Page 16 of Logan

She walked straight to him with her eyes flashing. “Mr. Bishop, please… stop the silent pouting.”

Irritation morphed into anger at Donald’s duplicity in a mission, but seeing her take a step backward, he reached out to stop her retreat. Seeing the flash of fear in her eyes, Logan grimaced, immediately mumbling, “Sorry.” Filling his lungs with air before letting it out slowly, he knew the situation needed to be salvaged.

Vivian stared up at him, resignation in her voice. “Look, why don’t we sit down and talk this out? Obviously, neither of us was completely informed about the situation, but we have to work together.”

Nodding, Logan knew she was right and was galled to admit she was coping better than he was. SEALs adapted. SEALs reassessed at a moment’s notice. And now, he hoped that as the leader of the Keepers, he would do the same.

He walked into the living room, which was only a few steps from the kitchen, once more forcing him to realize how closely the two of them would be working together.Living together.Not hearing her follow as he sat down, he turned his head to see her returning to the kitchen and retrieving two beers from the refrigerator before making her way to him. Setting them both on the old coffee table, she sat in one of the chairs, now facing him.

He dipped his chin in appreciation and held out his bottle in a silent toast. She smiled and clicked her bottleneck to his. Taking a long drink, he began, “I suppose we should start over. I’m Logan Bishop.”

Her lips curved up ever so slightly as she responded, “Nice to meet you, Logan. I’m Vivian Sanders.” Taking a sip of her beer, she continued, “We might as well be forthcoming so we each understand exactly what we’ve been told.”

At his slight nod, she said, “I’m a biologist employed by the Department of Homeland Security. I was hired to study and test the different chemicals and biologics that terrorists?—”

“I’m aware of the interest in biological warfare.” He interrupted. “I had the opportunity to meet Dr. Kendall Rhodes a few years ago.” Now that he thought about it, it was more like five years ago. And once more, he felt the passage of time rushing by.

Her eyes widened as her smile brightened. “Kendall? You know Kendall? I visited her lab in Louisiana when I was training. She’s brilliant. Her research for the International Olympic Committee is valuable for all of us in this field… and… uh…”

He stared at her blankly. Her shoulders slumped, and her smile became less bright. His gaze moved over her face, noting her striking features. High cheekbones and silky, straight black hair. Her dark eyes were clear and shining, no longer filled with fear but doubt. His gaze dropped over her body, observing her slight stature paired with feminine curves. Jerking his eyes back to her face, he was relieved to see her tearing off the beer bottle label. That meant she missed his perusal of her body.

Clearing his throat, he gained her attention once more. “What were you told about your work here?”

“I was approached by a supervisor and told that I was to attend a meeting with another person in the department, someone high up… Donald Markham.” She shrugged. “I hadn’t heard of him before, but that’s not unusual since I’m just a lab rat. I went to the meeting to discover it was only him and me. He told me terrorist groups in Alaska were feared to be working on biological contaminants that could easily be used to incapacitate thousands of people from all over the world. Either killing them outright or causing severe illness. After COVID, you can imagine how we all have a heightened awareness of this.”

He nodded, and she continued. “So they needed someone to do the testing to determine what was being created.”

“Why you?”

Snorting, she said, “I’d like to say that it was because I was the best person they could send…but more likely, it was because of my heritage.”

“Heritage?”

“You’re not much of a conversationalist, are you?” she joked, but her mirth died as she observed his unchanging expression. She blushed as her lips pressed together and nervously tucked another strand of hair behind her ear. “I’m from California, but my parents were born in Alaska. My mother is full-blooded Tanana Athabaskan. I think because of my appearance, it was thought that I would easily be disguised here. You know…integrating into the area and not really being noticed.”

“And the so-calledmarriage?”

Vivian visibly bristled, then shrugged again. “I was told that I would be in charge of determining what was being produced in the suspect’s house, and since I would be sharing a house with a security investigator, we would have the cover of being married so as not to draw unwanted attention to ourselves.”

“Security investigator,” he muttered to himself.Donald wants me to investigate… and then he wants me to exterminate.

Her eyes narrowed. “Are you just going to keep asking questions? What about you? What do I need to know about you?”

“I’m the investigator,” he said, leaning forward to snag his bottle off the table. He took another long swig. “And what else were you told?”

She must have been lost in thought when she didn’t speak, and a chuckle erupted at the lunacy of the plan.

Snapping out of her trance, she blushed. “I’m sorry. What did you say?”

Now he was lost in thought at the slight rose spreading across her cheeks. Pulling himself back to the subject, he repeated, “What were the rest of your instructions?”

“I was told that the security investigator would be in charge, letting me know what I needed to do, and would let me know when there were samples for me to test. I was also told that we would be sharing a house next to the suspects and that our cover would be to appear as a newly married couple.” Seeing his eyebrows lift, she hastened to say, “I assure you, I was equally surprised, but it makes sense. Why else would two people be moving to this remote location and live in the same house? A newly married couple who can’t afford anything nicer right away is perfect.” Her shoulders lifted again in a shrug. “Anyway, we certainly don’t look like relatives.”

Logan had to admit the logic was sound—he just wished Donald had informed him of the complete cover.But then, would I have agreed to take the mission? And which other Keeper would I have sent?A strange flash rushed through him at the thought that he wouldn’t want any of his Keepers to be in this room with Vivian except him.As soon as that crossed his mind, he shut it down.Mission only. Get it done… go home. Just like every other mission.

10

Vivian’s attempts to steady her breathing proved futile as she sat in the cramped confines of the small living room. Her companion’s large and unhappy presence loomed over her, and since meeting him, her thoughts had flown from one thing to another.

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