Page 6 of Covert Vengeance

“Two mil.”

Megan’s eyes widened. “Twomillion?”

“Yeah.”

That was insane. It was the kind of money offered to a contract killer for the head of a major cartel or the leader of a country, not a single female operative. “Holy shit.” Tentacles of fear began to spread through her stomach.

“Well, two mil if she’s brought in alive. One mil if she’s dead.”

Megan hid a grimace. “Who’s the contract been offered to?”

“That’s the interesting bit. Only three hitters have been offered the contract. Rycroft was contacted by one of them this morning. And you’ll never guess who gave him Rycroft’s number.”

“Who?”

“Georgia’s husband, Miguel.”

“MiguelBautista?” As in, the formerly most feared enforcer of one of the most vicious drug cartels in U.S. history, now married to the former Valkyrie sniper?

“I know. This guy reached out to Bautista when he was offered the contract on your sister. He thought something might be off and wanted to check her background. Apparently he and Bautista knew each other from their military days, and they’ve kept in touch off and on over the years.”

“What’s his name?”

“Jesse Cordova.”

Wasn’t familiar.

“Rycroft met with Bautista to review Cordova’s background. He’s a former Marine Raider, been in the business for about seven years. Used to operate for the CIA, then the NSA. He and Bautista met in A-stan. He’s one of the best and has a certain… understanding with his former NSA handler that allows him to operate with a lot of latitude when he takes jobs that are off the books. Rycroft’s all over this, and thinks we can trust him.”

“Trust him to what? Let him go after Amber?” Megan rubbed her temple, her mind racing. “She’s my sister. I’ll provide backup if she needs it. I can be on a flight out of here within the hour.”

“I thought you were positive she’d let you know once she located Hannah?”

Amber had promised it the night Megan had helped her escape in London weeks ago. “Yeah, well, that was before I found out some asshole put a two-million-dollar bounty on her head.” Jesus, with that kind of money offered, who knew how many hitters would come after her?

“As of right now, you and Ty are on standby. I’m flying to London tonight, and I’m bringing Georgia and Bautista with me. If we go to Syria, we all go together.”

“No way, a team that size might spook her into taking off. Let me go to her. I just want to make sure she’s safe, then I’ll help her find Hannah.” She didn’t want to wait for the others, she wanted to get to Ambernow. “Tyler will go with me. We’ll link up with Amber, and the three of us will handle the rest.” She met his stare over her shoulder. He was standing by one of the bookcases, Marcus beside him.

“No. Either we all go, or we all stay,” Trinity said. “That’s how this is gonna work. Rycroft’s orders.”

Screw Rycroft, she’s my sister.

Megan bit the retort back. Trinity wanted the same thing Megan did: to find all the others and bring them in safely. And the truth was, Megan was at their mercy. She didn’t have the resources to find and track Amber on her own.

“Fine,” she relented, “but if anything changes, I’m not waiting.”

Megan had lost her sister once. She wasn’t letting it happen again.

****

A warm, salty wind bathed Yury’s face as he stood on the deck of the passenger ferry crossing the Bosphorus, hands in his coat pockets. People milled around him, talking and smoking but he barely noticed them, staring numbly out across the water.

Ahead lay the ancient spires and skyline on the European side of Istanbul. Zoya’s favorite city.

Just her name, the memory of her beautiful face was enough to crush the breath from his lungs in a wave of agony.

They’d been here twice together, spending two or three decadent days and nights each time. Wandering the historic streets, drinking in the sights and the culture. Shopping at the Grand Bazaar. Eating. Making love in the middle of the afternoon and falling asleep together. Waking up to do it all over again in the shower, on the floor, or out on the balcony without caring if anyone saw them.

---