Once Bitten, Twice Dead - By Bianca D'Arc Page 0,24

premises are clear now and are likely to stay that way.”

“And that’s important why?” She sensed he was leading up to something.

“You saw some of my men that first day in the hospital. They’re not immune, but they know what we’re up against. They’ve been assigned to support roles on this mission and this is the perfect opportunity to do their thing. I’m going to turn investigation of this site over to them.”

“What about the local authorities?”

“We have authorization from the highest levels. The president, the head of the CDC, the surgeon general, chairman of the Joint Chiefs and on down the line.”

“Wow.”

“Desperate times call for desperate measures. They want to nip this in the bud before the general population finds out about the mess they let develop on their watch.”

“No doubt.”

“But we’ll keep the locals in, as much as we can. In fact, you’re the local tie for this mission. You’re authorized to report, within certain parameters, to your chief. I’m sorry, but I’ll have to clear all your written reports and be present at any in-person debriefings. He can know certain things. The cover story is close to the truth—a terrorist bioweapon that’s a national security risk and needs to be kept top secret. Nobody else is supposed to learn about the creatures if we can possibly avoid it.”

“I guess I can understand that. You don’t want to cause a panic.” She scratched her chin as they entered the area with the ladder.

“Not only that, but this technology could be sold, Sarah.”

“Sold? You’re kidding. Who’d want to make zombies?” Even as she said it, she realized there were a lot of unscrupulous people out there who’d like this kind of weapon. It was a terrorist’s dream come true and a hostile nation’s doomsday device. No matter what, this information needed to be contained. “My God.”

“Yeah.” Xavier caught her eye, nodding as a moment of understanding passed between them. They made it to the ladder and Xavier motioned for her to go first.

Stepping gingerly around the pile of goo and ratty fabric that had once been a human being, Sarah started up the ladder. Now that the action was over, her leg began to stiffen up. She sort of half-hopped upward, doing the best she could on her injured leg. Xavier followed right behind, and she had the embarrassing sensation that he was staring at her butt on her way up.

She waited for him at the top, and, sure enough, he had that lazy, devilish grin on his face when his head popped up through the trapdoor.

“Lovely view,” he commented, looking around with mock innocence.

“I bet.” She had to suppress a chuckle. The man was a rogue through and through. “Next time, you go first.”

“Anytime, sweetheart. You can ogle my ass all you want.”

He didn’t give her a chance to come up with a snappy comeback. As it was, she sputtered a bit as he marched down the hall toward the exit of the building and the sunshine outside.

He’d pulled a radio from his utility belt and was already talking to someone on the other end as she followed behind, taking two steps to every one of his. The man was tall and long-limbed. His steps were giant-sized in comparison with hers, so she had to scramble to catch up when he decided to move at full speed.

He was at the Humvee when she emerged from the building, still talking on the radio. When he saw her, he ended his conversation and turned a bright smile on her.

“This is one of those times when you can be of great assistance, Officer Petit. This building is soon to become an army work area, which means we’ll be shutting off access through this road, if at all possible. Since you know the area, not to mention your boss, your government would be grateful if you could run interference and help coordinate some roadblocks. What do you say?”

When he poured on the charm, she doubted many females ever said no to him. He was right in this instance, though. She was best suited to coordinating the local effort, since she knew all the players personally and they knew she’d been seconded to this high-level, hush-hush operation.

She knew the cover story, such as it was. Vague innuendo about a terrorist bioweapon and an army intelligence officer run amok. National security secrets at stake. Her chain of command had been told that she’d stumbled onto a major terrorist operation in the abandoned building and