She started retching again.
“Stop the damn car!” the man yelled out. “Or the whole car is going to stink of puke!”
The vehicle braked and Walker opened the car door. He was beginning to figure out what his precious scientist was up to.
“Come on, guys,” he said. “The car movement is not helping. She’ll just keep getting sicker and sicker.”
Sergei growled his frustration. “God damn it to hell.” He paused for a moment. “You can walk her up and down within sight. I’m going to make a phone call. Ivan, keep an eye on them. Wrong move, shoot his legs out.”
“Come on, babe,” Walker said. He helped her along slowly. “We’ll take a little stroll to settle the tummy. Get some fresh air.”
“I’m sick, not pregnant,” she told him, stumbling along. “Honey Bun Bun, maybe I’m pregnant. Maybe this is mor-morn-morning sickness.”
Walker patted her on the back. “Uh, no. Let’s not think about that.”
He understood she was trying to slow the trip down for a reason. Someone was tracking them and needed to catch up. But he really didn’t want to talk about an imaginary baby.
She turned and pointed a finger at his chest. “It’s all your fault! I have a Baby Bun Bun in here!”
Nadine doubled up and started gagging. Walker held her hair out of her face. He had to make a new rule. No calling any of his children Baby Bun Bun.
That made him blink. This woman was making him nutty. Where the hell did that come from?
* * *
“I went to retrieve Walker’s vehicle. There’s somebody in that apartment, Bossman.”
Jared paused in the middle of making sandwiches. Sugar was in the shower and the original plan had been to pamper her with a massage and personal attention after dinner, but with Walker’s situation given top priority, he had to wait for an update from Parker.
“What makes you think so?”
“Well, for one thing, the lights came on. I can see them filtered through the cracks between the shades.”
“Intruders?”
“Possibly, but one would think they wouldn’t turn on all the lights in several rooms.”
Interesting. Was someone else looking for the scientist? “Any activity in and out of the building?” he asked, as he walked to the fridge to get some mayonnaise.
“While I was here fiddling with the car, no. Maybe a couple of residents walking pets or carrying groceries. Shall I go check this out?”
“Need backup?”
“No. Lexi’s here. She was going to drive my car while I took care of Walker’s. She’ll call you if I’m occupied.”
Jared rubbed his jaw. “I hope she has a weapon. What am I saying? It’s Lexi.” He sighed. “Okay, you call me in fifteen or I’m calling Titan HQ.”
“Don’t worry. Chances of me fighting off intruders are low. It could just be one of those timers that go on and off at certain hours,” Parker said. “Call you back soon.”
Jared finished getting the food ready, his mind going over what the information the FBI gave him today. Or rather, what was not given to him. Fred had admitted it was more than a concern about threats. Actually, two had gone missing in the last week, one from DARPA. He didn’t mention where the other scientist was from.
Just as he’d suspected, they hadn’t wanted the CIA on the case while they were investigating. There were moles in the CIA, Fred told him. Someone in there was calling shots about certain suspicious activities, which included scientific experiments being done at various black ops branches. They had been trying to find a connection between the projects.
“Fine, so everything was on a need-to-know basis. But what about Nadine Kincaid?” Jared had asked, feeling his temper rising. He didn’t like working with one hand tied behind his back. “My man’s in danger because you kept important details from me. Fuck that shit about national security. If you don’t give me more, my boys are going in and blasting whatever you’re planning to smithereens.”
Fred had opened up a bit more after that threat. Jared poured some iced tea into glasses and set the tiny table in the kitchen nook.
Missing scientists. Scientists’ homes set on fire. Another one found dead in his office with a gunshot wound.
