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Chapters (96)
  1. Cover
  2. Berkley titles by David Ricciardi
  3. Dedication
  4. Epigraph
  5. CHARACTER LIST
  6. PROLOGUE
  7. ONE
  8. TWO
  9. THREE
  10. FOUR
  11. FIVE
  12. SIX
  13. SEVEN
  14. EIGHT
  15. NINE
  16. TEN
  17. ELEVEN
  18. TWELVE
  19. THIRTEEN
  20. FOURTEEN
  21. FIFTEEN
  22. SIXTEEN
  23. SEVENTEEN
  24. EIGHTEEN
  25. NINETEEN
  26. TWENTY
  27. TWENTY-ONE
  28. TWENTY-TWO
  29. TWENTY-THREE
  30. TWENTY-FOUR
  31. TWENTY-FIVE
  32. TWENTY-SIX
  33. TWENTY-SEVEN
  34. TWENTY-EIGHT
  35. TWENTY-NINE
  36. THIRTY
  37. THIRTY-ONE
  38. THIRTY-TWO
  39. THIRTY-THREE
  40. THIRTY-FOUR
  41. THIRTY-FIVE
  42. THIRTY-SIX
  43. THIRTY-SEVEN
  44. THIRTY-EIGHT
  45. THIRTY-NINE
  46. FORTY
  47. FORTY-ONE
  48. FORTY-TWO
  49. FORTY-THREE
  50. FORTY-FOUR
  51. FORTY-FIVE
  52. FORTY-SIX
  53. FORTY-SEVEN
  54. FORTY-EIGHT
  55. FORTY-NINE
  56. FIFTY
  57. FIFTY-ONE
  58. FIFTY-TWO
  59. FIFTY-THREE
  60. FIFTY-FOUR
  61. FIFTY-FIVE
  62. FIFTY-SIX
  63. FIFTY-SEVEN
  64. FIFTY-EIGHT
  65. FIFTY-NINE
  66. SIXTY
  67. SIXTY-ONE
  68. SIXTY-TWO
  69. SIXTY-THREE
  70. SIXTY-FOUR
  71. SIXTY-FIVE
  72. SIXTY-SIX
  73. SIXTY-SEVEN
  74. SIXTY-EIGHT
  75. SIXTY-NINE
  76. SEVENTY
  77. SEVENTY-ONE
  78. SEVENTY-TWO
  79. SEVENTY-THREE
  80. SEVENTY-FOUR
  81. SEVENTY-FIVE
  82. SEVENTY-SIX
  83. SEVENTY-SEVEN
  84. SEVENTY-EIGHT
  85. SEVENTY-NINE
  86. EIGHTY
  87. EIGHTY-ONE
  88. EIGHTY-TWO
  89. EIGHTY-THREE
  90. EIGHTY-FOUR
  91. EIGHTY-FIVE
  92. EIGHTY-SIX
  93. EIGHTY-SEVEN
  94. Children of Fallen Patriots Foundation
  95. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  96. What’s next onyour reading list?

The round caught Nacay in the side of the head, just behind his eye.

He crumpled to the ground instantly, as if his entire skeleton had suddenly been removed. Jake fired more rounds at the shooters, trying to draw their fire from Pickens, but the volume of incoming fire soon forced him behind cover.

Jake took a deep breath, dropped to one knee, and popped out from the wall. He skipped a few bullets under the truck, hoping a ricochet would neutralize some of the gunmen and maybe save Pickens, but they kept firing. The staccato reports of the AK-47s echoed through the narrow street as they raked the car with gunfire.

Lead chunked into the sheet metal.

Bullets shattered the glass.

Rounds smashed through the seats.

And that’s when Jake saw the windshield . . .

Covered in Pickens’s blood.

SIXTY-NINE

JAKE YELLED TO his partner, but there was no reaction.

Pickens’s head was slumped forward, his chin resting on his chest. The windshield was covered with blood. He looked as if he’d taken a round to the back of his skull, straight through the brain. Not even former outside linebacker John Pickens, built like a tank and nearly as tough, could have survived it.

Nacay yelled for his men to redirect their fire to Jake.

Jake shot back and quickly wounded one of the gunmen, but he had only a single magazine and his attackers had enough ammunition to fight a war. The volume of incoming fire quickly pushed him back behind cover.

With his back against a nearby house and the gunmen closing in, Jake dropped his magazine and checked how many rounds he had left. He’d been serious when he’d said they weren’t going to take him alive.

He was down to his last bullet.

He saved that one for himself.

Instinct drew him to Pickens. Abandoning Athena moments after she’d died had blown a crater in Jake’s heart, and he knew that leaving his fallen partner would be almost as bad, but there was nothing he could do. Getting killed while trying to stop a biological attack was one thing, but sacrificing his life for a man that was already dead was just a waste.

Jake darted between the houses while voices shouted, engines revved, and tires chirped in the street behind him. But the surrounding streets were dense with traffic, and Jake was light and fast and driven. He lost the shooters in just a few blocks and was able to hail a passing Bajaj.

It was a thirty-minute taxi ride back to the safe house and three years since Jake had felt a real connection to a woman. And watching the last threads of life drain from Athena’s body while he cradled her on the ground had been excruciating.