Rebecca Zanetti: Sweet Revenge

Medical personnel who used to work for the commander and the organization—the group still hunting Matt and his brothers. The nurse had somehow died while working for the organization, and Dr. Peters had initially sent a sympathy card. Once Matt had been able to track down the dead nurse’s grandmother, they’d watched her for years… breaking into her quaint home every once in a while to go through her correspondence and computer. A month ago, they’d finally hit pay dirt. Dr. Peters, whoever she was, had sent money along with a postcard. The card was blank except for the address, and it featured a picture of the small town of Charmed, Idaho.

The doctor had to be in Charmed.

He punched in a series of codes on his laptop to ensure security. Finally, he opened the e-mail from Shane. Current pictures of the possible targets living in Charmed came up—three women, all blond. That made sense. While they had never found a picture of Dr. Peters, the medical folks he’d interrogated confirmed she’d been a brunette. A woman on the run would change her hair, and blond seemed like a good choice. He would’ve gone with red, but he was probably better trained.

The laptop dinged, and Shane appeared. His brother’s brown hair brushed his shoulders, and his eyes were tired. “Made contact yet?”

“Not in the last thirty minutes.” Matt rubbed his chin as he studied his younger brother, the one who’d fought his training the hardest and yet had brought the most hope to them all. The one who’d taken a chance on love with his wife, Josie, and actually won, giving Matt one more family member to agonize over. Matt couldn’t imagine his family without her now. “My money is on the family practitioner.”

“I’ll take that bet. It’s the coroner.” Shane peered closer, his gray eyes identical to Matt’s. “She’d still be able to cut into people that way but would be hard to find.”

“Perhaps. Give me what you know on the nonexistent Dr. Peters.” He’d rather hear the rundown about her than see it for the first time.

Shane stretched his neck. “She’s in her late twenties, a highly trained doctor, no family, and no close friends I could find. Her one and only contact is where you found the postcard. She’s a loner, a think.”

“Sounds like a sweetheart.” This was the kind of woman he was used to—cold, determined, and merciless.

“Yeah. The bitch is a neurosurgeon with a specialty with the spine.”

That made sense, considering she’d implanted triggers beside their vertebrae that would sever their spines in less than two months if the correct code wasn’t entered into the chip. As soldiers, they were often in surgery, and it had been easy to knock them out and implant the devices. They’d also had sperm harvested while they were out, but according to the records, no babies had ever been created. “Are you sure she assisted with the surgeries?” Matt asked.

Shane nodded. “According to the files I’ve hacked, she at least assisted Dr. Rodriquez with the surgeries.”

“Rodriquez created the devices, right?” Matt bit back a wince when his homemade stitches pulled.

“Yes, and we killed him when we fled the operation.” Shane sighed, no regret in his dark tone. “Our only chance is finding this woman, Matt.” Desperation filtered through the words.

“I know.” He’d find the woman, and he’d make sure she helped them get rid of the triggers before they blew. Shane needed to live to protect Josie. In fact, they all did. Death hung over them like a talisman. “How did you narrow our target down to three women?”

“Once we narrowed the search to Charmed, I hacked every governmental database I could find to investigate the citizens. Thank goodness Charmed is a small town. I’ve only done a surface search, and so far, these three women are all off the grid and have some sort of medical background. Red flags.” Shane shook his head. “No records past about five years ago… which is odd. I guess if you’re running from something, Charmed, Idaho, is a good place to go.”

Maybe. But the doctor couldn’t hide from Matt. “I’ll find her. I promise.”

Shane frowned. “I’ve also been trying to find some information on Emery since we learned he’s still working with the commander.”

Matt stretched his neck, his gut churning. Josie had been taken by the commander only three months ago, and during that time, she’d discovered Emery was still with the enemy. Thank God Matt and his brothers had rescued her before she’d been really hurt. “When we blew up the compound and escaped the commander five years ago, I knew we should’ve killed Emery.” The guy was crazy and enjoyed inflicting pain. He always had.

Shane shook his head. “Emery had a right to find freedom for himself and his brothers, just like we did. He was raised and trained in that hellhole, too.”

Yeah, but as the leader of the brown-eyed family of brothers, Emery had enjoyed the hell. “If we find confirmation that he’s still working with the commander, I’m taking him out,” Matt said.

“Fair enough.” Shane leaned closer to the monitor. “You’re pale. How badly are you wounded?”

“I’m fine. Ah, how’s Josie?” The thought that Shane was actually married still threw him. Especially since Josie was a sweetheart and much too soft for their life.

“She’s working hard on the books for our security company.” When they’d escaped from the commander, they’d set up a security business that provided jobs for ex-soldiers in protection, infiltration, and other methods the government didn’t condone, but still used. They’d made a nice sum of money without anybody, including their employees, knowing their names or locations. Good enough money to buy excellent equipment to hunt the group still hunting them. Shane rubbed his chin. “Josie is adjusting well to life here.”

His brother was too well trained to state their location, even through a secured line. But Rebel, Montana, was a perfect place for their home base. “I’m glad. Really.” In fact, the relationship fascinated Matt. How in the world could it work? Kind and soft women were anomalies in their lives. “Tell her hi for me.”

“I will.” Although haggard, Shane looked happier than Matt had ever seen him. Good on him.

“Has Nate checked in?” Matt asked.

“Yes. He’s following the lead on the lost DVDs—hopefully the one I saw before losing my memories.” Shane leaned closer to the camera. “I still don’t remember anything else except the end of the video when Jory may have moved. He may not have, Mattie. I might be wrong.”

Chances were that Shane was wrong. Matt hadn’t seen any movement when he watched his video. “Jory is dead, Shane. Stop hoping and let’s deal with the facts.”

Shane nodded, a veil dropping over his eyes. “Okay.”

What a load of crap. “I mean it.” Matt put bite into his order this time.

“Yes, sir.” Shane instantly slipped back into early training. Then he bit off an expletive. “Stop it. We’re past that.”

“We’re not past that until the commander is dead.”

“Whatever. Did you find a place to stay?” Shane asked.

Matt glanced around the tiny apartment. “Yes, and I found a job. With these injuries, I’ll seek out the family practitioner tomorrow. Also, I may have a way in with the vet.” Well, perhaps. Eugene probably wouldn’t let Matt take him in for a checkup. Either way, time was running short, and he needed to find Dr. Peters so he could stop the chips from exploding and taking out their spines. Six weeks wasn’t long to live.

Wispy blond hair came into view, and Matt’s sister-in-law elbowed her husband out of the way. “Hi, Mattie.” Her smile was pure sweetness.

“Hi.” He forced good humor onto his face.