"He's a fine soldier, as I think you know," she answered finally. She wasn't really sure what to say, so she settled for commenting on his professional abilities.

"But how is he doing with you? What I mean to say is, I doubt he's ever been on a combat mission with a woman before. Is he giving you any grief?"

Sykes's friendly smile invited confidences. Sarah wasn't going to fall for that. She assumed Sykes had only her best interests at heart, but she'd never say anything that could damage either Xavier's reputation or his career.

"He's been the perfect gentleman and the perfect coworker. He gives me space and he's taught me a lot about how to operate in the field. He says I've been able to show him a lot about crime scene investigation, so it seems to be a good match." It felt a little boastful to say that last bit. Sarah was never one to toot her own horn, but the situation seemed to call for it.

"It goes without saying that most of these men are trained as soldiers, not necessarily as investigators. It's yet another reason why I'm glad to have you on the team." Sykes seemed genuine enough, if a bit overly friendly. It seemed like he was trying too hard. For the life of her, she couldn't figure out why.

Sarah hated beating around the bush. She had the well-earned reputation of being a straight shooter. People were rarely allowed to get away with subterfuge in their relations with her, both in business and in her personal life. Being surrounded by cops and marines at home had done that to her. She liked having things out in the open.

"Commander-"

"Call me Matt." He interrupted before she could finish her thought.

"Matt." She tried again. "Why is it so important to you that I'm on the team?"

He looked at her oddly for a moment before visibly relaxing and giving a gusty sigh. "That obvious, am I?"

The chagrined smile he gave her invited commiseration. This time, she followed where he led. Now, she thought, she was seeing the real Matt Sykes, not the public relations wannabe he'd tried at before.

"What's the deal, Matt Matt?" She put a slight emphasis on his first name, drawing his grin out even more.

"I've been ordered to make sure you stay on the team. Whatever you want, I've been told to provide. It comes down from the highest levels. We need you, Sarah. Badly. They want to make certain you're going to stick with the mission until it's completed." She read pure honesty in his eyes. Now, finally, she was getting the truth behind his odd behavior.

"Whatever I want, eh?" She felt confident enough to tease him. Luckily, he realized she was teasing. She saw the humor reflected in his eyes.

"Yes, indeed. You hold all the cards, ma'am." He nodded, visibly suppressing a chuckle.

"Hmm. I think I like the sound of that." She let him dangle for a moment longer, then relented. "Your superiors should have known just from reading my file that I wouldn't leave this mission in the lurch. I took an oath to protect and serve. Right now, I can do that best from within your little group. Don't worry. Xavier won't run me off. He's been the perfect partner, in fact. I really am learning a lot from him."

"I'm glad." Sykes looked relieved. "I didn't know him that well before this all started, but I've gained a deep respect for Captain Beauvoir."

"Me too." She smiled softly.

"Good." Sykes straightened, some of the stiffness returning to his posture. "If you have any problems, Sarah, I hope you know you can come to me. Anytime. This mission is perhaps the most important I've ever been tasked with and I'll do anything I can to make sure it ends in success. Just say the word if you need me." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a card and a pen. He took a moment to write something on the back before handing the card to her. "This is my office number. My cell phone number is scribbled on the back. Feel free to make use of it if necessary."

She pocketed the card, touched that he'd make the offer. "Thanks, Commander."

"I thought you were going to call me Matt?"

She chuckled. "I'll try."

"See that you do." He laughed along with her. "So besides personnel issues, how is the mission itself treating you? I suspect the Police Academy didn't prepare you for facing marauding zombies in the woods."

A chuckle escaped, and a few of the men turned to look at her before she tamped down the urge to laugh.

"Sorry." She shook her head, still amused. "Yeah, I must have missed Zombie Day at the academy." Reflecting on what she'd been through the past couple of days, Sarah revised her answer. "Actually, I think I'm starting to get used to it, though I'll be the first to admit I wasn't much help to Xavier the first time we faced them together. I'd like to think I've acquitted myself better since then." Thinking about that encounter in the basement of the abandoned building still smarted. She'd been the next best thing to useless. Sarah wasn't used to performing so poorly on duty.

"Sarah." His tone lowered, became gentler somehow. "I've seen the surveillance video they made of your initial encounter with two of the creatures. Aside from being appalled that someone sat there and watched while you fought for your life, I have to say I was impressed by the way you fought back, as injured as you were. You saved yourself. You can be proud of the way you reacted."

She searched his eyes, touched by his concern. "Thanks." Never comfortable with praise, Sarah felt like a change of subject was in order. "I know you've all said that being immune is rare, but I'm curious. How rare is it, really? I mean, are you immune? Is that why they tapped you to head up this case?"

"Unfortunately not. If I were, I'd be out there in the field with you. As it stands, we have too few operatives who can face these things without fear of the contagion. You are part of a very select group, Sarah. Which is why we really need you on this."

"Well, you've got me. I know where my duty lies. Even if the zombies give me the creeps, I'll do what I have to do to help stop them." She shivered jokingly, though the zombies really did creep her out.

"To answer your question, I ended up running this show because the first infestation occurred on my base. After losing a lot of good marines to the contagion, we finally hit on how to neutralize the creatures. We had one immune soldier. Lucky for us, he was a SEAL. He went into the woods surrounding the base and solved our little problem in a few weeks. I honestly thought that would be the end of it. Then I got summoned to MacDill in the middle of the night to meet the commander of all joint Special Forces operations. USSOCOM, which is short for U.S. Special Operations Command. Never did I expect to meet, let alone work for that particular admiral."

Sykes shook his head at the memory. "I was told there'd been another outbreak. Due to my prior experience, I was asked to head up the operation. USSOCOM got involved because the scope had expanded beyond my base and now the army special ops guys were involved. Anytime the spec ops units from different branches have to work together, SOCOM coordinates it. That's how a navy guy ended up in charge of a bunch of Green Berets." He gestured to the men around the room. "Then we got reports about your attack, which earned me another trip to MacDill, and the mission expanded in scope. I hope to God it ends there, but I'm bracing for the worst."

"Probably a wise precaution," she agreed. "From what I gather, Sellars wasn't the only scientist on the initial project. Where there's one bad apple, more could follow."

Sykes looked grim. "So you appreciate the gravity of our problem. The fact that Sellars tried to get your blood while you were in the hospital was actually a lucky break for us. You were able to identify him and we can reasonably assume he's the source of the outbreak. We aren't quite that lucky with the outbreak at Fort Bragg. We're still trying to figure out the source of the creature that started the problem."

"That's awful," Sarah commiserated, thinking hard about how she might be able to help. Not knowing enough about the situation, she couldn't offer much in the way of practical suggestions.

"I'm hopeful your investigation will turn up some leads for us to follow."

"I'll certainly keep that in mind. If I see any potential tie-ins as we go along, I'll be sure to let you know," she promised.

"Excellent."

Sykes offered his hand and she took it, pleased by his firm, no-nonsense shake. She'd often thought you could tell a lot about a man by the way he shook your hand. She liked Sykes. He was a strong man who seemed to earn respect by his actions rather than by his rank alone. That was a good quality in a leader, as far as she was concerned.

They talked for a few minutes more about inconsequential things. She was glad Xavier had arranged this meeting. It was good to know the rest of the team and at least a small part of the chain of command.

Xavier watched Sarah as she talked with Sykes, impressed all over again by her presence and composure. She was a consummate professional and gorgeous to boot.

"What's up with you two?" Sam sidled up beside him, following the direction of his gaze to where Sarah stood with Sykes across the room. "If you don't mind me asking."

"Nothing I want to talk about with you right now, Sam." Xavier gave him the stink eye, hoping his friend would get the message. But Sam Archer was made of sterner, more stubborn stuff than that. He wouldn't let it go. Damn the man.

"It's pretty obvious you're involved. You might just be in over your head with this one. She's nothing like the women you usually date."

"I said I don't want to talk about this."

"Damn, buddy. You've got it bad. Can't say I blame you. She seems like one hell of a woman. I just hope you know what you're getting yourself into. Things aren't exactly stable in either of your lives right now."

"I'm well aware of that. But it's still none of your business."

"Just trying to look out for a friend, Xav."

A long look passed between them. Sam wasn't backing down, but then Xavier hadn't expected him to. They'd been friends a long time, having come up through the ranks together. They owed each other their lives several times over, which gave Sam more than a little latitude. That went both ways. They had each other's backs. Always had.

Working together on the same team was a recent development. Sam and he had trained and studied together, but they'd always been assigned to different units. When Xavier's unit had been decimated in the zombie fiasco, he'd been reassigned and given the opportunity to form his own small task force. The first person he'd picked had been Sam.

They'd worked well together, but sometimes-like right now-the lines between their longstanding friendship and their commander-subordinate relationship blurred. So far it hadn't been a problem. Xavier wondered if this thing with Sarah would be the straw that broke the camel's back. He hoped not. For the sake of the mission, their friendship and his blossoming relationship with Sarah.

"Leave it alone, Sam. I appreciate the concern, but we'll just have to see how it goes."

"Don't say I didn't warn you, brother."

Chapter Ten

Matt Sykes dialed the admiral's number as he drove himself to the airport. A small plane was fueled up and waiting to take him back to Fort Bragg, but he had to make his report first. The admiral had demanded a call as soon as the meeting ended, and Matt knew it was never wise to keep an admiral waiting.

The phone was answered on the second ring.

"Sir, this is Matt Sykes. I'm on my way back to Bragg. The meeting with Beauvoir's team just broke up."

"Good. I'll want you to coordinate reports between the two areas of operation. Give me daily status updates on both groups at 0900 and 1800 each day until further notice."

"Yes, sir." Twice-daily updates? Matt was curious about the admiral's sudden interest but glad he was taking the situation more seriously. Matt gave his report on the meeting as he drove, filling the admiral in on what he'd learned from the New York investigation.

"What is your opinion of Officer Petit?" the admiral asked bluntly.

"She is a capable officer and from all accounts lives up to the picture painted in her file. She's faced the creatures several times and, according to Beauvoir, reacts well in combat situations." Matt decided to stick to the facts.

"Call me a dinosaur, but I don't think I'll ever be comfortable sending female personnel into situations where hand-to-hand combat is likely."

The admiral's personal observation made him more human to Matt. He didn't really know this admiral. He'd never worked with him or for him before, though he'd certainly heard of him and his reputation as a harsh but fair taskmaster. The more Matt saw of him, the more he respected the man.

"I can understand your reasoning, sir." Matt wouldn't go so far as to share his own views, which marched along the same lines as the admiral's. He wasn't quite that comfortable with the man yet. "Sarah Petit seems able to handle herself. She and Captain Beauvoir found video someone had taken of the attack that left her immune. It's worth watching. The woman was seriously concussed, yet she managed to fight free from two of the creatures."

"I saw it." The admiral's voice was grim.

Matt was impressed the man had already viewed the digital file he'd forwarded only an hour before.

"She got lucky. If her head had hit the concrete any harder, those things would have damaged her irreparably before anyone could have found her."

Matt knew the truth of the older man's statement. Sarah had saved herself that day, there was no doubt in anyone's mind about that. The video only proved how very courageous she'd been in the face of dire circumstances. Even though she had later proved to be immune from the contagion, those zombies could still have killed her by slicing, dicing, clawing and biting her to death by slow degrees. Blood loss would have been the kindest way to have died but not the most likely. She would have suffered terribly before finally succumbing.

"How's her commitment to the mission, Commander?" the admiral demanded.

"She's in for the duration, sir. She understands how much we need her and is willing to go the distance."

"Thank heaven for that," the admiral muttered. "And what do you think of her personally, Commander?"

"She is what she seems. A dedicated, skilled officer, willing to protect and serve. Those were the words she used. She seems to see this mission as an extension of her oath as a police officer."

"That's good, but what were your impressions of her? You talked to her. Give me a feel for her character."

Sam was surprised by the request but willing to try. "She's smaller than I expected. Very petite. She's also fierce and has a lively sense of humor, even under the circumstances. She saw right through my poor attempts to ingratiate myself and called me on it." The admiral chuckled on the other end of the line, but Matt didn't pause. "She seems to like plain talk and honesty, which is something I respect. All in all, I think she's a good addition to the team."

"The fact that she's female isn't going to be a problem?"

"The men seemed to accept her as a member of the team. They all seemed to respect her and I think Beauvoir has taken her under his wing. She told me he'd been teaching her how to work in the field and she'd been sharing her investigative knowledge with him. They've already turned up more evidence than the military personnel has at Bragg. I think having her on the team will cause more good than harm in the long run."

"She looks like a pretty young girl in her file photo. No hormone issues among the men?"

Matt had to stifle a laugh at the way the admiral phrased his question.

"As I said, sir, I think Captain Beauvoir has taken her under his wing, so to speak."

"Do you think they're involved?"

He could hear the admiral's frown in his voice. Matt wasn't prepared to cause trouble over something that might or might not be going on. He didn't really care what his people got up to in their private time, but he knew there were a lot of older officers especially who weren't so lenient.

"It doesn't appear so, sir. Captain Beauvoir has a reputation for protecting underdogs. In Ranger School, he helped another candidate who had fallen ill with a twenty-four-hour virus until he was over the hump and able to compete again. Beauvoir's been known to give extra training on off-hours to those in his command who don't perform up to his standards. The men flock to him. He seems to inspire loyalty and the desire to perform at peak ability in his men. From the conversation I had with Sarah Petit tonight, he's had the same effect on her." Matt privately thought there probably was something romantic going on between Sarah and Xavier, but nobody would hear about it from him.

"What did she say to lead you to this conclusion?"

The admiral sounded skeptical to Matt's ears.

"She told me she thought she'd performed poorly in her first two encounters with the creatures but that, with Beauvoir's help, she was doing better. Her tone was clearly one of admiration when she spoke of the captain and his skills in the field. He's definitely had an effect on her." Matt had seen the way Sarah and Xavier had looked at each other. He'd also noticed the way Beauvoir protected her without being too obvious about it. The man was probably already halfway in love with the pretty policewoman.

Matt almost envied him. Sarah was a fine-looking woman and had a big heart. She also understood duty and honor. Such a woman would be a good match for a man in Xavier's line of work. Matt's line of work, too, for that matter. Too bad he hadn't met Sarah first. Maybe if he had, he'd have had a chance with her. As it was, she'd only had eyes for Xavier.

"All right." The admiral regained Matt's attention with his decisive tone. "Now, what can you tell me about the situation at Bragg? Any new developments come out of your meeting in New York?"

Matt made a face, glad the admiral couldn't see him. Frankly, he was disgusted by their lack of progress in identifying the source of the outbreak. Luckily, the number of zombies at Fort Bragg was minimal compared with what had been unleashed so far on Long Island.

"We still haven't been able to locate the source of the contagion at Fort Bragg, sir. I've downloaded a lot of information from the New York investigation to my people in North Carolina and we're scheduled for a group debrief tomorrow at 0600. You'll have the results of that session in your 0900 report."

"How about the creature count at Bragg? Any increase?"

"No, sir." That was the one small blessing in this whole messed-up situation. "After the initial creature that spread the infection before I came on scene, the instance of new cases has been minimal."

"I'm concerned that we haven't been able to locate the source of that initial creature. Where there's one, there's bound to be more. If someone is experimenting with the contagion in North Carolina, we need to find them and stop them."

"Yes, sir." Matt couldn't agree more. It was how he was supposed to accomplish that feat with not a single clue to work with that had him stymied.

The admiral sighed audibly. "All right. Keep me advised. I'll expect your next report tomorrow at 0900. If anything big happens in the meantime, call me directly. I don't care what time it is."

Matt was impressed by the instruction. Very few admirals would welcome being awakened in the middle of the night by a ringing phone. For that matter, very few admirals would have asked Matt to call after a dinner meeting. Matt knew this number was the admiral's private encrypted cell phone, which he kept with him at all times. Most likely, the man was at home right now, after having put in a long day at the office.