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possibility that I could be telling the truth? Just in case you need to hear it from me—just like I had nothing to do with your father’s plan to keep you out of Beijing, your orders to go to Bajadad were not my idea. Although I embrace the schedule change wholeheartedly. You’re a good doctor, and I can’t think of anyone I want more on my team. We’re dealing with a suspicious virus. Five people have died already and the government suspects it might be part of something we need to nip in the bud as soon as possible. However, we won’t know what we’re dealing with until we get there.”
    He watched as her whole demeanor changed in the wake of the information he had just provided. Her stiffened spine relaxed and her features became alert. No matter what, she was a professional, and as he’d said, she was good at what she did.
    “What’s the point of entry?” she asked, moving to stand in front of the desk.
    “So far, only by ingestion. It’s been suspected that something was put in the water supply. If that’s true, it will be up to us to find out what it is.”
    She nodded, and he knew she completely understood. The government’s position was that if the enemy had developed some kind of deadly chemical then the United States needed to know about it. It was important to determine early on what they were up against and how they could protect U.S. military personnel.
    “And how was it detected, Micah?” she was calm and relaxed as she questioned him. He moved to sit on the edge of his desk. Not far from where she stood. He wondered if she’d taken note of their proximity.
    He wished she wasn’t wearing his favorite perfume and that he didn’t remember just how dark her eyes would become in the heat of passion. Kalina Daniels was an innately sensuous woman. There was no doubt about it.
    “Five otherwise healthy adults over the age of fifty were found dead within the same week with no obvious signs of trauma,” he heard himself saying. “However, their tongues had enlarged to twice the normal size. Other than that, there was nothing else, not even evidence of a foreign substance in their bloodstream.”
    He saw the look in her eyes while she was digesting what he’d said. Most terrorist groups experimented on a small number of people before unleashing anything in full force, just to make sure their chemical warfare weapon was effective. It was too early to make an assumption about what they would be facing, but the researcher who was already there waiting on them had stated his suspicions. Before 9/11 chemical weapons were considered a poor man’s atomic bomb. However, because of their ability to reach millions of people in so many different ways, these weapons were now considered the worst and most highly effective of all forms of warfare.
    “Have you ever been to Bajadad?” she asked him.
    He met her gaze. “Yes, several years ago, right after the first democratic elections were held. It was my first assignment after leaving college and coming to work for the federal government. We were sent there on a peace-finding mission when members of the king’s household had become ill. Some suspected foul play. However, it didn’t take us long to determine it hadn’t been all that serious, just a contaminated sack of wheat that should never have been used.”
    He could tell by the look in her eyes that she’d become intrigued. That’s how it had always been with her. She would ask a lot of questions to quench that curiosity of hers. She thought he’d lived an adventurous life as an epidemiologist, while, thanks to her father, she’d been deliberately kept on the sidelines.
    In a way, he was surprised she was going to Bajadad. Either the old man had finally learned his lesson or he was getting lax in keeping up with his daughter’s whereabouts. He knew her father had worked behind the scenes, wielding power, influencing his contacts, to make sure Kalina had assignments only in the States or in