Page 24 of Explosive Vengeance

Ty and Megan shared a look, then she took Chloe by the arm and started leading her away. “You guys go ahead and talk while we catch up elsewhere.” They disappeared into the bedroom and shut the door.

Alone, Heath faced his buddy and raised his eyebrows. “Well?” It looked like Ty was trying not to laugh, but if he did Heath might deck him. “Did you know she killed a guy? It was all over the news.”

Ty opened his mouth to respond but Heath stabbed a finger at his chest before he could answer. “You made me believe I was doing you a favor by looking after a woman in trouble. I assumed she was a civilian, because you didn’t say otherwise. But she damn near neutered me during our first meeting, then I find myself on the run from the National Police because she’s some spy or whatever who’d just killed a powerful and wealthy French businessman in his own house. What thehell, Ty?”

Ty held up his hands. “I know, I know, and I’m sorry for all that. I’ll explain everything. Let’s sit down.”

“I don’t wanna sit,” he growled. “Just tell me.”

Ty’s expression was as serious as Heath had ever seen it. Then he tipped his head toward the closed bedroom door. “They’re Valkyries,” he said.

Heath squinted at him. “Huh?”

“Megan and Chloe. They’re government-trained assassins.”

Heath barely kept his mouth from falling open. He’d heard about this a while back, but he’d never…. “You mean they were part of that program that was all over the media a few months ago? The one nobody knew about beforehand?”

Ty nodded. “The Valkyrie Program was dreamed up by the CIA. They shut it down after it was exposed when one of its members went to trial—Will Balducci.”

“I remember.” He’d followed the story for weeks afterward.

“But it was still running up until a few months ago, and now someone’s gunning for these women. They’ve got a lot of enemies, as you can imagine. But whoever’s targeting them is doing it from the inside.”

Heath changed his mind. “I’m gonna sit down.”

He walked to the couch, sank down on it and put his head in his hands, his elbows resting on his knees. This was crazy. And his best buddy had landed him right in the middle of it. “I was on vacation.”

“I know, and I’m sorry about that. How long until you go back?”

“Little over two weeks. But I guess my holiday’s over now, huh? There’s a chance someone spotted me with her. So whoever’s after her might target me too.”

Ty sank down next to him. “Yeah,” he said quietly. “I was hoping this wouldn’t happen. But you know I wouldn’t have involved you unless it was important.”

Heath nodded, took a breath and sat up. “How the hell did you get involved in all of this?”

“I got a call out of the blue from Alex Rycroft.”

Heath knew the name. A former SF officer who had gone on to become a star with the NSA. “I thought he was retired.”

“Technically he is. But then he got wind from a former Valkyrie he’s close to about how the rest of these women are being systematically hunted down and eliminated. He formed a small taskforce and pulled some strings to get some funding, then called to bring me on board.”

“Why you?”

Ty’s slate blue gaze was somber. “Remember that story I told you about that girl who escaped during SERE school and scared the hell out of me by showing up at my campsite one night while I was a temporary instructor?”

“Yeah.”

“That was Megan.”

“Oh.” His eyes widened as it sank in. “Whoa.”

“Yep. Rycroft told me she was in danger and asked me to be part of the team to help find whoever was selling the Valkyries out to their enemies. After what happened between us, I owed it to her to help if I could.”

“And she was okay with that?”

“Not at first. But there were other former Valkyries involved, and long story short, the villain in that scenario turned out to be her sister.”

This was getting worse by the moment. “Her sister was selling them out to their enemies?”

---