Page 9 of Viral Justice

Sergeant Stone nodded. “The general has friends in the CIA. Your name keeps coming up in connection with several dangerous people.”

“I suspected, but had hoped I was just being paranoid.”

“Be all the paranoid you want. It might help keep you alive.”

“You’re full of happy thoughts today,” Max said, examining her expression. “What happened?”

“Nothing good.” She closed her mouth after those two words and pressed her lips together.

Fine. She didn’t want to talk.

He wasn’t the only stubborn one.

“Come on, I’ll introduce you to my aide.” He gestured at the door and she got to her feet. “We’re a tight group, on a first name basis unless we’re out in the general base population. How would you prefer to be addressed?”

She relaxed. It was subtle, mostly in her shoulders, but still noticeable. “Not Super Bitch.”

Max couldn’t keep his eyebrows from rising. “Some moron called you that to your face?”

She laughed. It lasted only a moment, but the change in her demeanor was astonishing, as if she’d removed a layer of plain brown paper to reveal a hidden work of art beneath. “Not anymore.” Before his eyes, she pulled the wrappings back around her, hiding the warm woman behind the uniform again. “Stick with Stone.”

Max took in a breath, filed the incident away into a special section of his mind labeledAlicia Stone, and said with a nod, “Good, Stone.” He stood then led the way out of his office and stopped at Eugene’s desk. “Private Walsh is my personal assistant.”

Stone shook his hand.

“Call me Eugene or Gene,” he said.

“Stone,” she told him.

“Eugene always knows where to find me,” Max explained. “Not sure how he does it, but...” He shrugged.

“Good to know there’s a GPS for you, sir,” Stone said.

“Max.” He permitted a grin before he said, “Eugene, I’m taking Stone on a tour of the lab. I have my phone if you need me.”

“Very good, sir,” Eugene said, reclaiming his seat.

She leaned slightly toward him and said, “He called you ‘sir.’”

Max leaned toward her and replied in the same quiet voice, “He’s only got one or two bad habits. Calling me sir every once in a while is one of them.”

“I was raised to be polite to my elders.” Eugene said it without a trace of humor.

Stone laughed, while Max gave him a sour look.

Max set off toward the lab at a stroll with Stone at his side. “So,” he said casually, “whatdidn’tthe general tell me?”

A rueful smile came and went across her face. “Remember that suicide bomber I shot in Germany? It turns out there’s a bounty on you. A big one. You’re on the hit list of every mercenary and warlord in this part of the world.”

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