Project Deliverance, undisclosed location in Sudan
JP slipped out of bed and stood in the chill of the darkened bedroom. His body told him it was dawn even if the underground bunker deprived him of any external clues. Although the scientists didn’t seem to mind the lack of natural light, it bothered him.
Talia shifted under the bedcovers. With her hair splayed out across the pillow and her lips parted, she looked young and innocent.
JP padded across the carpeted room and carefully opened the door to the en-suite. He slid it closed before he flipped on the light switch. He blinked in the harsh overhead light reflecting off the white surfaces of the bathroom.
When he designed the Project Deliverance living quarters, he’d made some accommodation for creature comforts in the bedrooms. High-quality mattresses and bedclothes, carpeted floors, and warm colors on the walls. His thinking had not extended to the bathroom design. They were functional spaces: a toilet, a large walk-in shower, a sink and counter, and a large mirror on the wall. All blinding white, and the only source of illumination came from a single overhead light.
He thought back on the years of planning this venture. If all he had to regret when this was done was the bathroom design, he’d consider himself lucky.
JP turned on the shower and let it run, then returned to the sink and splashed cold water on his face. He studied his reflection in the wide mirror.
This job, the lifestyle, and age had all taken their toll on his body. Constant travel between time zones interrupted his sleep patterns, and poor diet had added a few pounds to his midsection. He looked and felt older, slower.
Steam billowed out of the shower. He felt a twinge in his calf and bent down to peel the bandage off his leg. The wound was a nasty two-inch cut from Winslow’s ice ax.
Exhibit A, he thought to himself. You got stabbed by a college professor. You’re losing a step, old man.
But soon, the job would be complete. He and Talia would fade into the kind of obscurity that can only be accessed via fabulous wealth. No more underground bunkers and deadly viruses, just beaches and endless days of leisure.
He heard the door slide open.
“What happened?” Talia’s voice was still husky with sleep. Her tousled hair spilled over her shoulders and she hugged herself against the chill of the air-conditioned room. Gooseflesh prickled the soft skin of her upper body.
“You said you got a little cut when you collected the paleo samples,” Talia said. “There’s a gouge out of your leg, JP.”
“Just a scratch,” he said, wrapping his arms around her. She pressed her curves against him. “It doesn’t even hurt.”
That was a lie. It hurt like hell, and the shower was not going to help the pain, either. But he wasn’t about to tell Talia the truth.
Talia slapped him on the backside. “Into the shower,” she ordered. “We need to get that cleaned properly.”
JP grinned at her. “If you want to play doctor, I have a few ideas…”
“Prick,” she said, laughing.
“That’s exactly what I had in mind.”
Talia stepped into the steaming shower, letting the hot water soften her curves and warm her skin. She grabbed JP’s hand and pulled him close. “Get in here.”
JP gritted his teeth as the hot water touched the cut on his leg. He kissed Talia to distract himself, and she responded by slipping her arms around his waist.
In idle moments, he wondered what he had done to deserve this woman. She’d come into his life at a time when nothing else made sense—and she helped calm the chaos.
At that point in his life, he despaired for the world and his place in it. His time with the French DGSE left him empty and distrustful.
But Talia had been different, unlike any person he’d ever met before.
She saw the world clearly and without pretense. There were no shades of gray in the mind of Talia Tahir—that’s what drew JP to her. Her certainty kept him going.
There would be casualties, and JP regretted that, but it was for a greater good.
Talia took a washcloth and a bar of soap and knelt on the floor of the shower to clean the wound on his calf. She carefully dabbed at the gash. JP tried not to wince, but it really did hurt.
“You should have cleaned this much more carefully,” she said. “You know the risks of getting an infection.”
JP grumbled, but it was mostly for show. Her ministrations showed how much she cared for him. “You’re right, dear.”
“Don’t be patronizing.” She snapped him on the thigh with the wet washcloth.
She finished dressing the wound, then looked up at him, grinning. “As long as we’re playing doctor, what else hurts?”
JP pulled on his dress shirt. He caught Talia’s reflection in the mirror as she pulled on a pair of jeans. He watched the blue denim slide up her slender thighs.
Talia caught him looking and smiled. “Haven’t you had enough, old man?”
“Never.” He finished buttoning the shirt and threw a tie around his collar. Like the rest of the lab staff, Talia dressed casually in jeans and a T-shirt, but JP was leaving today and needed to be in business attire. He started a double Windsor knot.
“I’ve been thinking about you getting hurt,” she said. “I think we should look into security for you.”
“We have security,” JP began.
Talia’s cold stare stopped him. “I’m not talking about the militia types around here,” she said. “I’m talking about personal security. Someone who can travel with you, blend in.”
JP concentrated on his tie. He knew she was right, but that did not make it easier. The former Sudanese Janjaweed militia at the site were fearsome fighters, hard men. They were ideal for providing security for a place like this, but to bring them to a corporate venue would only invite stares—and questions.
To get personal security would be an acknowledgment that he couldn’t handle himself any longer. Had he really reached that point?
“I’ll think about it.”
Talia came up behind him and slid her arms around his midsection, peeking over his shoulder seductively. “I want you to do more than think about it. I want you to promise me. I mean it, or the next time you show up here, I’m cutting you off. Cold turkey.”
JP assumed a look of mock horror in the mirror. “Yes, ma’am,” he said. “I’ll get right on it.”
Talia held his gaze in the mirror.
“There’s more?” JP asked.
Talia stepped in front of him and adjusted his tie. He let her fuss over him.
“I think I should do the next test,” she said. Talia put her hand on his chest to stop him from protesting. “I know how things are done in Yemen. I can get in and out of the country easily.”
“You’re dead, remember?” JP said gently, taking her hands in his. “Besides, you’re needed here. Only you can make sure the paleoviruses that I brought back are being used to best effect. You know this.”
JP tilted her chin up. “You know I’m right. I’ll be in and out of Yemen in a day or less. And I promise as soon as I get back, I’ll look into personal security.”
Talia pressed her lips together, then nodded reluctantly. From her dresser, she picked up a small cylindrical padded bag. She slipped a silver canister about the size of a can of soda out of the bag and unscrewed the top. Underneath was a nozzle and a small black readout.
“This is the latest aerosol device. The sample inside is completely contained. Remove the top, use these buttons to set the timer, and leave it anywhere in a confined space. The virus has been amplified. All you need to do is infect one person in the population. The virus does the rest.”
She screwed the cap back on the bottle and slipped it inside the padded pouch.
“And then you hire a bodyguard.”