Jared felt that heartfelt sigh to the bottom of his toes. “I know.” His voice was quiet. “I still can’t believe he’s gone, either.”
She turned to face him. “You liked Sam a lot, didn’t you?”
“He was a great man.” No matter how sincere he sounded, Jared’s tone couldn’t match the feeling of loss inside him. It was like the day he’d lost his grandad, the only male parental figure he’d ever known.
What a shame he hadn’t realized how much Sam had meant to him until now. A tight feeling clutched at his chest. “It may not seem like it, but I tried to protect him.”
“You didn’t try hard enough.”
The hotheaded woman Sam had described—Sassy Sassa—was back. Her attitude even showed in her features. Those pouty lips thinned. Just a little, but enough to notice.
He wanted to say something, to come back with a smart remark, but he couldn’t. What she’d said was true. He should have fought harder. Demanded more of...everything. Protection. Resources. Everything. Instead, he’d tried to go along with the program. Tried to be the dutiful agent, the good department man. He hadn’t wanted to rock the boat or to make enemies of his superiors. Once again, trying to prove himself worthy. It was an ugly truth but one that needed to be faced.
Jared was about to admit that truth to Sassa when she shook her head. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. I’m guilty, too. I was close to Sam. I was his assistant. I should have known something was wrong. But I was wrapped up in my own issues.”
A little surprised, he glanced her way and then quickly back to the freeway. “He worked hard to keep you out of it. He wanted to protect you and precious Keri.”
She jerked in surprise. “That’s what he called her.”
Jared smiled for the first time in hours...or was it days? “I know. Sam talked about her a lot...and you.”
He saw the glisten of tears before she turned her face away. “He was trying to save the world and I just wanted to save myself.”
Her words gave Jared pause. “Did you need saving?”
Her little laugh was rueful. “Always. My life has been a series of setbacks. I had a full-ride scholarship for college, but no, I had to be one of the original teen moms. Pregnant in my senior year of high school. Then I married the guy.” She shook her head.
“Kopack mentioned your ex has a gambling addiction.”
She laughed again. “The appropriate question would be what isn’t he addicted to? Women. Alcohol. I lost my first baby worrying over his addictions. Then Erik disappeared. When he came crawling back, I gave him a second chance.”
She gave her ex a second chance? The one he never got. He turned to study her. “Why?”
Blue eyes widened and perky shaped brows rose into cute peaks.
“Why did you give him a second chance?” Jared repeated the question. The answer was important.
“I...guess I still loved him and... I believe marriage is a sacred vow.”
Not the answer Jared had expected and a sound, almost a chuckle, slipped out.
Sassa turned to him. “Are you laughing at my beliefs?”
“No. I’m laughing at myself really. Do you know where I was when Sam called? I was in Los Angeles trying to convince my wife that we needed to give our marriage one more chance.”
Sassa studied him for a long, silent moment. “Did it work?”
He gave his head a shake. “Just before we went into divorce court, her new boyfriend assured me there was nothing sacred about our vows...at least not for her.”
“I’m sorry. That must have hurt.”
She was quiet for a while. “I always felt that if Erik knew God, we would have had a better chance. But you can’t force someone to see God...even if He’s standing right in front of them.”
“It would be better if He made Himself easier to see.”
“It’s not supposed to be easy. It’s something we have to work toward.”
“Is that why Sam’s dead? To make life unbearably hard for you and me?”
Her lips parted then hardened as she faced forward, her eyes back on the road.
They drove for miles in silence.
Jared called himself several choice names. In her eyes, he’d just placed himself firmly in the camp of “those who can’t see God.” He couldn’t afford to be there. He and this woman needed to be united. To stand together.
He shook his head. “We don’t have time for this.”
“For what?”
“Airing our different beliefs or indulging our...insecurities. Out of all the people in the world, Sam chose you and me to be his friends. He put his faith in us. We need to rally, to work together to save his legacy and maybe life as we know it. If the Black Knights release the virus, it will destroy crops around the world. Economies will collapse. People will starve. It will be a disaster.”
“What can I do? You heard your boss, Kopack. I’m practically a suspect in Sam’s murder.”
Jared shook his head. “First, Kopack is not my boss. He’s FBI, and he was just doing his job, which is to find the people who murdered Sam and stop them. Now we have to do our job.”
She took a deep breath before asking, “And what exactly is our job?”
“I’m a border patrol officer. My job is to stop bio-terrorism. You’re a scientist. Your job is to find the problems and solve them.”
“What do you mean?”
He glanced at her quickly. “Kopack is focused on finding the Black Knights and stopping them. He might not succeed. Then what happens?”
“They create the virus and release it.”
“And it’s our job to stop that from happening.”
He saw her jerk before turning to stare at him. “You want me to find a cure for the virus.”
He nodded. “Let Kopack find Chekhov and the Black Knights. You and I need to work on the cure. Sam started the job and I have access to his notes on our server.”
“If you have the formula, you can put the best biologists on it. You don’t need me.”
He shook his head. “Yes, we do. After the breach to the computer system, Sam never trusted it. He refused to put the complete formula on our system.”
“Then where did he put it?”
“We assumed he put all his final findings on a private computer, one he didn’t hook up to the internet...ever.”
“That’s why Chekhov marched in and stole his computer bag. The formula is on that computer. But how did he know? If Sam was so careful, how did Chekhov know the formula was completed?”
“As far as I can tell, Chekhov didn’t know Sam had completed the formula. I’m not sure he even knew Sam was working with us. I think Chekhov decided that Sam’s trip to China was the perfect time to snatch June and then blackmail her husband into completing the virus. Once he kidnapped her and Sam alerted us, the FBI and Homeland Security came into the investigation. Information shot across multiple networks. That’s where we made our mistake. Until then, I don’t think the Black Knights realized Sam had the formula. Once they did, they changed plans rapidly and devised a way to snatch it.”
Sassa gave a little gasp. “June’s dead, too,