EBOOK
PAPERBACK
Captain Hermione “Wizard” Wilcox has a problem. The FBI has contracted Sirens, Inc. to extract a Dr. Martell from the Broken Pass Research Center before a wannabe paramilitary group abducts him for nefarious purposes. The problem is Hermione is the only one of the team who gets in when the Eagle Militia goes in guns blazing.
Then all hell breaks loose.
Dr. Chester “Venom” Martell spends his days developing anti-venoms that are cheap and plentiful to produce for the population at large. He’s trying to save the world and gets to play with snakes and spiders to do it. When the Eagle Militia crashes the gates of the research center, shooting the guards, he figures the world is pretty much over.
Then she shows up to rescue him and his colleagues.
Turns out the Eagle Militia wants Chester to work on an antidote to their personal WMD, and they’ll do anything, including kill other researchers, to get him to do it. But the only place to make an antidote is in the research center occupied by the militia. Wizard and Venom must return to make the antidote before the Eagle Militia catches them. This time they have a team, but it might not be enough to save the day.
He found Dr. Miller bent over her computer, her white-blonde hair pulled into a severe bun as she frantically typed an email to someone. Tension strung her shoulders so tight he figured they’d chime if he touched them. Not that he wanted to touch her at all. Ever.
“Dr. Miller?”
She bolted upright and looked over her shoulder with a guilty flash in her eyes. He wondered why she looked as if she’d gotten caught with her hand in the cookie jar but waved to ease some of the tightness around her eyes.
“Oh, Dr. Venom.” Her eyes squinted behind her glasses and she snorted a little. “You know, your name always reminds me of that comic book character. You know he’s considered a bad guy, right?” She gave him her version of a sultry smile and it only made him uncomfortable. “Are you a bad guy, Dr. Venom?”
“Not last I checked, Dr. Miller. What did you want to see me about?” He didn’t want to get distracted from the purpose of this visit. He had animals to feed and tests to run.
Tamara dropped the pseudo-sultry look and went straight to friendly. “How are you liking your new lab? Do you have everything you need?”
He frowned. It was an odd question considering she’d had no hand in moving him. She was just another researcher hired by Broken Pass to work on government research and development projects. Her specialty was the power of SONAR frequencies.
“Yes, everything is fine, though I do need to get back to the animals and make sure their cages are cleaned. Was that all you wanted to know?”
Annoyance filtered through his system at the deviation from his usual routine. He liked things done a certain way, but he made exceptions for when other researchers wanted his expertise. He rarely made social visits and certainly not during regular working hours.
Matching annoyance flashed across her face before she schooled her expression to something bland, though her eyes glittered.
“Well, I hadn’t seen you in a while and thought it would be nice to catch up.”
Catch up? She’d never been interested in ‘catching up’ when they worked in the same building before. Why would she want to do so now? He narrowed his eyes.
“I see. Perhaps another time? I really need to get to work as I have a project review due soon and I’m a bit behind.” It wasn’t true in the slightest, but he didn’t like being manipulated into interaction.
She shot a look at the clock on the near wall and another over his shoulder toward the door before she nodded. “Yes, of course. Another time. Call you later?”
“Sure.” He dipped his head in acknowledgment and turned to leave, already calculating how much he had to do for that day.
“Dr. Martell.”
He turned just enough to look at her. “Yes?”
“I’m sorry I interrupted your day. Forgive me?” And her face shifted into a pleading pout.
What could he say? She’d offered him more manipulation but the social contract required him to accept her apology or look like an asshole.
“Sure.” He twitched the corners of his mouth upwards into a perfunctory smile before he swept out of the lab into the hallway. “When dogs dance on two legs and give dissertation talks.”
Chester sealed his lips closed over the rest of his words and nodded to other staff members he passed in the hall. There was no way under the sun that he’d spend any more time than he had to with Dr. Miller. Something seemed off about her, particularly today, and he really didn’t have time to figure out what it was.
also in this series
also connected
