Page 66 of Toxic Vengeance

He relaxed when Megan, Ty and Heath appeared, weapons in hand as they scanned the alley. “You guys all right?” he asked.

“Yeah, we took out two shooters before the rest scattered, but we gotta get you outta here and haul ass,” Ty said. He moved past them to the female hitter while Megan approached Rod’s body and Heath hurried toward Zack.

“How you doing, man?” the former PJ asked.

Zack was damn glad to see him. “Hanging in there.”

“He’s talking too much,” Eden said, shooting him a warning look. “Says he won’t go get checked out anywhere unless you tell him he has to.”

“Is that right? What a stubborn bastard,” Heath said, crouching down in front of Zack as he ripped open a bandage he’d brought. “Let’s take a look.”

While Heath started his assessment, Zack looked over at Megan. “You need to check him,” he said to Megan, nodding toward Rod’s body. “See if you can find a phone or something on him.” They needed to tear apart Rod’s contacts, find out who had ordered this and who’d known they’d been here. Andhow.

“Any idea who he is?” Megan asked as she searched Rod’s body.

“Yeah. My handler.”

Chapter Eighteen

Megan cranked her head around to stare at Zack, then Eden. Her fellow Valkyrie’s grim expression confirmed what Zack had said. What the hell?

Turning away, she crouched beside the body and quickly checked it. It was clean except for one item in his left hip pocket. “Got a key, but nothing else.”

“Key to what?” Eden asked. Heath was still busy with Zack, and Ty was sweeping the other body.

“Motel, looks like.” She shoved it in her pocket, stood and hurried back to the patient. “Can we move him?” she asked Heath, unsure how serious the wound was. Zack had lost a lot of blood.

“Gimme two secs,” he said, winding a tensor bandage around Zack’s middle. When he was done he stretched Zack’s right arm across his shoulders and lifted him to his feet. “Up you go.” He steadied Zack a moment. “Can you walk?”

“Yeah.”

“Let’s move,” Heath said.

Ty came back. “Got nothing. But she’s got a tat on her left hip you might be interested in.” He showed her the picture he’d taken of it on his phone.

She? Megan jerked her gaze to his in shock, then looked at Eden. “You saw?”

“Yes. Now let’s get the hell out of here.”

Ty took point down the alley. Megan walked behind Eden and Heath, who had their arms around Zack to assist him. “Just a half block up,” she said as Ty turned the corner.

The sidewalk was busy with people but only a few glanced at them as they rushed for the street. A white minivan idled at the curb. Chloe sat behind the wheel, her jaw working away on her gum, and slid the side door open for them as they approached. “Good to go?” she asked.

“Yep,” Heath answered, helping Zack inside the middle row beside Eden while Ty hopped in the back and Megan rushed around to take shotgun.

“Okay, where are we headed?” Chloe asked, pulling out onto the road.

“Wherever Trinity is,” Megan said.

“New airport with Jesse and Amber,” Chloe answered, expertly maneuvering them through traffic. “Trin’s diverted the plane there, but it’s a twenty-minute drive from here.”

Megan examined the key she’d taken from Zack’s handler and entered the name on it into her phone. “If Zack can handle it, I need to make a stop on the way.”

“I can handle it,” he replied.

“So where to?” Chloe asked.

“Little motel off the I-95,” Megan said. “I wanna see if our hitter left anything behind that might be of interest.”

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