“Henry,” someone shouted from another office, one they’d passed a few moments ago.
He turned and said, “I’ll be right there.” Then, he looked at her, that blank expression still confusing the heck out of her. “Go on ahead. With a couple of teams going out, I might be a while.”
He’d included her in these sorts of conversations before, ones that had nothing to do with microbiology or virology. “Can I do anything to help?” she asked.
His mouth tightened.
Okay, what had happened to make him mad in the last minute or so? All they’d talked about was her living situation.
“Are you concerned my roommate might be in danger?”
“More like a danger to you,” he replied after a few seconds. As if he’d taken the time to really think about what he said before he said it.
“My brother is frequently a danger to himself, but never to me.”
“Brother?” He sounded surprised.
“Yes.” She sighed. Most people thought living with your brother was only one step up from living with your parents. “He’s not a very good roommate. He’s forgetful and terrible at housework.”
Henry’s mouth didn’t look so tense now. “Sorry. Too many things on my mind.”
“It’s okay. After all the attacks and the measles outbreak…” Her voice trailed off, and she smiled weakly. “Everyone is on edge.” She hoped that was it. If Henry had figured out why she’d really joined the CDC—to find the source of the leak—he’d be furious with her. She hadn’t told him there were two reasons she’d wanted to work here. One was the science—she loved solving puzzles, and infectious diseases were among the most complicated of medical mysteries. Small, insignificant variables could effect great change in an outbreak. The second reason was what kept her hyperaware of everything around her. She didn’t just work for the CDC. Her parents, both of whom worked for the NSA, expected her to look for patterns in behavior in the people she worked with that might indicate current or future threats to public safety.
The CDC had already had one rogue former employee release a bioengineered measles strain into the population. And information still seemed to be getting out. Staff assignments, movements, and lab reports should not be making it outside the organization.
With his hand in a lot of different departments, Henry had been one of the first CDC employees she’d looked at, but everything she’d seen and heard told her he was one of the good guys. Still…even the best of men were sometimes led astray.
A sour taste flooded her mouth at the thought he was in any way connected to the FAFO.
“I’m going to need the latest numbers on the measles outbreak for a meeting tomorrow,” he said to her. “Could you work on that for me?”
“Sure.” She tried to smile but decided just to nod instead. “A one-page summary?”
“Yeah, that’s perfect.” He walked away, and she managed to tear her gaze off him and head toward her own workspace, the knot at the bottom of her stomach twisting tighter and tighter.
Chapter Two
Tuesday, May 7, 6:32 a.m.
Ruby stopped the Jeep she was driving to let her brother, Nate, get out.
“Don’t forget to eat lunch,” she said to him.
He lifted his head so he could make eye contact with her. “What?”
“Eat lunch,” she said again.
He flashed a smile at her. “I will.” He got out, waved, then wandered into the nondescript building where he worked.
“No, you won’t,” Ruby muttered to herself. He’d forgotten to eat the last three days in a row. Some people had selective hearing—her brother had a selective memory. If he didn’t think it was important, he didn’t remember it.
She sighed and pulled away from the curb. The drive to her own workplace, CDC headquarters, would take forty minutes. She’d better get going before she was late.
For once, traffic wasn’t all that bad, no real slowdowns at all. She’d have been happy, except for the sedan that seemed insistent on tailgating her. If that weren’t bad enough, a truck had swung into her lane in front of her then slowed down, forcing her to slow as well.
She switched lanes, but the two vehicles following her boxed her in, slowing her even more. Stomach tightening, she took another look at the two vehicles. She couldn’t remember cutting anyone off, so what the hell?
The car behind her connected with her bumper. Not a collision, more of a nudge, like the driver had deliberately tried to push her into the vehicle in front of her.
What an asshole. She hated assholes.
Was this some kind of stupid stunt, or was the FAFO hoping to run a CDC employee off the road? That wasn’t really their style—they usually blew things up. But if they wanted a fresh source of information about the CDC’s activities or security protocols, or a hostage to use as leverage to get that information…maybe it wasn’t so crazy.
They didn’t know whom they were dealing with.
She narrowed her eyes at the car behind her. Dude, you’re playing tag with the wrong vehicle. Her Jeep was in no way normal. Her brother had modified it, turning it into almost a tank. Steel roll bar, steel bull bars on the front and back of the chassis. The engine wasn’t a slouch, either. Nate had named it Frankenjeep.
She stood on the brakes.
The car behind her ran into her as she expected, but unlike her Jeep, it didn’t have the steel frame to keep it the same shape. The car’s hood crumpled, along with the fenders. A loud pop echoed as one of the tires exploded.
Ha. He wasn’t going to be messing with her anymore.
Ruby stomped on the gas and rammed into the back of the truck in front of her. A truck that had backed up almost as soon as she’d stopped.
The driver probably thought a Jeep wouldn’t have the horsepower to push his vehicle out of the way, and he’d have been right if her ride had been in any way normal. He didn’t know her brother worked for Mars Mission Labs putting rockets into outer space. Juicing up her Jeep had been a fun hobby project for him.
Still, it took a couple of seconds before the Frankenjeep managed to push the larger truck onto the shoulder of the road and up a cement Jersey barrier, leaving it hung up and unable to move.
Surprise.
She shifted gears to back up, but the car she thought she’d disabled rammed into the back of her again, blocking her escape.
Ruby glanced in her rearview mirror and bared her teeth. Oh, it’s on, asshole.
She reversed, spinning her tires to push the car back. She gained a half a foot then moved forward those few inches so she could gain a bit of momentum and push the car back another foot.