“What does this actually tell you?”

  He looked at her with respect in his eyes. “See? Those are the kinds of questions that we need to ask. What it tells me is that somebody is wandering around outside, within the designated perimeter, as if looking for where we might be.”

  “But you don’t know whether it is the enemy or some citizen out for a walk, correct?” Naira asked.

  “No, that’s exactly right,” Terk replied, with a smile. “We don’t know if it’s any issue at all. What we do know,” he murmured, “is that somebody is out there.”

  She frowned. “So, did somebody go out there to look?”

  “We have it on satellite, so they’re checking right now.”

  When Tasha joined them, she smiled. “It looks to be a false alarm.”

  “But how would you know for sure?” Naira asked her. “Do you keep track of people who have been here in our area before, like those who have walked around outside?”

  “Exactly,” she noted, “and we have confirmed somebody is out there, a male. He isn’t acting suspiciously, but we will keep an eye on him. However, this is not somebody we have seen here before.”

  Naira frowned. “So, to me, that seems like more than a false alarm.”

  “Why’s that?” Tasha asked.

  “Because you would think they would send somebody new every time. And, if that’s the case, this is your new one.” She stared at Tasha soberly.

  “That’s a valid point,” Tasha said. “I’m not saying it isn’t somebody we should be aware of, just that it’s somebody we haven’t had so far.”

  “Agreed,” Naira noted. “This must be a fast-moving event for you guys.”

  “It happens a lot, being on a public street and all,” Tasha murmured, “but not a whole lot we can do about the foot traffic.”

  “No, so I guess the task is to register how many people come, how often they come, whether they come in waves or come in a pattern.”

  “And we are doing that,” Tasha confirmed, “but it’s interesting that you would say that.”

  “Why?” Naira asked.

  “There’s just enough going on that we aren’t sure what is happening, so we’re doing exactly what you said. We’re keeping an eye on it. It seems like whoever it is will send various people at various times, just to see what they can learn.”

  “Exactly.”

  “Anytime you want to take a look at the security screens,” Terk told Naira, “you’re welcome to.”

  “What would that tell us?” she asked him curiously.

  “We don’t know if it’s someone you might have seen somewhere, like at the hospital.”

  She frowned and immediately but slowly got up on her feet. “Let’s go take a look.”

  With Scott, Terk, and Tasha at her side, Naira headed over, until she stood in front of the screens.

  The monitors were huge, and Sophia had backed everything up, so Naira could take a closer look. When they got to the man who had just approached, causing the alarm, she sucked in her breath. “He’s one of the men at the hospital, one of the orderlies,” she said, gasping in shock. “You know what? I just … When you said that I might recognize our visitor, I wasn’t even thinking it was a possibility. Yet there he is.” Naira’s stomach began to revolt. “Now I feel sick,” she murmured.

  “No being sick around here,” Tasha declared, eyeing Naira carefully. “Definitely not near the equipment.”

  Naira laughed. “I didn’t mean it literally.”

  “Good, but I did,” Tasha stated. “This equipment is pretty sensitive, so no getting sick on it.”

  “Got it,” Naira noted, with a smile. “Let’s see the rest of it.”

  They watched as the man took a casual look around.

  “And right there. Is he taking a picture?”

  At that, Sophia leaned forward. “You’re right. I didn’t catch that. It was very subtle. Wait. … Look how he’s using his hands, as if to signal something or someone.”

  “That’s very interesting,” Naira said, as she stood here, watching it run again.

  Scott put his arm around her. “That is why we insisted on you being here,” he explained, “so we can keep an eye on you.”

  “It’s definitely unnerving to see somebody from the hospital here, after I’ve been attacked at the hospital.”

  “It is, and that’s why you’re here instead of alone in a hotel room somewhere,” he reminded her.

  She glared at him. “But then the danger wouldn’t have come to everybody else,” she noted, as she pointed to the room around them. “Now everybody’s in danger because of me.”

  “No. Not because of you,” Terk corrected. “We’re all in the same danger because of whatever started this whole mess in the first place. All these other issues and attacks ultimately happened because the original attack—intended to take us all out—failed,” he stated. “You are in danger because of us, not the other way around.”

  She waved her hand. “You’re splitting hairs.”

  “Not at all,” he argued. “Regardless, we have enough to worry about without assigning blame.”

  She nodded. “I agree with you there,” she said, “and we definitely need to do something to make sure this guy doesn’t know we’re in here.”

  “We’re working on that,” Sophia shared. “As you can see, he’s wandering around, but he doesn’t have a direction to go to. He’s—”

  “It’s almost like a fishing expedition,” Naira guessed, interrupting.

  “That’s exactly what it is,” Terk agreed. “He’s looking for any outlet, any explanation of where we might be, but he can’t figure it out. That is because we have an energy guard up, and the building itself isn’t exactly welcoming. He can’t see a door, so, as he continues to walk around, it’ll look like it’s some sort of a secure facility, which is not necessarily something we want him to find out already.”

  “I wouldn’t want him to find it out at all,” Naira replied, “because, the more suspicious it is, you know it’ll make him want to find answers. And eventually he’ll find them. It’s just a matter of how quickly it happens,” she murmured.

  Terk smiled at her. “And I know you don’t realize this because it’s all new to you. However, this scenario, … all of it and far more, … it’s what we do.”

  She frowned as she looked at him. “Meaning, I can just sit back and trust you?” she asked in a dry tone.

  “Don’t ever do that if it doesn’t feel right,” Terk stated, his tone so serious that she realized he meant it. “It is always critically important to follow your own instincts. And now that you’ve ID’d this person, we do understand that he’s still looking for a way inside.”

  “Of course he is. I mean, anybody who thinks we’re here will try to get inside, won’t they?”

  “Yes, absolutely,” Scott confirmed. “And the fact that you could ID him is perfect.”

  “So, with that double confirmation,” Terk added, “we’ll have to take some action.”

  “What does that mean?” Naira asked in alarm. “I really don’t want to get involved in murders.”

  He looked at her and then chuckled. “So what then? Murder is okay, as long as they only kill you or us?”

  She frowned at that. “I guess that was a pretty stupid statement, wasn’t it?” she admitted grudgingly.

  “No, it was honest,” Terk said, “and I’m glad to see that you have a strong sense of ethics.”

  “Oh, I would like to think so,” she replied. “I’m just unsure where all this is leading. But obviously we have to solve it so these guys stop. What is it they’re after?”

  “Annihilation,” Scott stated succinctly. “The complete and perfect annihilation … of all of us.”

  “Everybody here, including you,” Terk told Naira. Then he turned to look at her, just as he was about to walk away. “So, how do you feel about murder now?”

  *

  Scott held Naira close. “Terk didn’t mean it that way.”

  “Of course he did,” she argued, then smiled. “I’m not innocent of the ways of the world. Obviously I don’t want to contemplate anybody getting hurt, but, if it’ll be either them or us, I choose them. I have too much to live for.”

  Scott reached down and gave her a big kiss.

  She smiled and cuddled closer. She wasn’t even sure that they were exactly where they needed to be, but she was willing to go the distance to find out. As she looked over at the others, all smiled at each other. Whatever else was going on, they appeared to be happy about the situation between her and Scott. He walked her back over to the kitchen table.

  “Do you want to just sit down and rest a bit now?”

  “I feel like I’ve done nothing but rest,” she mumbled. “Is there anything I can do?”

  “Not when you’re injured,” he said cheerfully.

  She glared at him. “I’m hardly injured,” she replied.

  “What would you call it?” he asked her, with interest.

  “That’s a trick question,” she muttered. “I know you too well to fall for that.” He burst out laughing, swept her up into a careful hug, and held her close. “This is definitely a change for you. You’re much happier, more lighthearted.”

  “It is a change for me,” Scott admitted, “and I am happier. I’m not sure how we got to where we were, but I’m sure happy with where we are now.”

  “Me too,” she said. “I just wish I remembered all of that conversation.”

  “You will,” he replied instantly.

  She frowned at that. “Says you.”

  He grinned. “I forgot just how contrary you like to be.”

  She sighed. “Not really, definitely not, but you know what? At some point in time, you just have to give up the ghost and stop fighting.”

  “Don’t ever do that,” he said. “It’s beautiful to have such spirit.” She looked at him sideways. He grinned. “See? You’ve got that look on your face that says you don’t believe me.”

  “I don’t believe you,” she confirmed, “and it makes it a little hard to trust you completely.”

  “Come on,” he coaxed her. “You’re doing just fine. Don’t worry about it.”

  She smiled. “How about I still worry about it, but I’ll try to keep it under control?”

  He laughed at that. “Good enough.”

  She looked over to see Sophia eyeing her with an assessing gaze. Naira walked closer. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

  Sophia studied her and asked, “Are you any good with computers?”

  “Yeah, no,” Naira admitted.

  “Any good with IT at all?”

  “No,” she repeated.

  “Then you can’t help me,” Sophia declared. “But you know what? If you’re up for searching the kitchen for cookies, a little man over there really could use one.”

  As Naira turned to look, Little Calum watched her hopefully. “Cookies?” he asked, and such hope filled his voice that everybody stopped to look at Naira.

  She smiled, automatically glancing over at Mariana expectantly. Little Calum’s mother gave her the okay, with a nod and a smile.

  “Why not? Raiding a kitchen is something I definitely know how to do,” she murmured. She looked back at Terk from across the room. “This doesn’t mean I can get banished to the kitchen all the time though.”

  He looked at her and shook his head. “Never, that’s not my style. Never go to the kitchen unless that’s where you want to be.”

  She faced the little boy again and said, “Let’s do it.” Then, with her mind on making herself useful and with Little Calum in tow, she headed for the kitchen.

  As Scott watched her progress, he smiled to himself.

  Tasha walked over, gave him a quick hug. “Glad to see things are getting better.”

  “Well, we’re getting there,” he shared, “but she’s got a way to go to trust me yet.”

  “Of course she does. She’s had some shocks to her system, in addition to the injuries,” she murmured. “It won’t be resolved easily.”

  “Sure would be nice if it were,” Scott said, with a heavy sigh. “It seems like the shit’s always hitting the fan around us.”

  “It probably will be for a while to come too,” Tasha noted. “At least until we get this thing solved.”

  “Yeah, you’re right about that.”

  “So, you did recognize this guy from the hospital?”

  He nodded. “Absolutely. She’s right. He was at the hospital with her. I’m kicking myself for not looking at the video as soon as you guys got it.”

  “Enough of that. So he’s with them at the hospital, casing her. What I find interesting,” Tasha added, “is how they even knew about her.”

  “The only thing I can think of,” Terk suggested, as he came up alongside them, “is that they had been following me. And, from me, they found her. The problem with that is, if they found her, have they also found Brody?”

  “We’ll have to make sure that doesn’t happen,” Scott noted. Then he frowned. “I might as well tell you that, while I’m getting stronger every day, I’m definitely not back to full speed.”

  “Nope, you’re not,” Terk agreed, with a smile. “But, if it makes you feel any better, you’re not alone. And just like the others, you’re making steady progress. So we’ll take it and be damn happy.”

  “I get that,” Scott noted. “I just wish I was stronger and could do more.”

  “What you can do is stay strong, so that none of this keeps blowing up in our face. Because, when these guys make their attack and stretch their wings to do whatever it is they’re planning on doing,” Terk suggested, “we’ll need all hands on deck. And hopefully that’ll be you too.”

  Scott wanted so badly to be back to normal, to be strong enough to be a solid help. The last thing he wanted was to bring the two of them here to the temporary headquarters, only to be a burden on everyone else on the team. It’s not the way Scott functioned, and of course the team knew that, but it still wasn’t enough to make him feel comfortable with the situation.

  He needed to pull his own weight and be even more proactive than that. But he was also still unclear as to what he was supposed to be doing right now. As he turned toward the kitchen, he saw Naira, nodding off in place.

  He winced, then got up and walked over to where she and Little Calum were sharing a plate of cookies.

  “Shh,” he whispered to the boy, his finger to his lips. “I’ll bet Sophia and Tasha might want a cookie too,” Scott said softly. With that, Little Calum grabbed a handful of cookies in each pudgy hand and headed for the control room, a big smile on his face. Then Scott moved next to Naira, and he gently nudged her. She jerked and cried out at the pain of her sudden movement. He crouched down in front of her. “Hey, let’s get you back to bed.”

  She stared at him with pain-filled eyes, clearly confused, and he realized her body had a lot more healing to do. “Come on,” he said. “Also time for pain meds.”

  “I sure won’t say no to that,” she murmured, as she slowly stood. “I didn’t realize I was nodding off. How embarrassing.”

  “Well, you were,” he stated cheerfully, “and this isn’t where you need to be right now.”

  “Says you,” she muttered, as her gaze moved to the plate of cookies. “Oh my gosh, where’s Little Calum?”

  “I sent him off with cookies for Sophia and Tasha, so he’s fine,” Scott replied, helping her to her feet. “Right now, let’s get you back to bed. You’ve got a lot more healing to do.”

  She sighed. “Why does that sound like it’ll take a whole lot more time than I expected?”

  “It probably will,” he admitted. “Absolutely no way to know.”

  She groaned. “I really don’t like the sound of that.”

  He easily led her back to the bedroom, where he got her settled on the bed, flat on her back. “Let me change those bandages and give you your medicine.”

  “I really don’t feel so good,” she murmured but laid down as he worked on her.

  “Exactly my point. No need to put on a bright face in front of everyone on top of everything else you’re going through,” he said, his voice gentle. “Everybody will still be there when you’re feeling better.”

  She looked at him, blurry-eyed. “It just feels like we should be doing something.”

  “The trouble is, all the guys were injured, some badly,” he reminded her, “and we’re all coming back. While it may seem like we’re okay by looking at us, the reality is, those special abilities we have are something that we count on when the going gets tough, and that is what we’re having the most trouble getting back in a way that is proficient and reliable.”

  She sighed. “I’m a case in point too, aren’t I?”

  “Maybe so,” he agreed, “but making sure you stay safe is the most important thing. And we don’t want anybody else getting hurt.”

  “It would be nice if I was the last one attacked,” she said, and then a big yawn took over, making it hard for her to talk.

  He smiled, grabbed her blanket, and tucked her in. “Just rest,” he murmured. “That’s the only thing you need to worry about right now. Just rest.”

  She nodded and sank into the pillows. “Wake me up for dinner, okay?”

  “Sure,” he asked. “Are you hungry?”

  “Well, no, I had cookies with Little Calum,” she replied, with half a smile. “But any time I get hurt or even sick, I tend to get really hungry as I heal.”

  “That’s good to know,” Scott noted. “I’ll take that as a positive sign then.”

  She would have smiled, at least he figured she would have, but no way to get her lips to move at this point. She was already out and snoring gently.

  He smiled as he quietly closed the door and headed back to the main room. The others looked at him. He nodded. “She’s out cold already.”

  “Good,” Terk replied. “It’s always worse when they fight it.”

  “She doesn’t know what she’s fighting though,” Scott reminded him.

  Terk nodded. “Of course not. More to the point, in her mind, she’s still fighting the person who attacked her.”