her brows as she brushed past him into the building.
The heavy door slammed behind them, leaving them in a short, dark hallway lined with closed doors.
Cade drew his brows over his nose. “Where is everyone?”
Jenna shuffled closer to Cade and curled her hand around Gavin’s leg dangling against Cade’s thigh. “Is there usually a welcoming committee?”
“I’ve been here only once before, but typically the agents working at these outposts pop their heads out because they don’t get many visitors.”
As if on cue, one of the doors swung open and a young man wearing wire-rimmed glasses peered around its edge. “Agent Stark?”
Cade crossed his arms. “Is that protocol around here? Shouldn’t you make me identify myself?”
The man’s face reddened and he blinked. “Yeah, sorry. We don’t get a lot of agents out this way. I’ve seen your picture before, and I did notice your palm print verified.”
“Were you watching me on camera to make sure it wasn’t someone else placing my dead hand on the reader?”
Jenna sucked in a breath. She hadn’t thought of that, but apparently the bespectacled man had.
“Yes, I was watching you on camera from the minute the car pulled into the back lot.” He stuck out his hand. “Horace Jimerson. Everyone calls me Jim.”
“Cade Stark, and this is my wife, Jenna, and my son, Gavin.”
The men shook hands, and then Jim offered his hand to Jenna. He squeezed her fingers in a bony grip and she hoped he didn’t plan to apply the same pressure to Gavin’s little hand.
But he patted Gavin on top of the head instead. “If you’re hungry, we have a communal kitchen in the back.”
“Is Greg Miyata still stationed here?”
“Miyata? Yeah, he’s still here.”
“Good. I was hoping he could help with the resettlement of my wife and son until this thing gets sorted out. Is Beth Warren on the job yet?”
Jim slipped off his glasses and wiped the lenses on his wrinkled shirt. “I’m afraid I don’t know much about the specific plans. Zendaris, right?”
“Uh-huh.”
“That means I really don’t have any of the details, Agent Stark. You field ops are hush-hush about that guy.”
“Call me Cade.” He took a turn around the hallway, his gaze skimming past all the closed doors. “So where’s Miyata and the other techs?”
“Miyata’s out right now—overnight assignment at the border, and Sonia Pacheco, the only other tech here, is sleeping. She had the early morning shift.” Jim glanced over his shoulder into the room behind him. “I need to get back to something. The kitchen’s at the end of the hall. Help yourself. You and your family can have the sleeping quarters in the last room on the right. Miyata will have more information when he returns.”
Cade hoisted a groggy Gavin in his arms. “Get back to work. We’ll figure it out. Will Miyata be back tomorrow?”
“Should be. I’ll join you in about an hour.” Jim almost jumped at a beep from one of the computers behind him.
Cade trudged down the sterile hallway with Jenna close on his heels.
“This is a strange place.” She sidled closer to him, which he didn’t mind in the least. “Do the techs live here?”
“Yeah, they live here, but they’re not chained to their desks. They’re close enough to the border that they probably make runs there for assignments.” He pulled open the door at the end of the hallway and a strong smell of antiseptic cleaner made his eyes water.
Jenna wrinkled her nose. “At least they keep it clean.”
Cade settled Gavin in a chair at a small table in the middle of the white-on-white room, and he immediately sank his head into his folded arms.
Jenna crouched beside him, running her hand over his close-cropped hair. “Do you want a snack before bedtime?”
Gavin answered by burrowing his head farther into the crook of his arm.
Pausing with his hand on the refrigerator, Cade said, “Should we try to entice him with some food or put him to bed right now?”
“I think he’s okay where he is.” She joined him at the open fridge. “I can use one of those diet sodas.”
“I can use one of those beers.” He wrapped his hand around a frosty bottle and twisted off the lid.
“It’s kind of creepy here, isn’t it?” Jenna snapped the tab of the can and slurped at the foam that bubbled to the rim.
Cade dragged his gaze away from her puckered lips. “It’s isolated, but we passed a town on the way in and Phoenix isn’t far.”
“Maybe Gavin and I should hide in plain sight.”
“What