“Great.” Rome nodded with a coolness he didn’t feel and stood. He walked to the door and looked back to Jeff over his shoulder. “I’ll take care of it.”

“Yes, you will,” Jeff said, evenly holding his gaze.

Jeff was so damn hard to read. That’s what made him so good at what he did. And it’s also what made Rome now question whether going there was as good an idea as he’d thought it was earlier. Maybe he’d just tipped his hand. Damn it all.

Quickening his pace without appearing to do so, he moved down the shadowy corridor. A couple of burly guys turned the corner ahead and moved his way. They were unusually huge. Shit. Were they after him?

They looked like the same guys who’d tried to stop Harper when he helped her escape. He was sure no one had seen him in the alley, but he had witnessed them use the same power as her, though a tad muddied. And it confirmed what Jeff told him about the experiments. Maybe these brutes were the subjects.

Rome gave them a cordial nod as they passed. Nodding back, the two hulks kept walking. He resisted the urge to turn around and see whether they were watching him. He didn’t want to appear concerned, but his back felt as if it were on fire.

Walking out the door, he held his breath as if waiting for someone to yank him back inside. Or tackle him. But nothing happened.

Reaching his car, Rome quickly inspected the Land Rover. He was going to have to switch it out before returning to the warehouse with the items Harper requested.

He had to get back to her. Now. Someone was hiding the whole truth. And hard as it would be, he needed to make sure it wasn’t her. He was so damn tired of secrets.

CHAPTER NINE

Jeff Donovan watched the secure feed from the three streetlight cameras on his computer monitor. Rome finally passed the last one and moved out of sight.

He sat back against the buttery leather of his chair, steepling his fingers against his mouth.

Agent Rome Lucian made him uneasy. He always had. And that uneasiness was what prompted this whole project.

Not too long ago, the agent had mistrusted his instincts and the falter had cost lives. Yet the incident sparked an idea. An idea that removed unreliable instincts and replaced it with raw power. With the powerful serum, his men could create the variables instead of react to them.

And failures like Rome’s could be prevented.

But here the agent was, testing his instincts again. Yes, Rome knew something. The fact that he’d been to the facility twice since Harper Kane became an issue had reinforced that.

Damn her. Damn her and her goody-goody brother.

Dr. Robert Kane had wanted to use his formula for global assistance. So did Jeff. Only their definitions of “assistance” were slightly different. Jeff’s vision of saving the world meant creating the ultimate warrior. It was his pet project. To mold a force that no one would be able to reckon with. The country and its allies would be invincible. No one would dare cross them ever again.

That wasn’t Dr. Kane’s vision. Jeff didn’t understand why their dreams couldn’t live in harmony. The doctor was part of Five Watch. Surely he understood national security and everything that went with it.

But Dr. Kane refused to share even a scrap of his precious formula. And with that refusal, the doctor had signed his own death warrant. Jeff couldn’t tolerate associates who weren’t on board.

The moment Dr. Kane had found out about Jeff’s experiments using a replica of his serum, the bastard went wacko and destroyed it all. Torching his private underground lab at the Five Watch facility along with his precious plants and every single piece of research he’d ever created. And he’d destroyed every drop of the serum.

Or so Jeff had thought.

Then that damn woman had shown up just as his men were finishing off Dr. Kane. When Jeff had heard that, he’d been furious. But it hadn’t compared to the rage once he’d gotten the report about the incident at the train tracks.

Apparently the sight hadn’t been pretty. Decimated bodies everywhere. The damn woman had injected the last of the serum. Used the power. And left behind a useless flash drive, which had no doubt held the only surviving remnants of Dr. Kane’s data on the formula. Why else would her brother have given it to her?

Harper Kane was a tough bitch, no doubt, but he’d been sure they’d be able to get to her eventually-especially in the main lab at the Five Watch facility for more extensive and invasive testing.

Then she’d overpowered his own test subjects to escape. Though he knew his boys were imperfect, he’d underestimated the power the true serum gave her. Good thing he’d kept her underground.

Although her powers were obviously superior, her escape was just a little too convenient.

The surveillance cameras in the alley hadn’t revealed anything out of the ordinary, but that was before she’d used her power to tear up the area. Her shock wave had damaged the cameras beyond recall.

So he hadn’t been able to see whether she’d had help. But Rome’s visit today was a little too coincidental. And Jeff had never really believed in coincidences. Everything was planned.

Rome had agreed to find Harper Kane again, but something in his eyes seemed amiss.

Doubt.

Rome had never asked questions about a job. Never doubted what task he was given.

But there were definite questions in his casual interest as he’d sat there, asking about Harper Kane.

The agent had admitted to witnessing her power. Could he be trusted with that knowledge? Especially given the suspicious vibe Jeff had sensed?

Maybe Rome had come here to feel him out. Maybe he already had the woman and was going to use her for his own purposes. Maybe the two were a team.

No. Harper Kane and the serum that flowed inside her was his. Jeff wasn’t going to take any chances. He needed that formula, and he’d get it from the bitch if it was the last thing he did.

And no one, not even his best agent, was going to stand in his way.

Picking up the handset of his phone, Jeff dialed the number for his enhanced task force. He tried to think of every hiding place Rome had. He knew of only a few. He’d never had to tail him before, but he was certain Agent Rome Lucian had unlimited resources. Rome was that good. So it was going to be a challenge.

But Jeff loved challenges. He knew Rome did, too.

So, it was war. The prize?

Harper Kane.

Another undead attacker exploded across the television screen as Harper maneuvered her computerized warrior through a dark forest, hacking and slashing everything in her way with her giant sword.

Ragged zombies continued to emerge from behind nearly every rock and tree, swarming around her character, grunting while they persisted with their all-out assault, trying to keep her from reaching the magical fortress.

It was a nice break to mindlessly play the video game, allowing her to set her troubles aside for blessed spurts of time. Immersing herself in the game also helped put her worry for Rome on hold.

But not entirely. She found her mind wandering while her hands intuitively operated the controller. She wasn’t convinced that Rome was being prudent in chatting up his boss. He’d been confident that no one would be the wiser. She wasn’t so sure. Was she just a skeptical Sally now that her life had been turned every way but right?

Maybe. But although she was new to this cloak-and-dagger stuff, she was pretty certain that you just didn’t walk up to the people who ordered a hit on the girl you were now helping and ask them questions about it. What if they suspected she and Rome were a team? Would they kill him?

Dramatic music filtered into her thoughts. Eyeing the television screen, she saw her warrior surrounded. How appropriate.