Page 9 of Toxic Vengeance

There were too many unknowns and coincidences happening for him to dismiss. All the evidence pointed to one chilling possibility.

The remaining Valkyries were banding together and forming a team.

His heart rate quickened at the thought. It would be a logistical and security disaster for him and the others. The Valkyries knew too much, could expose all his and his former colleagues’ dirty secrets. The whole purpose of making the women solo operators, of keeping them all isolated from one another, was to avoid this very scenario.

He’d warned others involved with the program about the possibility of this exact scenario happening one day, and no one had been willing to listen, all convinced that the women would be dead within five-to-eight years of being put in the field. They simply hadn’t been expected to survive beyond that.

But he’d been right. His concerns had been founded all along, and now he had to take immediate and decisive action to counter this threat before it was too late. Exposing what he’d done would destroy him and his family, maybe even land him in prison. If the Valkyries had uncovered anything to incriminate him, then it meant he now had a target on his back.

He pulled over partway home and took out the private, heavily encrypted cell phone he rarely used, glancing in his mirrors every so often in case he was being followed or watched. Going home wasn’t safe now. Not with everything he’d learned over the past forty-eight hours.

A lead weight sat heavy and cold in his gut. He hadn’t reached out to the Architect in years, had avoided it at all cost, but now it seemed he had no choice. They’d done their best to bury the program after it was shut down due to the media exposure and fallout from the Balducci trial. Just as Glenn had feared, their efforts hadn’t been enough.

If the surviving Valkyries were joining forces, then this was a matter of life and death, and personal history with the Architect that he’d rather not deal with didn’t mean shit.

He brought up the number, hesitated for just one moment, then called.

“Who is this?” came the curt greeting.

“It’s Bennett.”

A startled pause answered him. “I thought I told you never to contact me again.”

Glenn bit down hard on his back teeth at the dismissal in that arrogant tone. “There are extraordinary circumstances involved.”Or I wouldn’t be calling.

“Such as?” Now the tone was bored.

In as few words as possible he explained what he’d uncovered. The potential disaster and lethal threat facing them all. “I think they’re working together.” He stiffened, his gaze locking on a car that slowed as it approached, then kept driving. God, now he was jumping at shadows.

The Architect laughed. “You’re being paranoid, Glenn, as usual.”

No, he fucking wasn’t. “And if I’m not?”

“You are. Everything’s being taken care of. There’s no way anyone can expose us now, so don’t worry.”

How could he not worry? A single Valkyrie was lethal to her enemies and targets. A group of them working together could do unbelievable damage, and would prove a hundred times harder to locate, let alone kill. “So you’re going to just pretend nothing’s happening?”

“I’m not pretending anything. It’s being taken care of.”

“Care to explain?”

“No.”

He set his jaw, reining in his temper with effort. He was considered an outsider since his retirement, and the Architect couldn’t resist letting him know it. “This is happening, whether you want to believe it or not. It’s already in motion, so whatever measures you’ve taken to try and counter the threat, I promise you it’s not enough.”

A hard, brittle silence filled the line. Then, “I think I know better than anyone what they’re capable of. Now, don’t call me again, or—”

Fuming, Glenn hit the button to end the call and immediately set about dismantling the burner phone so he could dispose of it. He wasn’t being paranoid. And he didn’t give a fuck about whatever the Architect or anybody else had going on behind the scenes to deal with this. Whatever it was, it wasn’t enough.

He wiped the back of his hand over his sweaty upper lip, his mind racing furiously as he took his pistol from the center console and ensured he had a round in the chamber. They were all under threat now, whether they wanted to face it or not. If none of the others would help him, then his only option was to take matters into his own hands. Because he wasnotgoing down with this ship he’d helped create, and he didn’t trust the Architect not to come after him now.

Pulling back onto the road he did a U-turn, heading away from his house and coming up with a cover story to tell his wife. He had hunting to do. But first he needed to flush out his prey.

He’d start with Eden’s handler, use her to find Eden. Use Eden to find the others. Then they’d all die.

Fishing out another burner phone, he made another call. “It’s me,” he said when the man answered. “I’ve got a priority target I need taken care of immediately. Take care of it in the next twenty-four hours and I’ll pay double your usual fee.”

Chapter Four

---