Page 67 of Toxic Vengeance

“I’ll go with you,” Eden said, and Megan wasn’t about to argue. With so much shit raining down on them, extra backup was more than welcome.

Chloe stopped two blocks east of the motel. Megan hopped out with Ty, handed him and Eden latex gloves before heading for the motel. The key was for a room facing the rear parking lot on the second floor.

Ty stood watch downstairs while she and Eden went up the stairs. Megan slid her gloves on, went straight to the correct door and checked it to make sure it wasn’t rigged in any way before opening it. Eden stepped inside behind her and shut the door.

Housekeeping had been here recently. The bed was neatly made and there were fresh towels folded in the bathroom. “Check the closet,” she said to Eden. “I’ll look in here.”

“There’s a bag in here,” Eden called out. “Nothing in it but dirty clothes.”

All the obvious places in the bathroom were empty too. But Zack’s handler would be more discerning than most if he’d been planning to come back here after today’s hit. If he’d left something behind and intended to collect it later, he would have taken the trouble of hiding it.

Megan pushed the cupboard doors wide under the sink and laid on her back with her penlight in her mouth. Nothing caught her attention but she was undeterred, reaching up to feel along the wood trim beneath the counter top, and behind the sink where it met the wall.

Her fingers bumped something solid and rectangular attached to the wall. Something stuck there with Velcro.Bingo. “Got something.” She pulled the phone free and crawled out of the cupboard to examine it.

Eden came to the doorway. “Burner?”

“Yep. But if he went to the trouble of hiding it, then there’s something on it he doesn’t want anyone to find. Unfortunately for him, my sister can make this sing like a soprano.” She checked a few other places as well, the inside trim along the ceiling in the closet, then the underside of the bedside table and dresser drawers. Behind the bed and TV.

She found another phone stuck to the underside of the shelf of the entertainment unit. “I can’t wait to see what that asshole has on these,” she muttered, putting it in an empty pocket.

They didn’t find anything else. Before leaving, they did a final sweep to check for bugs or cameras, anything that might have recorded or transmitted their presence. The room was clean.

“What about the female hitter’s tat? Did you recognize it?” Megan said to Eden as they moved to the door.

“No, but I don’t like it. Think there’s another version of the Program going on?”

“At this point I wouldn’t rule anything out.”

Ty was waiting for them at the bottom of the stairs. He wrapped an arm around her waist as they walked across the parking lot, heading for the place where Chloe would pick them up, his head moving back and forth as he scanned for any more signs of trouble. “Get anything?” he asked her.

“Oh yeah. Amber can uncover all his dirty little secrets on the flight back.”

Chloe pulled up to the rendezvous spot as they arrived. “Plane’s on the ground and getting refueled.”

Trinity, Jesse and Amber were all there at the airport waiting for them next to the jet when they arrived. “What’d you get?” her sister asked.

“Something to keep you occupied on the flight.” Megan handed the burners over.

Amber rushed straight up the steps into the plane. Jesse smirked in chagrin and followed her.

Heath and Ty helped Zack up the stairs into the cabin while Eden watched anxiously from the base. Trinity held them back with a gesture as she spoke to Chloe.

Megan stepped up beside Eden, too curious to wait any longer. “Can I ask you something?”

Eden glanced at her, then up at Zack as he entered the plane, distracted. “Sure.”

“Were you guys together before?”

That pretty amber stare came back to her. “Yes.”

Ah. She’d wondered, but Trinity had never said. “Are you together now?”

Eden’s expression filled with torment. “I don’t know. I want to be, but—” She stopped and looked away, embarrassed.

Megan let it go, feeling bad for her. She knew what it was like to feel torn between head and heart, duty and desire. How hard it was to trust an outsider. How hard it was for them tohope. But she also knew how rewarding and freeing it was to let a deserving man in. And from everything she’d seen so far, Zack was deserving.

“So I just got an interesting tidbit from Rycroft,” Trinity said as she strode over to them with Chloe. “His analysts got intel on the driver of the Tesla from the morgue. And it seems she had an interesting tat on her left hip as well.” She held up a phone.

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