Jack of Hearts Read online

  JACK OF HEARTS

  BY

  DIANE CAPRI

  Presented By:

  AugustBooks

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  Praise for

  New York Times and USA Today

  Bestselling Author

  Diane Capri

  “Full of thrills and tension, but smart and human, too. Kim Otto is a great, great character. I love her.”

  Lee Child, #1 World Wide Bestselling Author of Jack Reacher Thrillers

  “[A] welcome surprise… [W]orks from the first page to ‘The End’.”

  Larry King

  “Swift pacing and ongoing suspense are always present… [L]ikable protagonist who uses her political connections for a good cause…Readers should eagerly anticipate the next [book].”

  Top Pick, Romantic Times

  “…offers tense legal drama with courtroom overtones, twisty plot, and loads of Florida atmosphere. Recommended.”

  Library Journal

  “[A] fast-paced legal thriller…energetic prose…an appealing heroine…clever and capable supporting cast…[that will] keep readers waiting for the next [book].”

  Publishers Weekly

  “Expertise shines on every page.”

  Margaret Maron, Edgar, Anthony, Agatha and Macavity Award-Winning MWA Grand Master

  Copyright © 2021 Diane Capri, LLC

  All Rights Reserved

  Excerpt from Worth Dying For © 2010 Lee Child

  Published by: AugustBooks

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  Jack of Hearts is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  License Notes:

  This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

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  eISBN: 978-1-942633-52-5

  Original cover design by: Cory Clubb

  Digital formatting by: Author E.M.S.

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Reviews

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Dear Friends

  WORTH DYING FOR by Lee Child

  Cast of Characters

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  More from Diane Capri

  About the Author

  Lee Child: The Reacher Report

  DEDICATION

  Perpetually, for Lee Child, with unrelenting gratitude.

  Dear Friends,

  Jack of Hearts is the twelfth novel in my Hunt for Jack Reacher Series, and I couldn’t be more excited for you to read it! More than two million readers already love the Hunt for Jack Reacher Series books—including Jack Reacher’s creator, Lee Child, thank heavens! Whew!

  The first question new readers usually ask me is how I’m allowed to write about Jack Reacher. The short answer is that Lee Child and I are friends, and he’s a big fan of my work. I write these books with his full support, for which I’m eternally and unrelentingly grateful. I’ve included his Reacher Report at the end of this novel in case you’re not signed up to receive email from Lee directly (and you can sign up to hear from him on his website if you’d like to).

  I hope you’ll see right away why amazing #1 worldwide publishing phenomenon Lee Child calls my books “Full of thrills and tension, but smart and human, too.” And why Lee gave the series an enthusiastic two thumbs up when he said, “Kim Otto is a great, great character. I love her!”

  The second question I often hear is about the sourcebooks for my stories. As many of you already know, every Hunt for Jack Reacher Series novel uses one of Lee Child’s Reacher novels as its sourcebook. I’m not writing sequels here, though. FBI Special Agent Kim Otto has a totally new story every time, and that story spins off to a life of its own.

  The Jack of Hearts sourcebook is Worth Dying For.

  The sourcebooks are fun to read either before or after my Hunt for Jack Reacher Series books, and readers tell me they love both. Each of my books is a complete story, and, like Lee Child’s original novels, my books do not need to be read in any particular order. (Although many readers enjoy reading the books in publication order.)

  A list of sourcebooks and publication order can be found in the back of this book here and on my website here: https://dianecapri.com/books/free-book-list-pdf/

  The third most frequent question I get is when the next Hunt for Jack Reacher book will be published. Jack of Hearts is the fifteenth book in my series, consisting of three exciting short reads and now, twelve novels. I’m working on book number sixteen, novel number thirteen, now. There’s a link to preorder the next novel at the end of this book, so you won’t miss out! You can find a complete list of all of my books here: http://dianecapri.com/books/

  Please sign up for my mailing list to receive advance notice of new releases and lots of other exclusive stuff for
reading group members only. You can do that here: http://dianecapri.com/get-involved/get-my-newsletter/

  While you’re waiting for a new Hunt for Jack I Series book, please give my other books a try. I believe you’ll enjoy them just as much. And either way, let me know what you think. You can write to me anytime, and I hope you will. I’d love to get to know you better. You can always reach me here: http://dianecapri.com/get-involved/message/

  Lee Child also suggests that you “Make coffee. You’ll read all night.” If you enjoy my books, I hope you’ll recommend them to your friends who love to read mystery/thriller/suspense, too.

  Meanwhile, thanks so much for reading. It’s an honor and a pleasure to write for readers like you!

  Caffeinate & Carry On!

  WORTH DYING FOR

  By Lee Child

  2010

  Reacher lived in a world where you don’t start fights but you sure as hell finish them, and you don’t lose them either, and he was the inheritor of generations of hard-won wisdom that said the best way to lose them was to assume they were over when they weren’t yet.

  CAST OF CHARACTERS

  Kim Otto

  William Burke

  Carlos Gaspar

  Charles Cooper

  Lamont Finlay

  Gamon Chen (called “GiGi”)

  Mika Chen

  Ying Chen (called “Jade”)

  Amarin Chen (called “Alan”)

  Roberto “The Elephant” Rossi

  Thaddeus Sydney

  Eleanor Duncan

  Evan Vincent

  Dr. Ezra Landon

  Brenda Landon

  Petey Burns

  and

  Jack Reacher

  CHAPTER 1

  Sunday, May 15

  Hoover Dam, Nevada

  Noon

  A passing stranger might have mistaken Jade Chen for a teenage boy. The constant video surveillance of one of the country’s top terrorist targets might be fooled, too.

  Jade was dressed like a tourist. Black jeans and black running shoes and a black hoodie covered her body and kept her warm enough in the wind. Oversized sunglasses shielded her eyes. She’d gathered her ebony hair into a wide barrette low on her neck and pulled her hood up to cover her head.

  She sauntered along the cold, narrow pedestrian walkway of the Hoover Dam bypass bridge, sweeping her gaze in all directions. The noonday sun was bright overhead and a strong breeze made the day feel cooler than the weatherman’s forecast.

  Jade forced herself to stare straight down through the thick concrete spindles lining the walkway as she moved. She had been afraid of heights since she was a child, three lifetimes ago. Only with fierce concentration did she manage not to tremble.

  The bridge was amazing. It soared nine hundred feet above the Colorado River. She paused at the Arizona end and stared at the ribbon of water below for a good long time, facing her fear of falling with faux courage. She no longer displayed the timidity her Thai culture had demanded. Years of hardship had forged her into steel from the frail reed she’d once been.

  Her body’s small tremors reminded her that she might follow her gaze, straight down to the water’s surface. From this height, it would be the same as splatting on concrete.

  She’d fallen off the roof of her neighbor’s home when she was eight. She’d been frozen in place, staring at the terrifying drop off the roof, until her body simply fell forward and down and crashed onto the hard ground below.

  Amarin had been there. He’d picked her up and carried her all the way to the doctor’s home. He’d stayed with her until she was released. He’d done all he could, but it hadn’t been enough.

  The break had never healed correctly. Even now, she had a slight foot drop and still walked with a limp when she was too tired to control it.

  But with Amarin’s help, she had survived the experience.

  She wouldn’t survive a fall from here. Not simply because she was slight and fragile. Her size didn’t matter. A giant would suffer the same fate.

  No one could survive a fall from this bridge.

  Jade knew that much for sure because she’d looked it up online before she agreed to meet Amarin secretly here. The prospect of facing him anywhere terrified her, which she absolutely would not reveal. Only through extreme force of will had she forced herself to come.

  She’d agreed because she knew Amarin would never leave her alone otherwise. This was her one chance to persuade him to abandon her once again. This time, forever.

  Amarin had loved her once, as she’d loved him. Before she’d dishonored herself and her family. She was a sex worker now. She owned the business and employed other sex workers. She was in full control of her life.

  But he was outraged by her behavior, and he’d never been able to control his anger.

  Still, Jade wanted to believe he wouldn’t toss her over the bridge to her death, like a discarded childhood plaything, when she refused him with iron-willed finality.

  Why had he wanted to meet here? There were hundreds of safer places, surely.

  Her fear insisted this would be the perfect place for him to dispose of any enemy. The body would be found eventually. The enemy’s only chance would be to thwart the execution before he went over the railing.

  Against Amarin, the possibility of success in physical battle was nil.

  Not many possessed the strength or speed to thwart him. For Jade, it would be useless to try. She hoped she wouldn’t need to.

  The bridge was heavily traveled day and night, and there were always police around. A killer would need to be clever about the timing if he hoped to avoid witnesses and escape capture afterward.

  Could Amarin do all of that? She suspected he could.

  Amarin’s combat skills had always been magical.

  If one wanted to die here, the good news was that police didn’t try to stop suicides. There were no suicide prevention signs or phones to call hotlines or anything like that. The prevailing view seemed to be that anyone who wanted to die would do it, regardless of efforts to thwart them.

  Amarin would only need to persuade authorities that she’d killed herself. He could do that easily.

  Jade began to walk from the Nevada side of the bridge. When she reached the Arizona side, she paused to look down. And then she turned and strolled back, forcing her gaze away from the magnetic pull of the abyss.

  Halfway across the walkway this time, she saw him standing alone, watching her approach, waiting with infinite patience like a crouching tiger until she reached him.

  Amarin was dressed almost the same as she, perhaps for the same reasons. As children, they’d often been in sync like that. Perhaps time and distance and circumstances had not severed the bond of shared history.

  Jade lifted her lips at the corner in greeting. He made no effort to acknowledge her.

  He leaned casually against the railing, not far from the Nevada side of the bridge, hands loose at his side. He was wearing black leather gloves. She hadn’t been this close to him since they’d left Thailand for America more than seven years ago.

  He looked the same but different. Partly, he’d matured. But now, he had a chiseled athlete’s body instead of the lean, lithe physique of the boy she remembered. He stood with a formidable presence, a focused and threatening grace.

  The physical and mental changes had no doubt developed as he’d honed his boxing skills. At last count, he’d won more than one hundred Muay Thai matches. It was the sport of his country and his childhood. He’d bested all opponents from a very young age.

  His style was fast, elusive, and technical. It had made him a champion and, in certain circles, a celebrity.

  All of which meant that if Amarin wanted to kill her, he could easily do so. It would be the work of a moment to pick her up and toss her over the barrier railing and into the deep canyon. His actions were lightning fast. Tourists, focused on the magnificent views, might not actually see him do it.

  Jade stopped ten steps away. After a
few moments of mutual appraisal, she steadied her voice. “You look good. The mustache suits you.”

  He nodded. “Are you packed?”

  “No,” she said firmly, keeping her gaze and her voice steady. “I’m not going with you.”

  Amarin’s eyes narrowed and he flashed the look she’d seen him use to quell an opponent in the ring just before he delivered a solid knock-out kick. “Why not?”

  Jade stood her ground and firmly delivered the short speech she’d rehearsed. “My business is going well. We are thriving. Your life is not your own. You have nothing to offer us. And there’s nothing for us back in Thailand. No home. No family. Nothing but shame and sorrow and loss awaits me there. I’m staying where I am.”