“That is intriguing. Okay, you got my attention. I’ll dig and see what I can find. But I should at least tell you that there are many positive uses for UAVs, but possibly more negative ones. For example, drone attacks reduced half of Saudi Arabia’s oil production due to toxic fires that burned for days.”

Alex sighed. “I get it. In other words, in the wrong hands, drones can bring to life those far-fetched villains you see in action-adventure movies. Let’s hope that’s not what’s happening here.”

“I could send you a list of some anti-drone tech, if you’d like. You can decide what you need and get back to me.”

“You’d do that for me?”

“What are friends for?”

Indeed. “Thanks for your help.” Alex ended the call and stared at his cell. What just happened? Come on, he’d sent the geek a picture of a hobby drone and Keenan had planted some nasty images in his head of the potential threat.

What am I doing looking into this as if I’m on a counterintelligence task force? Which he wasn’t. In fact, it was just the opposite. His SSA—supervisory special agent—Peter Lynch, had told him to take a long, peaceful break and that he didn’t want to hear from him for three weeks.

Alex’s greatest fear was that he would make a big mistake again like the one he’d made overseas last month, and he would have no career to return to. But the human loss . . . that was much more devastating to him.

He’d hoped Keenan would give him information that would tell him no one had been spying on Mackenzie and the shooter couldn’t be connected. But instead Keenan had only confirmed his suspicions.

Squeezing the bridge of his nose, he shut his laptop and let the emotionally impacting images of Mackenzie surface again. Big hazel eyes—challenging, assessing, and then finally, trusting. Her slender body that also boasted impossibly warm feminine curves. He’d taken it all in as he caught up to her on the bike and had almost been the one to go off trail and crash. What was it about this woman? She could undo him completely, and he knew nothing much about her—only what he’d learned in one day.

That one day so long ago that left him wanting more time with her.

After being tasked with showing her around the city, he wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting when he went to track her down. She wasn’t the stereotypical digital genius/computer nerd. At first, she appeared to be a quiet professional—her hair pinned back. Strong handshake. Confidence. She’d been working as a college professor, so that all made sense.