Page 88 of Explosive Vengeance

Her face flushed hot. “Um, yeah. Thanks.”

He nodded, amusement lurking in those silver eyes. “Still working on this last one, but I wanted to come and thank you in person. Dubois has been on our radar for years and I was starting to think we’d never get him. So, thank you.”

“Believe me, it was my pleasure.” Though she wasn’t feeling quite so perky about it at the moment. The only reason she wasn’t being arrested was because various intelligence agencies had wanted Dubois gone, and Rycroft was once again working his magic on her behalf.

“Oh, I know it was,” he said with a slight grin before sobering. “Regarding how your real name got leaked, we still don’t have any leads. And we’re not sure exactly how much he knew about you. The good news is, we think only Dominic knew and not his brother. We’re trying to isolate who fed Dominic the intel. Once we know that, we’ll work backward and find the source. It may just be the break we need to expose the dirty players within the Valkyrie Program.” He turned to Heath. “I’ll see myself out. If you need anything, let me know.”

“I will, sir, thanks.”

“Just Alex. I’m retired, haven’t you heard?” he said with a wry grin, and left.

“Wow,” she breathed when the door shut behind him. “Alex Rycroft.”

Heath laughed. “Never thought you were the type to get star struck.”

“I’m not, but…” She gestured to the door. “Alex Rycroft.” After everything she’d heard about him from Megan and Trinity, she felt like she’d just met a living legend.

A soft knock sounded, then the door cracked open and Megan appeared there. “Hey, you’re awake.”

“Barely.” She put on a wan smile for her friend, who crossed to the bedside to grasp her right hand. “I just met Rycroft. He came to thank me for killing Dubois. I said it was my pleasure.”

Megan shook her head at Chloe, then gave Heath a sardonic look. “Told you she’s a bad influence.” She scolded Chloe. “Look what you got poor Heath into now.”

“I know.” Killing three men to cover her while she selfishly went after Dubois. She rolled her head to see him. “I already apologized.” His gentle smile told her he really had forgiven her. Even if she didn’t deserve it, she had it nonetheless. The thought of him leaving shortly hurt worse than all of her other injuries combined.

Ty came in next with Amber and Jesse. Then Trinity.

The eldest Valkyrie strode over to stand next to the bed, her shrewd blue eyes studying Chloe. “Those are some amazing shiners you’ve got there,” she murmured.

Yeah, her eyes were getting more and more swollen every minute, it seemed. “You gotta get Rycroft to clear Heath,” she begged. “I forgot to ask him.” He might lose his security clearance because of her. Might lose his freaking job and never get hired again because of what he’d been forced to do today to protect her. “I dragged him into it, and he had no choice but to take out—”

“Quiet. You’re supposed to be resting, and I’ll do the talking right now.”

Chloe shut her mouth, her pulse elevated. With her declared dead she’d thought getting Dubois at his country estate would be a walk in the park. In, boom, out, without any snags.

She’d been wrong. She was currently paying the price for that decision. She wouldn’t allow Heath to pay as well.

“We’ve handled things with the authorities for now, but this is way beyond my scope. Rycroft is doing what he can, but this is gonna leave one hell of a paper trail. There’s no way we can hush everything up completely. There are already rumors flying about who targeted Dubois and why. His death is already all over the media.”

So his daughters would know what he’d done too. Chloe was sorry for that. But not for killing that bastard. “And Heath?”

Trinity folded her arms, amusement glinting in her eyes. “He’s been cleared.”

Chloe exhaled in relief, then shot Trinity a scowl, although it was hard to say if she pulled it off with her swollen eyes. “Why didn’t you just lead with that?”

“Because I like a bit of suspense. Keeps things interesting.” She slanted a look at Heath, then back at Chloe. “Speaking of interesting, I talked to the doctor in charge of your case. You’re going to be on reduced activity for a while—”

“As in,severelyreduced,” Heath added.

“—so once he releases you, which will likely happen in the next twelve hours, you’re coming with us to the UK.”

“I—”

“Chloe?” Trinity put a hand on her arm. “You’re coming.” She squeezed, released and straightened. “Now. Everyone out except Heath.” She took Megan by the shoulders, spun her to face the door, and pushed. “Go. Out.”

Megan made a disgruntled sound and did as she was told. “Jeez. Bossy.”

Ty clapped a hand on Heath’s shoulder as he smiled at Chloe. “You guys need anything, give us a shout.”

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