Page 21 of Covert Vengeance

A reluctant grin tugged at his mouth, and he let out a low chuckle. So ballsy. “Hell of a gamble,belleza.” The urge to get up and cup her cheek was almost overwhelming. But she’d probably knee him in the balls for trying.

His phone buzzed in his front pocket. He glanced at the screen. “Rycroft’s sending a jet for us. It’ll land at an airstrip two hours west of here at oh-six-hundred. We’ll need to be out of here in three hours, tops.”

Amber glanced at the closed door of the room where Kiyomi was resting. “Let her sleep as long as possible.”

“You know her well?”

Those pretty green eyes came back to him. “Used to. We were trained together initially.”

More than her closed expression, something about her tone told him there was quite a story there. But he wasn’t going to press. She was putting on a brave front, but after everything that had happened she had to be exhausted, and the adrenaline crash coupled with finding Hannah Miller dead would be hitting her hard.

“Go shower, then talk to Trinity and your sister. You’ll feel better,” he added when she gave him a stony stare.

With a tiny nod she finally relented and disappeared down the hall to the bathroom.

Jesse expelled a long breath and gingerly leaned back into the couch, a low groan escaping him as his pummeled back touched the cushions. This was maybe the strangest situation he’d ever been in. But definitely one of the most interesting.

Amber didn’t know it, but he was hooked on her already and sticking by her side until she was safe. He couldn’t wait to see how the rest of this played out.

Chapter Seven

Amber paused on her way to the bathroom to check on Kiyomi. Her old friend was still asleep, hadn’t moved at all since Amber had patched her up and tucked her in.

Cordova was another matter. While Amber didn’t fully trust him, Megan had vouched for him. He had intervened on her behalf twice, and she and Kiyomi were as safe here as they were going to get.

She left Kiyomi to rest and retreated into the bathroom. A razor, can of shaving cream and a toothbrush sat on the glass shelf above the sink. Little reminders of the man she was essentially partnered with for the foreseeable future.

The name he’d used earlier had thrown her. Carly. It was Megan’s real name, before the Valkyrie Program had changed it. That more than anything had convinced her he was on her side.

Her heart thudded as she perched on the edge of the tub and called her sister. She hadn’t spoken to Megan since the night her sister had helped her escape the London holding facility weeks ago. Amber had vowed to find and rescue Hannah, as a way of making amends for her possible mistake, and to prove herself to her sister and the others. But she’d failed, because Hannah was dead.

“Hello?” Megan answered.

Just the sound of her sister’s voice made Amber’s throat tighten. “It’s me. Is this line secure?”

“Yes. Are you okay?” Megan rushed out.

“I’m fine.” Physically, anyway. Emotionally? She wasn’t even going to go there in her own head.

“What happened?”

The constriction in her throat increased sharply, as if a rock was stuck there. She rubbed her fingers over her eyes and pushed out a breath. “Hannah’s dead.”

A beat of silence passed. “I heard. Trinity texted.”

Cordova must have contacted her. “They killed her.”

“You know who it was?”

“Fayez Rahman. He captured her and Kiyomi somehow.”

“Trinity sent me the file you had on her. What was Kiyomi doing there?”

Amber had hacked all the personnel files from the system before they could be erased when officials scrambled to shut down the Valkyrie Program. “Not sure. And I can’t ask her because she’s currently passed out. They worked her over pretty bad. She’s hurt, but not critical. Vitals are strong. I’ll have to wait until she wakes up to do more of an assessment.”

“Rycroft’s bringing you all here to the manor. Trinity’s flying in too. You’ll all be safe here, and we can take care of Kiyomi together.”

Together. It was a lovely sentiment. “Yes.” Exhaustion pulled at her, the result of too many sleepless nights, high stress and adrenaline crash. She was an expert at blocking thoughts and emotions, but right now she felt fragile inside. “I…couldn’t bring Hannah out.”

---