Other women might have recoiled under that harsh glare, but Julia squared her shoulders and glared right back. “If it helps, I don’t particularly want to be here either. Sebastian didn’t give me much of a choice.”
Her frosty tone brought another flash of displeasure to Tate’s green eyes.
Sebastian quickly spoke before the captain could. “Julia was being held in Esperanza, Tate. A United States Army general was interrogating her. I got her out.”
“Did you search her for wires?”
Julia snorted. “Oh, for Pete’s sake, we all know you can see right through my shirt. Does it look like I’m wearing a wire?”
“And if it weren’t for her,” Sebastian went on, pretending neither one of them had spoken, “we wouldn’t have a potential lead on this virus. Julia was the one who figured out it might be in the water.”
Tate’s features sharpened. “It’s waterborne?”
“We don’t know, but I secured a water sample from the village. We need to get it tested ASAP.”
“I think I know someone who can help,” Julia said helpfully. “He—”
“That won’t be necessary,” Tate interrupted. “We’ll get our own people to handle this.”
She let out a sardonic laugh, then glanced at Sebastian. “You didn’t tell me I’d be receiving such a warm welcome.”
Before he could attempt to defuse the bomb of hostility in the air, the front door flew open again and Eva Dolce waltzed out. The woman looked gorgeous as usual, her Spanish, Italian and American heritage responsible for her unusual combination of silky black hair, vivid blue eyes and smooth olive complexion. A thin green sundress clung to her centerfold curves, her brown sandals clicking as she marched toward the group.
Eva took one look at Julia’s bedraggled appearance, then turned to frown at her fiancé. “Seriously, Tate, you couldn’t let the poor woman change out of those wet clothes before you started in on the cross-examination?” Her gaze shifted. “Hey, Sebastian. Welcome back.”
He nodded at her. “Hey, Eva. This is Dr. Julia Davenport. She worked at the clinic in Valero when she ran into a wee bit of trouble.”
Without hesitation, Eva wrapped an arm around Julia and began leading her away. The two women were about the same height, yet Eva was a force to be reckoned with, and Julia shot Sebastian a panicked look over her shoulder.
“Don’t mind Tate,” Eva was assuring her. “He’s kind of a jerk until you get to know him. And he’s naturally suspicious, so...”
As the women drifted toward the front door, the three men stayed outside. Tate still looked unhappy, while Nick, who was leaning against the Jeep, seemed amused.
“I like the doctor,” Nick said. “She’s got a backbone on her.”
“She’s got guts, too.” His voice sounded raspier than usual, so he cleared his throat. “After we left the camp, she was willing to risk her neck and go back for a water sample. If I’d refused to do it, I have no doubt she would’ve found a way to do it herself.”
“What else do we know, aside from the possibility of water transmission?” Tate asked as they headed for the house. “Did you see any of the bodies?”
Sebastian shook his head. “They were all bagged up. But we can add coughing and/or disorientation to the symptoms we already know about. Oh, and the general said the name Meridian in reference to the virus.”
“Meridian?” Tate echoed quizzically.
“Could be what they’re calling it. Also, this is definitely a cooperative effort between the U.S. and San Marquez, but taking into account that the American general was leading Julia’s interrogation, I think our government’s calling the shots here.”
They reached the front porch, but Sebastian hesitated before opening the screen door. “The deaths in Esperanza weren’t an accident. The general said in no uncertain terms that the virus had been intentionally released in the area. He was unhappy about it because the village wasn’t far from the Doctors International clinic.”
“So our government really is testing a biological weapon on foreign soil,” Nick said, shaking his head in disbelief.
“Seems so.” Sebastian leveled a stern look in Tate’s direction. “And, Captain? Try to tone down the death glares around the doc, all right? She lost a lot of people she cared about last night.”
“Nick said the soldiers torched the clinic?” Tate’s tone was grudging, as if he didn’t want to feel any sympathy for Julia but couldn’t help himself.
“With dozens of innocent people inside it. Julia’s coworkers, her friends, her patients.” A rush of fury entered his bloodstream, tensing every muscle in his body. “They’re going to blame the fire on the ULF, same way they blamed the rebels for the dead villagers in Corazón.”
“We need to find out who’s green-lighting the testing of the virus, damn it.”
Tate sounded frustrated beyond belief, and Sebastian didn’t blame him. He was sick and tired of hitting brick wall after brick wall in his quest for answers. The other members of his unit had been killed to cover up the events of Corazón, which meant that someone wanted to keep the virus a secret. So who had authorized this biological weapons project? The president? The Department of Defense? Someone on a lower rung of the ladder who was operating without official consent?
Rubbing his temples, Sebastian strode into the house. Female voices wafted from the direction of the bedrooms, and he hoped that Eva wasn’t grilling Julia too hard about everything that had happened. He couldn’t stop thinking about that haunted look in Julia’s hazel eyes, the way she’d sat on the deck of the fishing boat, silent, unblinking, thinking about her loss.
Other women might’ve fallen apart. Sobbed. Screamed. Collapsed from grief. But not Julia. The woman exuded quiet strength. Even when overcome with anguish, she managed to keep it together, which he appreciated. The last thing he’d wanted to do last night was comfort a hysterical female.
And the last thing he wanted to do right now was rack his brain trying to make sense of this whole mess. He hadn’t slept in more than twenty-four hours, for chrissake.
“I need a shower. And some shut-eye,” he announced. “Can we finish this later?”
The others nodded. “We’re frying up some fish for dinner,” Nick told him. “I’ll wake you before we eat.”
“Sounds good.”
He walked toward the narrow hallway leading to the bedrooms, bypassing the room he was bunking in and heading for Tate and Eva’s room instead. Although the beach house’s three bedrooms were tiny, the place was a million times more habitable than the crumbling stone fortress they’d been holed up in two months ago.
He knocked on the door, waited for the okay, then entered the room to find Julia sitting at the edge of the double bed with Eva’s three-year-old son, Rafe. Loose waves of brown hair fell over Julia’s slender shoulder as she bent to examine the inside of the little boy’s forearm. Eva was looming over them, biting her lip in worry.
“’Bastian!” Rafe shouted happily. The second the kid caught sight of him, he shot off the bed and launched himself into Sebastian’s legs.
“Hey, kiddo,” he said gruffly, scooping the excited child in his arms.
“Don’t worry,” Julia told Eva. “It’s just a minor heat rash. It’ll probably go away on its own, but you can keep applying that mild cortisone cream. Loose clothing helps, too, and so does staying hydrated.”
Sebastian chuckled, then rolled his eyes at Eva. “She’s not here on a house call, for Pete’s sake.”
“Who’s Pete?” Rafe demanded.
The boy was wiggling up a storm in Sebastian’s arms, so he finally set him down, wondering how Eva managed to keep up with that overenergetic kid without having a nervous breakdown. On the other hand, Rafe was pretty darn cute, which made it impossible not to love him. Sebastian hadn’t been thrilled about Eva bringing her kid along, but the woman turned into a ferocious mama bear when anyone raised the suggestion of sending Rafe to stay with his grandparents. She refused to leave Tate, and she refused t
o send Rafe away, which meant that the kid wasn’t going anywhere.
But Rafe had grown on him. Sebastian still tried to keep his distance, and he definitely didn’t like being alone with the rug rat, but having him around wasn’t as horrible as he’d thought it would be.
His gaze shifted to Julia, who’d changed out of her damp clothes and into a blue print dress that swirled around her ankles. The garment was a little loose on the top, one strap repeatedly falling off her shoulder, but that didn’t surprise him. Julia was rail-thin compared to Eva’s curvaceous form.
Sighing, he met her eyes. “Did Eva offer you any lunch, or did she just whisk you in here and demand you diagnose the rash on Rafe’s arm?”
“She offered to feed me. I turned her down.” Julia swallowed. “I still don’t have an appetite.”
“Well, I’m crashing for a few hours. You should probably do the same.” He edged toward the door. “We’ll all talk later, okay?”
Her face donned an indecipherable expression. “Okay.”
“You can sleep in here if you want,” Eva said gently. “Rafe and I will make ourselves scarce, and I’ll come get you before dinner.”
“Fishies!” Rafe exclaimed, clapping his hands together in glee.
Julia arched a brow and waited for a translation.
“Tate took him fishing this morning, so we’re frying up their catch tonight,” Eva explained with a grin.
After Eva and Rafe left the room, Sebastian took a step toward Julia. Before he could stop himself, he cupped her angular jaw with both hands and studied her face. Her breath hitched in surprise, those hazel eyes flickering with uneasiness.
“Are you okay, Doc? Really okay?” He couldn’t control the husky note in his voice.
Rather than shy away, she leaned into his touch. “I’m hurting,” she murmured. “I’m hurting bad. But I’ll be fine.”
Her honesty floored him, as did her resilience. His gaze landed on her lips, noting the slightly fuller bottom one. With her brown hair free of its braid and cascading over one shoulder, she looked younger, prettier, softer. As his pulse kicked up a notch, he swept his thumbs across her silky-smooth cheeks, his mouth tingling with the urge to kiss her.
But he reined in the impulse, knowing now was not the time.
When his hands dropped from her jaw, Sebastian could have sworn he saw a glimmer of disappointment on her face.
He took a step backward, suddenly feeling awkward, edgy. “I’ll be right next door if you need me, Doc.”
“Thank you.”
They stared at each other for a moment, and then he cleared his throat, forced himself to break eye contact and slid out the door before he did something foolish.
Like kiss her senseless.
* * *
Several hours later, Julia helped Eva clear the table while the three men and Eva’s son remained on the wooden oceanfront deck. Throughout dinner, she’d been trying to get a sense of these people and how they fit together, and she was now confident she had everyone figured out.
Although none of the men were officially part of the military anymore, Tate still stood out as their leader. There was no mistaking his authority, and Sebastian and Nick constantly looked to him for the final word on any given matter.
Nick, on the other hand, was clearly at the bottom of the pack. At twenty-seven, he was the youngest, and he lacked that lethal air both Sebastian and Tate radiated in spades. His tall, muscular body left no doubt that he could kick some serious ass, but Julia didn’t get a killer instinct vibe from the man.
As for Eva and her little boy, Julia’s confusion about their presence had evaporated after five minutes of being in the same room as Tate and Eva. It was obvious the couple loved each other fiercely, and they were not only protective of each other, but of Rafe as well. Because the boy didn’t refer to Tate as “Daddy,” Julia had deduced that he was Eva’s son from a past relationship, but Rafe clearly adored the intense soldier, and Tate was surprisingly sweet around the boy.
And then there was Sebastian. As alpha and intense as Tate, yet there was something more...sexual about him. He exuded raw masculinity, potent sex appeal, and every time she looked in his direction, her entire body grew hot and tingly.
Earlier in the bedroom, she’d truly thought he was going to kiss her. The heat in his eyes had been unmistakable, the brush of his fingers on her cheek utterly seductive. When he’d walked away, she hadn’t been able to fight the disappointment that erupted inside her. And how insane was that? She wasn’t supposed to be thinking about silly things like kissing—not after everything she’d lost.
“Hey, sweetheart, get out here,” Tate called from the patio. “We need you.”
Rolling her eyes, Eva dropped a stack of dirty plates in the sink. “Damn man never says please,” she told Julia. “And then he gets pissy when Rafe doesn’t mind his p’s and q’s, and refuses to admit that he’s the one setting the bad example.”
Julia grinned. She actually really liked Eva, though it had taken a while to get past those stunning looks. The woman belonged on the cover of a magazine, making Julia feel frumpy and hideous in comparison. But Eva had turned out to be as smart as she was beautiful, and a little sassy, just like Sebastian had said.
“Sorry, sweetheart,” the raven-haired woman called to her fiancé. “I didn’t quite hear you.”
Tate raised his voice. “I said get out here.”
“What was that?”
“Get out here.” A beat. “Please.”
Eva broke out in a grin. “Be right there!”
As Julia was about to turn on the faucet and tackle the dishes in the sink, the other woman swatted at her hand. “Leave them, Doc. We have more pressing concerns.”
With a lack of enthusiasm, Julia followed the other woman back outside. During dinner, they hadn’t spoken about what had happened in Esperanza and Valero, and she wasn’t quite ready to talk about it yet. She knew decisions needed to be made, knew a plan had to be formulated, but she simply didn’t have the stomach for any of it at the moment.
Nevertheless, she sank into the chair next to Sebastian, grateful that at least they were choosing to include her in the discussion. She knew Tate still didn’t trust her, but frankly, she didn’t care. She had nothing to prove to the man.
“We need to find a reputable lab that can test the water sample Stone brought,” Tate told his fiancée after she sat down. “Preferably one that employs a lab tech who’s looking to score some extra cash. There can’t be a record of this.”
Eva nodded in agreement. “I’ll see what I can find.”
“Or you can let me take the sample back to Boston,” Julia spoke up, her jaw tight. “I tried to tell you this earlier, but I know someone who can help, and he’ll do it without asking any questions.”
Tate’s lips curled in distrust. “Forgive me if I don’t take that at face value, Dr. Davenport.”
It amazed her that he was still able to look so damn menacing even with a sleeping toddler draped across his chest.
“Who’s this friend?” Sebastian asked, his tone far more encouraging than his commanding officer’s.
She shot Tate a quick scowl before turning away from him. “Frank Matheson. He’s a microbiologist and a professor at Harvard. He works out of a lab on campus, mostly does research, development, taking on the occasional government contract.” When all three men stiffened at the word government, she quickly reassured them. “He’s discreet, and he would never, ever betray me. He thinks of me as a daughter.”
“We’ll find a lab here,” Tate said firmly.
Julia rolled her eyes. “Right, you’re going to bribe a lab technician to test the sample and trust that the person you paid off keeps the results to himself. Sounds like a much better plan.”
“She has a point,” Nick said cautiously, reaching for the beer bottle on the table.
“Frank can be trusted,” she insisted. “And he’d be helping out of a sense of loyalty, not greed. Your lab tech will sel
l you out the second someone offers him more money.”
As a short silence hung over the table, Julia stared at the dark ocean twenty yards away, then up at the crescent moon shining in the inky-black sky. It was a warm night, the water calm, the breeze balmy. She inhaled the fresh, salty air, realizing this was the first time in a long time she wasn’t running around in a stressed-out daze.
And yet she missed the commotion of the clinic. She missed her patients. Her coworkers.
Her throat clogged, and she swallowed the lump of sorrow that formed there. They were all gone. The clinic was gone. And for what? So the military could cover up whatever inhumane tests they were conducting on unsuspecting people?
“I think we should let Julia contact her friend in Boston,” Sebastian finally said, his tone resigned. “We can ship him the sample—”
“No way,” Tate cut in. “We’re not letting that sample out of our sight. If it’s going to Boston to be tested, then one of us is going with it.”
“I’m the one who has to go,” Julia said. “Frank won’t agree to help unless I’m there to ask for it in person. He won’t trust any of you, even if you drop my name.”
Tate didn’t look the slightest bit pleased about the idea of sending her to Boston alone. Neither did Sebastian, who turned to her with a frown. “You’re not going anywhere without backup, Doc.” He glanced at Tate. “If she goes, I go with her.”
“And while they take care of the lab part, I’ll keep digging about Project Aries,” Eva spoke up.
“Project Aries?” Julia echoed.
Sebastian nodded. “Remember I told you my unit was sent to Corazón? Well, we were ordered to extract a man by the name of Richard Harrison, an American doctor who was supposedly being held hostage by the ULF. Long story short, Harrison was already dead when we arrived. Turns out he worked for a private research facility that specializes in biological weapons development. He was in charge of something called Project Aries, which we think has to do with the virus he was testing in Corazón.”
“I’ve been looking into it, trying to find out more details, but it’s slow-going. Some of these databases are impossible to hack into,” Eva said, running a frustrated hand through her black hair.