Once Bitten, Twice Dead - By Bianca D'Arc Page 0,50

with access to sensitive information about his operation—was at his apartment two weeks ago.”

“I doubt he’d give that kind of information to just anyone. I’m willing to bet this chip was his.”

She’d already dusted the outer plastic case of the little drive using the fingerprint kit from the trunk of her patrol car. “There were no prints on it. I guess rubbing against the couch cushions repeatedly wiped it clean.”

“Sounds about right.” He looked up from the laptop.

“I’ve already begun reconstructing his movements from known data.” She pulled out her notepad and turned to a page toward the back. “I started a rough timeline. I haven’t got much on it yet, but each piece of information we find helps me fill it in a little.” She made a notation as he watched, putting a little hash mark on the date of the last file access. “It might amount to nothing, but you never know. It could help us find a pattern or something.”

“That’s good work, Sarah. Every little bit helps.”

He refocused on his computer and spent the next few minutes uploading the information from the chip, sending it to Commander Sykes. He could figure out what to do from there, Xavier was certain.

Sending information over a public Wi-Fi system was tricky, but Xavier had top-level encryption. The data itself consisted of names, addresses, calendar notes and other identifying information. It wasn’t scientific in nature. It certainly wasn’t the secret to creating the zombie formula. If Xavier had seen anything like that, he wouldn’t have chanced sending it to Sykes over any network—not even with his personal encryption.

As it was, this set of data was relatively harmless. Although it could prove to be Sellars’s downfall if they were able to make connections and draw conclusions that led them to him. It could also incriminate a good number of foreign powers, operatives and arms dealers. Yes, sir, the spooks would have a field day with what he’d found on the chip, if it turned out to be good information and not some kind of planted ploy.

Sarah was turning out to be quite an asset to his mission. Their training was similar in some ways but as different as night and day in others. She was trained to investigate, while he was more of the “destroy first and ask questions later” mindset. Having her along was making him rethink his instinctive actions, which in this case wasn’t a bad thing.

“Where are we heading next?” She had finished her meal while he’d been busy typing and uploading.

“I think we’ll stick with our original plan to hit the next address.”

“Clouds are moving in. Could get dark early tonight.” She nodded toward the floor-to-ceiling windows that fronted the café. Indeed, it was getting dark as the sun was covered by pale gray clouds.

“Let me finish this and we’ll get moving.” He finished his sandwich while he shut down the laptop.

When he was done, they headed over to the address Xavier had found on the disc from the office. It was late in the day. Clouds now completely covered the horizon and night was falling fast.

If any zombies were on the premises, they’d be active shortly, if they weren’t already. Xavier had learned the hard way not to let any of the creatures get behind him. Better to face them head-on than to try to sneak up on something that was even better at stealth than he was.

The address turned out to be a big house on a wooded lot. There had to be an acre or more of woods around the home along with a huge, seven-foot wall that provided a lot of privacy in the upscale residential neighborhood.

“What do you think a property like this goes for around here?” he wondered idly.

“The land alone is worth over half a mil in this neighborhood,” Sarah said. “With a house of that size and its pretty looks, I’d say this place probably listed at well over a million, easy.”

Xavier whistled low. They had parked out on the county road and walked the rest of the way, just in case. Sarah’s gray uniform blended well with the twilight and Xavier’s camo was even harder to discern among the trees along the side of the road. They’d paused at the edge of the property to get the lay of the land before approaching any closer.

The woods were dense leading up to the house. The only direct route to it seemed to be the long, straight, narrow driveway. Xavier didn’t