Page 125 of Redemption

“You’re a sworn officer of the law.”

“Don’t get all high and mighty on me. What happened to you in Russia will never see the inside of the courthouse, and you and I both know that. What happens between the Russians and Mayhem is governed by a set of rules and laws that you can’t understand, but they can.”

“What’s going to happen?” Victoria asked even though she was almost certain she knew what the attorney was going to say.

“Vashchenko’s already dead, so your two Russians with the grabby hands are going to die.”

“Mine?” The hum of the air conditioning kicked on, and Victoria inched into the other woman’s face. “The men who took me from the Ice House? You asked for them?”

“You bet your ass I did.” Lenora’s bright eyes held hers. “Justice is coming, whether you want it that way or not.”

She couldn’t say no, wouldn’t say yes. “I’m not a judge and jury. You can’t condemn people because of me.”

Lenora sat up, pulling Victoria with her. “Honey, judge and jury are already done. Those two fucks are walking down death row as we speak.”

“Someone’s going to shoot them?”

Lenora shook her head. “The meeting is at the weapons cache. It’s rigged to blow. Doors open, kaboom.”

Victoria’s heart jumped, and she hated the way her adrenaline mixed with anticipation. She didn’t want to be happy over an execution. The confusion and guilt was almost too much to stand.

“Now, for why you’re still here.” Lenora’s cheeks flushed with sadistic excitement. “I’m offering you the press of a button.”

“Excuse me?”

“If you want to arm the system, it’s yours. It’s going to happen whether you do it or not. There’s no question they’re going to die.” Lenora grasped both of Victoria’s hands in hers and pulled her close. “If it was me, I’d do it. I’d get a cocktail. I’d find somebody to give me a cigarette, maybe even a joint, because I’d be celebrating.”

“You’re insane.”

“Maybe. But I’d still have a little drink, press the little button, and know that I did it because of what they did to me.” She squeezed Victoria’s hands, almost hurting her. “But that’s just me.”

Lenora let go of her hands and stood up, brushing off her thighs as though she could swipe away all the germs in this room. Or maybe it was all of the sins and smoke clinging to her that she wanted to wipe away.

“I’m gonna find my man, figure out what’s going on. When I come back, you give me your answer. Either way, no matter what you do, it will be done. After all of this is over, and we see each other again, you’re the bounty hunter, and I’m the attorney. We will never talk about this. Do you understand?”

No fucking shit. “Obviously.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I… don’t know.”

“Sure you do. Everyone knows. Whether they will admit it out loud, that’s a different story, isn’t it?”

That absolutely was. Did Victoria believe in justice outside of the justice system? She did.

CHAPTER FIFTY

There were so many balls in the air. Ryder didn’t know which one to focus on, so he chose the only one that mattered: his phone and the potential of Victoria calling back.

Delta team watched as Jared finished briefing Titan’s main team. Boss Man was an attitude problem ready to explode. He was pissed about the weapons Mayhem had from the Russians and angrier that their intel said any number of local and federal agencies seemed to know about it and turned a blind eye. If there was one good thing about Titan Group, it was that they didn’t often deal with bureaucratic bullshit, or at least that Ryder could see. Today, Boss Man decided that he wasn’t dancing within the lines of those constraints. Titan was getting those guns.

As Ryder watched his phone, he also watched Seven. Actually, he watched Jax. The guy was a first-class dickhead, and there seemed to be a polar attraction pulling the unlikely coupling together. Jax leaned against the wall, foot propped up and arms crossed. Seven sat in a rolling chair, sliding back and forth. They didn’t seem as though they were talking—more like a domino effect of conversational collisions had taken place. Jax had been a jackass, and Seven had volleyed his attitude firmly back. Ryder didn’t think the guy saw a lot of rebuttals from women. He had a way about him that made asinine comments work in a way that seemed to make clothes mysteriously fall off.

Ryder rolled his eyes as Jared slapped the table and grabbed his phone. “All right. Location is confirmed. Let’s secure those weapons.”

Boss Man stood, and Titan’s main team filed out, each slapping the doorway like they were heading into an arena for a football match.One less ball in the air to focus on now.

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