Page 11 of Toxic Vengeance

Eden almost choked on her coffee, her eyes widening. “Wow, that’s harsh, even for you.”

Chris shrugged. “He’s goddamn miserable being confined to a wheelchair with his mind deteriorating. It makes my sister miserable in the process, which by extension also makes me miserable. The ornery bastard just wants to die, and we hope he’s quick about it. If we’re lucky he’ll go in his sleep one night soon.”

End of conversation. As soon as the waitress brought their food, Chris waved a fork at Eden and dug into her waffle with berries and whipped cream. “All right, eat up so we can get outta here. We’ve got business to attend to.”

What was so important that Chris had summoned her here at the last moment? Eden had to wolf down her meal to be done by the time Chris flagged their waitress back down and paid the bill.

Sliding her sunglasses back on, Chris raised her eyebrows over the top of the frames. “You done yet?”

“Yep. Right behind you,” Eden said around a last giant mouthful of corned beef hash, leaving at least four more on her plate. The pitfall of eating with Chris was that she always left hungry. “Where we off to now?”

“Someplace no one will bother us,” Chris said, marching for the door.

Eden followed Chris’s bike to a Victorian-era brick house near the historic center of the town. It had a quaint, village-type feel to it, with similar-style Victorian houses and tidy yards. Every street was lined with trees and pretty gardens bursting with fresh green foliage.

They both parked around back in an alley running between the houses. Chris grabbed something from her saddlebags and started up the back steps without looking back. Eden hurried after her, one hand at the small of her back out of habit, ready to grab her weapon from her waistband.

“You can relax,” Chris said on her way through the kitchen. “We’re safe here.”

Eden still locked the door behind her before holstering her weapon and going to what looked like a home office near the front of the house. “Is this a rental?”

“Nope. Belonged to an aunt before she lost her damn mind. Went batshit crazy, wound up in the mental institution across town and died there years ago. This place has been sitting vacant ever since. I come down every now and again for a day or two, make sure it’s maintained.” Chris planted herself behind the small antique-looking desk and leaned back in the chair to whip off her sunglasses and study Eden, signaling an end to that topic of conversation. “So. You had a close call in Sevastopol.”

“Not that close.” Pretty damn close.

One perfectly arched eyebrow went up. “No? Your old flame thought it was pretty close.”

Eden stilled. “How’d you know about that?” She’d told Chris about Zack when she’d first decided to use him as a means to getting close to her target, but not about their subsequent relationship.

“Because an old source from the Agency told me. Zack Maguire and other Agency assets are looking for you.”

That wasn’t a surprise after the other night. “Does he know what I am?”

“Not officially, no, at least from what I can tell. But I’m sure he knows by now. He’s no dummy.”

No, he was the opposite. And that amplified the threat he posed.

Chris pinned her with that coffee-brown stare that dared her to try and bullshit. “Have you made contact with him since?”

“No,” she said, insulted that Chris would ask. She was weak when it came to him, but not stupid.

“Are you going to?”

“No.”

“But you want to.”

Eden paused. She could lie but Chris would know, and what was the point? Her former handler was the closest thing to a friend she had in this world. A kind of older, protective sister. Her shoulders sagged a little. “Yeah.”

“Figured as much.” Chris shook her head, a frown drawing her eyebrows together. “He’s dangerous. One, because he’s in your head, and two, because of who he works for.”

“You worked for them too until a few months ago,” Eden pointed out.

“That’s different. I’d take on a grizzly with my bare hands to protect you.”

That made Eden smile. “I know. But you wouldn’t get the chance, because that bear would take one look at you, say to itselfnope, and run the other way.”

A faint glow of amusement in those intense eyes was her only reaction. “Zack Maguire won’t run,” she said softly.

---