He turned around in the chair and pulled her between his legs. He was only wearing boxer shorts, so when he pressed his head to her chest and wrapped his arms around her waist, his skin flattened against the cool, silk material of her nightie.
He clutched her like that, tighter than necessary, probably almost hurting her. He kept his emotions in check also. He held his breath most of that long two minutes too. Neither of them spoke. Blair stroked his hair and his neck and his shoulders.
When the timer pinged to let them know the test results were completed, he took a deep breath and lifted his gaze to hers. “Ready?”
She shook her head. “I’ll never be ready, but I’m strong.”
He smiled. “That you are.” Was she strong enough for seriously bad news, though?
He released her, turned slowly, and hit the button on the side of the machine that would spit out a printout of the cumulative results.
Blair’s hands were on his shoulders, her grip firm.
He waited for the paper to stop coming out, tore it off, and then flattened it in front of him. After a long, slow inhale, he held his breath again as his eyes scanned the information.
He glanced at the baseline results and took in the numbers. His gaze shifted quickly to the next week and then the next and finally the last. And then he exhaled that breath with a whoosh and went back to the first result again to make sure he’d read each line correctly.
“Dade?”
He set his finger on the first result, picking the white blood cell count.
She leaned forward.
When he was confident she had seen that first number, he tapped the second.
“That’s good, right? You want the number to be higher, right?”
He tapped the third and then the forth. And then he spun around, grabbed her waist, and smiled. “It’s excellent. It’s working.”
Tears ran down her face, but she was not alone. He couldn’t keep from crying right alongside her. In fact, he let out a primal cry of happiness, jumped to his feet, and lifted her by the waist. She wrapped her legs around him as he spun around and flung them both onto the bed.
With her underneath him, her ankles locked at his lower back, her cheeks covered with tears, he cupped her face and smiled. “It’s working,” he repeated. “I almost don’t believe it.”
She held his face in her smaller hands too. “I’m so damn happy I can’t catch my breath.”
He nuzzled her neck and kissed a path to her lips. “Thank you. Thank you for sticking with me. Thank you for holding me through this. I couldn’t have done it without you.”
She smiled, still crying. “I wouldn’t have been anyplace else.”
He drew in a deep breath. “We should call Ryan.” They had not yet made contact with Ryan since they left her cabin. They had a throwaway phone for this purpose, but so far they hadn’t needed it. They had no reason to call until they knew something. Though they realized Ryan was probably out of his mind with worry since they’d taken so long to report.
She wiped the tears from her face. “Yes.”
Dade pushed off her, rushed across the room, and rummaged through their belongings for the phone. It would be an hour later there, but still early.
The phone rang three times before Ryan finally answered. “Hello?” His voice was low, a whisper. He had probably been in bed with Emily and rushed to find someplace private to answer.
“It worked,” Dade announced, unable to contain his excitement as he hauled Blair against his chest again. “It fucking worked.”
Ryan let out a long exhale. “Fuck me. I’m so damn glad.” His voice was so low, Dade could barely hear it.
“I know you can’t talk. I’ll send a vial of blood to you at the P.O. box you gave us. But I feel very confident.”
“Thank God. Listen, I need to speak to you before you talk to anyone else. Can you call me back in five minutes?”
“Yes. Of course.”
The line went dead, and Dade lowered the phone.
“What do you think he wants?”
“Probably just needed to find someplace more private.”
“You think he would keep this from Emily?”
Dade shrugged. “I don’t know.”
Blair still sat on the edge of the bed. Dade continued to hold her against him, unwilling to stop touching her, possibly forever.
When the five minutes had passed, he sat next to her and held the phone between them, putting the call on speaker.
“Sorry about that,” Ryan greeted them with. “Listen, I don’t have much time. Did you read my letter?”
“Not yet,” Dade said. “We were going to do that next.”
“Good. Read it. Think about it. Call me in a few days and tell me what you think.”
Dade glanced at Blair, his brows furrowed. Strange conversation.
“I assume you have a proposition?” It would have to be something he’d thought about and planned more than a month ago.
“Yes. Like I said, take a few days. Discuss it. In the meantime, don’t tell anyone about your results. Not a soul. Stay hidden. Lay low.”
Dade glanced at Blair, frowning. He hadn’t thought much about what he would do after reading the results, but it hadn’t occurred to him he was in so much danger that he would need to remain hidden forever. “You think it’s that dangerous?”
“Yes. I don’t know who to trust. I can’t sleep at night worrying about who might be leaking information about everyone and why.”
“You have eleven reanimated people in the bunker now, right?”
“Yes. And I think this is the safest place for everyone for the time being. I don’t like the thought of anyone leaving here. Moving you out was sticky. Made me nervous. Luckily, no one found you. Now, you’re safe. As safe as you can be.”
Dade glanced at Blair whose face was pale. He spoke into the phone again while he watched her. “Did someone attempt to find me?”
“Yes. I have no idea who, but someone broke into that hotel and tore it apart. I bet they were pretty pissed when they realized they’d been played.”
“Fuck.” The one word came out as a hiss while Blair winced. She was biting her lower lip. “Okay,” he said into the phone. “Give us a few days. I’m going to destroy this phone. I’ll call you on another.”
“Perfect. Overnight me the sample. I’ll confirm the results. Call me in three days at ten o’clock in the morning on this burner phone still. I’ll keep it as long as I can. I’ll make sure I’m outside getting some air. If I don’t answer, you’ll know I couldn’t. Try again later.”
“Got it. Please be careful.” If anyone found out Ryan had removed that tracker and was digging around trying to figure out who was stalking the members of Dade’s team, his life could be in danger too.
The call went dead.
“Jesus,” Blair murmured. “There was a desperation in his voice I’ve never heard before. Ryan is an intense guy, but not like that.”
Dade nodded. “I heard it too.”
“What are you thinking?” she asked, threading her fingers with his.
He stared at her, wondering how she would respond to the crazy ideas running through his head.
Suddenly, she smiled. “We’re going rogue, aren’t we? We’re going to figure this thing out. Pretend you died and find that fucking mole.”
Damn, he loved her. He really loved her. “I’d bet my life that’s what’s in the letter. Where is it?”
She shoved off the bed, padded to her suitcase, and pulled it from a side pocket. When she returned, he tore it open, and they both leaned over to read the short note that confirmed their suspicion. Ryan needed their help.
“You ready for a bit of adventure?” he asked. Dade hadn’t known Ryan long, but he’d spent enough time with Tushar and Trish’s son to know how frustrated the man was about the leaks. It wasn’t surprising he would ask the two of them to help from the outside. Ryan would think it was a huge thing to ask. Dade didn’t need three seconds to
agree to the plan, and he knew Blair wouldn’t either. Three days was overkill.
Blair’s face lit up. “Hell, yes.” She jumped to her feet and climbed onto his lap, straddling him. “I mean, I might have a few other things I want to do before we hit the road, but yes. Let’s solve this mystery.”
He cupped her ass, drawing her warmth closer to his erection. “You have a few things you’d like to do first?” he teased.
“Definitely.” She kissed him soundly and then spoke again. “I just found my new calling.”
“Private detective?”
“Yep. Now I just need to find a way to tell Temple I’m too distraught to return to work and that I’m planning to go off somewhere and lick my wounds for a long time.”
“Maybe a letter would be sufficient. We could mail it from some random post office as we’re passing through somewhere. Totally untraceable.”
“Perfect.”
He closed his eyes, drawing her face closer. “You don’t have to do this, you know. We didn’t even fully discuss it.”
“Are you kidding? I feel like I just won the lottery. The least I can do is take off with my man and do everything in my power to ensure all twenty-one other people inside that bunker can enjoy long happy lives. They can’t be expected to stay at that facility forever.”
He nibbled a path to her chest. “Enough plotting. Badass Blair can wait until I’m finished ravaging soft, sexy Blair before she gets carried away.”
She giggled. Damn, he loved that sound. And then she shoved him backward. “I don’t know. I have a lot of pent-up energy. I might need to channel that into dominant, topping, badass-in-bed Blair this time around.”
He grinned. “Be my guest. Turns out I love both of those women.” His heart was full as her hands landed on his chest and trailed down toward heaven.
Chapter 21
Three days later…
* * *
Zeke was leaning over a microscope, examining the specimen for a rare disease the team was working on when Temple came into the lab. The only other person in the room was Ryan who had been quietly working behind him for hours.
“Ah, Ryan, glad I caught you. Emily said you had lab results for Dade.”
This was news to Zeke. He swiveled his stool around to find Ryan leaning back in his chair rubbing his forehead. He looked exhausted and frustrated. He nodded toward the specimen in front of him. “Yeah.” He shook his head.
Temple cringed. “The treatment didn’t work?” Her face paled, and her shoulders slumped.
Zeke stiffened. He thought he was going to vomit. Dade was a good friend of his. Why hadn’t Ryan said anything? A flood of emotions filled him. Sadness. Grief. Anger. He didn’t move.
Ryan swallowed. “It was a longshot.”
“How long does he have? Is there anything we can do?” Temple asked.
Ryan shook his head. “It’s hard to say. Maybe a month. Could be more. Could be less. It’s impossible to know since we don’t have any other cases to compare it to. We’ve exhausted our options.”
“Does he want to come back to the bunker? What about Blair?” Temple gripped the doorframe with both hands.
Ryan shook his head. “No. He doesn’t want anyone to fuss over him. He wants to spend the rest of his time in peace. Blair is staying with him. She’s sending you her resignation.”
“Of course.” She wiped a tear from her eye. “Dammit.” After a deep breath, she said, “Please tell him he’s in our thoughts. If there’s anything we can do…”
“I will.”
Temple sighed as she walked away.
Zeke stood, needing to see for himself. He was a scientist. He wanted proof. It was in his veins. His body felt heavy as he stepped up beside Ryan and leaned over the microscope to look at the blood sample.
For a moment, he thought his vision must be deceiving him. He blinked several times and took another look. When he lifted his face, confused as hell, Ryan was staring at him with his lips pursed, shaking his head subtly.
For a second, Zeke didn’t know what the fuck was going on. He needed more information. “I think I’ll take a walk and clear my head.”
Ryan pushed from his chair. “I’ll go with you. Fresh air will do us some good. Just let me clean this mess up.” Ryan destroyed the sample and put it in the biohazard container and then turned off the equipment.
Zeke was shaking as he walked out the front door of the bunker, Ryan on his heels. He strolled away from the bunker silently, hands in his pockets. When they were a safe distance away, he stopped and toed the dirt at his feet. “What the fuck is going on?” he whispered. He knew instinctively Ryan had lied for a reason.
“There’s a mole, Zeke.”
“I get that, but it isn’t Temple.”
“I agree, but I don’t trust anyone. Somehow every damn thing that happens in this bunker gets leaked. Maybe it’s one of Temple’s superiors. Obviously, she answers to someone. I have no doubt in my mind that right this second she’s reporting to someone higher up to let them know that Dade isn’t going to make it.”
Zeke nodded. “You’re right.”
“I hate lying to her. This is the first time I have, but Dade deserves a chance at life, and the only way for him to have that is if everyone thinks he’s dead.”
Zeke lifted his gaze. “Blair’s going to stay with him?”
“Yes. She’ll tender her resignation, saying that she’s too distraught to return. Dade’s grandfather left him plenty of money to live off of for a long time.”
“Who knows about this?”
“You. And me.”
“Jesus.” Zeke walked away a few steps and came back. “Why did you tell me? You could have left me out of it.”
“For a few reasons. One, you’re Dade’s best friend. I know you would never do anything to jeopardize his life. Two, you’re obviously not the mole. You weren’t even reanimated when this all started. Three, I’m gonna need your help.”
“My help? With what?”
“Finding the mole. I don’t want anyone else on your team to get kidnapped, shot at, or killed.”
Zeke fisted his hands in his pockets. He thought about Ryan’s request for a while, taking deep breaths. “Of course. I’m in.”
“There’s one more thing,” Ryan said, his face serious.
“What?”
“Dade and Blair are going to help us.”
Zeke flinched, his spine going rigid. “Seriously?”
“Yes. We’re going to feed them any information we get using a burner phone and they’re going to work from the outside to help us. We’re going to look into every leak, start from the bottom up, find out who had access to what information, and begin eliminating possibilities. If the leak is coming from higher up, then we’ll remove every rung on the ladder until we get to the top. It’s not just our people being compromised, it’s the entirety of Project DEEP. And it’s every person in the world who is counting on our research to cure infectious diseases.”
Zeke slowly smiled. “I love this plan.”
The End
Enjoy the following excerpt from the next book in this series, Reviving Zeke (Project DEEP, Book Four)
“Put me to work. I don’t care if you want me to take out the trash, vacuum the floors, clean toilets, or find a cure for Ebola, but I’ll lose my mind soon if you don’t give me a task.”
Michelle lifted her gaze from the paperwork she was going over with her boss, General Temple Levenson, in the general’s office. Standing in the doorway, scowling, was one of the latest patients to be reanimated by the Project DEEP team—Zeke Holleran.
Of the eight people who had been revived so far, Zeke was Michelle’s least favorite. He seemed permanently angry. Sure, he was ridiculously good looking, but his brow was always furrowed, and he rarely spoke to anyone.
Temple leaned back in her chair. “You’ve been awake only three weeks. You should be concentrating on standing, walking, using a fork.”
He narrowed his gaze. “I t
hink I’ve got those things down, Temple. I realize you haven’t seen me for ten years, but do you remember me sitting around with my feet up?”
She chuckled. “No. Definitely not.” Temple was the link between every member of both teams—the old and the new. She had been there from the beginning, so Zeke knew her as well or better than anyone who had been hired in the bunker in the last few years.
“Look, I realize you have no system in place to pay any of us yet, but you’re going to have a mutiny on your hands soon if you don’t figure out something for us to do. We’re scientists. We may be behind on the latest developments, but we each need to figure out if we’re willing to put in the work or change professions. The only way that’s going to happen is if you give out some assignments.”
Michelle could see his point. If she were in his shoes, she would be crawling out of her skin.
“Do you still feel solid as an immunologist? Any memory problems?” Temple glanced from Zeke to Michelle.
Oh no. Hell, no. Please, God, no.
“I’m solid.” Zeke lifted a brow.
“And you’re sure you want to continue with Project DEEP? You realize you have options. No one is required to stay. We can relocate you. Provide you with a new identity so you can start over.”
“Not a chance. This is my life.”
Temple nodded slowly. “Well, it’s only been three weeks. You don’t have to decide anything today, but if you want to get back to work, why don’t you shadow Michelle? She’s also an immunologist. She can bring you up to speed.”
Zeke shifted his gaze toward Michelle, seeming to just that moment notice she was in the room. He was still frowning, but she refused to take it personally. He knew nothing about her, and he scowled like that at everyone.
That didn’t mean she wanted to work with him. Shit.
Zeke hesitated. Was he scrutinizing her?
She stood straighter to her full height of five nine and crossed her arms as if this were a standoff. “Join me any time you’d like. I know you’re still gaining strength. I’ll understand if you want to start slow. Maybe a few hours a day?” She knew she sounded snarky, and she fully intended to. Jesus, the man could melt iron with his looks.
Reviving Dade Page 19
