Scout's head came up at that. "We have a plan?" She looked from Braxton to Max. "No one mentioned a plan to me."

This was going to be the hard part. "I talked to Cooper while you were sleeping," Max admitted, knowing she would be as mad as h.e.l.l.

Sure enough, a look of fury stole across her face. "And you didn't bother mentioning it to me."

"When Cooper called and explained your dilemma," Braxton interrupted when Max would have spoken, "Simon Ruhl made the final decision."

Startled, Max gazed at Braxton. He was taking the heat off him, allowing Scout to consider Simon himself the culprit. Simon had, in fact, made the decision. Manuevers this dicey weren't made without approval from the next level. But Max had been willing to suffer the repercussions. Relief speared through him now. He would owe his colleague a huge debt of grat.i.tude if they pulled this off. Knowing how stubborn Scout could be, Max had seriously worried that he wouldn't be able to talk her into seeing things his way. Now he didn't have to.

"Max will call Alexon and set up a meeting to negotiate the conditions of your cooperation-"

"Who said I'm cooperating with them?" Scout snapped. She shot Max a look. "Was that your idea?"

"The goal," Max explained, "is to make them think we're willing to negotiate, to draw them out. If they're planning to make a move against you, they'll do it then. We need to know if Alexon really is the enemy."

Scout relaxed marginally. Okay, she could see that. She wanted to draw out the enemy himself. She'd just expected to be in on the planning stage as well as the execution. That she'd been left out stung her ego. After what she and Max had shared last night, she'd expected him to be open and honest with her. She stopped herself midthought. How could she expect that from him, when she hadn't been completely honest in turn?

"If Alexon is on the up and up, the meeting will go without a hitch," Ryan commented. "If, however, they aren't, we'll know by their actions."

"So, what time are we meeting them?"

Max and Ryan exchanged another of those looks, then Ryan said, "It would be in your best interest to stay clear of the heat." When she would have told him what she thought, he quelled her tirade with a look that made her want to take a step back. "If you truly want to protect your child, you'll stay out of harm's way. Think about where your priorities lie, Miss Jackson." He said the last with a pointed glance at her bandaged arm.

All the fight drained out of her then. They were right. She couldn't take any more chances with her baby's life. She'd been a fool to think she could bring down Alexon on her own or even with help. That would only put her health and that of her child at risk.

She nodded reluctantly. "Agreed." The next hour was a whirlwind of activity. Unbeknownst to her, the meeting with Alexon had already been arranged. Nicole Reed Michaels would again pose as Scout and accompany Max. Ryan Braxton would provide backup. Cooper would keep Scout company in the penthouse, where she would be safe. She and Max had discussed the extent of her cooperation, present and future, with Alexon, if any.

Still, she wanted to scream in frustration. She wanted to be out there, forcing Alexon to admit the truth, and watching Max's back. But she couldn't. She had to think of the baby.

Fear gripped her. She couldn't let Max do this without knowing the truth. If something happened to him...

Her heart in her throat, she crossed the room and tugged him away from the group. "We need to talk."

He glanced at the others, then allowed her to lead him to the bedroom. The sheets were still tousled and the scent of their lovemaking still lingered in the air. Her eyes burned with the sudden, almost overwhelming need to cry.

"Don't worry." He kissed her cheek, his strong arms suddenly around her waist. "Everything's going to be fine. Trust me."

She smiled, struggling to keep the tears at bay for just another moment. "I do trust you, Max." His smile tipped the scales, making her lose the battle. Hot tears streamed down her cheeks. His heartrending expression faded into a frown. "I haven't been totally up front with you," she said, her voice shaky.

"Scout, don't cry." He brushed the tears from her cheeks. "Whatever it is, it won't change how I feel." His smile returned full force. "I love you, you know."

The bottom dropped out of her stomach, but she had to tell him before she lost her nerve. "This baby is yours, Max. I don't know why you hadn't considered the possibility or why you believed anything Gage said. But it's yours. That's why Alexon kept tabs on me even after they released me. They knew I'd conceived while in isolation with you, and that's what started all this."

"But-"

She shook her head. "No buts." She repeated the words he'd said to her last night. "It's true. This is your child."

Chapter Fourteen.

Max leaned against his SUV at the designated meeting place and tried to slow the thoughts whirling inside his head. He had to stay focused here. The Alexon officials would arrive at any moment and he had to be ready. Braxton was in position on a nearby rooftop. If there was trouble he would step in. Nicole waited in the SUV, the black wig disguising her blond hair. Ian Michaels, her husband and Victoria's second in command, had insisted on providing additional backup, and was somewhere close by.

Not that Max could blame him. He wouldn't want his wife in a dangerous situation without him around, either.

Wife.

Child.

The words tumbled one over the other in his head. Though he didn't have a wife-yet, he amended-he did have a child on the way. The realization shook him to the core of his being. He wanted to be angry that Scout had kept the truth from him, but somehow he couldn't. He was far too awestruck by the whole concept.

The child she carried was his.

Fury flared inside him. Kimble had known that; that's why he'd lied to Max in the first place. If Kimble wasn't the father and still knew about the pregnancy, that put him back at the top of the suspect list. Max knew what he'd tried to do. Kimble had wanted to throw him off balance, to drive a wedge between him and Scout. Well, it hadn't worked. Max cared enough for Scout that the child's paternity hadn't mattered to him. One way or another Max would get to the bottom of Gage Kimble's involvement.

But now it definitely did. The child was his and he d.a.m.n well intended to be a part of its life. It was no longer a matter of whether or not he and Scout could work something out, they would work something out. He loved her. He wanted her. And he would stop this threat to her one way or another. He'd have done that either way, but now he had an even stronger motivation to get it done quickly. His child would not come into this world with a threat looming over its head.

"Show time," Max muttered under his breath when a pair of headlights came into view. They all wore communicators-state-of-the-art earpieces that were almost invisible to the naked eye, and tiny transmitter disks strategically placed on a lapel or collar.

"Copy that." Braxton's voice echoed in his earpiece.

"Relax," Nicole murmured next. "Your tension is showing, Max."

He glanced toward the SUV and forced a smile for the lady inside. He wondered if she knew she'd just asked the impossible of him.

A long, dark limousine rolled into the deserted lot outside the dilapidated warehouse Max had chosen as the rendezvous point. This would be done on his terms and his terms only.

A rear door opened and Regis Brandon emerged. He adjusted his designer suit jacket and strolled over to where Max waited. "Where's Miss Jackson?" he demanded, immediately suspicious.

Max inclined his head toward the pa.s.senger seat of his SUV. Brandon's gaze darted in that direction. With the dark tint he could only see that someone was in there, but couldn't make out the details.

"This is how it's going to be." Max straightened from the relaxed stance he'd forced his body into and looked the shorter man in the eye. "We do this my way or we don't do it at all."

"He's got six on the ground," Braxton warned, his voice a low murmur in Max's earpiece.

Max glanced past Brandon and saw a flicker of movement a few yards away.

"What's it going to take to get Miss Jackson's cooperation?" Brandon demanded, oblivious to Max's increased vigilance.

Dividing his attention between Brandon and the shifting shadows, Max spelled it out for him. "If Alexon is willing to provide doc.u.mentation that their efforts are indeed commissioned by the United States government, Miss Jackson will turn over the umbilical cord at the time of birth." Max looked directly at him then. "But there will be no-absolutely no-further contact with her until that time. The birth will take place in the hospital of her choosing and with only one member of Alexon standing by. If Alexon ever attempts to contact Miss Jackson or her child again, formal charges will be filed." Max gave him a long level look that relayed just how serious he was. "We have our contacts in the government, as well. If Alexon ever wants to be awarded another research contract, I would suggest that you abide by the conditions."

His features tight with fury, Brandon snapped his fingers, and six men closed in on their position. All six wore dark clothing and black ski masks-just as Scout had described her attackers and the man who had supposedly killed her uncle.

Max frowned. Could she have been right all along? Surely he hadn't been this far off the mark.

"Standing ready," Braxton informed him, the words rea.s.suring in Max's ear.

"Falling down on your word already?" Max demanded curtly.

Brandon shook his head. "You don't understand, Mr. Maxwell. Biogenisis will abide by no such conditions. If we don't take Miss Jackson into custody and keep her safe until the child is born, Biogenisis will. They'll s.n.a.t.c.h her right from under your nose when you least expect it, and they won't care if she or the child survives once they have what they want."

Max gestured to the men in ski masks, whose weapons were aimed at him. "And you do care about her safety," he said tightly. "That's why six men have weapons trained on our position this very moment. That's why your men shot at us the other night and killed Harold Atkins one week ago. Is Gage Kimble working for you, as well?"

Brandon held up a hand and the weapons lowered instantly, surprising Max all over again. "What men? Who shot at you?"

"Why do you suppose we've been on the run?" Max flung the words at him. "Your men tracked us down at my cabin that very first night I found Scout. We could have been killed in the high-speed chase that ensued, not to mention in the firefight. And you're talking safety? Miss Jackson was. .h.i.t. How are we supposed to trust you?"

Brandon's eyes bulged in horror. He couldn't have faked that look if he'd tried. "Is she all right? Dear G.o.d, no one told me about this!"

Another surprising response. "She's fine. It was only a flesh wound. Then last night her uncle's house burned to the ground and we were almost caught in the explosion. Your man Kimble was there," Max added, in hopes of slipping him up.

Brandon shook his head. "We had nothing to do with any of this. I've had no idea where you were. Of course I heard about the house in the news, but I didn't know she was there. And I certainly don't know anyone named Kimble. I haven't left my office in days for fear I'd miss a call from you." His breath caught. "Biogenisis. They're on to you somehow."

Max shrugged noncommittally. If Kimble wasn't working for Alexon, he had to be working for Biogenisis. Max's impression was no longer simply hinging on emotion. "Someone is. They had a tracking device implanted in her locket. But lucky for us, we discovered it in time."

Brandon shook his head. "You must believe me. They'll stop at nothing, use any means to get at her. If they perfect the antidote first, the U.S. will be at their mercy." He waved his arms, indicating his guards. "This day and time we have to take extraordinary precautions. It's a dangerous business."

"I want to trust you, Brandon," Max said in all honesty. "But I know you're not telling me everything. A good liar you're not."

Brandon exhaled wearily and looked away. "Yes, there's more." His gaze leveled on Max's then. "We are responsible for Harold Atkins's death. It was my men that Miss Jackson saw. But we did it to protect her. Harold was a spy for Biogenisis. He was selling us out." He glanced at the woman behind the tinted gla.s.s in the SUV. "Selling her out and she didn't even know it. When we tried to stop him ..." He shrugged. "Well, things went wrong."

"And you're sure," Max pressed, "that Harold Atkins is dead. Who identified the body?"

Brandon looked nervous. "I ... I did. It wasn't easy to tell, with the condition his face was in." He sighed, remembering. "Even with a bullet in his chest, he managed to shoot and kill one of my men. The shots that finished him off were head shots, making ID difficult. But it was him. Though I wasn't there when it happened, I know it was. Just in case, however, we verified his ident.i.ty with fingerprints." He moved his head from side to side. "I can't believe it came to that ... but it did. If we hadn't stopped him, Miss Jackson and her baby would be lab rats for Biogenisis at this very moment. We tried to do the right thing. Even gave the b.a.s.t.a.r.d a topnotch funeral." His gaze leveled on Max's. "It had to be done. Now, I'd like to speak to Miss Jackson." The door opened and Nicole climbed out of the vehicle, removing the black wig as she emerged.

A gasp sounded from Brandon. "That's ... where is she?" He turned and glowered at Max. "Where the h.e.l.l is she? I'm telling you that Biogenisis is after her. They could have her right now!"

"Now it's your turn to trust me," Max countered. "Miss Jackson is safe. Once you've provided the proof we requested and a signed contract agreeing to our conditions, she will provide you with a signed contract, as well."

Resigned, Brandon nodded. "All right. All right. Just make sure you keep her and that baby safe."

"You have my word," Max said, concluding their meeting.

THE WAITING WAS DRIVING her crazy. Scout paced back across the length of the room. Why hadn't they heard something by now? It shouldn't be taking this long.

"Relax!" Doug implored. "If anything goes wrong, we'll find out. Max and Ryan know what they're doing."

But the men who were after them were ruthless, capable of anything. She'd seen that firsthand. She didn't bother arguing, however.

Moments later she stopped in midstep and threw her hands up in the air. "I can't stand this. Can't we contact someone and find out what's going on?" "We'll wait for them to contact us," Doug said rea.s.suringly. "If we called, the timing could be bad and cause all sorts of problems."

She understood that, but she needed to know that everything was okay. When she turned to pace in the opposite direction, a telephone rang. Doug checked his, but it wasn't ringing. The next instant their gazes went to the bar. The cellphone that had been delivered to her at the Colby Agency guest house lay there. It rang again. Max had kept it handy in case her "uncle" made contact again.

"I'm not sure you should answer it," Doug said, pushing himself up from the couch and crossing to the bar as she did.

"What if it's ... Uncle Harold again?" she said, voicing her uncharacteristic fear. He was dead. Wasn't he? G.o.d, she didn't know. "Or what if it's Alexon and they have Max and Nicole?"

Doug shook his head. "We would know."

She arched a skeptical eyebrow. "Would we?"

Before he could answer the question, she s.n.a.t.c.hed up the phone and punched the receive b.u.t.ton. "h.e.l.lo."

"Scout, thank G.o.d you're okay."

Gage.

Why would he be calling? What did it take to get rid of him? He'd lied to Max. Had he lied to her? "What's up, Gage?" Doug frowned when he heard the name. "Alexon is going to kill Max. You have to come right away."

"What?" A chunk of ice formed in her belly. This was crazy. But ... Alexon was with Max. Her heart started to hammer in her chest. "Max is-"

"The meeting with Maxwell is just a decoy," Gage said urgently. "They knew you wouldn't really show up there with him so they staged a plan B, so to speak. If you don't come right away, he's going to die. Harold is behind everything. He's the one. He tried to get me to come in on the deal and I refused. I'm on my way there to try and stop him."

He paused. "Let me help you, Scout," he urged. "We can't let them kill Max. I know he's the father of your child and that there can never be anything between us. I have to do the right thing ... we have to help Max. And you can finally bring to justice the man who killed your father."

Shock gripped her. She tried to a.s.similate everything he said, but all she could think about was Max. If this was a setup ... But Harold couldn't be involved. He was dead.

But the M.E.'s file is missing, a little voice argued. The mortician couldn't really say for sure that it was him. The call ... that voice had been his. She was certain of it.

What if Gage was right? What if Harold was alive? What if he and Alexon were hurting Max right this moment?

She scrubbed a hand over her face and tried to make a decision. "Gage, I don't know. I-"

"Please, Scout, you have to trust me. I know I let you down by not standing up to your uncle and stopping him, but you have to believe me now."

"Wait," she ordered. Turning the phone against her shoulder, she looked straight at Doug and demanded, "Is there any way to find out if everything is as it should be with Max and the others?" Her heart thundered in her chest. She had to be sure.

Doug hesitated.

"I have to know. Now!"

Doug punched in a number on his cellular phone. After a brief pause, he said, "I need a status." He listened, then looked at her. "The meeting went down without a glitch. They're headed back here now. ETA is twenty minutes."

Gage was lying.

A cold hard knot formed in her stomach. She lifted the cellphone back to her ear. "Gage?"

Nothing.

She punched the end b.u.t.ton and stared blankly at the phone. Why had he made that call? What was the point? Who was he working for? If he knew about the meeting with Alexon ...

The answer hit her with all the force of a kick to her solar plexus.