Page 43 of Toxic Vengeance

“Hey,” he snapped. “I’m not taking the fall for this. You got me into this mess, and you’re gonna help me make it go away. Because if I go down, I promise I’ll take you with me.”

A shocked laugh answered him. “And here I thought even you weren’t stupid enough to threaten me.”

The line went dead.

Glenn flushed hot with anger, then cold with dread as the buried threat hit home.

He ran a hand through his hair. Fine. He hadn’t wanted to do things this way, but it looked like he had no choice. He’d hoped this day wouldn’t come, but deep down he’d known it would. That one day that shit would come back to haunt him. He’d just never imagined it would go down like this.

After destroying the burner phone, he tossed it in a nearby garbage bin and got back in his car. On the way to the airport he called his wife at the lake, knowing she’d be out in the boat this time of day, and left a message. “Just calling to let you know something’s come up last minute, and I have to go out of town for a while. I’ll talk to you when I can. Give Kimmie a kiss for me. Love you both. Bye.”

He had to act now and cover his tracks better going forward.

But even as he planned his next move, unease coiled inside him like a venomous snake. At this point he had to assume that at least Trinity and Briar were investigating him and his contacts, and that they’d gotten Rycroft involved too. If they’d joined up with the remaining Valkyries, with their combined skills it wouldn’t be long until they uncovered everything he’d tried to bury, and come after him.

Finding the women was the hardest part. Using contract hitters was expensive and posed its own risks. The more he did it, especially against the same target group, the higher the chance it would eventually be traced back to him.

That left him one choice. He needed to take care of this personally if he wanted to eliminate his enemies and stay ahead of the threat. Right now he had two possible targets within reach. Briar and Trinity were somewhere close by, because their men were based out of Quantico.

Getting to either one of them was incredibly risky. Briar was married to the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team commander, and both she and her husband were trained snipers. Trinity, one of the deadliest Valkyries in her own right, was engaged to one of the HRT’s sniper team leaders.

But Briar and DeLuca had a kid. A daughter, if he remembered correctly. He’d heard that since becoming a mother, Briar had been out of the game. There was a chance she might not even be involved in any of this.

Since he didn’t have time to delve into that at the moment, he’d start with Trinity. She still did contract work for Rycroft occasionally.

Glenn turned the car around and headed back toward Virginia, a plan taking shape in his mind. First Trinity, while her fiancé was away. Once she was dead, he would rip apart everything she’d left behind. Every phone call or text, to find out who she’d been in contact with, and go from there.

The only way to end this was to find the nest, and destroy it. Because if they found him first, there was no place on earth he could hide from the wrath of the Valkyries.

****

Zack took the rifle Ty offered him and loaded in a full magazine, ready to unleash some of his frustration by putting a pile of rounds into the target downrange. The guys had invited him out to the private shooting range located in a pasture over a mile from the manor house, and he was only too happy to join them. It was bordered by a farmer’s field, and apparently Marcus’s neighbors were all aware of the range so no one would be concerned or call the cops when they heard shots.

“Ready to do some damage?” Ty asked.

“Oh yeah.” Eden had made a point of avoiding him since the meeting that morning, because of their kiss last night, and it was driving him crazy.

She still wanted him, whether she liked it or not. He’d made her lose control for a moment, and she hated that.

Zack understood it, but he still wasn’t sorry. He’d never be sorry for it, because finally being able to hold her and kiss her after so many months without her had made him feel more alive than ever.

“So, you’re with Eden, huh?” Heath asked, handing Zack a pair of earmuffs.

“Not with her.”

Heath and Ty looked at each other, then back at Zack. “No?” Ty said.

Zack shook his head. “Used to be. Not anymore.” Not in the way he wanted to be. He wanted it to be the way it used to, minus the lies or secrets between them. No holds barred, everything out in the open so they could start fresh and take a stab at something real. “How does this all work, anyway? With the ladies. Are we their backup, or…?”

“We’re whatever we’re told to be,” Heath answered with a wry smirk.

“Pretty much.” Ty laughed and clapped Zack on the back. “Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it.”

“I mean, it’s not like I have a problem answering to women, of course,” Zack added quickly, wanting to make that point clear. “But I’ve never worked with a team like this one before.”

“Brother, we know just how you feel,” Ty said. “What’s the story with you two, anyway? You didn’t know what she did when you were together?”

“No.”

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