Dade Menke ran his hand absentmindedly through his hair as he stared at the computer screen. He did that often, and as was customary, it was Blair’s gentle hand landing on top of his over his thick hair that made him aware of his actions.

Blair threaded her fingers with his and pulled their combined hands down to his shoulder, leaning into him from behind until her chin rested on his opposite shoulder. Her lips landed on his ear. “You need to take a break,” she murmured. “You’ve been working for hours.”

He leaned his cheek against hers, closed his eyes, and sighed. “It’s so frustrating, and the clock is ticking. Every time I stop to eat or sleep or laugh or shower or exercise, I feel guilty. People are counting on us. People are living in limbo. I hate that six members of my team aren’t even reanimated yet. Especially Graham Wentz. The thought of him halfway through the process, in a coma, in hiding, makes me incredibly nervous.”

“I know, babe. And you’re doing the best you can. But you’re working too hard.” Her gentle hands slid down his chest, and she held him tighter. “You left out sex,” she whispered directly into his ear.

He reached behind to wrap his hand around her neck, twisted his face toward her, and kissed her. He did leave sex off the list, but he never left it out of their day. Even if all they had time for was a quickie before they got up, while showering, or right before they fell asleep, he never left out sex. And he’d never feel guilty about that.

He was clear on the fact that he’d been given a second chance at life, and he wasn’t about to squander it.

No. To be honest, he’d been given a third chance at life. The first life had been cut short ten years ago when he and the rest of the team working in the government bunker in Falling Rock, Colorado, contracted a rare form of viral-onset anemia—AP12. All twenty-two people in the medical wing of the bunker were cryonically preserved—the entire team of twenty-one plus General Winston Custodio, who had been the one to arrive with the disease in the first place.

For Dade, it seemed as if he woke up the next morning, when the reality was ten years had passed. But he quickly found he’d been reanimated into a tumultuous world where all hell was breaking loose in the bunker.

His second chance at life had also been cut short when he found out he had the genetic marker for yet another form of anemia, AA2, that would kill him if he received the cure that had been developed for AP12.

And yet, he had lived. An experimental stem cell transplant had saved his life, giving him opportunity number three to make the most of it.

He smiled at Blair, the woman who’d left the bunker with him as his security guard. The woman who’d shaken some sense into him and forced him to adopt a positive attitude when he’d wanted to crawl into a hole and die. The woman he’d fallen in love with. The woman who was now on the run with him while they secretly tried to figure out what the hell was going on inside that bunker.

Except for a few people—Ryan Anand, Emily Zorich, Zeke Holleran, and Michelle Houston—no one knew Dade was going to live. They all thought he was somewhere dying a slow death with Blair by his side.

Blair pointed at a plate on the table. “I made you a sandwich.” She slid around to his front and lowered herself onto his lap, cupping his face. “At least take a break to eat lunch. You can’t solve the world’s problems if you don’t eat.”

He set his hands on her waist and slid them up and around to her back. “Thanks for reminding me how damn lucky I am.” He kissed her again, lingering longer this time, loving the feel of her lips on his. She made him feel alive. She gave him hope.

“You are pretty lucky,” she teased as she leaned back, separating their lips.

A knock sounded at the door, making them both freeze as they turned to stare at it.

“You expecting anyone?” Dade asked.

She shook her head.

It wasn’t as if no one ever came to the door. It happened. Deliveries. Management. Neighbors. But it always made the hairs stand up on the back of Dade’s neck.

He grabbed Blair’s hips and moved her next to him before standing and heading toward the door.

They had been renting this furnished apartment in a small town in Montana for a few weeks. They relocated often. It was almost time to move again.

A peek through the peephole gave Dade no information. A young man stood there, ball cap shadowing his face. His brown hair was a bit too long and curling around the edges of the cap. He wore scruffy tennis shoes, worn jeans, and a Dark Side of the Moon T-shirt that couldn’t have belonged to him originally. The kid wasn’t born when it was made.

Blair set her hand on Dade’s back. He hadn’t even heard her approach. She was getting good at stealth. “Who is it?” she whispered.

“No idea,” he whispered back.

The kid stuck his hands in his pockets and rocked forward and back on his feet. He tugged one hand out to knock again while Dade watched.

Blair nudged Dade out of the way and lifted onto her tiptoes to look through the peephole. Her brow was furrowed when she turned around. “He’s just a kid,” she pointed out.

He lifted his brows. The two of them had been on the run for weeks, living under the radar. They didn’t take chances.

She rolled her eyes. “He probably lives below us or something. Or he’s looking for a job. Or he’s at the wrong address. We’ll look like idiots if we ignore him and then he sees us leaving later.” She murmured all of this while shoving Dade out of the way.

Dade swept out a hand. “Fine. Open the door.”

Blair unlocked the door in two places and opened it about six inches. Dade stood behind her, his foot at the base of the door, ready to kick it shut.

The young man lifted his gaze. He was frowning. He cocked his head to one side and rolled his eyes in the same way Blair had just done. “You two are the worst secret agents on the planet.”

Dade jerked in his spot at that opening line. “Pardon?”

“Can we help you?” Blair asked, her spine straightening so that she stood taller. She also held the door with a death grip under Dade’s hand, just as ready as he was to slam it shut.

“My name’s Spencer. You’re Dade Menke and Blair Rollans,” he stated as he glanced from one to the other.

Not a soul had their real names. They hadn’t gone by Dade and Blair since they’d left Colorado.

Dade was fucking nervous as he licked his lips and responded, “No idea who that is. I’m John Jones, and this is my wife Stacey. You must have the wrong apartment.”

Now the kid chuckled. “That’s the best you could come up with? John Jones? How cheesy.”

Dade’s heart rate picked up by the second. He leaned into Blair’s back, feeling her tension.

“How about you let me come inside so that everyone on your floor doesn’t hear us, and I’ll tell you who I am and why I know who you are.”

Seconds ticked by.

So much anxiety. Deflation. Frustration. Dade’s worst nightmare.

Spencer lifted both hands in the air. “I don’t have a weapon. You can frisk me if you want.” He winked. The kid fucking winked. And then his cocky eyes went wider as if to taunt them. “I don’t have much time. Take a chance on me. I promise I’ll make it worth your while.”

Blair glanced at Dade, and he nodded before stepping back and opening the door wider.

Spencer slid into the apartment as Blair shut the door.

“You might be unarmed, but I’m not,” Blair stated. “So, you better talk fast before I lose my patience.” Yep. That was Dade’s woman. Badass and feisty when circumstances called for it.

Spencer pointed at the couch and armchair in the small living room that also served as a kitchen and dining room. The super had referred to it as a great room, but that was comical considering how small it was. “Let’s sit. I’ll talk.”

Dade took Blair’s hand and led her to the sofa while Spencer took the armchair. He had an air of confidence that far exceeded his years. “First of all,” he began, “let me start by saying that your hacking skills suck royally, and you need to stop it before you get caught.”

Dade narrowed his gaze but said nothing. It was obvious denial wasn’t going to be effective. This kid knew stuff.

Blair set her hand on Dade’s thigh and gripped it.

Spencer sighed and slouched back in the chair as if he had permission to get comfortable. “Quick synopsis. Four years ago, a covert government organization approached me to work for them.”

That was the end of Dade’s silence. “Four years ago? Were you twelve?”

The kid laughed. He took off his ball cap, ran a hand through his hair that was too long on top, and put it back on, seemingly adjusted. “I’m twenty-two. I was eighteen at the time. Just out of high school.”

Dade suddenly felt much older than his thirty-five years if this was what twenty-two looked like.

Spencer continued. “I’m a computer hacker. A genius by most people’s standards. I was still in high school when I started digging around in places I shouldn’t have.” He laughed as if it were cool to fuck with other people’s computers. “Mind you, I never did anything to get people in trouble. I just hacked into mainframes because I could. I get a thrill out of the challenge.”

“Speed this up,” Dade stated between gritted teeth.

Spencer rolled his eyes yet again. “I was hired by a group called Blue Cell.”

“Never heard of it,” Blair said.

“You wouldn’t have. It’s top secret. Operates below the radar. Way below the radar.”

“Go on,” Dade encouraged. His entire body was stiff. He had a feeling his world was about to be upended. His and Blair’s.

“I’ve been assigned to hack into every detail of Project DEEP. I need you to understand that I’m fucking smart. I know where every damn member of your team is, both the first team that was preserved ten years ago and the second team headed up by Ryan Anand. I’ve known every move you people have made from the moment you were reanimated.”

Dade flinched, unable to hide it. What the fuck did this kid want?

Spencer held up a hand, palm out. “Don’t freak out. I’m not going to turn you in. I want to help you.”

Dade leaned forward at those words. He set his elbows on his knees. Blair did the same at his side.

For the first time since he’d arrived, Spencer fidgeted and looked slightly less confident. Chagrined. “At first, I thought I’d hit the lottery when I got this job. A foster kid who’d lived in seven homes in eighteen years. A high school diploma with grades that would make most parents cringe. An ability to decode things that were a bit morally ambiguous. No college education. No prospects at all.

“I was hotheaded and full of myself when Blue Cell approached me and offered me the world. I knew they were a government organization. I didn’t know much else. I had no idea they were not on the up and up. How the fuck could a branch of the government be dirty?”

A chuckle slipped from Dade’s lips. He knew better than most people alive how dirty the government could be. He’d been digging around trying to figure out what the hell their aim was for weeks, knowing someone or a pile of someones were working hard to undermine everything that Project DEEP did.

“Yeah,” Spencer continued. “I get it. Preaching to the choir. But here’s the thing: Your people are in danger. You need to move them. All of them. ASAP.”

Dade hesitated. How the fuck was he going to find and move the twenty-one members of the first team—the reanimated group—as well as the twelve members of the second team—those who worked their asses off to return the first team to the living?

Dade was supposed to be dead. He didn’t have the manpower or the time to hunt people down and move them. And where would that be? “Where the hell am I supposed to move everyone to?”

“I have some suggestions.”

Dade cringed. “And you expect me to trust your suggestions?”

“My God.” Blair looked like she was going to rush across the room and strangle Spencer. She gripped her thighs with both hands as she straightened. “How could you possibly know where everyone is? And why?”

He shrugged. “I’m that good. And it’s my job. At this point, Blue Cell is keeping tabs on everyone to make sure they stay split up and out of the way.”

“Wait,” Dade said as he lowered back to sit next to Blair, “are you saying Blue Cell orchestrated that bombing at the bunker a month ago?”

Spencer nodded. “The goal was to disperse everyone. That’s always been the goal. It finally worked.”

“So all the crazy shit that happened was caused by this Blue Cell group?”

“Yep. Everything. Even the kidnapping of Ryan’s girlfriend, Emily Zorich. It’s amazing what a desperate father will do. A few suggestive nudges, and the man was convinced Emily was the key to reviving his daughter.”

“Jesus,” Dade muttered.

“The messiah hasn’t been involved yet, but you never can tell. As soon as I manage to hack into His website, I’ll let you know,” Spencer joked, laughing as if any of this were funny.

“Why are you telling us this?” Blair asked.

Spencer sobered and rubbed his forehead with one hand. “Several reasons.”

“Let’s hear them,” Dade prompted, growing annoyed.

“Like I said, I’m a decent guy, in spite of my past record. I had no idea when I started working for Blue Cell they had bad intentions and would stop at nothing to get what they wanted.”

“And what is it that they ultimately want?” Blair interrupted to ask.

Spencer sighed. “Unfortunately, I don’t have the answer to that. I get my assignments, and I do them. If I ask questions about other aspects of the organization, people will get suspicious.”

“You’re a hacker,” Blair pointed out. She was glaring at Spencer when Dade glanced at her.

Spencer nodded. “Yeah, well, I can’t hack brains, just computers.”

“Great,” Blair stated sarcastically. “Continue. Why are you really here?”

“I don’t want to have anything to do with people dying. So far, you’ve all been relatively safe, but if anyone gets too close to the truth—whatever that might be—I’m afraid Blue Cell will stop at nothing to take you all out one by one. I want to help. I’ve already tried to help as best I could, but it would be easier if I had you two as a liaison. Your team isn’t going to listen to me directly.”

“I’m not sure we’re willing to listen to you either,” Dade pointed out.

“I can appreciate that.”

“How have you tried to help?” Dade asked, eyes narrowed. “We’ve had nothing but problems for months. I don’t see what you’ve done to help things.”

Spencer squirmed before responding. “I’ve sent anonymous texts to some of your team members, warning them to get out of the bunker.”

Blair flinched. “That was you?”

“Yes. Obviously I was too late. Two men followed them away from the bunker, but I tried.”

Dade rubbed his forehead. “This is ludicrous.”

Spencer sighed. “Listen, the reason I’m here now is because you have an urgent problem. I’ve dug around in the data you all keep for DEEP. I understand the meaning of that acronym perfectly well. Disease & Epidemic Eradication & Prevention. The data from over thirty years of cures and treatments is stored on the servers in that bunker. Millions of lives would be lost if that data disappeared.”

Dade sucked in a sharp breath. “Who the fuck would do that?”

“Apparently…me.”

Blair shook her head. “It’s backed up. Multiple times. In clouds.”

Spencer stared at her. “I’m super-clear on that. And I have access to all of it. I can and will make it disappear.”

“Jesus Christ.” Dade leaned back. “Why the fuck are you telling us all this? Quit your job. Tell them no.”

Spencer narrowed his gaze. “I value my life too, asshole. I’d be dead before I left the room. Besides, it wouldn’t do any good. They would just hire someone else to do the job. Wiping data is not that difficult.”

“So, what the hell are we supposed to do?” Blair asked.

“I have a plan. One that keeps me alive and allows Project DEEP to carry out their mission at the same time.”

“Great,” Dade returned sarcastically. “And what do you get in return?”

“The satisfaction of having done the right thing and protection so that Blue Cell can’t get to me.”

“And you think I have the power to make that happen?” Dade asked.

“I’m hoping you will when this is over. After you’ve taken down at least a fraction of this organization. Surely, your people will have the clout to get me into witness protection. Blue Cell is huge and powerful. You’ll never be able to destroy them. Even if you expose this plot and win this battle, there will always be someone watching me. I need to know that the good guys will have my back.”

Dade found himself nodding. “Okay. If you’re telling the truth, I’ll make sure it happens. Now, tell me this plan of yours.”

“Well, it starts with Graham Wentz…”