A Darker Shade of Dead (11 page)

Matt nodded, his mind no doubt going over all he could remember of the night before.

“What time is it and where's my phone? I need a sitrep.”

“Simon's downstairs with the cleanup team,” Mari volunteered. “He stuck around to guard the place and to be here when you woke. I'll call him.”

Sandra opened the drawer of the bedside table where she'd placed some of Matt's gear. She handed him his watch and phone.

“Your wallet and other personal items are in here.” She pointed to the drawer. “Your clothes were taken away by the cleanup team for disposal except for what you're wearing.” They'd left him in his boxers. “Sam brought over a change of clothes for you last night. He figured you'd need a new uniform when you woke up, but frankly, I wasn't expecting you to be up and around today. It took Sam several days to recover.”

“But you improved your serum after you saw how it worked for him, didn't you?”

“I did, but the version I gave you last night was untested. I really don't know what to expect. I'd like you to take it easy until we're sure you're not going to have an adverse reaction.”

He shot her a look as he levered his feet to the floor over the side of the bed. She jumped up to help him, but he shook her off.

“Where did you say my clothes were?”

“Matt, this is—” Sandra began to object, but Matt waved her to silence.

“I don't have time for a long recovery. Even if I have to crawl there, I've got to get back to the office today. Or do you want me to be replaced?”

There was something going on here. He was too adamant. There had to be a damn good reason he pushed himself so hard.

“Okay,” she said in a slow, deliberate manner as she walked toward the dresser where she'd stowed Matt's clothes in an empty drawer.

Her back to Matt, she caught Mari's eye. A silent communication passed between them. Mari realized something odd was going on, too.

A knock at the door interrupted the tense atmosphere. Mari opened the door to admit Simon.

“Good to see you up, Matt.”

“Good to be up.” Matt sighed as he sat heavily on the side of the bed. “I need a sitrep, Si.” Matt was bare chested and wearing only his boxers, but Simon made no comment.

For the next few minutes Simon reported on the activities of the night. Neither man seemed to mind the presence of the women as they discussed everything in military shorthand that Sandra barely followed. When he finished his report, Matt asked a few short questions, all the while struggling to hold himself in an upright position.

At least, that's what it looked like to her. He was putting a brave face on it, but Sandra could detect signs that Matt wasn't as steady as he'd like them all to believe.

“Order the combat team off duty for some downtime in a staggered schedule. I'd like someone near Dr. McCormick at all times.” Matt's order took Sandra by surprise. She turned to look at him, his clothing piled in her hands as she stood near the dresser. His gaze pinned her in place as he continued. “You and Mari can go, Si. I know it's been a long night for you both. I appreciate the way you both stepped up to the plate while I was out of commission.”

“Anytime, Matt,” Simon answered. Sandra could hear the respect Si had for Matt in his voice even though the words were simple enough.

“If you need anything,” Mari said to Sandra as she gathered her things and headed toward the door with Simon, “just call.”

Sandra merely nodded, realizing she was going to be left alone with Matt. No doubt the significance of that wasn't lost on either Simon or Mari. Matt wasn't doing anything to hide his intent stare, either. A showdown was coming and this little bedroom was going to be Ground Zero.

“I
f you'll just bring me those clothes…” Matt let the sentence hang. Sandra was clearly distracted, probably dreading the confrontation to come. He had no such reservations. With consciousness had come memory, followed by anger and an intense feeling of betrayal.

Sandra had lied to him. Oh, she hadn't lied straight to his face, but she'd definitely lied by omission. She hadn't told him she was immune to the contagion. She hadn't trusted him enough. Maybe that was his fault, but he was still irritated by the fact that she hadn't told him the entire truth.

She walked slowly in his direction, his uniform cradled in her arms. When she bent slightly to drop the clothing at his side, he grabbed her forearms, startling her. Her wide green gaze flew upward to meet his accusatory glare.

“Why, Sandra?” She remained mute and he tightened his grip in frustration, shaking her slightly. “Why didn't you tell me?”

“I didn't tell anyone.” He saw the fear in her eyes. “It was an accident. At first, I didn't realize what had happened, then after…it was clear I'd be in danger from some of the other scientists if they knew I was immune from the contagion.”

“How long?”

He could see tears gathering in her eyes, and he realized he was holding her arms too tightly. Was he hurting her? He was angry, but he didn't want to cause her pain. He let go of her arms as if she burned him and she backed away from him slowly.

“Almost from the beginning.”

He didn't like the nebulous way she phrased her answer, but he let it go for now. She was still withholding facts from him, but there were more issues on the table. He'd circle back around to the issue of timing eventually.

“Tell me about Jennings.”

He noted her sharp intake of breath. She was afraid. Was it leftover fear from being confronted by a zombie in her own workspace? Or was there more to it than that?

“You probably know he was part of the original science team. I haven't seen him since the group split up and we all went our separate ways.”

“What else do you know about him?” He'd have to chip away at her to get at the full truth.

Dammit. He didn't like this at all. Of all the people on his new team, he'd thought he could trust her. But he'd been wrong before. There was already one spy on his staff. Maybe there were more.

What did he really know about Sandra McCormick anyway, besides the fact that he found her almost irresistibly attractive? He shouldn't have let his desire for her influence his opinion of her abilities or loyalties, but he realized that's just what had happened. He'd been willfully blind where she was concerned from the beginning.

“He was a competent genetic engineer but kind of a jerk. He always rubbed me the wrong way, and when I began to fear some of the others, he was on the short list of people I wanted to avoid.”

“I'm going to need you to write down that list for me.” His gut churned, knowing she'd been holding out on him from the beginning.

She nodded tightly. “All right.”

“You don't seem too enthusiastic.” As a distraction, and also because he had to get moving, he unfolded his clothes and slowly pulled them on. “I'm going to start thinking you don't want to play on my team.”

“Believe me when I say there's no other team I want to be on.”

“Why should I believe you? Tell me that.” He stood to pull on his pants and felt himself wobble. Sandra checked her own forward motion before she got to his side, but it was telling that her instinctual move had been to help him. Regardless of her other roles, she was first and foremost a compassionate woman.

“I didn't mean to withhold information from you, but by the time I was approached to be part of your operation, I'd already been approached by others with less desirable aims. Secrecy had become a way of life.”

“Someone else tried to recruit you?” Matt felt his anger rise once more, and it gave him strength to shove his arms into his shirt.

“You knew Dr. Sellars had approached me before Captain Beauvoir came to me in New York. I didn't deny that.”

“Who else?”

“Rodriguez.” The name came from her lips grudgingly. Matt recognized the name. There was a Rodriguez on the original research team. He'd been one of the lead scientists.

“When?”

Sandra sighed and sat heavily in the chair Mari had been using. It was set a few feet from the bed, closer to the door than the chair Sandra had been using on the other side. Worry shrouded her face—that beautiful, bewitching face that had snared him so completely. Damn.

“Do you remember the flat tire I got on the way here?” Matt didn't like the sound of this but didn't interrupt. “The tire didn't blow out on its own. It was shot out.” He
really
didn't like the sound of that. “Rodriguez and some goon of his ran me off the road. He wanted me to join his team. I refused. He began threatening me around the time the patrol car showed up.”

“You called the cops?”

“First thing.” She nodded shakily. “As I pulled off the road I dialed nine-one-one. Luckily Rodriguez talked long enough that he couldn't do anything worse than just threaten me before help arrived.”

“Dammit, Sandra!” He wanted to hit something but was still weak as a kitten. “What I don't understand is why you didn't tell me about this long before now. He threatened you. Didn't you think it was important to share that fact with me?”

She looked even guiltier as she met his gaze.

“That isn't the only time he threatened me.” She took a deep breath before continuing. “Remember the day you met up with me in the base cafeteria? That guy I was talking to? He was a messenger sent by Rodriguez. I think he was the same guy who was driving the car that ran me off the road. He was about to make a scene before I saw you enter.”

“Same question.” He was fast losing patience. “Why didn't you tell me?”

“I didn't want a cloud hanging over me. I know you had your doubts about me when Xavier and Sarah first asked me to treat Sam. Just by virtue of my being part of the original science team that developed the contagion, I was already under suspicion. I didn't want anyone to know that some of the old team members had been in touch with me.”

“But it would have given you
more
legitimacy to have been honest with me from the beginning.” He shook his head at her reasoning. It didn't make any sense…unless…

Shit.

“What did you do, Sandra?”

 

It was the question she'd been dreading, but the time had come to pay the piper. At least part of the balance. She'd try to hedge her bets if she could. She'd give Matt part of the truth. The part she could bear to reveal.

“Back before I realized what he was up to, Dr. Sellars contacted me. I'd just started my new job on Long Island and I didn't realize what a slimeball Sellars was. Unlike Rodriguez, who'd always rubbed me the wrong way, I got along well with Dr. Sellars. He was at least polite to me when we worked together before.”

“We already knew Sellars e-mailed you, but you denied any involvement with him when the team first contacted you.” The suspicion in Matt's eyes nearly broke her heart.

“I didn't tell you the whole truth. While it was true I'd turned down Dr. Sellars when he invited me to dinner to discuss joining his research, that wasn't the only communication I'd gotten from him.” She took a deep breath before continuing. She hated this. “Several weeks before, Dr. Sellars asked for my help with a chemical equation he was working on. He didn't say what it was for and he only gave me the part he was having trouble with. Like a dope, I solved his puzzle for him and somehow Rodriguez found out. I began to suspect, when I first examined Sam, that the equation I'd solved had to do with the so-called improvements Sellars made to the contagion. I felt like a fool for not realizing it sooner. Rodriguez knew I'd helped Sellars. He was trying to use the information against me. He threatened me with exposure.”

“What did you decide?”

“I was at an impasse. I refused outright to help him in any way, but I really didn't want you to know what I'd so foolishly done. I didn't want you to look at me the way you're looking at me right now.” Her voice broke, much to her chagrin. She turned her face away, cut deeply by the accusation in Matt's gaze.

“You were going to let him blackmail you?”

“No!” She shot to her feet, her body demanding action when her heart was in turmoil. “I refused him over and over. I wouldn't have willingly helped him.”

“Then what were you going to do?” Matt's voice was quieter, closer. She turned her head and found him standing a foot behind her. He'd moved silently, dogging her tracks. He looked stronger now than he had just moments before.

“I didn't know what to do.” She turned completely to face him. “I was letting it ride until something forced my hand, I guess.” She felt tears gather in her eyes as remorse set in. “But I never expected anything like what happened last night. I didn't want to put anyone else's life in danger and I certainly didn't want you to be attacked by a creature sent to kill me.”

She couldn't see through the tears filling her eyes as she sobbed. Strong arms closed around her tentatively at first, then more securely as Matt drew her against him. One big hand rubbed her back as she trembled, her emotions getting the best of her after so many days of keeping everything bottled up inside.

“I'm so sorry, Matt. I never meant for you to be hurt, and now you've been infected. All because of me.”

His arms felt so safe, so warm. His voice rumbled against her as he spoke in a low voice.

“I'm also immune to the contagion because of you, sweetheart. You literally saved my life.”

Both his words and tone surprised her. She had expected him to be really angry with her. Instead he sounded almost forgiving and somewhat indulgent. She pulled slightly away to look up into his eyes.

“Then we're even because you saved me, too. It was sent to kill me.”

“But it wouldn't have killed you. You're immune.” His gaze narrowed.

“Nobody knew that. Even so, that thing still could have ripped me limb from limb.”

“You could've outrun it. Retreated and called for help from the combat troops. Why didn't you?”

She fought the urge to look away. He was treading too close to the secret she desperately wanted to keep. She'd have to brazen it out.

“I couldn't let it escape the lab. That happened once before and a lot of good men died. I knew I had to keep it in the lab if at all possible.”

“Foolish,” Matt whispered, his gaze growing more intimate as he held her. “Brave, but foolish.”

“You'll get no argument from me.” She'd meant her words to be amusing, but they dropped to a whisper as Matt drew closer.

His mouth hovered over hers so that she could feel the warmth of his breath on her skin. She wanted to taste him, to know his kiss. She wanted it like she wanted her next breath.

Finally, his head dipped that final short distance and his lips took possession. It wasn't a kiss so much as it was the staking of a claim. His arms enveloped her while his mouth plundered hers. This was no exploratory joining of lips. This was a full-body kiss that rocked her world off its axis.

The temperature in the room went from comfortable to steamy in fractions of a second. Sandra pressed against him, reveling in the strong arms that imprisoned her, the warm body that made her feel so womanly, the hard ridge of flesh pressing against her that made her feel so wanted.

He was aroused. Just like that, there was no doubt in her mind that he wanted her. Just as she wanted him. Had wanted him for days now. Weeks. Since the moment she'd first seen him, Matt had fueled her late-night fantasies and made her yearn as no man had before.

His hands slid lower, cupping her butt as he rubbed against her. She strained against him as well, wanting the clothes between them to be gone. She wanted to feel his skin against hers, his body inside hers.

 

Matt took her lips with a fierceness he'd never used for a first kiss before. Somehow it was appropriate. She'd brought out the barbarian in him and she didn't seem to mind one bit. She answered his demands stroke for stroke, nibble for nibble, and drove him even higher with her innocent response.

He put all his energy into turning the mere acceptance of his desire into flashing hot, eager demand. He wanted her to want him and within moments, he felt the leap of her pulse under his fingers. She grew hungry for his touch, pushing her body into his. He felt the softness of her clothing against his bare chest and longed to feel more.

He was hard for her and they'd barely even begun to explore each other. She was dynamite in his arms, but he was wary of being burned. He didn't want this whole situation to explode in his face. He had to tread lightly, especially now that he knew she'd been keeping secrets from him. If she'd omitted to tell him about her immunity and the continued harassment from Rodriguez, what else had she kept from him?

Her every movement told him she wasn't being completely honest with him. Whether the information she held back was as serious as what she'd already admitted remained to be seen. He hoped it was something simple. He didn't know what he'd do if it turned out she was withholding something even more serious.

The idea of it made him angry, but it was hard to hold on to his anger when Sandra was in his arms. In fact, it was impossible. She fired his blood, as she had from the beginning. From the first moment he'd met her she'd piqued his interest, and now that she was in his arms, responding to his demands, it felt even better than he'd imagined. She made him want more.

He raised one hand, edging toward her breast, wondering if she'd protest his possessive touch. When she moved closer, practically offering herself to him, he grunted in satisfaction. Covering her soft mound with his palm, he squeezed gently, feeling the weight and size of her in his hand. She was perfect. And the little peak that rose under his palm tempted him to do so much more than merely feel.