Page 25 of Explosive Vengeance

“Some of them. The ones who’d crossed her on a team op and left her to die. She survived and went after them. Her name’s Amber, by the way, and she’s the reason we found Chloe in the first place. But Valkyries are still dying, and that has nothing to do with Amber now. We’ve been trying to locate the remaining operatives, but as you’ve seen, they’re not easy to pin down.”

He huffed out a humorless laugh. “No shit.”

“Amber’s a hacker. She and the others—”

“Others. How many of them are working with you?”

“Five so far. We’re hoping Chloe will make six. The team’s been monitoring various sources and contacts, trying to find the rest. Each Valkyrie has a specific skill set. They’re cross-trained in various things, but they all have a certain area they specialize in. For instance, Megan’s an expert at breaking into places and stealing things.”

“And Chloe?” Though given something she’d said and how that guy in Paris had died, Heath was afraid he already knew.

“She’s an explosives and demolitions expert.”

But my favorite thing is blowing shit up.“Oh, shit…” The answer had startled him at the time, but he’d had no idea what he’d been dealing with. Now that he did… “She told me about Dubois on the way here, but I didn’t put it all together.” He rubbed his jaw, trying to make sense of everything, and grappling with the knowledge that he was now smack in the middle of it. “How did you even find her in the first place?”

“There was enough evidence to make us think she might be behind a string of professional hits over the past few months. Each target was a high-level criminal killed in a controlled explosion. Each explosion had different chemical signatures, but they were small and precise, killing only the target and no one else. Given all that, it seemed like it could be her.”

“Who were the targets?”

“Human traffickers selling women into the skin trade.”

Heath curled his lip, secretly impressed by Chloe’s guts. People who did evil shit like that deserved to die. “Like this Dubois guy?”

Ty nodded. “Amber had picked up a potential lead on Chloe in St. Petersburg a while back. But last night in Paris was the most solid lead we’ve had since, and we were too far away to do anything in time. Because of the high-security level of the people after the Valkyries, I couldn’t tell you any of this over an unsecured phone line. But if you hadn’t stepped in, we’d have lost her, and might never have found her again.” He set a hand on Heath’s shoulder, squeezed tight. “I owe you, brother. We all do.”

Heath didn’t know what to say.

Ty nudged his shoulder. “You wanna punch me a couple times? I’ll give you two free shots, but not to my face because Megan likes it the way it is.”

Heath grunted. “I kinda do, yeah.” He ran a hand through his hair, rubbed the back of his neck. This had been one hell of a night so far. “So what happens now?”

Ty was silent a moment, watching him. “We could use another member on the team, even if it’s only temporary. A solid operator I trust with my life, and can handle himself when shit goes sideways. Even better if he’s an elite combat medic. Know anyone like that?”

Ah, hell. It was impossible to stay mad at the guy, even if he’d landed Heath in the middle of this shit storm. But Heath couldn’t ignore this or walk away now. Like it or not, he was at risk, and so was Ty. He had to help his friend—and the Valkyries in the other room. “Maybe.”

Ty grinned. “Yeah?”

He would never turn his back on Ty. And now that he understood what was going on, he wanted to help protect the women at risk too—including Chloe.

So there was only one answer he could give. Dammit. “Yeah. I’m in.”

Chapter Eight

Sitting cross-legged on the bed with Megan, Chloe smiled at her old friend, hardly able to believe this was happening. “You look amazing.” All grown up, but still Itch.

“You too.”

She nodded pointedly at the ring on Megan’s finger. “So you and Ty are pretty serious then, I gather?” It surprised her that any Valkyrie could make that kind of promise and commitment after it had been drilled into them to never get romantically—or emotionally—attached.

“Yep.” Megan practically bounced on the bed in excitement. “Oh, man, I’ve got so much to tell you, I don’t even know where to start.”

“How about you start with your sister?”

Megan’s smile fell a little. “I didn’t even know she existed. I had a few memories of her, but I wasn’t sure if she was just a friend or a neighbor, or even an imaginary friend. We were so young when we were separated, after our parents were killed in a car accident. My mom’s younger sister was named our guardian but she couldn’t take us so we landed up on foster care, and then a boarding school.”

“Which led to the Program.”

“Right.”

---