by Vicki Hinze
“I’ll get back to you with further orders. What I want to know now is why you haven’t carried out your initial orders.”
Why isn’t Gabby dead? Max gave in to a sigh. “It took a twenty-four-hour hike to get here and a lot is going on that hasn’t yet been reported in detail, Commander. She’s been gathering evidence. When this lab incident occurred, she was still briefing me.” He probably should stop there, but of course, he wouldn’t. “It’s possible neither SDU nor her cover has been breached by those we feared.” Max saw no need to mention Candace. Conlee had deemed her safe and he’d heard and seen everything that had happened in the lab—or he would as soon as he did a full review of the tapes. “I’m following Vice President Stone’s orders, too, sir, making sure this is absolutely necessary and there’s no other way.” It couldn’t hurt to remind Conlee of her orders. “I’m sure you agree that’s essential.”
“I don’t agree or disagree. I issue orders and you follow them,” Conlee said sharply. “Kincaid’s cover is breached or this lab incident wouldn’t have happened. It has to be related to her investigations. Do your job, Grayson.”
“But, sir—”
“As soon as possible,” Conlee snapped, clearly out of patience. “The risks of being wrong are exorbitant.”
That was the bottom line. It was always the bottom line. An overwhelming urge surged through Max to knock the person who had devised risk assessment on his ass. “Yes, sir,” he said, swallowing his bitterness. “As soon as possible.” Which would be after Gabby had finished her briefing.
That could take a while. When he looked the veep in the face, he wanted to be able to meet her eyes with no hesitation or reservation. Until he could, Gabby was going to stay alive.
“Take Candace home,” Conlee said. “Dr. Burke will meet you there. And get someone to brick up that window.”
“Yes, sir.” Max shouldn’t ask, but … “Why was there a window, sir?”
“Erickson has a medical condition. He needs sunlight.” Conlee sighed. “Secure labs can’t have windows unless they’re authorized under a disability request. Those are discretionary and I granted one. My responsibility. Totally.”
Max winced. Conlee was going to suffer on this one. Fatalities were inevitable.
“Don’t drag your heels executing my orders or I’ll bust you out of SDU.”
Was the old man reading his mind, or what? Max stiffened. He was either psychic or figuring out what he would do if he were in Max’s position. Regardless, his warning was well intentioned and clear. Once an SDU operative went active in the unit, there was only one way to bust him out.
If Max delayed canceling Gabby, then he would be canceled, too.
Chapter Fourteen
Carnel Cove, Florida Monday, August 5
Candace Burke’s home was a contemporary minipalace on a three-acre lot that backed up to the cove for which Carnel Cove had been named. Power was out for miles, but thanks to an elaborate backup generator system, she had lights and air-conditioning to battle the sultry, humid heat.
Gabby adjusted the thermostat on the hallway wall, knocking the temperature down a couple degrees, and then walked back into the living room, where Max was pacing between the bar and the sleek sofa nearest the fireplace. It was one-thirty in the morning and he hadn’t racked out in a bed in two days. He was running on sheer adrenaline and it showed in the tense set of his shoulders and the strain lining his face. Yet even now, and even under these circumstances, he still had that magical something that made Gabby notice everything about him, and made everything about him vitally important to her.
He paused and looked over at her. “How is she?”
“Not good.” Gabby walked to the bar, poured herself a finger of bourbon, and knocked it back. “She’s spiked a fever, Max. It’s a hundred and one, and climbing. She’s already suffering muscle pain, and a mild headache. Soon it’ll be a wall-banger.”
“But it’s only been two hours.”
“She’s got over a hundred bites. That’s a lot of Z-4027 in her system.”
“We should get her to the hospital.”
Coma, brain inflammation, her breathing shutting down, and organ failure—all that could and would happen sooner rather than later. “She needs medical attention but no, no hospital.” Gabby thumbed the rim of her glass. “I brought it up, but Candace repeatedly refused and continuously murmured one name: Keith.”
“Burke Pharmaceutical’s Keith?” Max asked. Conlee had told him about Keith Burke.
Gabby nodded. “She has complete faith only he can save her. My instincts are warning me she’s right. So we wait here for Dr. Burke.”
“She’s not exactly in great shape to be making decisions, Gabby. Is that what’s best for her?” Max asked. “Look, I know you’re losing more than a contact, you’re losing a friend.” He softened his voice. “But you have to think of what’s best for Candace. The hospital has the means to make her more comfortable.”
Gabby smacked her glass down on the bar and turned on him. “That’s exactly what I’m doing.” She rolled her gaze heavenward, seeking divine intervention to keep from choking him. “Think, Max. Powell was murdered, remember?”
Max wasn’t tracking. “At the hospital?”
“Candace says, yes.”
“There’s a ‘but’ in that remark.” He laid a level look on her that demanded a straight answer. “What is it?”
Gabby wasn’t in the mood for explanations, but she couldn’t very well ask Max to operate blind. He had delayed killing her, and if for no other reason, she owed him for that. “But Elizabeth swears he was bitten while he and Mayor Faulkner were at Judge Abernathy’s fishing camp.”
“This is the first I’ve heard of Faulkner being up there with Powell.” Max walked to the bar, poured himself a club soda. “Is that verified?”
Gabby nodded, and then checked the window, anxiously waiting for Dr. Keith Burke’s arrival. God, she wished he’d get the lead out. He was Candace’s only shot at surviving. Gabby wasn’t feeling great either, but whether it was from the virus or from Max, she was going to die, so it didn’t matter. Candace, however, had a life. Purpose. She needed to live. “Faulkner mentors most of the Cove judges and businessmen. The ones with influence anyway. Some like it—Judge Abernathy and Carl Blake, the bank president, come to mind.” She fingered the silky drapes. “Some hate but tolerate it, like Judge Powell. Elizabeth says he wanted to keep an eye on them, to see what they were up to. Apparently, William went to high school with Faulkner and Sheriff Coulter, and they both know what Faulkner is really like.”
“What is he really like?”
Solid question. She looked over at Max. “First to take credit, last to accept blame.”
“Your typical politician—Sybil and a rare few others excepted, of course.”
“Not exactly,” Gabby said. “Elizabeth says Faulkner is unsavory and he has no character. That’s a little worse than the average politician.” Gabby cocked her head and stretched her neck muscles. “But take that assessment with a grain of salt. Elizabeth’s fabulous, but her ethics are up there with Jesus and Sybil’s. Few can measure up, if you know what I mean—me included.”
“The veep does have a worldwide sterling reputation.”
“Yeah, and I’m a bitch but no ethics slouch.” Gabby poured and then took a healthy swig from her glass. It burned going down her throat.
“The bitch business is your own fault. People only know what you let them know.” Stopping beside a white curved sofa that looked comfortable but too perfect to sit on, Max stuffed his hands in his pockets. “So these fishing trips are when Faulkner does his mentoring. They’re actually strategy sessions?”
Gabby nodded, plopped down on the sofa and tucked her feet up under her.
Max went ahead and sat down beside her. “It seems obvious that when Powell returned from New York and went with Faulkner up to Abernathy’s camp, he wasn’t planning to fish. But how could a strategy session between locals tie to t
he New York elevator attack? Did they hire the Global Warriors to hit you? What do these Covers know about Z-4027?”
“There you go again with more of those million-dollar questions, Max.” She reached over, patted his thigh. “They aren’t supposed to know anything—and I can’t prove they that they do—but I suspect they know plenty.”
“Well, are you going to share your suspicions?” He covered her hand with his and gentled his voice. “You’re looking peaked. Feeling bad?”
“I’m all right.” She said the words hoping they would make it so. She was feeling bad. Not anywhere near as raunchy as Candace, but bad. “I’m going to share everything I know with you.” She pulled back her hand and hauled herself to her feet. It took more effort than she cared to admit, even to herself. “But first, I’m going to answer the door.”
“The door?” Max looked from her to it.
She was halfway to it when the doorbell rang.
Dr. Keith Burke finally had arrived.
They weren’t strangers.
Gabby looked at Keith on his knees beside Candace’s bed, stroking her face. He was a large man, nearly as tall as Max at six foot one, but the likenesses stopped there. Keith was blond; Max’s hair was as black as mined coal. Where Keith had that wiry, athletic build, Max was broad and solid. Both men were attractive, but Keith paled standing next to Max. At least, in Gabby’s opinion.
Near the door to Candace’s bedroom, Max stepped closer to Gabby and whispered, “These people are not just business acquaintances.”
“Apparently not.” Gabby watched Dr. Burke talk with Candace, getting what he needed both from her and in examining her to assess her condition. “Even before she spiked a fever, she kept calling for him. I guess she knows he’s the only one who can possibly save her life.”
“Maybe.” Max watched, processed the tenderness and familiarity passing between them. “But it seems like more. They’re intimate, Gabby. Connected.”
“Yeah, they are. We’ll talk to him after he does what he can for her.” Gabby looked over at Max, a glint of surprise lighting her eyes.
Max lifted a questioning eyebrow. “What?”
“I was just thinking. It’s kind of nice to have someone to talk with at times like this.”
“Partners don’t just try to get you killed,” he whispered from behind his hand. “For a smart woman, it’s taking you a long time to figure that out.”
“Habit.” She shut down her emotions and slid her professional mask back into place.
“I’ll be right here,” Burke said. “Just let me talk with Gabby and Max a second, okay?”
“Don’t leave me.”
“I won’t, darling.” Burke walked away from the bed, to the door where they stood.
Gabby didn’t bother to hide her curiosity. “You two obviously know each other well.”
“We were once married, Gabby. I’m surprised Candace hasn’t told you.”
Gabby frowned. “You’re divorced and professional competitors on Department of Defense contracts?”
She was getting hostile. Max put a restraining arm on hers. “Honey, let him talk to us.” He hoped the endearment would remind her she was undercover as a wife and judge and not a ticked-off SDU operative fearing the best interests of the United States government had been violated.
“Of course, sugar.” She looped their arms and sent him a smile forged of pure steel so he felt more than heard her sarcasm. “So talk, Dr. Burke.”
“Keith,” he said, then turned the topic back to the matter at hand. “Candace has no interest in medical research. Logan Industries was vulnerable to takeover and an excellent investment she wanted to buy, provided I didn’t object—and I didn’t—so she bought it. I gave her my blessing and invested heavily in LI stock. When it comes to investments, Candace is charmed. The short version is we decided to be loving friends instead of married enemies. It’s that simple. Or it was.” He blinked hard three times. “Now it’s not. Now, she’s dying.” His voice went thick. “And I don’t know if what I’ve got will save her or kill her.”
“The vaccine?” Max focused. The weight of Gabby’s arm on his wasn’t sexual or sensual. She was leaning on him. And sweating. And her eyes were glossy and overly bright.
The infection was taking hold in her, too.
“Yeah, the vaccine.” Keith nodded. “I want her permission. I have to know she understands the risks.”
Because if things went badly, her not knowing them would haunt Keith Burke the rest of his life. Max nodded, puzzled by their relationship. They obviously loved each other. So why had they divorced?
“Of course, you do.” Gabby nodded back toward Candace. “Go talk to her, Keith. She took over a hundred bites. There’s no time to lose.”
“Over a hundred?” His eyes widened and he sucked in a little gasp.
The horror in his reaction robbed Gabby of her voice. She settled for a nod.
Keith just stared at her for a long, unblinking moment, then he squeezed his eyes shut. “Dear God.” He looked down at the creamy carpet, and then turned away and returned to Candace’s bedside. “I’ve got a vaccine for this infection, darling, but it’s new.” He fluffed her pillow and then dabbed at her brow with a cool, wet cloth. “I don’t know if it’ll work.”
“Experimental?” Her voice sounded breathy, faint and tinny.
“Yes.” He clasped her hand in his. “It could not work at all, Candace.”
She leveled her calm blue eyes on him. “Or it could kill me, right?”
“Yes.” He cleared his throat. “If it works, we’ll see significant evidence of it within an hour. If it fails, it could have no effect at all.” He paused and looked from her eyes to the wall and then back again. “Or it could cause immediate death.” Doubt riddled his face, his voice. “I just don’t know, darling. I wish to God I did, but I just don’t know.”
“Shh, it’s okay. I know what I need to know.” She pulled their clasped hands to her face, kissed his knuckles. “Without it, I’m definitely going to die. With it, I have hope.” She stroked his cheek. “I’ll take my chances with your vaccine.”
“I wish—” Words failed him and he dropped his chin to his chest.
“No.” She searched his face, her heart in her eyes. “Married or not, I’ve always loved you, Keith. Death won’t change that. Nothing can change that.”
“For me, either.”
“Just don’t leave me until it’s done, okay? Either way.”
“I won’t,” he solemnly swore. “I’ll be right here with you for as long as you need me.”
She summoned a weak smile and motioned to his bag beside her bed. “Do it, then.”
Keith moved to prepare the injection, and Candace called out, “Gabby?”
“I’m right here.” She stepped forward, feeling fragile at witnessing their exchange.
“You’d better call Marcus and Dr. Erickson and tell them to lock down the lab. And get word to Mayor Faulkner and Sheriff Coulter. I have enough sins on my soul without adding innocent lives to them due to negligence.”
“I’ll handle it. Don’t worry,” Gabby said. She was shaking, scared down to the marrow of her bones of losing a friend. While she hadn’t been totally honest with Candace, or any of the rest of the women in Carnel Cove, Gabby had acted like a true friend and they had trusted her. True friends were a precious thing in her life, and so scarce. “Just focus on getting well.”
Keith stepped away to fill the syringe, and Candace whispered to Gabby, “If this goes badly, don’t let him wallow in guilt.”
Seeing that this was Candace’s greatest fear, Gabby nodded. “I won’t.”
“Are you ready, sweetheart?” Keith stepped back to the bedside.
She nodded and smiled up at him. “I love you, Keith.”
A tear rolled down his face. “I love you, too.” He injected Candace, and then set the syringe aside.
“What now?” Candace asked, her long hair tumbling across her pillow in damp locks.
“We wait.” Keith sat on the edge of the bed, took her hands in his, and whispered something only the two of them could hear.
Gabby sagged against Max, as if she were having trouble holding herself upright. She was sweating now, flushed, and her eyes had that fevered look. Tears leaked out and ran down her cheeks, rattling Max. Gabby never relinquished control. “Gabby?”
She looked at him, her torment unrelenting. “She’s my friend. I want her to live, Max.”
If Gabby could will it, it would be done. “I know.” He closed an arm around her shoulder and squeezed her to him. “Let’s wait in the living room. Give them some time alone.”
She sniffed, nodded.
Near the door, Max paused. “Keith, if you need us, we’ll be right outside.”
Keith glanced back at Max, and then at Gabby. Recognition that Gabby was exhibiting symptoms too had worry flooding his eyes. He and Max shared an understanding look. Keith nodded, silently assuring he would see to Gabby as soon as he knew the impact of his vaccine.
As soon as he knew if Candace would live or die.
Chapter Fifteen
Max sat beside Gabby on Candace’s sofa. Her lab coat pocket snagged his shirt button. He worked it loose. “You okay?”
She drew back her lips in a tight smile that was really more a snarl splitting her lips. “She’s a good friend and she’s dying. I’m freaking fabulous.”
Hurting and lashing out. What did she want him to say? “I’m sorry.”
She flipped up a hand. “Everyone’s always sorry, but it doesn’t change anything.” She flopped back. “Why do we bother, Max? I mean, no matter how hard we try or how much we give up to fight them, the bad guys just keep on coming. Their names and faces change, but they never stop coming.”
“We get some of them,” he reminded her. “We save some of them.”
“Come on, Max. Get real. We don’t even know for sure what is going on here. How are we supposed to save anyone else? I’m a dead woman walking. I can’t even save myself.”
