---

She might just have awakened this time before she screamed. She couldn’t be positive. The last thing she wanted was to disturb an entire household.

Tara climbed from bed and slipped on some sweats to go with her t-shirt. She opened the door and crept down the hallway to the kitchen with only a nightlight to guide the way. In the kitchen, a light in the filtered water on the fridge door offered enough illumination. She’d do as Carole had suggested and make herself at home. Opening the fridge, she tugged out the milk, then quietly searched the cabinets for the glasses. Though she’d moved almost soundlessly, pouring milk in the still of night made more noise than she would have liked.

She sensed someone behind her and tensed.

“It’s just me,” Grant whispered.

Turning, she faced him in the dark kitchen. “What are you doing up?” she asked.

“I could ask you the same thing.”

“Obviously, neither one of us could sleep,” Tara said. “And…I was afraid you’d leave without me.”

He had her cornered, and pressed both his fists on the counter on each side of her, which brought his face mere inches from hers. “You get that I want to protect you, right?”

His voice was thick with emotion. Why did he care so much?

“Why is it so important to protect me, when many more lives are at stake? That’s what this is all about, isn’t it? The world?”

“If we’re not too late…”

“Then don’t worry about me,” she said. “You and I have to work together to stop this insanity. You hear me? Together. You need me, and I need you. We’re in this together because of an unknown contagion and those who want to bring down hellfire in the world. And when it’s over, then we’ll walk our separate ways.” Oh, why had she gone and said that? It wasn’t like she’d wanted it that way, but they shouldn’t be playing with their own private fire when the world was in trouble.

“I wish it didn’t have to be this way.” He hesitated as though wanting to say more. Then, finally, “I wish I had met you some other time. Some other place.”

And would it truly be different? She kept those words to herself. Saying more would make her too vulnerable, bring on an emotional connection she’d been trying to avoid. If only the power he had over her wasn’t so strong, she wouldn’t struggle to ignore it.

Like now. He was entirely too close. His proximity made her tremble, and she didn’t understand what it was about this man that had her heart tumbling over itself, and her insides infusing with warmth. His words thrilled her when they shouldn’t.

“I…I don’t even know you,” she said.

A half chuckle escaped his lips. “Really? Because I feel like I know you already. Sometimes an ordeal can do that to people.”

Yeah, heat them up fast like a pressure cooker. She was absolutely sure she needed to release pressure or she was going to blow. Suddenly, she wanted nothing more than for those lips to be against hers. She wanted Grant to kiss her.

His eyes gazed into hers, searching. Waiting for a response from her. Permission, perhaps? She definitely shouldn’t want this with him. They were strangers that had been thrown together in a nightmarish plot.

He lowered his head, bringing his face nearer. Tara couldn’t back up any further if she wanted to. But that was the problem. She didn’t want to. Instead, she edged her face up slightly, an invitation for him.

Crazy girl! What are you doing?

He lingered closer. Her heart pounded as she waited for his kiss. Hesitating, he came no further. Just left her to breathe in his warmth and float on his essence. See, that was just it. She needed her head to be clear.

He eased away. Did she imagine regret in his eyes? Tara had to get free from him. From this situation. But she needed Grant to see her through. More lives were at stake.

“I wanted you to know that I care, Tara. Maybe I shouldn’t. I couldn’t have picked a worse time, but you mean more than just another mission to me.”

Dramatic clapping resounded in the kitchen. “More romantic words have never been said.”

Grant instantly stepped away. “What do you want, Kent?”

“Sorry to interrupt, but you have to get moving.”

Tara stepped away from the counter and from Grant’s proximity. “What’s happened?”

“Dr. Steller’s lab is gone.”

Seconds ticked by as she grappled with his words. “What do you mean gone?”

“I mean poof.” He gestured an explosion with his hands.

Tara almost sank to her knees. Grant caught her. “Great bedside manners, Kent. We don’t know that Steller was in the lab.”

“I did this to him,” she said. “I sent him the blood sample. Oh, Jason!” She freed herself from Grant’s grasp and escaped to her room. Anger coursed through her veins. She swiped at the furious tears.

I can’t cry about this anymore. I have to expose these guys before someone else gets hurt. But how?

The door creaked open. Grant stood there. “You okay?”

“No.”

“Don’t worry, Tara, we’re going to stop them.”

“I don’t know how we can do that without signing our own death certificates.”

Tara was…Beautiful. Smart. Compassionate. Strong. Persistent. Yeah, he’d started making that list when he learned she was alive almost two months ago, if only subconsciously. His fault. So on his end of the equation, if he had kissed her, it would have been timed about right. But for her…She’d only known him two days.

He unfisted his hands and shoved them through his hair. Had to keep them busy. What had happened to his resolve to avoid romantic entanglements? Tara deserved more than he could give.

But all he could think about, all he wanted was to take her in his arms and soothe her fears away. If only he hadn’t already caved into his weakness where she was concerned when he’d imagined what kissing her would be like. A few more millimeters and his lips would have met hers. At least he’d reined in his emotions and stopped short of giving into his wants and wrapping his arms around her to kiss her thoroughly. Yes. He’d succeeded in denying himself, but not nearly enough. He should never have edged so close to that forbidden line. Still, he already had an emotional attachment to her so maybe he had already crossed the line.

“If Dr. Steller is dead that wasn’t your fault, but Tara”—he held a burner cell out to her—“we don’t know if he’s gone. If he’s the smart man I suspect, he might have had a Plan B too.”

His words had the desired effect. Her eyes brightened as she took the phone. “You want me to call him?”

“If you remember his number. If not, I can get Kent to search for it.” It was pretty bad when Grant didn’t feel comfortable using his own people for an operation. But someone apparently had connections that went too deep and wide.

She hung her head, her golden hair a curtain over her face. “If Kent can find him, so can Bruce. He might have been watching him for contact from me, at the very least. Obviously, he figured it out. I was stupid to send the blood to Jason.”

“Look, Tara. Let’s not waste time blaming ourselves for all that can go wrong in this world. I read your bio about losing your mother to an illness and how that propelled you into your career. For starters, you only wanted to help people.”

“And look at all the good it’s done. Now I’ve ended up in a battle for survival. Now I’m running for my life. Dragged others into it. Jamila and Mercy are dead.”

“They would have died either way, but you lived to tell their story. So let’s make that happen and expose the people responsible. Take out anyone connected to this bioterrorism group. Call Dr. Steller.”

Tara eased onto the edge of the bed and punched in the numbers she’d dialed enough times to remember. Frowning, she glanced up at him. “No answer.”

“Leave a voice mail. He won’t know who’s calling.”

“Is it safe?”

“Safe enough, and we need to make contact if he’s still alive.”

She left a voicemail. A few seconds later he returned her call. At least Grant hoped it was the doctor. “Put it on speaker phone so I can hear too.”

A man’s voice resounded over the cell. “Tara. Thank God you’re okay. Where are you?”

She looked to Grant but he shook his head.

“A better question—where are you? I saw that your lab was destroyed. I’m so sorry for putting you through this. What happened?”

“I suspected someone was watching me. Following me. I wasn’t in the lab when it blew up, but I was supposed to be there. I thought I’d change my schedule up. I think it saved my life.”

“Smart man. Now you have to stay alive until this is over. I’m with someone who can help you stay safe.” Tara’s hand shook on the cell. “What did you find out about the virus? Did you have enough time?”

“I believe it’s a DNA virus, like Ebola or HIV.”

“Which means it would take much longer to create a vaccine.” She looked at Grant. “I had hoped otherwise.”

Grant was no expert. Far from it, but what little he knew about DNA viruses wasn’t good. They were more complicated and mutated more rapidly making a vaccine difficult to develop.

“Yes, but there’s more…”

“What is it?” she asked.

“Can you meet me somewhere? They think I’m dead. For now. I’ll have the virus with me. I could use that help you mentioned.”

Grant stepped closer to Tara.

She watched him, waiting for his approval.

He didn’t like this. If they were still following the doctor, this wasn’t a good idea. On the other hand, they needed to bring Dr. Steller in. The only problem, Grant wasn’t exactly sure where to take him.

Finally, Grant nodded.

“Yes,” she spoke into the phone. “I’ll meet you and maybe we can figure out how to end this. Tell the right people what’s happened. So they can take it from here.”

Dr. Steller gave her the address in Utah where he wanted to meet. “It’s a cabin that belongs to a friend. He doesn’t even know I’m here, but I didn’t know where else to go.”

“I’m bringing a friend with me,” Tara said. “The person I mentioned who can help us stay safe until this is over.”

She ended the call. “Let’s go get him.”

She tried to hand the cell back.

“Keep it in case he calls again. Or in case you need it. Get ready. We’re leaving in ten minutes.”

He left her there only vaguely trusting her not to try to leave him and do this on her own. But Carole had the alarms on the house set, and Tara couldn’t get far. He hoped she would willingly stick with him, but now that she knew Dr. Steller’s location, he wouldn’t put it past her to set up a different rendezvous place and try to lose Grant. Not because she didn’t trust him. Not that. But more because she didn’t want anyone else to get hurt.

Surely she realized that she needed him. Grant hoped he wouldn’t let her down. He wished he could contact his superior Mark, even going around Dale Jensen, his assistant, to inform him there was a spy in the organization, and to let him know about getting Dr. Steller and bringing him in along with the isolated virus. But since Grant didn’t yet know whom he could trust, contacting anyone in his organization was too risky.

Instead, he came up with a Plan B.

Let the games begin.

---

Too many hours later, he steered Kent’s SUV down a forest service road that ran near the cabin in Utah—the address given by Dr. Steller. Grant hoped they weren’t making a mistake and that meeting the doctor wasn’t a trap. He urged the vehicle between thick-trunked trees deep in the woods.

“What are you doing? This isn’t the cabin.”

“I know.” Grant would hike in from a distance and scout the area before he entered with Tara. “I need to check things out first.”

Before he left the vehicle, he contacted Kent. “What have you got?”

Grant had left Kent with his own assignment. If Grant couldn’t trust his own organization, Kent was his go-to man. As soon as they received the cabin’s location, Kent began satellite observation of the area. Sure he had a security clearance, but he didn’t need to use it to access a government satellite. Dozens of satellites circled the earth capturing images in real time thanks to commercial satellite companies, and it only took the right connections and the right cash to monitor the comings and goings of private citizens. Kent only wanted to watch one small cabin in Utah.

“I can only report what I’ve seen and there’s been no activity at the cabin. The trees in the area are dense, which limits what I can see and my communication with you, as well. Be careful out there.”

To Tara, Grant said, “Stay here and keep quiet. I need to make sure that Dr. Steller is alone.”

He studied the epidemiologist, waiting for her assurances.

She gave a subtle nod.

“I should be in and out quickly. After I leave, get into the driver’s seat. If I’m not back in a half hour. Drive out of here.”

And go where? He read the question in her eyes, for which he had no answer yet.

Weapon at the ready, Grant crept through the dark forest canopy, searching for evidence of a trap. He hoped he found none, and they could keep their plans to meet Dr. Steller.

Twenty minutes into his reconnaissance, Kent contacted him. “There’s movement up the drive to the cabin.”

Grant’s heartrate spiked. He glanced back through the woods, wanting to get back to Tara. But he had to see who it was and get answers first. Depending on what he saw, they would stay or they would flee. He wished for the former but figured on the latter.

Please, God, don’t let this meeting be compromised.

Grant drew near the cabin, wishing he could connect with Kent again. He positioned himself against the ground and peered through the bushes near the shelter, waiting to watch what transpired. Who else had Dr. Steller invited to meet them?

Tires crunching on gravel, the black minivan rolled slowly forward, clouding the air with dust. Then stopped. A few seconds passed, the dust settled and the side door slid open.

A large man stepped out, dragging a woman with him.

Tara!