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Tara wanted to sleep forever in the most comfortable bed on which she’d ever slept. After a long, hot shower, she decided to take a five-minute nap. Not long enough for the nightmares to bring her screams and shatter the peace that emanated from Carole’s home. What a lovely person. Now she understood why Grant had brought Tara here. It was not only a safe haven, but a place to get recharged. Carole definitely knew how to nurture.

A soft knock at the door stirred her. Carole peeked her head in. “I’m sorry to disturb your sleep, hon.”

She entered the room with a tray of food—plated lasagna, salad, garlic bread and a glass of iced lemon water.

“I missed dinner? Oh, I’m so sorry. How long have I been sleeping?”

“Three hours. I’m afraid I argued to let you sleep, but the boys said something about a time-sensitive mission. So get some fuel in you and when you’re ready, come on out into the living room.”

Boys?

She ate quickly, though she wished she could savor Carole’s exceptional culinary skills. Tara found her way down the portrait-laden hallway. She spotted a few with a much younger Grant and even a group picture of him with other kids of various ages. His foster-siblings? Tara had been an only child. A virus had killed her mother when Tara had been young, but old enough to remember. That tragedy had propelled her into her career as a microbiologist. Tara worked to do everything she could to stop illness from robbing families of their loved-ones.

That had been her dream. Only her work had ended in betrayal, death and destruction.

When she stepped into the dimly-lit room, Grant and another man—his foster sibling?—were speaking in low tones. They both looked up at her. Grant stood and walked toward her. Grabbed her hand. She hadn’t known anyone to be so touchy-feely. Hadn’t grown up in that kind of affectionate environment. Though she wasn’t sure Grant’s intention was to show affection—they weren’t in a relationship—she relished it, none-the-less. She hadn’t realized she’d been so deprived of tenderness until Grant had turned up.

He led her to sit in a soft, comfy chair. “This is Kent Sinclair, one of my foster siblings I mentioned.”

Kent, whose rugged good looks rivaled Grant’s, grinned and grabbed her hand to shake it. He had a strong grip and forceful handshake. She thought maybe he got that from Carole with her bear hugs.

Tara eased into the chair. She wasn’t sure what to expect from these two. “So is it time for you to grill me?”

“It’s time.” Grant had released her hand, but offered a reassuring smile. “Tell us what happened. Start with why you went to the village.”

She eyed Kent. “This is sensitive information. Is it okay for Kent to be here?” Her throat grew tight. Tara still wasn’t sure whom she could trust.

“Yes. Kent is a lot of things, but he is exceptionally gifted at analyzing intelligence, and that’s what I’m hoping you’re going to give us.”

“If I can help in anyway, I will,” Kent said.

She nodded. Pressed her palms against her eyes. “If you could see my dreams, my nightmares, you’d see the whole story.”

“Maybe if you can tell us everything and get some closure,” Grant said, “the nightmares will subside. Once this is over and you’re safe, then a counselor or therapist might be in order.”

She huffed a laugh. “I don’t know if it will ever be over. You don’t know what I know. The secret I’ve been carrying.”

Grant released her hand, a grim expression morphing across his features. “Then the sooner you tell us everything, the better.”

Tara shared how she came to be at the village. The two men looked on, their gazes never wavering. Unshed tears burning her throat, she closed her eyes.

“Take your time,” Grant said.

She drew in a ragged breath. Kept her eyes closed so she could watch the images play across her mind as she told the story about going to the village to investigate the report of a cave where people had been quarantined. “We found a young girl named Mercy who, for some reason, had been recovering in her family’s hut. She survived the illness but all others had died, we’d been told. Their bodies were still in the cave. Sandra and I set up a make-shift clinic where we moved Mercy, and set up more beds in case others showed signs of being infected as we prepped to investigate the cave. I took Mercy’s blood and packaged the specimen in the required specialized packing canister for transport to a lab.”

Grant seemed especially interested and edged forward on the sofa. “And what happened next?”

“I woke up with a headache. A concussion maybe. My head had been wrapped in a bandage.”

Kent and Grant shared a look. “Go on,” Kent said.

“Then they arrived.”

“They…” Grant prodded her.

“The mercenaries who came to kill everyone. I heard the gunshots. Jamila helped me with Mercy and urged me to escape. I wanted to get Sandra but the mercenaries headed for our tent, carrying automatic weapons.” Tara couldn’t help the anger that burned through her, or the tears coursing down her cheeks. “I grabbed the blood sample and my bag with my passport and camera, but nothing else. We ran through the forest. I tripped and fell. Rolled down an embankment. I must have blacked-out but I don’t know for how long. When I woke up and was able to climb back I couldn’t find Jamila or Mercy. I snuck to a higher point so I could see what was going on at the village. See if I could find Sandra. It was a bloodbath and they set it on fire. And Jamila and Mercy sat at the men’s feet, waiting to be killed too. One man…I recognized.” She croaked out the last words.

She thought Grant’s eyes would pierce right through her. She couldn’t breathe.

At her hesitation, Grant stood. “Who was it, Tara? Who was the man?”

“He’s connected in ways you can’t imagine. I…”

“That’s the reason you haven’t come forward with what you know. You’re the only surviving witness, but—”

“I’ve been too scared, okay. I didn’t know who I could trust with the information.” She sucked in a breath, then, “Bruce Parker. I worked with him at...the CDC and then again at the WHO.”

Both Grant and Kent’s eyes widened.

“In fact, he was the one to help me get my job.”

“He’s someone you care about?”

She studied Grant then. How could he so easily read her, see right through her? “He mentored me. I admired him. Thought he was brilliant and destined for great things. Just shows I’m a bad judge of character.”

I should never have trusted even you, Grant, this much…

Understanding flashed in his gaze, then his brows drew together.

He cleared his throat. “Is he still with WHO?”

Good. Grant was getting them back on track.

“No. The last I heard he was heading up a research lab.” Which made sense now. “I have a hard time reconciling what I saw with the man I know.”

“Are you sure he hadn’t just arrived to question the men about what they’d done. Maybe he was searching for the two WHO workers?”

She hung her head. Stared at the National Geographic magazine on the coffee table. “He wasn’t there to save us. He shot Jamila and Mercy. And I was a coward. I ran for my life.”

Grant rubbed his jaw. “How did you get out of the country?”

“I think you know the answer to that.”

“Still, it couldn’t have been easy.”

“They thought I was dead, but you’re right. I had nothing. No money. No way to survive. I just kept walking. At one point I’d made it to the next village and wanted to find a phone, but men in Jeeps, the same mercenaries who’d destroyed the village drove down the road, so I hid in the forest that night until they were gone the next morning. I finally found someone to help me and I made the call to Matthew. It took two days for help to arrive. If the caring woman who made beaded necklaces for a living hadn’t helped me, who knows what would have happened. I thank God for her help. I know He put her in my path.”

She didn’t understand why, though, especially when an entire village had been destroyed. These were the questions that kept her awake until sleep finally came and brought the nightmares.

I will fear no evil…

She hadn’t meant to whisper those words, only to think them.

She dared to look at Grant, his anguish-filled eyes searching hers. Grant understood her. Even knowing she should remain cautious and unwilling to so easily trust, she wanted nothing more than to rush to him so he would wrap his arms around her like he’d done before.

“And you survived to tell us this story.”

And you found me when everyone else thought I was dead. Grant McCall was something special.

“I was afraid to tell anyone until now. I wasn’t sure who I could trust since I’m the only survivor. If they knew I had survived they would search for me and kill me, too. I was supposed to die that day. Now you know everything. Please tell me what is going on.”

“First, the specimen,” Grant said. “I’m assuming you were able to transport it to the States. Where is it now?”

“Dr. Jason Steller. A friend and colleague. He’d started his own drug discovery company. I sent the specimen to him and emphasized the situation was highly volatile.”

“So you did tell someone. And you trusted this man enough, why?”

She shook her head. “A gut feeling. I’ve known him for so long. I knew he only ever wanted to help people, not hurt them.” It had been a calculated risk on her part. She told Jason not to share the information with anyone about the vial or that he’d spoken with her.

“Have you heard from him? What were the results? Did he find the contagion?”

“Hold the questions. I can only answer one at a time. I haven’t heard from him, though I’ve tried calling.”

“And you weren’t afraid someone connected you to him, and perhaps traced your call back to the wolf sanctuary?”

“There was that possibility, yes, depending on who was involved. But I had to make contact. I had to know what had killed the villagers before the mercenaries arrived and then maybe we would know why the mercenaries had come.” She rose from the chair and paced the room. The air grew stuffy. Drawing on her courage, she pinned Grant with her gaze. “I think you know more than you’re sharing. Tell me everything.”

“It was a test.”

“What…what are you talking about?”

“An experiment in a remote village. You were never supposed to be there.”

“I still don’t understand.”

“Biological warfare…bioterrorism.”

Grant resisted the urge to hold her. Instead he paced as he shared what he knew. He couldn’t bear to watch as he inflicted more horror on her, but she had to have had some idea. Had to have suspected something like this.

“It’s a national security threat on par with nuclear warheads,” he said. “Only the warheads are more controlled, and we have something in place to counteract any attempted strikes. Infectious particles are much easier to smuggle into a country than a dirty bomb, and potentially more lethal.”

Tara gasped for breath and dropped back into the chair. Covered her face.

“You of all people know there are some ferocious infectious diseases out there. Plenty of drug resistant viruses, and those don’t even account for the newly discovered contagions.”

Dropping her hands, she nodded. “Try at least fifty new viruses. After my work in Africa I was set to travel to the tropical rainforest in Indonesia. We’re looking for the next epidemic like, Ebola, SARS, MERS, or Zika. Our job is to be prepared and prevent this from happening if possible.”

Kent paced the room now. “Right. Why are we worried about war? The Plague during the middle ages killed a fourth of the population. The flu pandemic in 1918 killed twenty million.”

Twenty million.

Tara glanced up at them, her eyes red-rimmed, but determination infused her demeanor. “Whatever the contagion is, even if it was engineered, I brought it here. I could have served their purpose.”

“No. I don’t think that’s it. But you’re a witness, and you did bring a sample. They could want that or they could need it destroyed.”

With a sharp intake of breath, she touched his arm. “What about Jason? He could be in more danger than I realized. I have to call him. In fact, I need to talk to Matthew and see if he’s all right.”

“We need to get to Dr. Steller’s lab,” Kent said. “Find out what he knows. Secure the contagion.”

“And deliver it where?” Tara demanded. “Who can we trust?”

“That’s a problem, isn’t it? Not only for you but for me,” Grant said. “I’m pretty sure that my making contact with my superior’s assistant compromised your location at the wolf sanctuary.”

“Don’t you have a Plan B?” she asked. “Remember what you told me, never leave yourself without an escape plan. Don’t you have a plan for situations like this?”

“She makes a good point,” Kent said. “Regardless, the contagion needs to be destroyed.”

“No,” Grant said. “A vaccine needs to be developed in case they carry out their plans somewhere.”

“We’re basing all this on presumptions.” Kent jammed his hands into his pockets. “We need to find out from your Dr. Steller what the contagion is. I think we need to pay him a visit, since he isn’t answering your calls.”

“I agree with Kent,” she said.

Grant released a slow breath. “Fine, but you’re staying here with Carole.”

“Are you kidding me? Jason isn’t going to talk to you after I told him not to tell anyone. You need me. Besides, I got out of Africa without your help. I’ve survived this long. You’re too…”

Protective. He got it. “I just want to keep you safe. They want you, Tara. Not me or Kent. You.”

“If you leave without me, when you come back, I won’t be here. I’ll disappear again.”

Grant arched a brow.

Kent shrugged. “Another point for Tara.”

“Are we leaving now?” she asked.

Grant scraped a hand down his cheek. “Let’s sleep for a few hours. I’ll need the address so I can map out our travel plans.”

“You’ll get it when I wake up.” Tara marched from the room, letting him know she wasn’t happy with him trying to keep her here.

“I can find the address,” Kent said. “For that matter, so could you. How hard could it be?”

“And that’s what worries me. It could already be too late.”

Kent propped his laptop open. “You like her, don’t you?”

“What makes you say that?”

“I’ve never seen you act this way around a woman. It’s understandable. She’s super smart—definitely smarter than you, and she’s drop-dead gorgeous.”

“How exactly am I acting? I care that she survives.”

“I’ve known you for too long, bro. It’s in the way you look at her. Shoot, the way you hold her hand. I haven’t seen you cling to someone like that. But don’t let the fact that I’m onto you stop you. I think you should go for it.”

“I’ve only known her for a few days. You’ve got it all wrong.” Grant didn’t want to argue with Kent. The guy was trained to pick up on nuances. Grant didn’t know how to stop this trajectory. He couldn’t wait for this to be over so he could disappear and Tara could get back to her life. A safe and secure life. But her kind of work wasn’t the safe kind.

He left Kent to search for Dr. Steller’s location and dragged himself to the room Carole had designated for him. He’d never been in a situation where he was on the run and protecting a vital piece of the puzzle, which he also happened to be insanely attracted to on multiple levels.

This couldn’t end well.