Page 13 of Asher

“No, I’m… I’m fine,” Marlowe finally answered, her voice rough and unfriendly. “Just overwhelmed being back in America, when just a couple days ago, I was on the other side of the gawddamned world!”

Ouch.Make that rough, unfriendly, and hostile.

“Three days ago, honey,” Asher gently advised the stressed-out woman in the wheelchair, before Paige jumped in with a correction and got her head bitten off again.

Chastised, she took a half-step back, then did what she should’ve done in the first place. Paige took a knee beside Marlowe’s wheelchair, which put them on the same level, and instead of touching without asking, she simply said, “Welcome home, Ms. Rich, and if I can help in any way, please let me know.”

Marlowe sat there trembling, so Asher intervened. “Sorry, Paige, but we need to get moving.”

“Sure. No problem.” She lifted to her feet. “Have your phone with you?”

“Yes. Always.”

“Good, because we’re on high alert until we know where your friendly nurse in Pakistan went. She disappeared after Ambassador Clark was flown back to the States yesterday. He’s in the ICU at Walter Reed. Seems he inhaled a lethal dose of anthrax.”

“Anthrax? Shit, is he going to be okay?”

Page nodded. “Yes, the embassy doctor recognized the symptoms and quarantined Clark until he could get him home. A team of State Department investigators are at the embassy now. Hopefully, they’ll find who tried to kill him and drag that person back home with them when they return.”

“How’d they get anthrax? Was it in the clinic, too?” Asher hoped not, for Marlowe’s sake.

“No. They haven’t found anthrax anywhere but in the ductwork at the ambassador’s residence. The investigators believe it wasdelivered through the air vents via aerosol spray, but that’s just a theory. Until they run DNA tests, they can’t pin down the exact version they’re dealing with. They need genomes and plasmids and” —Paige waved her fingers at Asher— “you know, all the technical DNA stuff I know nothing about.” She looked down at Marlowe. “I’m serious, Ms. Rich. I can get anything you want or need, all you have to do is ask. Even if it’s just a box of chocolates.”

“Thank you,” Marlowe answered politely. “A chocolate bar would be nice.”

“Any specific brand?”

The slightest smile poked at the corners of Marlowe’s lips. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had any. Surprise me?”

“You bet. I’ll stop by your room later, and if you’re not back, I’ll leave it where you can see it. Deal?”

“Deal. And, umm, thanks.”

“You’re welcome, Ms. Rich.”

“You can, umm, call me Marlowe.”

“And you can call me Paige. I’ll talk to you soon.”

Asher breathed a sigh of relief. No girl fight today.

“Keep me informed,” he told Paige, as he wheeled Marlowe out the door and into the sunny, spring day, before they ran into anyone else. Most agents were on assignment. Those who weren’t, were probably in their offices working on after-action reports. Murphy and Mark, the two senior agents, were sticklers for details. They never accepted the first draft.

“Do you think that weird nurse poisoned the ambassador?” Marlowe asked as he took a sharp left, headed for the first of two barns on TEAM HQ property.

Immediately, several dogs in the outside kennels spotted him and started barking. “I think she had something to do with it.”

“She was creepy. I didn’t like her. She never looked at me, and she talked down to you like you were a three-year old.”

A smile sparked Asher’s lips as he headed down the gradual incline to the barn. Marlowe was protective of him? That was new. “Well, she’ll get hers, so don’t let her spoil our day. Are you warm enough?”

What was wrong with him?Our day? This wasn’tour day. It was justanother day. Nothing special about it.Our daymade it sound like there was something going on between him and Marlowe when there wasn’t.

“Yes, this robe is warm. I like it, but the dots on these socks hurt when I stand on them.”

“How did you walk with Libby?” She’d sounded proud of her progress earlier.

Marlowe shrugged. “My feet weren’t as sore then, and I had slippers on, not socks.”

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