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didn’t sleep well last night. Had dreams about a scary lady.”
    “This morning I’m the scary lady.”
    “You were last night, too.”
    “So I’m your worst nightmare?” She gave him what he was beginning to recognize as her questioning, squinting frown.
    “I didn’t say it was a nightmare.”
    Kate’s face relaxed. “Well then…the lady of your dreams…” the enigmatic smile appeared, “…thinks we need to talk privately, very privately.” She pulled him toward the lab conference room and locked the door after they entered.
    Lady of his dreams. That pretty well described Kate. “Is this the way it’s going to be with us, always hiding in secret?”
    “No. You’re coming to my house for dinner on Saturday. Jenn…uh, Mom’s orders.”
    “So I don’t have a choice in the matter?”
    “No. None at all.” She pressed her lips together and raised her eyebrows. “So be there. Two men want to interrogate you.”
    “Who? Peterson, the FBI guy, and his partner?”
    “No. My dad and my granddad.”
    “Are you serious, Kate?”
    “I don’t know. But evidently they think so.”
    “Who thinks what? You’re not making any sense.”
    “We’ve been spending time together, and we’ll probably spend a lot more this summer. So my dad and my granddad need to give you an old-fashioned father-to-boyfriend talk. You know, threaten you a little.”
    “Why are they going to threaten me? They don’t even know me.”
    “That’s reason enough. Then they won’t have to kill you later, though Mom would probably shoot you before they could get to you.”
    “Isn’t that being a little overprotective, old-fashioned?”
    “Old-fashioned, yes. Overprotective? If you were me, you wouldn’t think so. So what’s it going to be, Josh? Dinner at 6:00 PM on Saturday, or…”
    Dinner with Kate was worth a lot more than a little intimidation. “It’s going to be dinner Saturday at 6:00 PM.”
    “I knew you’d make a wise decision.”
    “How did you know? After all the threats, I might have—”
    “No. You wouldn’t have. Because then I would have threatened to kill you.” She gave him her coy smile.
    This was more than mere flirting. She had invited him in a little deeper into her mysterious life, presenting him with a new look at Kate Brandt.
    Very alluring. Very scary.
    He could handle the man talk on Saturday. That was something he’d handled in the locker room and on the football field. The threats from Kate were an unknown quantity. Her family’s concern, however, was a good sign. They must know she had an interest in him. And he certainly had an interest in Kate.
    “Joshua West?”
    “What?”
    “Sometimes I wonder where your mind wanders off to when I’m talking to you.” She smiled that all-knowing smile. She had made an educated guess.
    Their relationship, barely in its infancy, was warming rapidly. He needed to be cautious. Kate was someone he didn’t want to lose. He would make sure not to—
    “Josh?”
    “Yeah, Kate.”
    “You’re back.”
    He nodded.
    “I need to tell you about a call I received from Peterson.” They sat down side-by-side at the long table. “Peterson identified the shooter and verified that he’s a member of Boko Haram. Someone convinced a young radical Muslim to come to America with false identification and commit an act of terror. I want to know who the driving force is. I suspect Al Qaeda. But I also need to know who’s paying the bills.”
    “Seems like your work gets a little scarier every day.”
    “Yes. It’s getting scary. But that’s not the worst.”
    “You mean there’s something worse?”
    “I think so. I haven’t told Peterson yet, because you and I need to do a little probing.”
    “Sounds like you mean cyber-espionage, or hacking.”
    “Something like that.”
    “Kate, you’re not going to get us sentenced to prison, are you?”
    “No.” She grinned. “At least…I don’t think so.” Her expression grew serious. “I need to show