Katie looked up when he entered the room and grinned at him. "Your mom was showing me some interesting photos of you and your brother and cousin."

"And you wonder why I never bring anyone here."

Clara sipped her sweet tea. "I earned the right to show these pictures."

Kaiden scowled. "I know, I know. Forty-eight hours of labor, blah… blah… blah... I was only gone for twenty minutes. You two couldn't talk about makeup or fashion or something?"

His mother laughed so hard, iced tea shot through her nose and sprinkled all over the table. "Makeup and fashion? Please!"

"You know what I mean. Why did it have to be the embarrassing childhood memories?"

"But Kaiden," Katie said with exaggerated sweetness. "I think you were absolutely adorable with your crazy afro curls and bell-bottomed corduroy pants."

"Ugh. You saw that one already?"

"Right after the bathtub shot with the bubble bath beard from when you were about two."

Kaiden groaned as he dropped into a chair. "I am a grown man now, Ma. Can't you get rid of that ridiculous picture?"

Clara chuckled as she cleaned up the droplets of sweet tea. "When I am dead and gone from this world you can do whatever you want with it but while I walk this Earth those pictures are mine to do with as I please."

"I know." He frowned at his mother. "Like put it in my senior yearbook."

Katie dissolved in laughter. "Clara! You didn't!"

"I absolutely did! He was a sweet baby. I wanted his teachers to know he wasn't always a complete pain in the ass."

"Can we get back to business here?" Kaiden said.

"Business? I thought this was a social call. You stopping by to see your frail, aging mother before the good Lord sees fit to send his angels to bring me home."

"Hmpf! You frail and aging? That'll be the day. I fully expect you to shoot the angel of death with your shotgun when he comes to take you away. Is there a special part of Heaven for nutty old ladies like you, sweet mother?"

She swatted him with the dish towel. "Mind your tongue, boy. I heard there's a special place for mothers with smart ass kids. They let us haunt you for the rest of your days until you learn to appreciate the sacrifices we made for you all."

Kaiden rolled his eyes. "Now that I believe. I fully expect you to be just that annoying even from the other side."

Kaiden had always had an easy relationship with his mother. He enjoyed the banter and friendship they shared as adults and knew many people who envied their closeness. Katie watched them with interest but also a hint of sadness in her eyes—he would have to remember to ask her about that later.

"Did your boss say anything about Nathan?"

"Yup. Sent me a few pics of the compound. Should be an easy in/easy out deal. You can hang out here with Ma while Keegan and I pick him up."

"Keegan?" Clara turned from loading the dishwasher.

"Yeah, he called after I hung up with Hunter. He's still on leave so he offered to back me up tomorrow."

"I told you I want to be there too," Katie said. "In fact, I think we should call the local media. That would be a hot story, a Marks arrested by the feds. He deserves to be humiliated the same way I was."

"That's really not a good idea. The government doesn't operate that way. We like to keep things like this under wraps."

She crossed her arms over her chest and eyed Kaiden. "I know. You yahoos prefer stalking, with commandos that kick in doors and grab a girl from her place wearing pajamas."

"Kaiden!" Clara said. "Did you do that to Katie?"

"No! How could I? I was at Logan's wedding when they took her in."

"Kidnapped me is more like it. They thought I was in cahoots with Nathan."

"I am really sorry about how that went down, I am. But being engaged to Nathan made you just as much a suspect as he is."

"A suspect in what exactly? Before yesterday he hadn't done anything wrong except cheat on me."

"Mandy is dead. How do you suppose that happened?"

"I don't know."

"Why do you think it happened?"

Katie shrugged. "I really have no idea. Nathan is a complicated man."

His mother had stopped loading dishes and watched them intently.

"There's nothing complicated about it. She was a loose end. Whatever Nathan is involved in, Mandy knew too much. You are a loose end. Especially now. I don't trust Nathan or the Marks family to simply let you out of there knowing he was up to no good. They are going to want to tie this package up nice and pretty."

"We have no idea what he is involved in! Maybe it's nothing."

"The man had someone steal vials of infectious bacteria from the hospital."

"Legionnaires' isn't deadly. Antibiotics work on it. It's not like he stole anthrax or something."

Clara, who had gone back to tidying up the kitchen stopped again. "Did you say Legionnaires' disease? Is that what this is all about?"

"Do you know something, Ma?"

"Maybe."

"Either you do or you don't," Kaiden snapped. His mother could be absolutely infuriating sometimes.

"Don't sass me, boy. I'm thinking."

Kaiden glowered at his mother. He hated when she talked to him like he was a child but he also knew that Clara had ways of finding things out that others didn't. People like his mother were often chalked up as conspiracy theorists; crazy people always looking for the next big secret. The general population often ignored them but most big conspiracy theories—like most stereotypes— were often rooted in some bit of truth.

"One of my groups put out something the other day about a pharmaceutical company in bed with the feds—CDC or WHO or something like that. They are interested in studying the way infectious diseases spread."

"I don't understand. That is common knowledge in the infectious disease world," Katie said. "People get sick and spread it to others by whatever the mode of transmission is for that disease. Ebola requires contact with body fluids. Others like tuberculosis are airborne."

"I don't think it's the actual spread of disease they are concerned about as much as being able to contain it once it's introduced," Clara replied.

"In a controlled setting. Oh damn, someone wants to use biological warfare."

"And I think the pharmaceutical company has been charged with finding vaccines and medicines that the government can step in with to save the day," Clara said.

"Good Lord," Katie said. "Are you telling me that the government wants to make people sick so they can then step in and save them?"

Clara nodded. "Something like that."

"So, how does Nathan fit into that equation?"

"He's probably just a pawn, he is weak minded and money hungry—he was probably easy to convince. I'll text Hunter and have him do some digging." Kaiden pulled out his phone and started typing.

"I still don't understand why they stole Legionnaires' vials. We had worse things sitting right next to it."

"Start small," Clara replied. "Legionnaires' is easy to conceal and relatively easy to clean up if things don't work out the way they have planned."

"That's horrible." Kaiden could see the frustration and anger in Katie's eyes.

"The world is not a kind place," Kaiden said as he dropped his phone back in his pocket. "People in power will do pretty much anything to get what they want."

"Lives could be at stake. People could actually get hurt from this. Are politics really that important?"

"Yes, Katie," Clara said. "To some people, yes. They will stop at nothing to get what they want. People in power try to control those under them through fear. Someday the shit is really going to hit the fan and all those people out there who did whatever the government said will be sorry they followed so blindly."

"Ma, don't be filling her head full of your prepper stuff right now."

"Prepper stuff?" Katie asked, obviously confused.

"My mother is a part of a movement—a group of people that believe that something will happen to dissolve our country as we know it. They call it when the shit hits the fan but what they really mean is a pandemic or a breakdown in infrastructure. Something that disrupts life and lets the government step in and be the hero. These people "prep" or prepare for the worst by making sure they have everything they need to survive on their own should it be necessary."

Understanding lit in Katie's eyes. "Like a house built in the side of a mountain with its own windmill and water tower?"

Clara chuckled. "You noticed those things?"

"Yes, but I was too distracted by a woman with a shotgun and an underground mansion to remember to ask about them."

"Oh, you ain't seen nothin' yet, little girl!"

"Ma!"

"Pft! She is gonna find out soon enough. This girl here isn't going anywhere. If I'm lyin' then I'm dyin' but you two are going to get married one day."

"Wow. Geez." Kaiden could feel the heat in his own cheeks as Katie's fair skin deepened into a dark flush.

"Please! It was no secret in the hospital and it's surely no secret now, the way you two keep looking at each other with stars in your eyes."

"Ummm… I was dating Nathan when Kaiden was shot."

"Dating, but not married. I'm not blind, missy, despite my need for these offensive spectacles. You and my boy belong together and I will prove it one day. Sooner rather than later, I should hope."

"As much as I enjoy being interrogated and embarrassed by my mother, I think it's time we all turn in for the night. I have some calls to make and I am sure Katie is exhausted. She has had a rough couple of days."

Katie shot him a grateful look but Clara laughed. "Off with the two of you then. I know when an old lady is being given the brush off." She leaned in and kissed Kaiden on the cheek. "I love you, son, but subtlety has never been one of your strong suits." She hugged Katie. "My boy here will show you where you can stay. Logan's room is fresh and clean and ready for visitors, Kaiden."

"Okay, thanks. I'm not brushing you off though. I really do have work to do."

"I know you do, son." Clara smiled with a knowing look. "I need my beauty sleep anyway. Got to keep all this looking good in case the shit hits the fan and I'm forced to survive on my wit and my good looks. Good night, you two."

Clara disappeared from the room. They could hear her whistling to herself all the way to her bedroom.

"Your mother is an interesting woman."

"She's a quack!" Kaiden replied with a laugh. "But smart as a whip and she knows what's going on in this country."

"Are you a prepper too?"

"By default, I suppose. This place is designed for all us boys and any families we have to live here should the need arise. I don't follow the same social circles as my mother though." He laughed. "I don't really have any social circles."

"Neither do I. Mandy was my only friend in Virginia Beach. I don't really keep in touch with old acquaintances from home."

Kaiden reached up and played with a lock of her hair. "Well, I live in Virginia Beach so perhaps our social circle could include each other."

"Can the busy secret agent find time for a recently unemployed nurse?"

"I am pretty sure he can."

"Sounds like something to consider then."

"By the way, it was the security guard at the hospital that messed with the elevator."

"Are you kidding? He's harmless as a fly!"

"Apparently not. He didn't like me much so he decided to do something about it."

"He didn't like you so he cut the cables on the elevator? Unbelievable!"

"I know, right? Who doesn't love me?" He grinned.

"Kaiden!" Clara yelled from the back of the house.

"What, Ma?" he yelled back.

"Let that poor gal get some sleep!"

"Alright! Alright! I'm showing her to Logan's room now!"

They heard a door close and the house fell silent. "I guess I ought to take you to your room now. You will like it. Based on the bedroom, I think my mother likes him best." He started down the hall toward the sleeping area, his hand on Katie's back. She made no move to shake off his touch. He resisted the urge to wrap his arms around her. They both could use some sleep.

"Logan is your cousin, right?"

"Yes, but he might as well be my brother. He came to live with us when his father went to prison for killing his mother. I think he was eleven or twelve at the time. It happened on his birthday."

"That's awful!"

"Logan is a good guy but he's fought a lot of demons. Angelina has made him in to a new man. Funny how love changes a guy."

"I wouldn't know."