Slash stood, offered an encouraging smile. “Baby steps. Let’s get you packed and over to our house.”
“I don’t?—”
“Carrera knows a lot more than I do.”
I won’t learn anything here.
Do it. Do it for Fred.
Simone stood on wobbly knees.
“You’ve been working solo for a while now,” Slash continued. “I remember when you were at ALPHA, I used to call you kick-ass Red.”
“Feels like a lifetime ago.”
“I remember how wrecked you were when you left,” Slash said. “I begged you to stay, but you had to go into hiding?—”
“Luther and Z were worried The Bomb Maker knew I’d survived.”
“Well, if The Bomb Makerisback, don’t you want to be the one to eliminate him?”
The hatred, revenge, and fury she’d pushed down came roaring out of her so hard, she staggered backward.
“Whoa,” Slash said grabbing her arm. “Let’s sit down.”
“I’m okay,” Simone said. “You’re right, if anyone is driven to drop that son of a bitch, it’s me. He stole my life.”
“Ready to take it back?”
A determination she hadn’t felt in years burst through her. In spite of the pain, she felt energized, she felt alive. She needed to do this… for herself. More than that, she needed to do this for the ALPHA Ops he killed and the havoc he wreaked on a country she deeply loved.
An unexpected streak of confidence raced through her. “Yes. I. Am.”
“Hell, yeah!” Slash exclaimed.
Twenty-minutes later, Simone’s suitcase was packed, and the women hurried out. Slash loaded the suitcase into Simone’s SUV and got behind the wheel.
“Thank you,” Simone said.
“I got you,” Slash replied.
Five years ago, she’d been forced into hiding. She’d walked away from a career she loved in order to stay safe… and to heal. Though she’d been cleared to return to work months ago, she’d stayed in the shadows, watching others live their best lives.
Fred had died doing something she loved. Simone owed her friend—and the other victims—her absolute best. And her best was returning to a job she was good at—damn good at—and hunting down a monster who’d risen from the dead.
For you, Fred.
I’m doing this for you.
9
THE DECISION
LUCIANO
Luciano had a full day at Santini International, but his thoughts kept ping-ponging from Simone to the deadly ALPHA mission. Another bout of seething fury rumbled through him and he growled.
He’d been up most of the night searching the dark web for chatter about the explosion. There had been one comment, buried in a group of supporters and sympathizers of the Haqazzii terror cell. Written by Inferno531, it read, “The Bomb Maker is back!”
