Page 31

CHAPTER 31

VENGEANCE IS OURS

Julian

I t’s five in the morning, and Nadira, Chelsea, and I are in a town on the outskirts of Denver. Chelsea sits in the back of the Land Rover while I bite my tongue, amazed I haven’t severed it completely.

Chelsea isn’t the known entity she used to be, but Nadira won’t listen to reason. I can’t deny there’s a kernel of longing inside me for the old days when the three of us bonded and became friends, but that was before Chelsea admitted she’d drugged Nadira.

The warm hand on my fist draws my attention to my queen. Her black eyes are clear, no sign of doubt to cloud her confidence in us and our plan.

The organization’s headquarters stands before us, a low-rise commercial building surrounded by woods.

Through my binoculars, I spy a sleek Audi S8 pulling into the vacant parking lot and a familiar face steps out. “And I thought Jason didn’t know where headquarters’ location was.”

“That’s Jason?” Nadira’s strained voice causes me to glance at her as she stares at the man through her binoculars. Her chest rises and falls at increasing speeds and her nostrils flutter with suppressed rage.

“He’s my handler.”

“Mine, too,” Chelsea says.

“He’s also the man who abducted me from the gas station when I was five.”

“He did what?” I grit.

“I’ll never forget that mole on his face. He’s the asshole.”

All this time, the man I report to has been the person I most wanted to kill for the hell he put Nadira through as a child, the hell she continues to process with the onslaught of her old memories. I do my best to modulate my breathing while my skin heats with the burning desire to leap out of the car and destroy Jason.

“You two need to calm down and remember the plan,” Chelsea says as she pokes her head between me and Nadira.

As much as I resent her presence, I appreciate the warning.

“You’re right. We still have a while to wait for the shot callers to show up and before hell breaks loose.”

“In the meantime, hand me the duffel bag in the back.” I might not like to leave Jason breathing for longer than he deserves, but he won’t escape our wrath. When Chelsea hands me the item I requested, I search until I find the device I need. “I have my earpiece on. Be my eyes while I work.”

Nadira nods and I leave the vehicle. While I act, the thoughts of all the ways I’m compromising our end goal float in my head. If anyone arrives while I tinker with Jason’s car, I’ll have to neutralize them. The downside is the parking lot is in an open area. Other than the woods, anyone could see me from the office building and ruin our plans. But this is a risk worth taking.

When I return to the car hidden in the woods, tension fills the cab. Minutes tick by into hours with the air getting thicker. My muscles stiffen under the constant strain of being immobile. Never have the stakes been more important. Jason leaves, nothing in his manner giving us reason to worry that our plans won’t go as we expect.

At eleven o’clock, Chelsea says, “It’s showtime.” She hits my and Nadira’s shoulders with more enthusiasm than the moment warrants, but the soreness alerts us to the figures leaving their cars with a determined tread. A few openly carry their shotguns.

“More people took the bait than I thought.” Nadira’s eyes light up with every car that enters the lot.

Over the past months, the three of us have culled a decent number of the hit staff, but none of us put a dent in their overall operations. The organization had a thousand kids when we were at Creative Gifts. I bet they had more staffed across the country. But of the thousand, there were still nine hundred in the system that would have received the information regarding the murder of their parents and headquarters’ location.

“Pull up the feed,” I say.

Nadira opens her laptop and clicks the application showing a live security feed on all the floors as men and women enter the office building to take collective revenge on the puppet masters who destroyed our childhood.

Within half an hour, there’s no one from the back office standing or breathing. I bring Nadira’s hand to my lips. “Are you disappointed we weren’t part of the action?”

“I had enough time to set my expectations appropriately when you pitched the idea.” She shakes her head, but her eyes aren’t telling me the whole truth.

“Well, I heard the plan, agreed to the plan, and still wish I were part of the action.” Chelsea settles against her chair. A grin spreads across her face. “We still have one opportunity to get satisfaction though, don’t we, Nadira?”

“That we do,” she says, and it clicks.

Once she recognized Jason, her priority shifted. I pull up the app for the tracking device I left inside his car.

“That’s a residential neighborhood,” Chelsea points out.

Nadira uses the address to find a street view map of the area.

“We have to be careful in case he’s got the place booby-trapped.” I switch the engine and creep out of the woods to leave for our next destination.

“The last hitter has left the building,” Chelsea informs us.

“You know what to do.” Nadira stares at the building in the side-view mirror.

Chelsea faces the rear of the car and presses a button on the handheld detonator with a wide grin. Charge after charge of explosives blasts off, creating a gigantic dust cloud as the building crumples satisfyingly to the ground.

Before long, we near Jason’s location. His car hasn’t moved. Everyone puts in an earpiece and we exit the car three blocks away. Chelsea skirts toward the back of his house while Nadira closes in from the left, and I approach from the front.

I plaster myself against the building and creep toward the entrance, praying we haven’t triggered an alarm system. Before I worry too much, the front door opens and Jason appears. I immobilize him and alert the ladies.

Luck is on our side as we transport him to my hunting lodge and string him up by his feet. Thankfully, we don’t have long to wait for him to wake and take the three of us in. His eyes widen when they settle on Nadira.

She approaches him with a glowing smile. “Hello, Jason. It’s been a while.”