Page 32 of Toxic Vengeance

Pushing aside his frustration, he shoved all that into a box for later. “And now? Do you still think I pose a threat to you?”

Her soft chuckle held a bitter edge that made his skin tighten. “Oh, I know you do. But this is for the greater good, so I don’t have any choice but to deal with it.” She turned and walked away before he could answer, leaving him standing there and fighting the urge to go after her, have everything out here and now.

Zack ran a hand over his face, hit with a barrage of emotions. But most of all, he felt bereft. Sad for the loss of everything they’d had for that brief time together. That it had all been based on lies.

One thing hadn’t changed, however. He wanted to see if another shot was possible for them. To move past everything that had happened before and see if they could start over. To find out if they could have somethingrealtogether now that they both knew the truth.

No matter what had happened in the past, he wanted to reclaim what he’d lost with Eden, more now than ever. He just hoped her feelings for him hadn’t all been in his head.

Chapter Nine

“Are you there yet?” Glenn asked the man on the other end of the phone. He was in his car again, the safest place for him to make these kinds of calls. It was six in the morning here, and eleven in Edinburgh. That didn’t give the contract hitter a lot of time to find their target.

“Yeah, and I hope you’ve got a good tip to give me a solid starting point.”

“Her legal name’s Penny Green. She’s been sighted recently in Sweden and the UK. We have reason to believe she’s been tracking Alexei Popovich.”

“Wasn’t he accused of war crimes?”

“Yes. If we’re right, she’ll be in Edinburgh to target him at some point over the next three days, beginning tonight. Once she does, she’ll get out of the country as quickly as possible, probably by boat, so you need to find her before she makes her move. I’ll send you his known itinerary in an encrypted file, as well as any up-to-date hits on her from facial recognition.”

“What kind of proof do you want when it’s done?”

“The usual.” Photos and a tissue or blood sample he could use to verify the body was hers. “I’ll send you the file now. Keep me updated if you find anything.”

“You got it.”

“Again, this is between you and me.”

“Understood.”

Glenn disconnected and continued down the country road, driving away from the inn he’d stayed at last night. Still no word about Eden or the others. The female handler was dead and so was the hitter Glenn had sent after them, but now Eden was missing. Until he found definitive proof otherwise, he had to assume she was still alive.

He’d checked the hospitals and morgues in the area near the hits but hadn’t found anything on Eden, and hadn’t been able to find any travel information on her either. She’d disappeared, vanished like the ghost she’d been trained to be, and he didn’t know how the hell he was going to find her now.

The only thing scarier than having a Valkyrie gunning for you was when she disappeared off the grid. His network of resources was limited now that he was officially off the Agency payroll. Anything he needed had to be paid for on his own dime, so he’d planned all this out carefully.

Hopefully Penny Green would be the key to unraveling the mystery of where the other Valkyries were hiding. For now, he had pent-up energy to unleash.

His personal cell rang, his wife’s number appearing on screen. For a moment he thought about ignoring it, but he didn’t need any more suspicion on her end. “Hello.”

“Where were you last night?” she demanded.

Glenn shoved back the sudden surge of anger at her tone. He was on edge and in no mood for female bullshit. “I told you, I had a late meeting.” Not completely a lie. The best liars knew to always stick as close to the truth as possible, and he was an expert.

“Well, are you coming home today?”

“No, not for a few days.”

She made a frustrated sound. “You’ve been promising for weeks that you’d fix the guest bathroom shower before my sister came. I was going to hire someone and you told me not to, that you’d handle it, and she’s coming in tomorrow.”

What the fuck did he care about a shower or anything else right now? His instincts were jangling, on high alert for the threat he knew was out there but couldn’t find.

That’s because you won’t see it. You won’t know it’s there until it’s too late.

“Glenn?” she pressed.

“Just call the plumber. I don’t know when I’ll be home.”

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