Читать книгу Beautiful Beast - Dani Sinclair - Страница 7

Frederick, Maryland

Four years earlier

Unease rode Gabe, but second lieutenants in the U.S. Army didn’t question direct orders from a major, even one outside their direct chain of command. When Major Frank Carstairs gave an order, it was obeyed.

Besides, Gabe could hardly call his captain for verification. Everyone knew Captain Bruce Huntington didn’t like Second Lieutenant Gabriel Lowe, who had been recently assigned to his military intelligence unit. And the order had nothing to do with Gabe’s babysitting job. He was the newest person in the unit, and low man, so he got all the unwanted assignments.

The original orders had been to transport three vials of a deadly toxin from the military base in Frederick, Maryland, to Dr. Powell Richards at Sunburst Laboratory in Urbana, Maryland. Gabe was then to oversee security.

Everything had gone as planned. The doctor had accepted the toxin with no hitches yesterday, and today had been a normal day. The doctor had left early, and Gabe had made certain the toxin was secured and his men in place before leaving. He’d been on his way home when Major Carstairs had ordered him to pick up Dr. Richards and escort the scientist to the base immediately.

Clearly something was wrong but no one, especially not the major, was going to bother explaining to him what that something was.

While the doctor had appeared stressed and preoccupied when he left for the day, Gabe didn’t know him well enough to know if that was normal or not. Dr. Richards hadn’t mentioned a problem and none of Gabe’s men had reported anything since he left, so what was going on?

Parking the car on the narrow street, Gabe stared up at the Richards house as dusk laid claim to the neighborhood. There was no car in the driveway and no lights to indicate anyone was home.

Other houses sparkled with lights and life as dusk yielded quickly to the press of an early nightfall. A perfectly normal scene, yet Gabe felt something was off.

Uneasy, he stepped from his car trying to determine why his senses were crying an alert for no good reason. He felt oddly exposed. His hand itched for the comfort of his holstered service revolver.

He hesitated as headlights swept up the street. The garage door began to open. The approaching vehicle slowed to make the turn, giving Gabe a clear view of the driver. Dr. Richards appeared even more stressed and distracted than before. He didn’t so much as glance at Gabe standing there. Something was definitely wrong.

Gabe’s hand still hovered near his revolver as he followed the car toward the house. He moved more quickly when it pulled all the way into the garage.

Without warning, a giant fireball rocked the neighborhood. Gabe reeled back. Something sliced his face as the garage exploded.

He ignored the warmth running down his cheek and sprinted for the car. A figure struggled to climb out as flames engulfed everything. A billowing wave of heat brought Gabe’s hands up to cover his face.

The second, larger explosion sent Gabe sailing through the air. He landed with incredible force amid a hail of raining debris. His last coherent thought was that he should have listened to his instincts.