Explosive Vengeance

by Kaylea Cross

  “Believe me, it was my pleasure.” Though she wasn’t feeling quite so perky about it at the moment. The only reason she wasn’t being arrested was because various intelligence agencies had wanted Dubois gone, and Rycroft was once again working his magic on her behalf.

  “Oh, I know it was,” he said with a slight grin before sobering. “Regarding how your real name got leaked, we still don’t have any leads. And we’re not sure exactly how much he knew about you. The good news is, we think only Dominic knew and not his brother. We’re trying to isolate who fed Dominic the intel. Once we know that, we’ll work backward and find the source. It may just be the break we need to expose the dirty players within the Valkyrie Program.” He turned to Heath. “I’ll see myself out. If you need anything, let me know.”

  “I will, sir, thanks.”

  “Just Alex. I’m retired, haven’t you heard?” he said with a wry grin, and left.

  “Wow,” she breathed when the door shut behind him. “Alex Rycroft.”

  Heath laughed. “Never thought you were the type to get star struck.”

  “I’m not, but…” She gestured to the door. “Alex Rycroft.” After everything she’d heard about him from Megan and Trinity, she felt like she’d just met a living legend.

  A soft knock sounded, then the door cracked open and Megan appeared there. “Hey, you’re awake.”

  “Barely.” She put on a wan smile for her friend, who crossed to the bedside to grasp her right hand. “I just met Rycroft. He came to thank me for killing Dubois. I said it was my pleasure.”

  Megan shook her head at Chloe, then gave Heath a sardonic look. “Told you she’s a bad influence.” She scolded Chloe. “Look what you got poor Heath into now.”

  “I know.” Killing three men to cover her while she selfishly went after Dubois. She rolled her head to see him. “I already apologized.” His gentle smile told her he really had forgiven her. Even if she didn’t deserve it, she had it nonetheless. The thought of him leaving shortly hurt worse than all of her other injuries combined.

  Ty came in next with Amber and Jesse. Then Trinity.

  The eldest Valkyrie strode over to stand next to the bed, her shrewd blue eyes studying Chloe. “Those are some amazing shiners you’ve got there,” she murmured.

  Yeah, her eyes were getting more and more swollen every minute, it seemed. “You gotta get Rycroft to clear Heath,” she begged. “I forgot to ask him.” He might lose his security clearance because of her. Might lose his freaking job and never get hired again because of what he’d been forced to do today to protect her. “I dragged him into it, and he had no choice but to take out—”

  “Quiet. You’re supposed to be resting, and I’ll do the talking right now.”

  Chloe shut her mouth, her pulse elevated. With her declared dead she’d thought getting Dubois at his country estate would be a walk in the park. In, boom, out, without any snags.

  She’d been wrong. She was currently paying the price for that decision. She wouldn’t allow Heath to pay as well.

  “We’ve handled things with the authorities for now, but this is way beyond my scope. Rycroft is doing what he can, but this is gonna leave one hell of a paper trail. There’s no way we can hush everything up completely. There are already rumors flying about who targeted Dubois and why. His death is already all over the media.”

  So his daughters would know what he’d done too. Chloe was sorry for that. But not for killing that bastard. “And Heath?”

  Trinity folded her arms, amusement glinting in her eyes. “He’s been cleared.”

  Chloe exhaled in relief, then shot Trinity a scowl, although it was hard to say if she pulled it off with her swollen eyes. “Why didn’t you just lead with that?”

  “Because I like a bit of suspense. Keeps things interesting.” She slanted a look at Heath, then back at Chloe. “Speaking of interesting, I talked to the doctor in charge of your case. You’re going to be on reduced activity for a while—”

  “As in, severely reduced,” Heath added.

  “—so once he releases you, which will likely happen in the next twelve hours, you’re coming with us to the UK.”

  “I—”

  “Chloe?” Trinity put a hand on her arm. “You’re coming.” She squeezed, released and straightened. “Now. Everyone out except Heath.” She took Megan by the shoulders, spun her to face the door, and pushed. “Go. Out.”

  Megan made a disgruntled sound and did as she was told. “Jeez. Bossy.”

  Ty clapped a hand on Heath’s shoulder as he smiled at Chloe. “You guys need anything, give us a shout.”

  Heath waited until they were gone before coming to sit in the chair at the side of her bed. “Nice to have friends, huh?”

  “Yes.” Surreal, but nice. And even nicer to have friends with connections in high places, to pull strings behind the scenes and take care of pesky things like criminal charges and revoked security clearances.

  He laid his forearms on the bed and set his chin on top of them, watching her. “You look like hell, firecracker.”

  She made a face. “Feel like it too.” She reached for his hand, the feel of his long fingers curling around hers soothing her on the deepest level. “So you still have the contract in Syria?”

  “Unfortunately.”

  “When are you supposed to leave?”

  “Two days.”

  Her heart lurched. Only two days, and he’d be gone.

  She held his hand tighter, fighting a war within herself. She’d been trained not to rely on anyone. Not to need anyone. But she needed Heath, and was afraid to let him go. She wouldn’t beg him, however. A woman still had her pride, concussed or not. “Will you come with me to the UK before you fly to Syria? If I promise not to blow anything else up while you’re there?”

  Heath laughed softly as he picked up her hand and kissed the back of it, gazing into her eyes. “I don’t trust that promise for a second. But I’d go anywhere to be with you, firecracker.”

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Her target wasn’t going to show.

  Eden waited at the hotel bar, nursing the watered-down gin and tonic she’d ordered half an hour ago. He wasn’t coming. Either he’d gotten suspicious that something was up, or he’d blown her off.

  Disappointing, but it came with the territory. There was always another time. Another way to kill a target.

  She gave it another ten minutes before calling it a bust. As she slid off the barstool to grab her purse, her eye caught the breaking news story being broadcast on the TV behind the bar.

  Wealthy Paris businessman and philanthropist killed at his country estate.

  Guillaume Dubois’ face came on screen.

  She hid a smile. Well, well.

  Eden paid for her drink, scanned the bar one last time, then headed back to her room upstairs. Once there she ditched her heels, stripped off the skin-tight black cocktail dress and splurged with a nice, hot soak in the tub. Why not? It had been a hell of a week and she rarely stayed in a place this nice. She’d been following the same man for nearly a month now, working her way deeper and deeper into his inner circle.

  Wrapping up in a hotel robe, she decided to spoil herself again and ordered a hot fudge brownie sundae with a pot of tea from room service. While she ate it, she opened up her laptop to check for messages. One caught her eye immediately. From the sender she only knew as “Bam Bam”.

  Not sure if you’re still out there. But if you get this message… We got him, and the women are safe.

  Next to it were two links. One detailing how a group of migrant women were found and rescued from the hold of a ship in Le Havre a few nights ago. The other was a story about Dubois.

  A rush of triumph made the hair on Eden’s arms stand up. She opened the link and scanned the story with eager eyes.

  Guillaume Dubois was one of France’s wealthiest men, well known for his charitable donations to various causes.

  “Yeah, and most of that money came from selling women,”
she muttered under her breath, disgusted.

  In a shocking act, he was murdered early this morning on his estate in Normandy when his vehicle exploded with him inside it.

  “Beautiful.”

  Three of his security guards were also killed in the brazen attack. This is the second tragedy to hit the Dubois family in recent days. Guillaume’s younger brother, Dominic, died in an explosion in his Paris home last week. Police say the murders are connected, and the deaths have rumors about the brothers’ possible link to organized crime buzzing.

  “About fucking time someone saw the truth.” She clicked on the photos showing Dubois’ country manor, then zoomed in on the one showing the burned-out wreckage of his car. It was nothing but a heap of scorched and twisted metal.

  Both Dubois murders bore the hallmark of a pro. Eden was almost positive the woman she’d been in contact with was a fellow Valkyrie.

  She smiled as she typed back a response to the message, then paused. For a moment she considered writing more. A clue that a fellow Valkyrie would understand, just in case. It had been many years since she’d seen any of her sisters. Eden wished she could see them again. Feel like she belonged again.

  In the end, she decided against it. Shutting the laptop down, she leaned back against the nest of pillows behind her and polished off her sundae, already pondering how painful a death befitted her next victim.

  ****

  “Whoa.” Chloe couldn’t wipe the grin off her face as Megan drove them up the long driveway toward the manor house. As threatened, Trinity had put her and the others onto a private plane and flown them here to the UK as soon as Chloe had been released from the hospital.

  Laidlaw Hall was like something out of a movie, and even the sunglasses she had to wear because of a new sensitivity to light couldn’t dull the color of the stone in the evening light. Warm, honey-yellow, almost glowing against the emerald green of the perfectly manicured lawns and shrubs out front.

  “I know, isn’t it gorgeous?” Megan’s voice was filled with pride. “It’s not even mine, but it still feels like home.”

  They passed the gatehouse where she and Ty lived, and headed for the main house. A man came out of the house and down the front steps to meet them, a white-and-brown dog at his side.

  “There’s Marcus.”

  Heath’s arm was solid across her shoulders, keeping her tucked into his side. He wasn’t too happy about her being up and around yet, but she’d wanted the hell out of the hospital, even if she had a constant, splitting headache. The meds they’d given her had helped a bit, though she was still dizzy and the ringing in her ears hadn’t stopped. All in all, she was lucky to be alive, let alone without serious internal injuries or brain damage.

  “Go slow,” he warned, reaching in to help her out of the backseat. “Easy does it.”

  She scowled but did as he said, grabbing his shoulders when she stood because the ground seemed to move under her feet.

  “You good?” he asked, those piercing blue eyes assessing her expression.

  “Yeah.” But she was so damn glad to have him beside her.

  He wrapped a steadying arm around her waist and she leaned into him as they slowly walked to the stairs. Megan made the introductions. Heath shifted his hold on her to shake hands with the master of the house, then Marcus focused on Chloe.

  “Welcome, Chloe.” He had a cool accent, and his dark eyes seemed to see through the tinted lenses of her shades. He had burn scars visible around his left eye and in patches where his dark beard hadn’t grown in on his cheek, jaw and neck, and he walked with a cane.

  Megan had said he’d been wounded in an explosion in Syria. But Chloe had to wonder if he was truly okay with having her here, knowing she specialized in the kind of weapon that had taken so much from him. “Thanks. Good to be here.”

  “The others are inside. We’ve got your room ready for you.” He turned smoothly and made his way back up the steps. “Karas, come.” The dog jumped up and trotted after him.

  A woman emerged through the darkened opening of the front door. Shorter than Megan with a slender build, Asian features. She smiled at them. “I’m Kiyomi. Nice to meet you both,” she said, offering her hand.

  “You too,” Chloe replied, shaking it. The woman was tiny, her fingers so slender Chloe was afraid to squeeze too hard, but the proud posture and the steel in those dark eyes told Chloe all she needed to know about Kiyomi’s inner strength.

  Amber and Jesse were inside waiting for them. “Hey, you made it. And look at you, walking around on your own power already,” Amber said.

  “It’s cuz I’m indestructible,” Chloe answered with a grin. She wanted to lie down, and Heath would probably make her soon, but she also wanted to get the lay of the land here and be brought up to speed on what was happening.

  “Ty and I’ll grab your bags,” Jesse said, heading for the Range Rover.

  Meanwhile, Megan led them up a wide staircase to the second floor. “Here’s your room,” she said, opening the second door on the right side of the hallway.

  Everything about this place was amazeballs. Old, custom woodwork, fancy oil paintings on the walls, and her room was… “Wow.” She gazed around her in amazement. “Are you serious? I get to stay here?” It was fancier than the nicest hotel she’d ever been in. The king-size, four-poster bed had a deep red satin spread on it.

  “I always thought it looked like the inside of a brothel,” Marcus said wryly from the doorway, “but I’m glad you like it.”

  Megan swatted his shoulder and spoke to Chloe. “I figured if anyone should have the Crimson Room, it was you.”

  “Oh my God, is that a fireplace?” She pulled off her sunglasses, squinted as the light streaming through the window hit her sensitive eyes, shooting off a spike of pain in her skull.

  “Yep. Wood’s already laid in there if you want a fire later.”

  So cool. A fire crackling away, Heath and her alone together in this gorgeous room all night… Would be downright romantic if she wasn’t recovering from an acute concussion and a couple of bullet wounds that prevented her from enjoying Heath the way she wanted to.

  He squeezed her good shoulder gently. “You guys hang out for a bit. I’ve gotta get my flights figured out.”

  Once he left, Chloe sat on the bed, fatigue pulling at her. Megan folded her arms and cocked her head, her sister mimicking the pose beside her. Their coloring was slightly different, but some of their features and their body language were uncannily similar.

  “When’s he leaving?” Megan asked.

  “Tomorrow. Not sure what time. He has to report to his station in Damascus by the morning after that.” Sadness spread through her at the thought.

  “But you’re together, right?”

  “Sort of.”

  “Whoa, wait.” Amber frowned at her. “Sort of?” She looked at her sister before focusing back on Chloe. “Pretty obvious to everyone how he feels about you. You’re not into him?”

  Oh, she was into him. Way into him. “It’s…complicated.”

  Megan snorted. “Girl, who do you think you’re fooling? It’s always complicated, especially with us, but you can make it work if you want to.”

  Chloe waved a hand, her cheeks heating. She hated talking about this stuff in front of people. “We haven’t talked about it. I don’t know what he wants.”

  “What do you want?” Amber countered.

  Things that scared her. “Really not in the mood for this right now. Can we talk about something else?”

  “No,” the sisters answered at the same time, but then Amber reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone just as a soft knock sounded on the door.

  “Come in,” Megan called out.

  Kiyomi poked her head in. “Just came to check if you needed anything,” she said to Chloe.

  “Yeah, come on in here.” Chloe waved her in while Amber read whatever was on her phone.

  Then Amber’s thumbs got busy typing something. “There’s a message fro
m the woman you were in contact with.” She held out the phone so they could all see it.

  Good work, Bam Bam.

  “Bam Bam?” Megan asked with a laugh, raising an eyebrow.

  She shrugged. “I thought it fit.”

  “Oh, it fits.” Her friend studied her for a moment. “You need to lie down.”

  “I will. Right after you guys bring me up to speed with everything going on.”

  In the end they compromised. Chloe climbed into bed while the others gathered around for a short meeting. The list of remaining Valkyries was depressingly short, meaning there were hardly any of them left alive.

  Priority one was locating them as soon as possible and trying to bring them in. Priority two was setting up a private WITSEC-style program for them that had already been started, funded with money skimmed from criminal organizations and former targets that Amber had skillfully invested on their behalf.

  And thirdly, they were going to find out who was hunting them. If Rycroft’s team found the source responsible for leaking intel on Chloe to Dominic Dubois, it would be a huge break.

  “I’m so down with that,” Chloe said, wiggling her foot restlessly under the covers. She was all fired up, ready to kick some ass, pain or not. Those assholes had forced them to become weapons, and then thought they could dispose of them like used TP when they were no longer needed and posed a potential threat to expose their dirty deeds? Hell to the no. Someone was going to pay.

  “By the way, I have your file if you’re interested in seeing it,” Amber said.

  “What file?”

  “Your personnel file that I hacked from the Valkyrie database before they shut it all down.”

  Chloe’s eyes widened. “Are you serious? What does it say?”

  “I’ll send it to you.”

  “No, just tell me the highlights.” Reading would just strain her eyes and make her head hurt worse.

  Amber half-smiled. “All right. Let me go grab Lady Ada.”

  “Who’s Lady Ada?” she asked the others in confusion as Amber left.

  “Her laptop,” Megan answered. “She’s extremely protective and possessive of it, so never ever touch it unless she gives you permission.”