Page 3 of Covert Vengeance

Except now… Now she had something worth living for.

An image of her sister’s face flashed in her mind. Eighteen months younger, taken from her when they’d been little, now a Valkyrie operative who specialized in stealing critical things from impossible places.

Megan had smiled at her while handing Amber the small duffel of cash and other supplies she’d needed to leave the country after Megan had helped her escape the holding facility in London two weeks ago. “You’re coming back, right?”

“If I can.”

Megan had scowled and shoved Amber’s shoulder gently. “Well, then, make sure you can.”

“I’ll try,” she’d promised.

After this was over, she wanted to return to England and see Megan again. Wanted to spend time with her and help with the search for the other missing Valkyries. But the only way that was happening was if Amber completed this mission.

She shook her head. Wishing for things, making future plans, was dangerous. She couldn’t afford to think about Megan, or dreams that would probably never come true. All that mattered for now was righting the wrong she’d done.

And if she wasreallylucky, one day she might even get to live a real life for a little while. Maybe even spend some of it getting to know her little sister again. Begin to heal the bond that had been severed by the people who had turned Amber and the others from young, frightened orphans into lethal weapons.

She pushed that from her mind and hurried toward the apartment where she could hack into the phone and dig into the dead man’s identity. Rescuing Hannah was priority one.

Someone had sent that hired thug after her. Amber hoped it was the guard at the checkpoint and not a wider network somehow aware of her presence. Either way, she had to change locations.

One threat had been eliminated. God only knew how many more were coming.

****

Traffic noise and conversation surrounded Jesse as he sipped a fresh cappuccino at a table outside the busy Paris café and read an actual newspaper. It was the first time in weeks he had nothing to do and could let his guard down a little.

Damn, he loved this city. There were plenty of things to do and see, the food was great, and it wasn’t a bad place to kick back for a while. He’d been here for three days now, a sort of “holiday” after his last job.

He was mostly recovered from the grueling mission in the Moroccan desert. As of this morning the fee he’d earned was sitting in his offshore account. He was used to living on a limited budget and stretching a dollar. In his line of work he never knew where he’d be bedding down for the night or when another contract would come in, and he only got paid once the deed was done. At the moment he had enough money saved up to last him a year comfortably if he decided to take the time off.

When his phone vibrated against his thigh he pulled it out of his pocket, still engrossed in a story in the paper about the most recent terrorism threat in Paris. Then he glanced down at the screen and his pulse kicked.

Whoa.A coded message that meant he had a contract offer from the secret forum he and a select handful of others were part of.

Did he want to take another job so soon? On the other hand, while he was enjoying his holiday, contracts from this source were rare and paid a fuck-ton of money.

Dammit, now he was too curious to just ignore it.

He finished his coffee, then strolled back to his rental place in the 11thArrondissement. He liked the vibe here, the energy of the place. But in another week he’d probably be bored as hell, craving action, and considering his profession, it was safer if he didn’t stay too long in one place anyway.

Up in his comfortable suite he accessed the forum on the dark web and logged in with his password. The unusual job offer made his eyebrows go up.

A woman. And the contract was to capture her, rather than kill her.

Jesse rubbed his goateed jaw and clicked on the attached file. Amber Brown. American. Caucasian, thirty-four. Five-foot-eight, hundred-and-forty-five pounds. Chocolate-brown hair, green eyes. A list of aliases followed, along with her last known locations, London and Istanbul. Possibly headed to Syria.

She had to be an operative of some sort. Nothing else made sense with that kind of CV.

The person posting the contract was offering two mil for her to be captured alive, and only one mil if brought in dead.

Even the lower amount was more money than Jesse had ever seen on a contract before. The higher offer was enough money to set him up for life if he brought her in alive. Enough to allow him to retire on and put this deadly lifestyle behind him, if he so chose.

“Two mil. Jesus.” Who the hell was this chick? And who did she work for?

There was nothing else in the file. Additional intel would be given only to those who accepted the job. The contract was offered to him and two other hitters only, all listed using their forum code names.

Although he didn’t know the others personally, they all knew of each other. They were all former military SOF. Interesting. And that amount of money guaranteed one of them would take it.

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