” He sniffs back congestion; there are no tears, but he’s close. He says, “Stacy. That’s her name. Her mom named her. She probably told her I died in the war or some shit.” After another sniff he says, “She’s got another dad. A firefighter. I dug into him hard.” After a pause he says, “He’s a good dude. A saint.” He shakes his head. “Fucking bastard.”

“You want your kid being raised by a good man, don’t you?”

He nods. “Of course I do. But I wish I were that good man. I haven’t done one thing for her but stay away. That used to be enough for me. But it’s not anymore.”

Zack clears his head with a hard shake. “Anyway. These girls in the pipeline. I hope you can help them out.”

I’m almost certain the ones I saw in Mostar, with the exception of Liliana, are all but doomed. But maybe there is still hope for Roxana. “What is it you are offering?”

“Wish I could go with you, but Hanley would kick me in the dick meat if I tried. I do know a guy you might want to talk to, though.”

“Who?”

Zack turns and faces me directly. “Like Hanley said, you’ve got no problem working with some shady fuckers if it helps you achieve your mission. That’s right, isn’t it?”

I don’t hesitate an instant. “I’d work with Satan himself to help these victims, Zack.”

Hightower nods. “There’s a former Unit guy.” He’s talking about Delta Force, and I know them to be among the best shooters on the planet. “He transitioned to Ground Branch. He left the Agency, started a company a few years back in the Philippines, raiding brothels and rescuing kids being abused by foreign tourists. The sickest of the sick fuckers out there. International agencies hired him and his team after they did the prep work. He and his six teammates kicked the doors, Delta style, went in and took down johns and traffickers. Zip-tied the perpetrators and left them for the cops, then got the kids out of there and into shelters.

“This guy saw a lot of action in three years of doing this.”

I say, “He doesn’t sound like Satan to me. Still, I don’t see how some dude in the Philippines is going to be any help to—”

“He lives in Vegas now,” Hightower continues. “His company is defunct.” Almost nonchalantly he adds, “He and his boys straight-up murdered a bunch of dudes.”