“Heidi?” Adam blew out a breath and took a step forward. He’d hoped, but he hadn’t let himself believe the report of an American woman showing up at a hospital in Patel.
Heidi’s eyes opened, and she blinked at him, her gaze not quite focused. It seemed to take her a moment to truly register him.
“Adam?” She sat up slowly, her face creasing in pain.
“Lay down. Take it easy.” He took another step and grasped her hand with his. “Easy.”
He had so many questions, but for right now, he’d comfort himself with the knowledge that she was alive. Everything else could be sorted out in time. He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles. She turned toward him, dragging his hand up to her face. Her eyes were squeezed shut, and a tear leaked out.
“Hey, now. Hey? Why are you crying?” And how could he make her stop?
“I thought... When you drove off and they were shooting, I was scared...”
Fuck.
She’d been there.
It’d all happened so fast. He hadn’t considered the fact that Heidi might have been with those people and not somewhere else.
“We’re okay. All of us. Even you. You’re okay, aren’t you?” he asked.
“Yeah.” She nodded at the pole. “Dehydrated mostly.”
“What happened? What do you remember?”
“Not a lot. It’s pretty fuzzy.” She laced her fingers through his. “Based on what Léo said, they injected me with something yesterday to make me easier to kidnap. I never realized that they wanted me. I thought... This whole time I thought they were going to get rid of me because I’d figured out what they were doing.”
They were after Heidi?
That was unwelcome news. He liked the state of things when they assumed her original kidnapping was all about wrong place, wrong time. If the India lab was connected to the events surrounding Heidi, maybe she was a target because of her skill set?
“How are you guys?” she asked.
“Good. Everyone’s safe. And we found their lab outside of Mumbai, or at least where it used to be. We found Larayna. She’s alive.”
“Really?”
“She’s sick. Bad sick. From what the people with her said, there was an outbreak and a lot of people died.” That theory sure as hell changed things in a way Adam didn’t like. “Do you remember leaving the house?”
“Sort of?” She shook her head. “I was in my room. I couldn’t stand. I was dizzy. And then there was this shadow. A person, and they picked me up and...I must have blacked out?”
“I’ve got something that might make you feel better.” He dug in his pocket for the tiny, crumpled box of lemon drops.
Heidi chuckled and took the package. A tear rolled down her cheek, but she smiled and popped one of the candies in her mouth.
“What happened? What did the others say?” she asked.
“John said they came through his window, too.” Why would they then go through the hall to get to Cindy? That didn’t make as much sense.
“I must have been out for a while. I remember waking up in a car with Léo and someone else. He gave me something, and that’s when he told me they’d done this to me.” Heidi shuddered and clutched his hand tighter.
“It’s okay.”
“Then we were on that street and they were lined up waiting.”
“They knew where we were going. Do you remember anything? Any foggy memories?”
“Sort of. It was when Léo injected me. I was more aware. He told the driver to turn around.”
One of the other two clients was the mole.
They’d packed the enemy right along with them, giving them a play-by-play of what to do to remain ahead of his team.
“Adam? What is it?”
“Nothing.” He kissed her knuckles. “Where did you go to after the car?”
“I ran. I wasn’t—I was still out of it. I wound up hiding in someone’s backyard I think. This morning I found a shop, and they called an ambulance for me.”
“I was worried.” He bent his head and closed his eyes.
The last few hours had been hell. Possibly the worst of his life. But he had Heidi back. That much mattered.
“You aren’t telling me something,” Heidi said.
“Don’t worry about it. Just focus on getting better.” He kissed her hand.
“Adam, don’t do that. I need to know.”
He sighed and closed his eyes. Sooner or later, she’d find out.
“Someone had to get close enough to inject you with whatever it was that made you sick. Someone told Léo where we were going last night. That someone had to be pretty damn close to us.” He lifted his head and stared at Heidi.
“You think it’s Cindy or John.” She shook her head. “I can’t believe that.”
“The worst part is that we had some words earlier. They think we should consider that you could be the mole. That didn’t go over well and they are both on military transport back to the States as we speak.” They’d let their best lead walk out with a military escort because they only had a hunch.
Someone tapped on the wall.
Adam glanced over his shoulder. A doctor in a white coat followed by a nurse entered.
“Hallo.” The doctor offered a pleasant smile to Adam then Heidi. “Who is this?”
“Doctor Khatri, this is my husband.” Heidi patted their joined hands. “Adam.”
“Pleasure to meet you.” Doctor Khatri smiled. His thick accent was easier to understand due to his slow pace of speech.
“What’s the verdict? Am I dying?” Heidi asked.
Adam glared at her, which earned him a chuckle. He didn’t appreciate the morbid sense of humor after the night they’d had.
“Besides the dehydration, bruising and cuts on your feet, you’re a very tired girl. Your white blood cell count is high, but as you said—that could be due to whatever you were given. Without more testing and observation, it’s hard to tell.” The doctor shrugged.
“I’m not contagious?” Heidi asked.
“No, ma’am.”
“Is she free to go then? Or do you need to keep her?” Adam was anxious to get her under military protection that waited outside.
“She’s going to need a lot of rest and fluids, but if she promises to stay off her feet for a few days, I see no reason to keep her.”
The doctor and Heidi bantered a bit, talking shop that went over his head, while he signed her discharge papers. Given what she’d said, the sooner they passed along her account of the night the better. Military Police could be waiting when the plane landed to take both Cindy and John into custody. It wouldn’t make Heidi completely safe, but it was a start. They were finally getting a leg up on Léo and whoever else he was working with.
The nurse brought them a wheelchair. Before Heidi could pretend she was shifting from the bed to the chair, he picked her up and seriously considered just carrying her out to the van like this. He felt better about everything when he could touch her. Hold onto her.
“Is this really necessary?” Heidi turned her nose up, but it was an act. Her arm was tight around his shoulders, and she knew he wouldn’t drop her.
“Humor me?”
He set her in the chair then knelt to get a look at her feet.
What he could see was black and blue between the bandages. He hated to think about what she might have come into contact with running around without shoes. He’d make sure to strong arm her into seeing a doctor in another week, or he’d drag her to one.
“What have I missed? Is anyone hurt?” she asked as he wheeled her toward the doors.
“No one was hurt, but it was close. The Indian government isn’t too fond of us right now. They’ve handed us over to the US Air Force based out of Mumbai until they can fly us home tomorrow.”
“Are we in trouble?”
“Not yet. So far, it’s for our own protection.” He could see that changing with the wind if things didn’t go well.
HEIDI LEANED AGAINST
Adam’s shoulder as the bus wound through the busy Mumbai streets. She didn’t care where they were going, just that she was with Adam. She closed her eyes and prayed the bits she remembered from the other night were just a bad dream. She didn’t remember that period well, but what she did remember was horrible. The things she’d said to him?
She was willing to swallow down a lot of her hurt feelings for a real chance together. It was something she’d accepted after their plane ride to Mumbai. Her heart belonged to Adam. Pretending that she had a choice in the matter was like asking the sky to stop being blue. Some people got to walk away. She’d tried that and been miserable.
“She asleep?”
“No, she’s not.” Heidi sat up and blinked at Kyle.
“I was hoping we could have a moment to chat when we get to Cotton Green.” Kyle glanced over his shoulder at the duo at the front of the van.
“We’ve got a lot to discuss,” Adam said.
“Where are we going? Cotton Green?” Heidi hadn’t the foggiest idea what that meant.
“Since the US signed an agreement with India, our military is allowed to use their bases. The American Air Force is doing a series of training exercises out of Mumbai. Lucky us.” Judging by Kyle’s grimace they could have had better luck.
Heidi swallowed. She knew Adam was talking about the team, John and Cindy, and what came next. She couldn’t help but feel he was also talking about them.
She’d held onto a lot of hurt over the years and let fear hem her into her box. Despite her in-laws giving her subtle updates over the years about Adam, she’d refused to go anywhere near him. She’d taken jobs that put her across the world from him in an effort to run from the way he made her feel, but she kept coming back to him. To this.
They weren’t perfect. Far from it. But they deserved a chance. Didn’t they? Could Adam give her that?
Their military transport arrived at a small air base on the south side of Mumbai in less time than Heidi would have thought possible. In lieu of an available wheelchair, Adam scooped her out of the van and carried her tucked against his chest into the barracks. Their escort showed Adam and her to a private room down an adjacent hallway.
Their accommodations might not be the most luxurious, but it wasn’t the first time Heidi had shacked up in barracks. She’d had several unglamorous stints doing work in hot zones.
Adam set her on the bed and guided her to stretch out her legs, keeping her feet off the ground.
“Want anything? Water? Food? Sleep?” He knelt next to the narrow bed, his entire focus on her.
She took his hand between hers and ran her fingers over his knuckles. There were tiny scars dotting his skin, yet more memories she wasn’t part of. All this time, she’d thought she’d made the right decision. That the more distance between them the better.
She’d been wrong. Oh, so wrong.
“Knock. Knock.” Kyle tapped on the door.
Adam turned toward the guys filing into the little room.
Heidi wasn’t sure if she was glad for the respite or if she wanted to have the necessary chat with Adam out of the way. But what if it didn’t go well? She might want to hang onto these moments a bit longer.
“I know you’re pretty tired, Heidi, but you think we can all get on the same page?” Kyle glanced from her to Adam.
“Yes. Of course.”
In the end, Adam took over relating most of what they’d talked about at the hospital to the others, focusing primarily on their assumption that it was either Cindy or John working for Léo. Heidi still found it hard to wrap her head around the idea that anyone at the CDC could do something like this. Their focus was on helping people live healthier, longer lives. Not killing.
Heidi leaned against the wall and stared at the ceiling, tuning out the guy’s voices.
Had she ever suspected them?
Cindy could be a bitch. She wasn’t Heidi’s favorite person by far, but she was a hard working, meticulous person. She got results no one could argue with.
John was one of the sweetest, kindest people Heidi had ever met. Even his ex-wives were still friendly with him. It seemed absurd that he could be involved.
Cindy had managerial oversight. She could easily have altered reports. She had that kind of access, but there was no way she could have obtained the samples used to create the outbreaks they’d seen. John, on the other hand, could get to those samples. He didn’t have the same kind of clearance for records as Cindy though, which come to think about was strange. He was one of the more senior people in his lab and yet he wasn’t in a management role. That was odd.
“You’ve got that thinking face on.” Adam squeezed her hand. He’d shifted to sit on the bed when the others entered. “What aren’t you sharing with the rest of us?”
Heidi blinked from person to person.
“Just...running through if I ever suspected Cindy or John.”
“What do you think about that?” Kyle asked.
“It’s just... Cindy? We aren’t each other’s biggest fan, but she’s good at her job. She’s dedicated. John? Everyone likes him. He’s the sweetest guy. I’m not arguing about the idea that one of them is involved, but I don’t know which one.”
“Shit.” Kyle stared at his phone. “I need to take this. Excuse me.”
He ducked out, and they all continued to watch.
“That’s the second call from the hospital today,” Riley said softly.
“His dad?” Grant asked.
“I’m guessing.”
“What’s wrong with Kyle’s dad?” Heidi asked.
“He’s got terminal lung cancer,” Adam said.
“Is that what it is?” Grant asked.
“Yup.”
“Shit.” Grant blew out a breath. “Well, I don’t think it’s our job to fix this situation. We’ve gathered a lot of evidence. It’s time for the CDC and probably the Justice Department to handle what comes next. We just need to get Heidi home.”
“It’s noon.” Riley slid his phone into his pocket. “They said our gear would be available then.”
“You want a change of clothes? Something to eat?” Adam asked.
“All of the above?”
“You got it. Hang tight. I’ll be back.”
12.
WEDNESDAY. COTTON GREEN, Mumbai, India.
Adam followed Riley and Grant down the hall into the barracks. The small base wasn’t fully occupied right now due to the rotating Indian and American forces. He was going to miss that central air when night came and there were a bunch of warm bodies trying to sleep.
“Hey, Novak, wait up.” Grant reached out and smacked Adam’s shoulder.
He stopped and turned toward the Lepta Team Leader. What the hell did he want now?
“I’m not trying to start anything.” Grant held up his hands. “We all know the situation with Kyle’s dad is getting serious. I just want to know what our plans are for how to get this job wrapped up and him home.”
Adam glanced at the other end of the room where their crates were stacked. The one they’d surrendered upon entering the country was even there. Interesting. The government here really did want them to stop being a problem.
“We get State-side, you all go home, I’m staying in Atlanta.” He’d take care of the details with Zain later.
“That’s not much of a plan.” Grant’s frown deepened.
Riley was right. Grant really did look like he’d sucked on too many lemons.
“What Grant is trying to say is that, we need a plan in place so that Kyle can split when he needs to.” Riley nodded toward the window.
Outside, Kyle paced with his phone pressed to his ear and a frown on his face.
“What are you suggesting?” Adam asked.
“There’s a good reason Zain and Abigail showed up at our door to ask us to go on this op.” Grant ducked his head and scratched his ear, pausing while a couple American airmen walked by. “No phone calls, no one paying anything. They know something we don’t know, an
d it’s important enough they want to eat the cost of keeping your wife safe. I don’t have a horse in this race, so where I’m sitting, our job’s not done.”
Adam nodded. He still had a bad feeling about everything, but he wasn’t an impartial party to this. He had a stake in what went on.
“I’m thinking we encourage Kyle to go home. Be with his dad. Then we hole up for a few days while they figure out who the mole is. That way we keep you and your girl safe.”
“Okay. Yeah.” Adam let his gaze drop to the ground. “What else are you seeing?”
He hadn’t thought for a moment about the circumstances surrounding this job. He’d been focused on Heidi and keeping her safe to the point that obvious details had escaped him.
“We all know Abigail is still plugged into the intelligence community. Whatever deal she struck with Mossad when they cut her loose was for show. I’m willing to bet there’s a couple agencies out there who want us to get to the bottom of this—and stop it.” Grant glanced between Adam and Riley.
“No one wants outbreaks out there like what these guys can do,” Riley said.
Adam hated the idea of Heidi at the center of a global storm on this scale. All she’d set out to do was her job, and that had put her in danger.
“Why don’t you go take care of your wife, and we’ll handle things from here. When we know something, we’ll come find you, okay?” Grant asked.
“Sounds good to me.” If Adam couldn’t be counted on to keep his eyes on the big picture, he was best aimed at the small one instead.
“Go on. Get back to her.” Grant slapped him on the shoulder again.
Adam crossed to the crates and with Riley’s help got their luggage out, all the while rolling their current situation around in his head. He hadn’t paused to consider how strange it was for Luke and Abigail to show up from their main office with Zain to deliver the bad news about Heidi. Adam had been blinded by the personal connection. What weren’t they sharing with the rest of them?
Was it possible Heidi wasn’t the first person to make this connection? What if there were others out there hunting Léo and whoever he was working with? What if they’d stumbled into a massive investigation?
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