Once Bitten, Twice Dead

by Bianca D’Arc

  “I’m willing to see where this leads. For now. And only when we’re not on duty. The case comes first. What happens after hours is strictly between us.” She patted his chest and freed herself from his loose hold. He let her go without complaint, a wide grin on his handsome face. He’d won and he knew it.

  “Yes, ma’am,” he drawled, his eyes sparkling with warmth. “I can live by those rules.” He caught her hand when she would have turned away, his expression clearing when he had her attention. “Thanks, Sarah.”

  His naked honesty impressed her. She squeezed his hand and nodded, not knowing what else to say. She was taking a big chance on him. A chance of a broken heart.

  Chapter Seven

  They decided to press on with their search of locations Sellars had been known to use. The lab was empty of anything helpful at first glance. The techs would have a field day looking for trace evidence over the next few days. If they found anything helpful, Xavier would be the first to know.

  He’d won a victory in that snug laboratory. Sarah had agreed to give him a chance. He felt like shouting his triumph to the sky, but thought better of it. He had a reputation to maintain and he doubted Sarah would take well to such behavior on his part. She was skittish enough as it was. He had to tread lightly, lest she change her mind and leave him out in the cold.

  He wanted her to the point of madness. And he would have her. He would have kept hammering away at her defenses until she agreed, if she’d shot him down today. Luckily, he didn’t have to go through that agony. She’d agreed to let him court her. Oh, he hadn’t used those exact words, but that’s what he intended to do. The Beauvoir men were known for their charm. Xavier had every intention of bowling her over with his, then capturing her heart and never letting her go.

  Whoa. He had to slow himself down. Those thoughts sounded awfully permanent, and awfully scary to a man who’d never contemplated such a thing before. Tying himself to one woman wasn’t something he’d ever wanted to do, but Sarah was making him think of all sorts of crazy things. She’d had a potent effect on him since the first time he saw her lying in that hospital bed.

  She’d looked so helpless and fragile. He’d wanted to protect her from the very first. But he knew she was a police officer, well capable of taking care of herself. She’d fought off two zombies and lived to tell the tale, for heaven’s sake. She was a trouper and didn’t need him acting like a caveman. Still, there it was—the need to be with her, to be beside her, sharing the danger of her job and shielding her from whatever he could.

  She’d probably throw a fit if he ever said anything like that to her out loud. He had to chuckle inwardly. Sarah was feisty, feminine and utterly adorable. He’d watch over her and trust in her to watch his back, just like he’d said. They were partners in this mission, unlikely as he’d thought that just a few days before.

  Now he needed something to get his mind off what had happened in the lab. He decided to discuss the mission as they walked toward her patrol car. “I think we should hit the apartment listed on Sellars’s employment records first this afternoon and save the other address for later.”

  “Why? I thought the address you found on the computer would be a hotter property than the apartment.”

  “It is, which is why I want to wait until later, around dusk. If the creatures are there, they’ll be active when night starts to fall. If we go in too early, we run the risk of having them flank us. If we wait for them to be active, we’ll see them head-on.”

  She unlocked the patrol car and he opened her door for her, waiting for her to get in before going around to the passenger side. She seemed surprised by the courtesy. He made a mental note to step up the chivalry. She’d get used to his respectful ways, given time, and he’d enjoy surprising her and treating her like the princess she was.

  Sellars’s apartment had an empty feel to it. The man had probably lived there at some point but appeared to be long gone. A few articles of clothing hung in the closet and the pantry was stuffed with food. It was fully furnished, and newspapers and magazines littered the coffee table. The utilities, phone and cable TV appeared to be in good working order.

  “He left in a hurry,” Xavier observed, noting the place where a desktop computer system had been installed. The cabling and peripherals were still there. Only the tower case containing the heart of the CPU was gone.

  Sarah was in the living area of the small apartment, doing a detailed search according to her police training while Xavier took a look in the other rooms. Xavier continued to be impressed by her skills and abilities. She did everything by the book and knew how to handle this kind of work way better than he did. It had been a wise decision to include her on the team.

  “I found something,” she called out.

  Xavier stuck his head through the doorway, curious as to what could put that note of triumph in her voice.

  She held up a small rectangular object. It was no more than three inches in length and about a half inch wide. He knew what that baby was. A grin stole across his face as he moved into the room.

  “A USB flash drive. Nice,” he commented as she handed him the small black stick. There could be a wealth of information on this device, or it could contain nothing. They’d have to plug it into a computer to find out. “Where was it?”

  “Stuck in the couch. It probably fell out of somebody’s pocket and slipped down in between the cushions. I almost missed it. It was wedged in there real good.”

  He grew suspicious of their continued good fortune. “Does this feel a little ‘Hansel and Gretel’ to you?”

  “You mean like a trail of bread crumbs? You think they’re leaving these things around for us to find on purpose?”

  “Could be. It’s a little convenient, wouldn’t you say?”

  Her enthusiasm seemed to deflate before his eyes. “Yeah. I guess you’re right.”

  “It’s worth looking at, though. Right now, it’s our only clue, regardless of how we got it. We’ll have to follow where it leads—if it leads anywhere.”

  “Even into a trap?” Her expression grew calculating.

  “Even into a trap,” he agreed, nodding. “Forewarned is forearmed. We’ll be on the lookout. If it is a trap, maybe we can turn the tables.”

  “All right, then.” She seemed to regain some of her attitude. “You want to go back to the station to check this out on my computer?”

  Xavier felt a little chagrined. It was time to come clean. “We don’t really have to do that. I have a secure machine we can use.”

  “You have a computer stashed somewhere?” He nodded and she continued. “So why didn’t we use it before?”

  “I was curious. Sorry. I wanted to see your workplace and what kind of interest your injury and reassignment had sparked among your fellow officers. I was doing a little recon, you might say.”

  “Recon.”

  She seemed insulted and a little angry from the way her brows drew together. That was to be expected, but he still felt guilty about it.

  “In the police station?”

  “Yeah. It had to be done, but in retrospect, I probably should have told you what I was up to. In my own defense, I thought if you didn’t know, you couldn’t give me away by acting abnormally among your coworkers, just in case.”

  She looked like she was considering his words. He was unprepared for how important her acceptance was to him.

  “I guess I can see your reasoning. So.” She slapped her thigh, dusting off one hand. “Did you notice anything odd at the station?”

  “Did you?” He couldn’t resist teasing her, even though he was on uncertain ground with her at the moment.

  “I asked first.” The hint of amusement on her lips reassured him.

  “Indeed you did.” He tilted his head, giving her a lazy smile. He sensed her forgiveness, which mattered way more than it probably should. “To answer your question, no, I didn’t see anything to arouse suspicion at your station. I’m satisfied, between my observations and the detailed r
eports I had commissioned, that there’s nothing funny going on there.”

  “Well, that’s a relief.” She didn’t sound relieved. “Of course you could have just asked me. I’ve only known those guys for years.” The sarcasm was thick in her tone, but he refused to rise to the bait. He didn’t want to argue with her. Especially about something so inconsequential.

  “Next time, I will,” he promised.

  She eyed him suspiciously. “Are you humoring me?”

  “Not at all, chère.” He made an X across his heart as he grinned at her.

  She seemed to consider his words, then shrugged, letting the matter drop. “So where’s your computer and how soon can we check this memory card?”

  “Are you finished searching here?”

  “Yeah, I’m done. There’s nothing else I can find. Maybe the techs will have better luck with trace evidence.” She looked around the room, her eyes lighting here and there on the areas she’d searched.

  “I’m hungry.” He rubbed his stomach as he stretched tight muscles in his neck, shoulders and back. “You about ready for lunch?”

  “I could eat,” she answered simply, following him toward the door.

  “Then we’ll check out your find over lunch. I noticed a little bistro down the block that had a free Wi-Fi sign in the window.”

  He let her precede him out the door and shut it carefully behind them.

  They paused for a late lunch at the small café he’d seen. It did indeed have Internet access, which might come in helpful. Xavier pulled a small notebook computer out of the knapsack he’d brought in with him. He fired it up and spent a few moments connecting the USB stick Sarah had found.

  “Well, well, well. Would you look at that?”

  “What have you got?”

  “We’ve got a bonanza of evidence.” His eyes narrowed as he read the damning information contained on the memory stick. “Looks like the good doctor is considering selling his research to the highest bidder. More than considering, actually. He’s taking bids and accepting perks from at least two foreign governments and agents, that, I can only assume are either other foreign powers or arms dealers.” Xavier tapped more keys, getting to the heart of the information on the chip. “He must’ve lost this thing about two weeks ago.”

  “How can you tell?”

  “That’s when the last file was accessed. No activity since.” He tapped keys as he spoke, scanning the contents of the flash drive.

  “Do you still think it was planted?” Her tone was low, almost worried.

  “I’m not sure. I’m leaning toward thinking it was truly lost. Sellars would’ve had to plan ahead or just happen to have a drive he hadn’t accessed in two weeks. He also would’ve had to be willing to give up all this information. I don’t know, but considering how he’s behaved to date, he probably wouldn’t have wanted us to have all this. If it were a setup, there probably would’ve been only one or two carrots dangled in front of us. Not all this.”

  “Unless he’s willing to sacrifice that much to get what he really wants,” she countered.

  “Which is?”

  “Beats the heck out of me. That’s all I’ve got.” She sat back and gestured with her palms held outward as if in surrender.

  “You may have a valid point. Still, I’m going to send this up the line to see what the others can make of these names. If they’re real contacts, this could help break the investigation of the paper trail wide-open.”

  “Then there are more people involved in this than just you and me in the field and your support team?”

  “A lot more. Each carefully selected for their expertise or, as in my case, because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time and learned about the threat the hard way.” He shook his head slightly. “Those who were chosen to participate after the fact have been carefully screened and have top-level security clearance. People are added as needed, and those in charge are trying to keep the total number who are aware of this problem to a minimum, of course. They may need to get some spooks in on this soon, though. Especially considering what’s on this chip. If there’s a foreign connection, the CIA will most likely become more involved. From what I was told, they were acting in an advisory role because somebody up the chain of command was already worried about foreign powers getting involved.”

  “This is bad, Xavier.” She frowned, her face serious with worry.

  “And getting worse if this information is correct. But that’s for the spooks and my superiors to worry about. Our immediate assignment is to stop this outbreak by any means necessary. So, if this chip was last accessed two weeks ago…”

  “That means we can say Sellars—or somebody with access to sensitive information about his operation—was at his apartment two weeks ago.”

  “I doubt he’d give that kind of information to just anyone. I’m willing to bet this chip was his.”

  She’d already dusted the outer plastic case of the little drive using the fingerprint kit from the trunk of her patrol car. “There were no prints on it. I guess rubbing against the couch cushions repeatedly wiped it clean.”

  “Sounds about right.” He looked up from the laptop.

  “I’ve already begun reconstructing his movements from known data.” She pulled out her notepad and turned to a page toward the back. “I started a rough timeline. I haven’t got much on it yet, but each piece of information we find helps me fill it in a little.” She made a notation as he watched, putting a little hash mark on the date of the last file access. “It might amount to nothing, but you never know. It could help us find a pattern or something.”

  “That’s good work, Sarah. Every little bit helps.”

  He refocused on his computer and spent the next few minutes uploading the information from the chip, sending it to Commander Sykes. He could figure out what to do from there, Xavier was certain.

  Sending information over a public Wi-Fi system was tricky, but Xavier had top-level encryption. The data itself consisted of names, addresses, calendar notes and other identifying information. It wasn’t scientific in nature. It certainly wasn’t the secret to creating the zombie formula. If Xavier had seen anything like that, he wouldn’t have chanced sending it to Sykes over any network—not even with his personal encryption.

  As it was, this set of data was relatively harmless. Although it could prove to be Sellars’s downfall if they were able to make connections and draw conclusions that led them to him. It could also incriminate a good number of foreign powers, operatives and arms dealers. Yes, sir, the spooks would have a field day with what he’d found on the chip, if it turned out to be good information and not some kind of planted ploy.

  Sarah was turning out to be quite an asset to his mission. Their training was similar in some ways but as different as night and day in others. She was trained to investigate, while he was more of the “destroy first and ask questions later” mindset. Having her along was making him rethink his instinctive actions, which in this case wasn’t a bad thing.

  “Where are we heading next?” She had finished her meal while he’d been busy typing and uploading.

  “I think we’ll stick with our original plan to hit the next address.”

  “Clouds are moving in. Could get dark early tonight.” She nodded toward the floor-to-ceiling windows that fronted the café. Indeed, it was getting dark as the sun was covered by pale gray clouds.

  “Let me finish this and we’ll get moving.” He finished his sandwich while he shut down the laptop.

  When he was done, they headed over to the address Xavier had found on the disc from the office. It was late in the day. Clouds now completely covered the horizon and night was falling fast.

  If any zombies were on the premises, they’d be active shortly, if they weren’t already. Xavier had learned the hard way not to let any of the creatures get behind him. Better to face them head-on than to try to sneak up on something that was even better at stealth than he was.

  The address turned out to be a big ho
use on a wooded lot. There had to be an acre or more of woods around the home along with a huge, seven-foot wall that provided a lot of privacy in the upscale residential neighborhood.

  “What do you think a property like this goes for around here?” he wondered idly.

  “The land alone is worth over half a mil in this neighborhood,” Sarah said. “With a house of that size and its pretty looks, I’d say this place probably listed at well over a million, easy.”

  Xavier whistled low. They had parked out on the county road and walked the rest of the way, just in case. Sarah’s gray uniform blended well with the twilight and Xavier’s camo was even harder to discern among the trees along the side of the road. They’d paused at the edge of the property to get the lay of the land before approaching any closer.

  The woods were dense leading up to the house. The only direct route to it seemed to be the long, straight, narrow driveway. Xavier didn’t like the look of it. To his battle-trained senses it looked too much like a trap. No doubt there was some kind of security system in place. Cameras at the very least. Perhaps motion or heat sensors as well.

  “I’d rather go through the woods to get to the house than up that driveway.” He nodded toward the one open path and kept his voice low.

  These residences were huge and set well back from the road and they were still under cover of the trees at the side of the road. Still, someone might see them from a window, or hear them if they spoke too loudly.

  “I’m game for a hike if you are.”

  He liked her sense of adventure. Even in this potentially dangerous situation, she could laugh and joke with him. His fellow soldiers were like that for the most part. He just hadn’t expected it in a civilian. He had to keep reminding himself she wasn’t really a civilian. She was a cop. They shared a sense of duty and an oath to protect. He shouldn’t have been surprised by her easy humor in dangerous situations. Cops probably faced danger even more often than regular soldiers did.

  They approached the house at an oblique angle from the woods. The first few yards in, everything looked okay. Xavier led, stopping every few feet to check for anything obvious—sensors or booby traps—but there wasn’t anything he could detect.