Ricochet - Candice M. Wright Page 0,111

leave anything out. Lie to me, and I will put a pretty little hole in your head.”

He grips the steering wheel hard, and for a minute, I think he’s going to choose the latter of the two options before he speaks.

“You know that Zodiac is my father?”

When I nod, he continues.

“I always knew. My mom wrote a letter, paranoid that he would hunt us down when she ran. It explained everything that had happened, how he had raped her and she fell pregnant with Kai and me.”

“After we were born, she knew she had to get away, but Zodiac always kept one of us with a guard, knowing she wouldn’t run and leave the other behind.”

“Until she did,” I whisper.

He nods, looking sad. “She was twelve. She thought if she could just get away, she could get help, and the police would storm the building, and everything would be okay. Only once she was free, her terror at the thought of somehow ending up back there kept her silent. There was a car crash. I was thrown from the wreckage, my car seat and all, which is what protected me. A cop found me and the letter my mother carried everywhere. He took me home, changed my name from Jude Reid to Jude Daniels, and faked it to look like I died right along with my mother.”

“What the fuck? Why would he do that?” My heart races at the thought that Jude escaped one monster only to end up in the hands of another.

“Because his sister was one of Zodiac’s first victims. She hung herself when she found out she was pregnant. There was not enough evidence to press charges, hell he wasn’t even brought in for questioning.”

“And so he raised you, knowing you could be the key to getting the evidence he needed,” I answer, feeling sick at the thought of him being a pawn.

“He was a good man. He loved me, but it was no secret that he expected me to join the force and pick up where he left off, to bring Zodiac down.”

I sit quietly for a moment as Jude drives aimlessly around the city.

“When did you meet Kai?”

“When we were both nineteen. I had intel that he would be at a club on the outskirts of the city. I accidentally on purpose bumped into him coming out of the bathroom. Anyway, long story short, I convinced him that I wanted to get to know him, but without Zodiac knowing about me. Kai was smart enough to know Zodiac would be a wildcard. In the end, Kai’s need to get to know me better won out over his need to spill his guts to his father.”

“Fast forward, however many years. How does that lead to you and Kai playing a dangerous version of the parent trap?”

“I claimed I wanted to get to know him, see if I might be welcomed back in the fold. I had to prove myself to Kai first, so we switched places, and I had to…” He pauses for a minute. “…do things that Kai was expected to do,” he answers vaguely, but I can fill in the blanks. He had to beat people, torture them, perhaps even kill, all in the name of snagging Zodiac.

“But it’s been years, so what changed?”

“Zodiac only became more and more unstable. I think Kai realized that Zodiac would sooner kill me than welcome me back with open arms, but by then, we had fallen into a sort of routine. And, surprisingly, we liked being brothers. Kai was happy for things to stay as they were, and I used my time spent with Zodiac to collect evidence.” He shrugs.

“Did you ever stop to think what this would do, will do to Kai when he finds out?”

Jude, at least, has the grace to look ashamed. “I love him. He’s my brother, but he can’t see past his loyalty to Zodiac and I can’t let that man keep doing what he’s doing.”

Well, at least we both agree on that. “I wouldn’t be so sure about Kai’s loyalty to Zodiac right now. When he messaged you the other day to tell you to switch off the camera in your apartment, did you do it?”

“Yes. We had only had them set up for a few days, so I figured there was an issue. He told me he would explain everything later, but he hasn’t called yet.” He frowns.

“Zodiac ordered Kai to kill me and that’s what the video will show.

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