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The smile he’d just given Voodoo was enough ammunition to finish the job.
I will not fail this time.
“Follow them,” Venom, her alter ego, demanded. Venom, as she’d named this personality, took control every time she screwed up. It was why he’d started poisoning Carter. She was too weak to do what needed to be done. That was Venom’s job. It was a job he took seriously.
* * *
On the teno’clock nightly news:
“We’ll turn this story over to Jackie Walton, who’s in the field right now. What do we know, Jackie?”
“We have confirmation that a woman in her mid-thirties was recovered after what the police are calling an attempted suicide. The woman, who identified herself only as Chaos, is in the Dell Seton Medical Center at the UT Hospital under suicide watch.
“As of right now, we have no details about the woman, her condition, or if her family has been notified. What we do know is she didn’t have identification on her when she was found along the Lake Austin banks near Pennybacker or three sixty Bridge.
“When paramedics asked for her name, the word she offered the first responder was Chaos. They aren’t sure if she was delirious when she answered, or if she was describing her state of mind at the time.”
“It is unknown if Chaos will be arrested for a misdemeanor for jumping off the bridge or will, most likely, have to pay the five-hundred-dollar fine.”
Later in the broadcast:
“We’ve been given an update on the woman earlier identified as Chaos. A former coworker has identified her as Gwendolyn Hughes, a missing CIA contractor. It’s unclear why she attempted to end her life. However, sources stated that she’d been presumed dead for over five years after her flight to Japan went down. No body was ever found.
“I have to tell you, Maria, the more details we receive about this woman, the more it’s feeling like a plot for a blockbuster spy movie.”
PARTII
CHAPTERSIXTEEN
4Hours Earlier
Chaos needed a break.The group had taken Carter up on his offer to pick up dinner for the team. She knew—but couldn’t prove yet—that Carter wasn’t anyone she should fear. In a matter of a few short hours, she began to remember the man who wooed her sister. The one who sat with them at the cemetery each year, and the man who had worshiped Gwen. Before she was made aware of the attempts on her sister’s life, she’d used Carter as the benchmark for the kind of man she wanted to spend her forever with. However, that changed when she learned of his murderous side. She didn’t trust easily, so not getting involved with someone wasn’t a problem. Solitary life suited her just fine.
The group disbanded around six that evening. With a full belly and a raging headache, Chaos bid everyone a good evening, insisting she would stay at Voodoo’s place. She still had work to do and didn’t want to involve ALIAS with any of her other, less desirable, work. A previous client of hers was getting antsy and neurotic about their identity. She’d already confirmed that there hadn’t been any breaches and the existing identity was safe to continue using.
Even though the client was paying her quite well, the timing was disturbing. If not for the threat this client could prove to be, she had to respond to Raptor’s demands and find a way of disentangling herself from the assassin. She needed to stay focused on her sister and not some vengeful, angry psychopath. Maybe she could become a little more philanthropic. It hadn't hurt Byte’s reputation.
She had too much energy to burn. She paced the apartment and decided to go down to the gym the complex offered their residents. Wearing her sister’s workout clothes, she threw her hair in a ponytail, slid the keycard in her pocket, and took the elevator to the ground floor. She could see why her sister liked living there. The ALIAS compound didn’t have all the amenities she was provided. And as long as she felt safe, there wasn’t any reason to live on-site.
After a forty-five-minute workout, she wiped the sweat from her brow and welcomed a shower. The elevator stopped at the first-floor lobby and on impulse she exited. Maybe sitting outside would do her some good. She remembered a small park a couple of blocks down from the complex.
She’d not met anyone from the complex, considering she arrived unconscious, so it wasn’t surprising when the woman behind the counter called out to her... or Gwen.
“Maxi, girl. I love your hair. The short look was fierce, and don’t we all need a little of that sometimes. You hear me?”
“I do,” Chaos agreed as she ran her hand over the long strands.
“Where are you heading off to?”
“The park down the street. I need to cool down from my workout.”
“Alright, darling. You be safe.”
“Always,” she responded and said her goodbyes.
“That was interesting,” she said to herself. She hadn’t thought about someone confusing them. Not only did they look different, but they exuded a different kind of confidence. But if the woman thought she was wearing a wig, then who was she to educate her. Chaos couldn’t imagine anyone, and especially not Voodoo, wearing a wig while working out at a gym.
The traffic had died down. It was just a few minutes after nine. She hoped taking half an hour to settle her thoughts would give way to sleep, which her body craved.
