Explosive Vengeance

by Kaylea Cross

  Megan reached across the table to put a hand on hers, her hazel eyes sincere. “I know she’s your friend. But with everyone else’s cover blown, Dominic Dubois dead and various enemies out there on the hunt for us, she’s our only shot if we’re going to have someone there to meet the boat as usual.”

  Chloe expelled a breath, hating that she was right. Posing as the rep, “Gabrielle” had been involved with the business dealings between the broker and Dominic Dubois. That was all over now. The latest chatter confirmed the broker was still sending the women to Marseille tomorrow afternoon, but the only way to verify that was to have someone board that boat and find out.

  Problem was, this was way out of Fleur’s depth. “She’s a civilian. She’s got absolutely no training if something goes wrong, apart from some knife skills I showed her once.” The op seemed low risk and simple enough on the surface, but Chloe had been trained to be ready for anything. The people they were dealing with were unpredictable, and dangerous.

  “All she needs to do is get on board, verify the women are there, finish the transaction as usual, then disembark and leave the rest to us,” Megan said.

  Up until two nights ago, that had been Gabrielle’s responsibility. Guillaume Dubois had immediately cut ties with anyone associated with Gabrielle once his brother was killed. Fleur had an existing cover as an accountant within Dominic’s network, but it was flimsy at best. “Can Amber even build her a solid cover in such a short amount of time?”

  “Yes. You’d be amazed at what my sister can do.”

  The pride and certainty in Megan’s voice eased Chloe’s worry a little, but not enough. She made a frustrated sound in the back of her throat. “Maybe with a good enough disguise I could do it myself.”

  “It’s too risky,” Ty said beside Megan, dismissing it. “Dubois has alerted too many people about you by now, and if he found you the other night it means he’s got access to intelligence circles and facial recognition.”

  “I know,” she said on a groan. “But even with the four of us posted nearby as backup, it doesn’t feel good enough. I need to make sure Fleur’s covered.” Given Chloe’s profession, making friends was next to impossible. For the past year, Fleur had been her only true friend.

  “What did she say when you talked to her about it this morning?” Heath asked from the other end of the small rectangular table.

  “I didn’t want to tell her much over the phone, I just set up the meeting for this afternoon. But when I do tell her everything, she’ll say yes, no matter what, because saving those women is her top priority.” While Chloe admired her friend’s determination and devotion to the cause, she wanted Fleur to understand exactly what she might face if her friend agreed to do this.

  “Then we’ll keep her safe,” Heath said.

  He’d said it to make her feel better, but he knew the potential dangers as well as she did. If something went sideways, none of them would be close enough to intervene in time to stop Fleur from getting hurt, save with a long-distance rifle shot from Ty, who would be acting as sniper, with Megan his spotter. “I’m going to lay everything out for her, face to face. She needs to know the whole story and all the risks before she decides.”

  “And if she’s still in?” Megan asked.

  “Then I’ll explain the plan, get her set up and prepare her as much as I can.”

  “Okay,” Megan said. “While you meet with her, Ty and I’ll find us all a place for the night and start recon.”

  “I’ll go with you to and from the meeting,” Heath said to Chloe. “Make sure no one follows you there and back.”

  Her instinctive reaction was to refuse his offer. But she wasn’t doing this on her own anymore, and having Heath there to watch her back would give her one less thing to worry about. “All right.”

  Ty glanced at his watch. “It’s a seven-and-a-half-hour drive to Marseille. We’d better get going.”

  They packed up, sanitized the safehouse, then hit the road. “Want me to drive?” Heath asked her as they headed for their rental, while Megan and Ty took their own.

  “Nope. Driving helps me think,” Chloe answered. She was an unapologetic control freak. He would just have to deal.

  “You could sleep for a couple hours. You didn’t get much last night.”

  Try hardly any, because on top of everything else going on, she’d been all hot and bothered by their play at the lake. The interruption about Eden had put a damper on things. Maybe it was for the best. He tempted her to throw all caution aside and enjoy the fling while she could. She couldn’t indulge in that until this op in Marseille was over.

  Twenty minutes into the trip, however, her mind began to wander, distracted by the man beside her. He was impossible to ignore, especially with him so close and the unrelieved sexual tension simmering between them. She couldn’t remember ever being this into a guy. He made her want him just by being close, and if she didn’t have him soon, she might explode.

  Her body remained at a constant simmer, making up her mind for her. Once they finished in Marseille, she intended to make the most of whatever time remained for them together, since he’d be leaving soon and she wasn’t sure what would happen to her. Constantly living life on the edge made it tempting to go after what she wanted, and for once, she wanted to indulge.

  She wanted Heath. On top of her. Inside her. Anything to stop this unrelieved, gnawing tension.

  “Any new updates on the search for Eden?” he asked as they neared the French border.

  With everything else going on, they hadn’t talked about the other Valkyrie. “Not yet. Amber and the rest of the team are working on it.” Chloe had been up half the night going over her previous interactions with the suspected Valkyrie with Amber and Megan. Another Valkyrie named Kiyomi was staying at the UK headquarters with Amber, and had been trained with Eden for a while. They needed to locate Eden and figure out if she was the same person Chloe had been dealing with off and on these past few months.

  “Do you guys all know each other? Or know of each other?” Heath asked.

  “No. The program was really strict, and apparently there were different phases. The people in charge were careful to keep us moving around, disrupting attachments and never knowing what the other trainees were doing. We were all trained to operate alone.”

  “So this team scenario is all new to you.”

  “I know how to work with a team. Just haven’t done it before.” So far, it wasn’t as awful as she’d imagined. She trusted Megan, liked Ty, and was more attached to Heath than was wise.

  She stopped to fill the car up about an hour out of Marseille. While Heath filled the tank, she went into the service station bathroom and changed into a disguise. Chin-length black wig, colored contacts, some simple stage makeup to change her features a little, and nondescript clothes that would help her blend in anywhere.

  When she came back to the car Heath stopped in the act of hanging up the gas pump and stared at her.

  “Done?” she asked, liking the way his gaze tracked over her body as she walked toward him with a little extra sway in her hips.

  “Yeah.” He didn’t hide that he liked what he saw.

  “Here, you drive this time,” she said, tossing him the keys.

  He caught them just before they hit his chest, a grin lighting his features, making him twice as hot and impossible to tear her eyes off him. “Hey, thanks.”

  “Sure.” Allowing him to drive this last stretch gave her time to get ready for the coming meeting and memorize their surroundings as they entered town.

  Once they were back on the highway, he glanced over at her as she checked something on her phone. “What’s next for you after this? Will you go to the UK and help the others?”

  “Not sure. Depends on what happens with Dubois.” She had to take him out first before she even thought about what came next for her.

  They arrived in Marseille right on schedule. She had Heath drive around a bit so she could get a visual of the main areas she w
as interested in.

  Chloe made sure she was at the meeting point early, a small pub a few blocks from the waterfront. The briny scent of the salt air filled her nose, the cries of gulls swirling in the air as she walked down the cobbled street to her destination with Heath somewhere behind her, close enough to keep watch but not so close it looked like they were together. It was strange but nice to know he was watching over her.

  She chose a seat at the back of the pub in a spot that afforded her the best visual lines to the entrance and exit points, ordered a glass of wine, and waited.

  “She’s on her way in,” Heath said through Chloe’s earpiece soon afterward. “No tail. You’re clear.”

  Chloe didn’t respond, watching the door. A minute before the meeting was supposed to start, a woman in a trench coat and black hat walked in. Fleur, wearing a brown, shoulder-length wig to cover her bright auburn hair. She scanned the pub, an expression of relief crossing her face when Chloe waved at her.

  Chloe stood and embraced her in a big hug, subtly watching the door. “It’s so good to see you,” she said in French, then put her mouth close to Fleur’s ear and dropped her voice to a whisper. “Do you think anyone followed you?”

  “Good to see you too,” she responded, then whispered, “and no.”

  Chloe glanced around one more time before sitting. Three tables were occupied across the room, but no one was paying any attention to them except the server, and everyone was too far away to overhear them anyway.

  Fleur ordered herself a pot of tea and some lunch. She frowned at Chloe when the waiter left. “You should have ordered something. I know you haven’t eaten yet, and how many times do I have to tell you—energy drinks are not food.”

  “I’ll have a few bites of yours.” Making sure they still weren’t being watched, Chloe got right to it. In a low voice she outlined everything she had gone over with Megan and the others, careful to keep her voice barely above a whisper when she talked about sensitive things.

  Fleur listened in silence until she finished, taking it all in. What Fleur would need to do. Where Chloe and the others would be. And what the potential risks were.

  Chloe studied her friend, looking for signs of worry or stress. “Do you understand? This could be a trap.”

  Fleur looked calm as ever. “My cover’s safe, and solid. I can do this.”

  The steel in her friend’s voice made Chloe’s whole chest ache. Fleur was going to see this through, no matter what. It filled Chloe with a fierce pride—and a whisper of fear. “Are you sure?” She was only going to ask once. “You won’t have comms with us. Even an earpiece is too risky if they scan you.”

  Fleur gave an emphatic nod. “I’m sure.”

  Okay then. “You go on board, meet the broker and verify the women are there. Then you go on deck to do the fund transfer. To signal that the deal’s done, drop the stylus.” As soon as Fleur gave that signal and left, Chloe and the others would take over, infiltrating the ship to neutralize the crew and free the women.

  “Got it.”

  “But if something’s off, if something doesn’t feel right, you leave. Immediately,” she stressed. She didn’t want to scare Fleur. She just wanted her friend to be on guard.

  “I will.”

  Chloe eyed her. “Promise?”

  “Promise.”

  A reluctant grin tugged at Chloe’s lips. “I ever tell you I adore you?”

  Fleur lifted a shoulder. “Once or twice.”

  She sipped her wine, waited for Fleur to finish her meal, then paid the bill and stood. Dammit, she wanted more time. More time to spend with Fleur, to prepare her better. Chloe gave her a warm, genuine smile. “It was good to see you.”

  “You too, my friend.” Fleur enveloped her in a floral-scented hug that made Chloe’s throat tighten. “Think of the stories we can tell each other after this,” she whispered. “And you’re going to owe me several bottles of my favorite red wine, by the way.”

  “Deal,” Chloe whispered back, squeezing her tight. “And take this, just in case.” She slipped one of her blades into the pocket of Fleur’s trench.

  “Ugh, you and your knives,” Fleur said with a mock shudder. Releasing Chloe, she stepped back and gave her a brave smile. “Guess I’ll see you later, then.”

  Chloe nodded. “Yes, you will.”

  She stood there and watched her only true friend walk out of the pub in her disguise and disappear into the misty rain outside, while an ominous weight gathered in her chest.

  Drawing in a deep breath to counteract the heaviness, she exited the pub a few seconds later and turned the opposite way up the sidewalk, resisting the instinctive urge to look back at Fleur one more time.

  Chapter Fourteen

  She was deep in her head.

  Heath followed Chloe up the sidewalk, keeping a safe distance as she entered their hotel while he waited outside. He had only known her a couple of days now, but he could tell something was different. That edgy, high-energy vibe she always emitted was dimmed now. She seemed uncharacteristically somber, almost subdued when she stepped out of their small hotel a few minutes later wearing a different disguise.

  She pasted on a smile as she walked toward him, her brown wig plaited into a long braid that draped over her shoulder. “Hi,” she said in English and slipped her arm through his, posing as a couple of American tourists here on vacation.

  “Hi.” Heath glanced at her as they strode back down the cobblestone street together. The main tourist areas of the city were fairly safe, but there were pockets where you definitely had to have your wits about you. “Everything okay?”

  “Yes, great,” she said brightly.

  He didn’t push. She wouldn’t tell him anything she didn’t want him to know, and she was concerned about her friend. Hell, Heath hated putting Fleur in this position too, but they really didn’t have a choice at this point if they wanted to save those women. “Ready to explore the waterfront a bit?” They needed to get a good read on the setup down there before they could finalize the plan for tomorrow’s op.

  “Sounds good.” Already doing recon at the south end of the waterfront, Ty and Megan could hear everything they were saying via their earpieces. Heath and Chloe would check out the north side.

  Wanting to reassure her, wanting the chance to hold her, he pulled his arm free of hers and curled it around her waist instead. She didn’t stiffen or break stride, but she gave him a little quirk of her lips that made him grin in turn. He would take any excuse at this point to touch her, and posing as a couple gave him the perfect excuse.

  He walked her down to the water’s edge, pretending to point out various historical things as they surveyed the structure of the harbor. Boats and ships of various sizes were moored along the docks, cranes and other equipment busy loading and unloading the cargo. The ship they were targeting tomorrow was a smaller vessel, ironically called La Liberté.

  But the only freedom the captive women aboard would find was dependent on this op going as planned.

  Chloe was quiet but alert beside him as they continued their recon, and he could practically hear her brain humming as she processed everything. This was way different from anything he did on his security stints, but he wanted to do whatever he could to help.

  After an hour or so they’d seen everything they needed, and headed back to the hotel. They were staying in adjoining rooms on the third floor, while Ty and Megan were booked in a different hotel a few blocks east.

  Heath was just taking off his jacket in his room when a knock came at the adjoining door. He opened it, his heart giving a hard kick to see Chloe without the disguise. She’d washed her face so it was completely devoid of makeup, her thick, honey-blond hair falling in waves around her shoulders. She was effortlessly beautiful, and so sexy it was all he could do not to wrap his hands in her hair and kiss her until her knees gave out.

  “Megan and Ty are on their way up,” she said, all business as she moved past him with her computer when he stepped aside.
She smelled like shampoo and the mint gum she always chewed.

  “Everything go okay with Fleur, by the way?” he asked as she dragged a chair from the corner over to the desk where she placed her laptop. Even though he’d overheard everything, the women had spoken in rapid French, so he hadn’t caught much.

  “Yeah, why?” She continued setting up without looking at him.

  Because it bothers both of us that we’re putting an untrained civilian in this position. He crossed to the mini fridge and opened it. “I got you something.” He handed her the can of energy drink.

  The genuine pleasure and surprise in her eyes when she glanced up at him warmed his heart. “When did you get this?” she asked as she took it from him.

  “Had room service bring it up while we were out.”

  She set it on the desk, looking a bit flustered. As if no one had ever done something nice for her before. Maybe they hadn’t. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome. Figured you could use a caffeine jolt right about now.”

  Any sign of discomfort vanished and a smile curved her mouth. “You figured right. Want some? I’ll share.”

  “No, I’m good.”

  Still smiling, she cracked the can and took a long sip, closing her eyes as she swallowed. “Mmmm, that’s good.”

  “If you say so.” What would be really good was seeing that same look on her face while he held her hips and buried his tongue between her legs. Or when he had her so close to the edge she could taste it, and hold her there as he buried himself inside her warmth. He wanted to watch her face at that exact moment, hear what sounds she made and drink in every moment of it the same way she was savoring that drink.

  A brisk knock on the door pulled him from his fantasy. She opened it and Ty and Megan strode in.

  “You ready to knock this out?” Megan asked as she headed for the desk where Chloe’s computer was. She was high energy too, but in a quieter way than Chloe. More on the anxious side, whereas Chloe was flat out restless. Their nicknames made sense to him now: Itchy and Twitchy.