Jack In The Box novel Chapter 32

Riley

“You’re an FBI agent?” I gave him an incredulous look.

“Yes, ma’am.” Ezra said.

I looked at Flint and Scott, trying to see if there was any hidden joke in this but they appeared to be serious.

“Maybe you’re lying to me.” I said.

Ezra reached for the back pocket of his jeans and produced a badge. He let me inspect it for a minute. “Maybe the badge is fake too.”

He chuckled. “Agent Flint and Scott would vouch for me. If that’s not enough, I can try to get in touch with the Bureau head in Virginia which may take some time.”

I stared at him for a good few seconds deciding that my rage had overpowered the relief of being alive and not having to die at the hands of a psychotic murderer. “I would have died of heart-attack; did that possibility ever cross you, Agent Wolfe?”

“I apologize about that.” Ezra said giving me a smile, not having even a twinge of remorse.

“I need answers starting with why you are in WoodVille’s impersonating as Jack?” I asked.

Ezra sighed and touched his gun. He noticed me looking and said. “It’s a service weapon. Don’t worry.”

I didn’t say anything. He pointed towards a vacant chair. “Sit down, Miss. Frazer”

“I said I need answers!”

“I said sit down!” Ezra ground out. The mask of control was slowly slipping.

I sat down despite myself, not because he’d practically ordered me to, but mostly due to exhaustion. The two other Agents, Flint and Scott settled down a few chairs behind me. Ezra hoisted himself up on the table.

“Let me start from the beginning.” He said. “I know Jack didn’t kill our mother, but he’d been accused of it and the murders that followed after. I know my brother is quite capable of killing but he wouldn’t take innocent lives. His methods are wrong; he took the law into his hands.” Ezra said in obvious frustration.

“I was in Quantico when I first heard about a series of murders; almost similar to the three people Jack had killed.”

He continued. “I couldn’t believe at first but it was all being pointed at him as if Jack had finally gone completely mad and went on a killing spree. Agent Flint and his partner were handed the case and I couldn’t help myself. I kept hounding them for answers they didn’t have. Agent Flint believed from the start that it’s Jack who’ was behind everything.”

“Agent Flint is wrong.” I said turning in my chair and saying it loud enough for the two of them to hear it.

“Well, unfortunately he doesn’t share your sentiment or even mine” Ezra retorted, an indirect hit at Flint. “So when I started meddling in the case, there was a meeting at the bureau and the Chief wasn’t happy with what I was doing. He thought I was going to try and hide the evidence in favor of my brother.”

“Would you?”

Ezra shook his head. “I wouldn’t dream of doing it. Let’s be clear on this, Miss. Frazer—”

“Call me Riley.” I said.

“Riley, I’m not on Jack’s side. I’m with the law and if Jack happens to the person behind this debacle, I’d be the first person to shoot him dead.” He said it with such conviction that I believed he was telling the truth.

A giggle escaped my lips. “I’m sorry.”

“Something amusing?”

“Nothing, it’s just that Jack said the same thing about you. He phrased it differently.”

“I do not harbor any misconception that Jack might not be behind all of this, and neither should you.” He said. “After mother died, I was in Quantico under training. I had to take up an operation and stage my own death which I did. The operation was involved with a mafia syndicate. Drug lords, human trafficking’s, you know that type of stuff. If they found out I was with the FBI, it would’ve blown my cover. Lives of children and women were at stake. I couldn’t take a risk.”

“So you let your brother assume you were dead.”

I saw the guilt seep into his expressions. “Yes, that’s the price I paid, and I don’t regret it.”

Faith had clearly played a joke with their lives. The brothers were two sides of the same coin. One twin was a powerful man in law enforcement, the other a dangerous fugitive.

“When I’d successfully exposed those people, I came back to find that the damage was done. Jack was accused of murders. I put in a request at the head office and the chief told me I could help them in the Wolfe murder investigation since I was a key element. They knew that I knew my brother more than anyone else and that made things easier for them. That’s when I decided to get caught by the police. I never told them I was Jack, they assumed, I remained quiet.” He grinned. “I took that opportunity to do some investigations in the asylum myself. Keep an eye out.”

“And did you find anything?”

Ezra shook his head. “Unfortunately, not much.”

“Why did you threaten me and chase after me like that? I really thought you were going to kill me.” I said.

“You were a prime suspect. I had to get you to start spilling. I thought if I gave you a bit of a scare, you’d tell me Jack’s current location.”

“I wouldn’t tell you even if I knew.”

“Which is precisely why you are going to do what I’m going to tell you to. You will get in touch with Jack and we’re going to pretend you’re in danger from me.”

“And why would I do that?”

“Because that’s what’s best for him.”

“You will lead him into a trap!” My voice was bordering to a scream now. “Don’t you see? The killer wants to frame Jack! If we bring him here, you’d give the killer a perfect reason to commit another murder. The killer is not an outsider. It’s someone among us.” I concluded.

Ezra folded his arms over his chest, “how do you figure that?”

“I just know it. I’m not sure if the previous killings are linked to the ones that took place in WoodVille’s but the murders that happened in the hospital are done by a person who knows every single hidden exit that only the staff have access to.”

“What about the surveillance cameras there?” Ezra was quick to ask.

“Some of those areas are not covered with the cameras.”

“Dr. Liu is supposed to tell us about this, or at least Dr. Aaron Shaw.” Ezra appeared to be thinking for a minute and then he turned to the agents seated behind me. “Flint, can we have a thorough interrogation with each of the doctors?”

“We’ve already done that, Ezra and we failed to find any valuable information.”

“Do it again. I’ll prepare the questionnaire this time.” He said.

“Roger that.”

Ezra turned his piercing gaze towards me which kept reminding me of Jack and how jarringly obvious the similarities between them were. “So, Riley, do we have your co-operation?”

“Do I have a choice?”

He smiled. “Actually, you don’t.”

“I don’t have Jack’s number, in case you’re plotting to torture the number out of me.” I made a snide comment.

“We don’t need to use any torture methods on you; we’ve already acquired a means to contact him. Did Jack mention Dr. Mark Bowen by any chance?”

My face was probably as white as a sheet because Ezra grinned. “Jack is smart, I’ll give him that much but he’s also a human being like any one of us and humans are bound to get exhausted when they reach their limits. In Jack’s case, there was a minor slip up. He contacted Bowen in an emergency and the number lit up like a Christmas tree. That’s all we needed.”