Page 66 of Explosive Vengeance

“Same.” She offered her hand, got a firm shake in reply. The woman oozed sex appeal and confidence. And a lethal vibe Chloe recognized instantly.

“All right, what’s the latest on Dubois?” She headed straight for the table and helped herself to the food.

“Best we can guess right now is that he might be at his country estate not far from the Normandy landing beaches,” Chloe said.

Trinity nodded and sank into the chair Heath had vacated for her—what else would you expect from a Boy Scout, after all? “Do you know it?”

“Yes. I’ve been there. I know the layout, have a basic idea of what kind of security he has. That was a few months ago, though. Given everything that’s happened since, he might have upgraded everything.”

“Oh, God, I hope so,” Megan said, with a grin. “And Amber can’t wait to hack into everything and disable his system.”

Chloe glanced at Heath. One shoulder braced against the wall, he watched her with such admiration and desire that she wished things could be different, that she could have the chance at something normal with him. Which made no sense. On paper they were a disaster. But together in person, they worked. In a mere matter of days, Heath had ruined her for anyone else.

Time and fate were working against them, however, and trying to continue a relationship after this was done wouldn’t be safe, for either of them. Even if she killed Dubois, she would still have a target on her back. She didn’t want to put Heath in constant danger. He deserved better.

“Show us,” Trinity said, sliding Chloe’s tablet across the table to her.

She found pictures of the house online. “All right, here we go. Guillaume Dubois’ stupid extravagant country estate.” Eighteen of the most gorgeous acres money could buy, with a stone, chateau-style mansion set in the front third.

She pointed out all the features on the property, and the layout of both floors. “His office is on the lower floor, looking out over the gardens.”

“Looks a bit like the one at Laidlaw Hall,” Megan said, leaning closer. “I feel right at home already.”

It felt so damn good to go over intel and plan an op with such a qualified team. Such a relief that it wasn’t all on just her shoulders.

“We’ll need a staging area. Far away from the target in case things don’t go smoothly,” Trinity murmured, her eyes on the map.

“Where’s Dubois going to send the ship?” Ty asked, scooting closer to study it.

“Somewhere on the northern coast,” Chloe said. “Opposite of where we are, and close enough to England to smuggle the cargo across the Channel. Fleur said something about this next shipment of women possibly being destined for Britain, and I heard rumors about that too.”

“Calais?” Ty said.

“Too obvious,” Chloe answered. Guillaume never went with the obvious, but he’d want a port close to the UK.

“A smaller port, maybe?” Heath asked.

She shook her head and went with her gut. “A major one. He’s going to try and slip the women in somewhere busy enough that they go unnoticed.” No easy feat, with the security available now, but Dubois’ money greased a lot of wheels and made things a lot easier for him. The team couldn’t rely on any help from the port authorities or cops.

She weighed her options, looking at the coastline available. Not Paris. That was too risky, even for him. Her gaze tracked southwest down the coastline, mentally marking the location of his country estate. “I’m betting the Normandy coast, but away from Calais,” she said, her gut confirming it.

Everyone looked at her. “You sure?” Trinity asked.

“As sure as I can be. It’s near the English Coast, and from there he can funnel the women either to Paris or across the Channel and get top dollar in Britain.” It made her angry and ill.

Trinity nodded. “It’s as good a place as any to start with.”

It was. Energized and resolved, Chloe shoved to her feet. “Okay, so we’re off to the Normandy Coast then,” she said, hopeful for the first time since Fleur had died. She couldn’t bring her friend back, but she could see this mission through, then deal with Dubois. That was all she would allow herself to focus on right now, and it would have to be enough.

As the others started chatting, Megan grabbed her arm and towed her through the connecting door into the other room. Shutting it, she faced Chloe and widened her eyes. “Well?”

“Well, what?”

Her friend groaned. “Come on. You and Heath. What happened?”

For about two seconds Chloe considered lying to cover it up. But why should she? She had nothing to hide and wasn’t ashamed of her actions. “Everything,” she admitted.

Megan squealed and clapped her hands, bouncing up and down. “I knew it! I called it, too. Told Ty there was something brewing between you guys.”

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