“How did he know we were onto him?” she asked, feeling the weight of responsibility hanging around her neck.

“I don’t know.” Alex shook his head and that scared her more than anything else had today. Alex knew everything. “Let’s get your machine to a secure room and then we can start checking the systems here to make sure he doesn’t plan to launch any more surprise attacks. You up for that?”

She nodded. “Yeah. We need to catch this guy.”

Alex’s mouth pinched. “We do. But we also need to make sure your identity isn’t compromised and that your personal security is sufficient.”

She blinked.

Did Alex know the truth? She was sure he did although he’d never mentioned it. The idea that the secrets she so carefully guarded could be exposed by this evil monster…

“Why do I feel like I’m not about to like what you suggest?”

Alex smiled humorlessly. “Because you have good instincts. The HRT operator was correct when he told you to follow them. I shouldn’t have ordered you to do something else. Next time I’ll trust your instincts too.”

“You don’t think I messed up?”

Alex’s eyes narrowed. “I think we all underestimated him, but what I really want to know is how the hell did he know we were onto him?”

“You think we have a leak?”

“Might not be a person on the task force. Could be a software vulnerability we or the FBI need to patch. But Evi1Geni-us knew we were here in Houston and part of me wonders if he didn’t plan to lure us here all along.”

Shane didn’t register anything from the time he left the Houston Field Office to the time he arrived at the scene of the explosion. The agent riding shotgun had given him directions and then held on for the drive.

Patrol cars and cops surrounded the warehouse, but Shane jogged right through them, making his way to an ambulance where a prone figure was being loaded into the back.

He spotted Cowboy who had blood running down his face, and Nash who was being treated near the doorway.

Shane caught the ambulance door with shaking hands as the EMT was about to close it. “I’m riding with you.”

One look at his face and the paramedic jerked his head to tell him to get inside.

Shane moved to sit near Scotty’s head while the medic worked on his friend’s injuries. Shane’s mouth turned to ash at the sight of mangled flesh of Scotty’s hands and arms. But it was the jagged piece of steel embedded in his best friend’s chest that had him seriously worried.

“At least I won’t have to type up any 302s, huh.” Scotty’s voice was hoarse and flecks of blood bubbled out of the corner of his mouth.