Chapter Nineteen

Riley hadn’t been able to sleep. She was up as the sun was just rising, and she’d headed to the perimeter to check on her people. Everything was quiet. The vast majority of the villagers were too far gone to pose any threat. A few had to be restrained—it affected people in different ways and to different extents—but at least no one else had tried to leave or attack any of the personnel. She was turning to go back to camp and get some coffee when she spotted a hazmat-suited figure walking down the main street. She recognized Eli from his height and the way he moved, slightly favoring his left leg. She went and leaned against the hood of her vehicle while she waited for him to get out of the protective gear.

When he emerged from the tent in his usual shorts and T-shirt, she straightened and headed on over. He looked tired, his face drawn and defeated in some way. He usually radiated such energy and drive, but now his shoulders slumped, though he straightened them when he caught sight of her approaching.

“What have you been up to?” she asked.

For a moment, she thought he wasn’t going to answer. Then he gave a shrug. “I was sitting with Sister Clara.”

“How is…?” She broke off the question. It was a stupid one anyway. She already knew that no one was recovering.

“She died an hour ago.”

“I’m sorry. She seemed like a nice woman.” Riley hadn’t known her any more than she knew the others who had died. It was best that way. “Her father is going to be pissed.” She hoped the general wouldn’t cause problems. Though, really, what could he do? His daughter was a grown woman; they couldn’t have forced her to leave. Well, actually, they could have, except they hadn’t, so it was irrelevant. “I thought you didn’t get involved with patients,” she said.

He sighed and scrubbed a hand through his hair. “I don’t.” He shrugged. “She reminded me of my sister.”

“You have a sister?”

“No. She’s dead. One more thing they have in common.” He sounded sad.

“You want to go for a walk?” she asked. “I don’t feel like heading back to camp just yet.” She wanted to get away from the bodies and the stench of death and disinfectant.

They were bringing out the body bags. Piling them on the edge of the village. Yesterday, she and Shelly had had a meeting with Father Kowalski, the local priest, about the most acceptable way of disposing of the bodies. Shelly had pushed for cremation. They didn’t know enough about the pathogen, and cremation was the safest way. There had been a growing number of local people outside the quarantine zone making inquiries about friends and family. They had extended the zone, and she had posted guards on the roads into the area—luckily that wasn’t a huge job. But there was no way they could allow traditional funerals for the dead. While she’d looked into getting more refrigerated storage, the best option was really a quick disposal, especially considering the daytime heat. They’d eventually come to an agreement—the bodies would be cremated individually, and the ashes could be buried later. Though she supposed Sister Clara’s father might want her body taken back to the States. She made a mental note to talk to Shelly about it as soon as she got back.

“A walk would be good.”

Without waiting for him to say anything else, she headed away from the village. She didn’t take the main road; instead, they turned down a track off to the left. Big enough for a vehicle. It was the route they had taken to the bat colony yesterday.

They walked in silence for a while, a small space between them. The sun was fully up now, and she could feel the heat rising. She stripped off her shirt and tied it around her waist, leaving her in a khaki tank top.

“So is it usual?” she asked. “A fatality rate like this? It looks like it’s going to be a hundred percent. I’ve never heard of anything like that.”

“Up until recently, rabies was always fatal once it got into the nervous system. But of course it’s not particularly contagious—it usually takes a bite. What we’re facing now is a hundred percent fatality rate and a speed of infection I’ve never come across before.”

A shiver ran through her. “Well, let’s hope we have it contained. Shelly is optimistic.”

“You think this could be a weaponized virus?” he asked.

The question took her by surprise. She wasn’t sure why, and she took her time before answering. “Why would you think that?”

He halted, and she followed suit and turned to face him. He raised an eyebrow. “It’s new. It’s efficient. And you’re here.”

“To be honest, if it is, then I know nothing about it.” She thought for a moment, then decided she wanted his take on the subject. She hadn’t been ordered not to reveal why she was there. It was up to her. “The guy who sent me is asking some questions back in DC. Whether he’ll get any answers is another thing completely.”

“You trust him? Is he likely to tell you?”

“As likely as anyone. He’s my ex.”

“Ex-boyfriend?”

She shook her head. “Ex-husband. Don’t hold that against him. He’s a good man, but he’s also a career soldier. He’ll tell me if he can, but his first loyalty is to the chain of command. For some reason, when Sister Clara sent in the original report and samples, it was flagged. Raised some alarm, and Nick was told to get a presence here and just report back on what was going on. To be honest, if this had anything to do with us, I doubt I would be here. The last thing they’d want is military intelligence who has no clue what’s going on, blundering around the place. Tripping over things they’d rather keep secret.”

He rubbed the back of his neck, a frown forming between his brows. She had an idea he wasn’t convinced. “So how about some sort of terrorist attack?” he asked.

“I’ve considered the idea, but it just doesn’t feel right. So far, we’ve managed to keep a lid on it. If it was a terrorist attack, I’d expect them to be claiming it. Saying, Hey, look what we can do. Making some sort of demand. And if they have, then no one is telling me.” She gritted her teeth in frustration. “And again, I can’t see why.”

“So maybe we’re trying to overcomplicate things. Maybe it’s just a virus. A nasty one but nothing more sinister than that. We keep it contained, and it’s over, and we can all go back home.”

“Yeah.” She still had that nagging doubt at the back of her mind, though. She just hoped that Nick would come up with some answers.

“So what went wrong between you and your ex?” he asked.

She shrugged. “As I said, he’s a career soldier, and he needed a nice little army wife who’d be an asset to his career, and that’s not who I am.”

“You have your own career to think about.”

“Maybe. Maybe not. I’m thinking about leaving the army, actually. Even so, the last thing I’d want to be is an army wife.”

“Why leave?”

“Just fed up with the crap and the politics. And I hate taking orders I don’t necessarily agree with.” She grinned. “Actually, I hate taking orders period. I’ve probably only stayed in this long because I’m stubborn.”

“And you look good in the uniform.”

“You think?”

“Hell yes.” The atmosphere between them had changed. Gone from tense and serious to a different sort of tension. Maybe they both needed a respite from their dark thoughts. She’d learned to grab on to the good moments when they appeared.

While she was tall for a woman, he was much taller. And he was so close—how had he gotten so close?—that she had to tip her head to look into his eyes. They were nice eyes, gray, with a ring of black around the iris. And he had nice lips.

He closed the space between them, cupped her face with his warm, smooth palm. She had a moment to think—did she want to complicate things like this?—then his head lowered, and he kissed her, and she pushed the concerns aside. Because Dr. Eli Vance knew how to kiss. He’d obviously had a lot of practice, and she hadn’t been kissed in a long time.

She rested her hands on his shoulders and came up on tiptoes, better to reach him. His lips parted, and she slipped her tongue inside, tasting him, pressing up against him as heat seeped through her body. They kissed until they both ran out of oxygen, then he raised his head. Regret in his face. This wasn’t the time. They both knew it.

“I’ve been wanting to do that since you picked me up the other morning,” he said, his palm still cupping her cheek. “I’ve been wondering what it would be like between us.”

She’d wondered as well.

As she stepped away, his hand dropped to his side. He searched her face and sighed. “We’d better get back, I suppose. Shelly called a meeting for nine o’clock, and we both have work to do.”

She nodded, and they walked back in silence.