Holy shit, that poor soul. Twenty-four months of living and breathing in the darkest underbellies would leave a hell of a mark. “That doesn’t give us much time.”

“Nope, but a local name came up. She wants us to check it out.” He began the laborious process of getting to his feet.

I watched him, prepared to catch him if he went down. “Want a hand there,

hotshot?” He grunted, and taking that as an affirmative, I got up and added my

support to his efforts. Getting him vertical didn’t take long, but when we were done, pain pinched his face. “Or maybe some aspirin?”

“Couldn’t hurt.” He leaned against the counter, head bowed.

I grabbed the white tablets from the medicine cabinet, filled the small glass

on the counter, and handed him both. “Stay here till I secure the bedroom.”

I managed a grand total of three steps before he reached out and stopped me.

He opened his mouth, most likely to spout something silly, but I held my hand

up, palm out. “Don’t, it’ll take me a few minutes, and you’re in no shape, so just

stay here.”

He let me go.

Smart man.

Five minutes later, the condo was once again hidden behind heavy curtains and Kayden was sprawled out on the sofa.

In the kitchen, I dumped the OJ down the sink and tossed the container in the

recycle bin. “Who are we checking out this time?”

“Joaquin Hobbes, CEO of NSpirit.”

I turned on the faucet and rinsed the sink. “NSpirit? Sounds familiar.”

“A synthetic biology company headquartered in Chicago. They hold a few

contracts with the Department of Defense.”

I turned the water off, and then leaned my hip against the counter. “And Hobbes just happens to be in Phoenix?”

“Not only does NSpirit have a building here in the Valley, but it seems Hobbes keeps a summer home just north of Scottsdale, and he’s in residence.”

“Hmmm.” Coincidence be damned, it couldn’t be that easy.

Giving myself time to think, I grabbed a glass, filled it with water, and then

walked over to collapse in the plush chair next to the couch. Stretching out my

legs, I slid down until the toes of my boots almost touched the coffee table leg,

and the back of my head rested against the chair’s pillow top. I took a sip of my

water, then cradled the glass against my stomach. “And Delacourt wants us to go to his home?”

“Nope, she put a team on his house. We get to go to dinner.”

“Dinner?”

“Hobbes has a dinner meet on his agenda at The Dragon.”

And a GPS stuck up his ass. It shouldn’t surprise me that Delacourt had such a detailed agenda for Hobbes. No government group, acknowledged or not,

existed without at least one very scary, very good hacker. Everyone lived their life in the electronic world, and for those who could navigate it, those lives were

open books. “Who’s he meeting?”

“A woman. Not his wife.” Kayden sounded weary.

I turned my head and studied him. His arm was thrown over his eyes, his lips

were a tight line framed by his neat goatee, and his skin was still pale. “You sure

you’re up for this?”

“Not like I have much choice.”

Too true. Delacourt might not be my commanding officer, but Kayden still

had to ask how high when she said, ‘jump’. “At least the food will be good.”

His lips twitched, but he didn’t move from his supine position. “We’re not going in, Cyn.”

“Fine,” I grumbled. “I guess we better grab some drive-thru.”

We both fell silent. The cushy chair felt good, so I sank a little deeper and let

my eyes drift close. Under my hand, the glass sweated.

Kayden broke the quiet. “We can’t stay here.”

I didn’t bother to open my eyes. “I know.”

Kelsey’s condo was compromised. First by Ellery, then by whoever followed

him. Not that I planned on staying long anyway. My duffle and Tito’s journals were locked in the back of my Jeep. The decision to come here was a Hail Mary