Page 3 of Explosive Vengeance

The windows on the main floor were aglow with flames, smoke already pouring through the shattered windows. On either side of the townhouse, the only damage to the neighboring buildings was some broken glass.

Perfect, she’d calculated it just right. No one else would be hurt. The fire crews would arrive shortly to prevent the fire from spreading to the other buildings, but the heat of the incendiary material she’d used would ensure Dominic Dubois was little more than ash by then.

Kaya wrenched around in her seat to look out the back window, then stared at Chloe. “You…killed him,” she whispered, her voice shaking.

“Yes.” And she wasn’t sorry. “You’re safe now. I’m taking you to a friend who will look after you. She runs an organization that takes care of women escaping from this kind of situation.”

Kaya sniffed and wiped at her eyes, her voice rough. “You did this for me?”

Chloe gripped the steering wheel tighter, wanting to kill Dubois all over again for what he’d done to all the women like Kaya. “For you and all the others he hurt.” She was doing the world a service by ridding it of cockroaches like him.

“Why?”

“Because someone has to.” She’d seen a lot of trafficking during her sanctioned ops over the years—drugs, weapons and people—and most of the assholes responsible for buying and selling other human beings had gone unpunished or overlooked because they didn’t warrant a spot on the government’s list of priority targets. Chloe was doing her small part to balance the scales.

She ditched the Audi several blocks from the meeting spot, wiped it down as an added precaution, then took Kaya’s arm and walked her to the RV point. Fleur was already there, her light auburn hair pulled back in a braid as she waited with a worried expression and a warm coat for Kaya.

Chloe had met the government social worker by chance a year ago here in Paris while on another job. After Fleur had vented her frustration with the lack of action by the government against human traffickers over dinner one night, Chloe had checked out her background and vetted her carefully before approaching her about a secret alliance. Now Fleur IDd the victims in need of rescue, and Chloe handled the rest of the details before handing them over to her friend for safekeeping.

Since then they’d saved over thirty women and teenage girls together, but it wasn’t enough.

It would never be enough.

“Are you both all right?” Fleur asked, scanning them both anxiously.

“I’m fine, but I think Kaya’s a little shaken up.” She bundled the young woman into the coat, then pressed a wad of cash into her palm and took Kaya’s chin in her hand. Fleur would get her medical care and a safe place to stay immediately. “You’re going to be okay. You haven’t done anything wrong, and you have nothing to hide or be ashamed of. If anyone questions you, you just tell them the truth. Understand?”

Kaya swallowed and nodded, the fading bruises on her cheeks and beneath her left eye filling Chloe with rage. Dubois’s death had been too quick. He should have suffered more. “Thank you.”

“It was my pleasure.” She turned to Fleur, who looked ready to start wringing her hands, and grinned. Foreign it might be, but it was nice to have someone care about her. “Good to see you, my friend. If anything comes up, you know how to reach me. I’ll be in touch.”

“Yes, yes, now go and get out of here.” She threw her arms around Chloe in a quick, fierce hug. “You’re going to give me an ulcer one day, you know that.”

Chloe made a face. “Then stop worrying about me.”

Fleur pulled back, shook her head. “Somebody needs to.”

Touched but embarrassed at the mushy sentiment, Chloe pushed her toward the waiting vehicle. “Go. Take good care of her.”

“I will.” She ushered Kaya to the car.

Chloe watched until the Renault disappeared around the corner into the night before hurrying to her own getaway vehicle. When she reached the next block, she reached into her coat pocket and hit the second detonator. The Audi’s engine exploded behind her. Chloe didn’t look back.

Killing Dominic put a lot of heat on her, but the thing that had her worried was that he had known her name.

That should have been impossible, and it meant she had a major problem. Because the only way he could have found out was if someone from within the Valkyrie Program itself had tipped him off.

Paris had been her permanent base since the Program shut down, but it was no longer safe for her. She had to get out of the city for a while, and determine who the hell had sold her out.

Chapter Two

“So we have an agreement, then?” the man asked him.

Guillaume Dubois set his wineglass down on the table and considered his options for a moment. They were seated in a private booth in one of the most exclusive restaurants in all of Paris. He was a regular here, and the staff always afforded him the utmost discretion when he was here for business. “If you drop the price by ten percent.”

The man’s smile slipped. “That’s not possible.”

“It is if you want to do business with me.” He injected a hint of steel into his tone, just enough to remind the man who he was dealing with.

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