Page 24 of Covert Vengeance

One man shook his head. “Both gone.”

His lips tightened. “Let me inside.” He needed to see for himself.

The guards let him through. A team of forensics people were inside, blocking his access. He showed the ID again, argued and threatened until he got his way and was allowed inside the taped-off area. Blood spattered the wall and floor near an open doorway that led down into a basement.

He found investigators and other forensics people there, combing through the evidence. Bodies lay at the base of the stairs, and one female captive was dead in her cell. Not Amber Brown. It was Hannah Miller, one of the crew who had worked with Zoya to set up the big payoff op in Rome.

The one that had wound up costing him and Zoya so dearly.

“I need to see the security camera footage,” he demanded.

When he finally got access, he was disappointed once again. Amber had used some kind of electronic crimping device that had set the camera system on a loop, hiding her presence and anyone else who had arrived after her.

Frustrated, he pulled the lead investigator aside. Yury had just missed her. Again. And there was no telling where she was now, or where she would go now that Hannah was dead. “The other female captive. Where is she?”

“Gone. Whoever broke in took her.”

Amber. “How many people broke in?”

“At least two. Maybe more.”

He frowned. Valkyries were some of the best trained assassins in the world, but even someone as skilled as Amber wouldn’t have been able to pull this off alone—not with this many guards responding. So who had helped her? The other captive?

Why had Amber taken her? He couldn’t see her risking so much to free a stranger. Unless the captive was another Valkyrie?

It was possible. Two of them could have done this. Or had Amber been working with someone else?

Yury handed the man a piece of paper with the number to his burner phone on it. “Call me if you find out anything more. I’m looking for this woman. She’s a top priority target for both our countries.” He gave him Amber’s picture, then turned to leave.

He stopped in surprise as Fayez Rahman burst in, flanked by four of his personal bodyguards. His dark brown gaze swept the interior, then locked on Yury. He marched straight at him. “Is she gone?” he demanded, grabbing Yury’s arm.

Yury pulled free and took a step back. They were acquaintances, nothing more, and he didn’t like Rahman touching him. “Who?”

“The Asian one. Is she gone?” His expression was full of a weird mixture of fury and something like panic.

“Yeah.”

Rahman paled visibly, then let out a stream of curses in Arabic and paced in a tight circle, raking a hand through his hair. He spun back to face Yury, his dark gaze hostile, accusing. “Were you here for them? The women?”

He shook his head. He didn’t want Rahman as an enemy. “No. I want the one who came for them.”

Rahman looked him up and down, still suspicious, then pulled in a deep breath and regained his normal, cool bearing. “If you find her, bring the Asian woman to me and I’ll pay you three million.” Without a word he stalked toward the open door that led down to the basement.

Yury digested the offer on the way out of the building. He didn’t need the extra money once he got his back from Amber, but handing this Asian woman over to Rahman afterward might be worth it. He’d see how things went.

His Russian contact was waiting for him by the front doors. “What now?”

“We search all transportation hubs. She’s going to try to leave the country.” The checkpoint and border guards he was paying were all looking for her. If she tried to get out of the city tonight, Yury would have her.

He got back in the vehicle and made some calls to other contacts, checking train, bus and plane schedules. “Let’s head back to base,” he said to the Russian. He couldn’t do any more until he got another hit on Amber.

They stopped at a café to grab coffee and something to eat on the drive back to base. Yury dropped his contact off and headed to a new location across the city, frustration pulsing through him.Where are you, you bitch?

He was asleep in bed, dreaming of Zoya when his burner phone rang. He bolted upright and grabbed it, his pulse tripping when he saw a contact’s number. “Have you got something?”

“I found a flight plan for a private jet scheduled to land at an airstrip outside of the city in two hours. It’s coming from London. Couldn’t find out anything about who ordered the flight, but I thought you might want to check.”

Yury was up and back in his car within two minutes, speeding for the airstrip located out in the desert. The sun was just cresting the horizon behind him when he got there.

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