Grinning, Ty grabbed her and pulled her in for a kiss. “You love me.”
“I do.”
That much was obvious. Ty was a solid, stabilizing force in Megan’s life and Chloe was seriously impressed. And if her friend’s anxiety about the future started to get the better of her, all she had to do was look at the promise ring on her finger. Ty loved her and would stand by her through anything.
Chloe bet Heath would be like that in a relationship too, and it made the yearning inside her so sharp it hurt. This afternoon at the landing beaches he’d allowed her to see the most private part of him, and it had touched her deeply. She’d never felt so close to anyone in her life, and while it scared her a little, it also filled her with a joy she’d never experienced before.
But she couldn’t think about any of that right now. They had to infiltrate Dubois’ manor house and get all the intel they could if they were going to have any chance of rescuing the missing women.
“Amber, how are things looking on your end?” Trinity asked.
“All systems go. All your tracking beacons are operational.” Amber was handling security systems and overwatch using all her electronic wizardry from her makeshift mobile command center. “I’ll start the security system hack when the entry team’s in position.”
“Perfect. Let’s rock,” Chloe said.
On the way out of the van Heath squeezed her shoulder before pulling on his own mask. “Ready?” he asked.
“Yep.” Chloe would act as tour guide and lead them into position inside the house. Heath was going in as her backup, and there was no one she trusted more to protect her while she and Megan searched for secret files.
For someone who had always operated alone until recently, it was an incredible feeling.
“Jesse, you all set?” Amber said.
“Locked and loaded,” her boyfriend responded, already providing overwatch and protection for them on an incline at the north side of the property. He would report any movement or comings and goings on the front grounds and give them security updates.
“This is so high tech compared to what I’m used to,” Chloe said as she checked her weapon one last time. Whenever she took out a security system, it was with wire cutters and duct tape or bullets. This was so much slicker. “Imagine the things I could have accomplished with all this tech and firepower behind me.”
“I’d say you had plenty of firepower behind you already,” Heath said dryly, holstering his pistol.
He was so cute. “Touché.”
“All right, anything else you want to go over before we do this?” Trinity asked.
Chloe looked at the others, then shook her head. “Nope. Let’s do this.” She held her hand out, palm down. “Everyone in. Valkyries on three.”
Megan grinned and put her hand on top of Chloe’s. Heath and Ty followed suit, then Trinity placed hers on top.
“Okay.” Chloe’s whole body was charged, excitement and anticipation stirring in her gut. “One. Two.”
“Valkyries,” everyone said, throwing their hands up.
“I’m so pumped,” Chloe said under her breath as she tugged her mask down over her face. “Amber?”
“Roger. Initiating hack of the perimeter security now. Stand by.”
Heath stood behind Chloe. Megan moved in behind him, Ty at her back.
Facing the direction of the manor house, Chloe locked her focus in. When they found what they were looking for, she was going to use it to nail Guillaume Dubois’ ass to the wall. “Okay, team. Follow me.”
AS SOON AS they started moving, Megan’s anxiety level dropped to almost zero. It was always that way when she was in op mode.
She followed close behind Chloe, with Ty and Heath bringing up the rear. In the lead, Chloe moved swift and sure up the grassy incline that led to the field adjoining Dubois’ estate.
It wasn’t easy for her old friend to let others help with something like this. Megan was glad to see Chloe opening up and accepting the others on the team as part of this mission.
Their involvement wasn’t completely altruistic, however. Megan and Trinity wanted Chloe to come on board as a permanent member of their team, and they were prepared to do whatever it took to make that happen. Starting with rescuing these women and taking down Dubois.
“You still read me?” Trinity asked via comms.