“Special Agents Carrington and Ragheb, we just received clearance for a change in flight plan. Instead of landing at McCarran International in Las Vegas, we’ll be flying into Homey Airport.

“FBI personnel will be waiting to take both of you from the Groom Lake facility directly to the incident area.

“That should shave about ten minutes from our flight. The expected touchdown will be approximately 3:45 p.m., four hours and twelve minutes from now.”

“Groom Lake?” said Alex. “Isn’t that where Area 51 is supposed to be?”

“I’ve been there,” Nate said. “Didn’t see any aliens.”

They’d received a directive two hours earlier. A biological hazard had been uncovered outside of Ash Springs, Nevada, and the local FBI investigators had requested help processing the scene. He couldn’t help but wonder if it was connected with his last visit to the area.

“Well, aliens or not,” Alex said, “you know if it was some run-of-the-mill chemical spill or something, they’d be calling out the FEMA folks, not us. Our guys on the ground must suspect criminal activity.”

Nate shrugged. “I just hope they also called FEMA. Because I didn’t sign up for clean-up duty.”

The speaker above their seats crackled again. “One more thing, agents. We just received a priority communication from the Deputy Director. Be advised that there are fatalities on the scene. Level-four containment procedures will be required for all gathered evidence.”

“Shit,” Nate muttered. “What the hell are we getting ourselves into?”

###

A half dozen FBI agents were waiting on the tarmac as Nate and Alex stepped off the plane. As several of them set to work loading Nate and Alex’s supplies in an SUV, the local agent in charge introduced himself as Agent Mark Cross.

The agent leading the group shook hands with Nate and motioned to the other local agents. “Team, this is Nate Carrington. He’ll be leading the investigation for this incident.” He turned toward Alex and said, “I’m sorry, ma’am, I didn’t receive notice of your arrival, who—”

“This is Special Agent Alex Ragheb.” Nate motioned toward Alex. “She’s a biological weapons expert with a PhD in molecular biology.”

The local agent shook hands with Alex. “Nice to meet you, ma’am. I suspect your background will be particularly useful on this.”

Alex shook hands with the rest of the team and asked, “So, what are we dealing with? The directive we received was really light on details.”

Nate motioned toward the black SUVs and said, “Let’s talk and move at the same time.”

Within minutes, they were racing toward Ash Springs.

Alex repeated her question. “So, what are we dealing with?”

Cross shook his head. “It started when a local rancher reported that his entire herd of cattle died overnight. The county sheriff—”

“Wait,” Nate cut in. “You’re telling me we’re investigating dead cattle now?” Nate said. “Probably some local rancher taking out the competition.”