A strange man was trying to get into her hotel room.
She saw he had a gun.
Her gut instinct said to run the hell away from him, but inside that room was the only weapon she had to save her fatherâs life and many others. She couldnât leave it.
Dropping into a fighting stance, she waited.
The man gave her a look like she was crazy and raised his gun. She lashed out with a kick aimed at his weapon arm. His arm jerked out of position, and a bullet ricocheted off the wall six inches from her.
She didnât stop.
He fell to the floor. Jane kicked him once more, then hurried past him. Fumbling to open her hotel door, she rushed in and slammed it closed behind her, then reached for the phone to call security.
Someone was clearly after her â and her antidote. But who?
Thanks to Dr John Walden, who was so generous with his time and knowledge of the Amazon. Any mistakes are my own.
Thanks also to Dr Michael Miller, who answered my questions on infectious diseases and virology. Again, any mistakes are my own.
Special thanks to Eve Gaddy, Nancy Robards Thompson and Beverly Brandt, who were my cheerleaders! And to Matt who is always so supportive and believes in me when I start to doubt.
Chapter 1
Dr. Jane Miller, virus hunter.
The words echoed in her head as she exited the elevator in the bowels of the Centers for Disease Control headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. Entering the deepest part of the building always made her feel like some sort of superspy. Maybe it was the fact that security was as tight here as it was at the White House.
Whatever the reason, she always heard the 007 theme in the back of her head as she moved through the hallways. She passed by labs that worked with lower-level infections, such as a new strand of the flu, before reaching steel-reinforced doors with a sophisticated security scanner. The security guard smiled at her. Heâd worked at the lab for about a year now.
âGood evening, Dr. Miller.â
âHello, Stan.â
He had a nice face. He was a doting grandfather whoâd embodied all the things sheâd always kind of longed for when she thought of family, but had never found. âWorking late again?â
âYou know how I am when I get a new problem to work on.â She didnât say anything else, leery that he might inadvertently pass along the fact that she was doing research on something sent to her by her father. Doctor Rob Miller was persona non grata as far as the CDC was concerned.
He nodded at her. âBut itâs been three months and youâre still working eighteen-hour days. Youâre always warning me about the effects of exhaustion.â
The truth was, she was burning the candle at both ends hoping that what sheâd discovered was somehow an error. âI know, but this timeâ¦I just feel like I need to work on this project around the clock.â
âWeâre used to emergencies,â he said.
She shrugged. How could she explain to him what she didnât really understand herself? She only knew that the virus her father had sent her needed her attention. Sheâd received the samples almost too long agoâin the world of infectious viruses, three months could be a lethal amount of time.
She remembered when sheâd received the plainly wrapped brown package. It had seemed innocent enough, but sheâd recognized the angular handwriting on the outside and opened it with trepidation. Anything from her father was suspect. The CDC and her dad went way back, but the relationship was no longer one that either side liked to acknowledge.
Why had he sent it to her?
Jane flashed her badge at the reader on the wall. Then she removed her glasses and leaned forward for the eye scan. She didnât like it, but had gotten used to it. Finally she could withstand the laser scan without blinking. The doors opened and she stepped through.
She slipped her glasses back on and noticed the biohazard warning sign that stood next to the door to the womenâs locker room. She entered the facility and changed from her street clothes into scrubs. In order to enter the lab, everything had to be removed from the skin out. Jane changed as quickly as possible.
She then made her way to a second set of scanners. Adrenaline and nerves warred for control of her body. Adrenaline won. It had been a long time since sheâd had anything new in her hands. Once the doors opened, she stepped inside the ultraviolet-light chamber and waited a moment before exiting. She paused again, preparing to enter the level 3 labs.