Mission: Her Protection (Team 52 #1)(12)

“Axel Diaz.”

The brown-haired man had dark-bronze skin and velvet-brown eyes. He smiled at her, and her chest hitched. It was a hell of a smile.

“I’m sorry about your ordeal, Dr. Schafer.”

He had a sexy voice, and she guessed some Mexican-American heritage. And clearly, the man was a charmer, through and through. “Thank you.”

“And our team medic, Callie Kimura.”

“Ma’am.” The woman had a compact body and a nice smile. Her straight, black hair fell to her shoulders, she had high cheekbones Rowan would sell a kidney for, and her eyes were an amazing gray. She looked like she was Hawaiian or Polynesian.

Rowan nodded, wondering if long hair and beards were regulation in the military. “Hi. Thanks for coming.”

Lachlan shifted closer. “Can you walk us through what happened?”

Dimly, she was aware of Axel and Callie moving away.

“Everything was normal,” she said. “Everyone was back in from being out on the ice. The samples were all stored.” Rowan felt like her chest was filled with concrete. “Emily, our grad student, was excited.”

“Why?”

“Plants she’d been working on in the lab had regenerated. They’d started growing.”

“Plants from the ice?” Lachlan prompted.

She nodded. “They were over five thousand years old, so understandably, everyone was pretty excited. After, we had dinner, and I went to my office to do some work.” She pulled in a breath, feeling panic slither in like a cunning snake.

Lachlan reached out and grabbed her hand. Squeezed.

“I heard screams. I ran. I found Marc first, Dr. Fournier. He was…God—” She clenched her fingers on Lachlan’s hand. “He was dead. Then I heard…it. Heavy footsteps, and it roared. It was coming closer. I hid in a cupboard in the lab, but then I saw Emily run in. She panicked and it took her. I chased it.”

“You chased it?” She saw disbelief flare in Lachlan’s eyes.

“I couldn’t leave her! I grabbed a broom and ran, but I was too late.” Tears pricked Rowan’s eyes. “I saw the bodies. They were dead. I checked the communications system and found Samuel. It was wrecked. And I found Emily dead in the rec room. Caught up in ice.” Rowan felt a tear escape and she swiped it away.

She saw Lachlan trade a look with Blair.

Rowan heaved in a breath. “I heard the thing coming again. It was hunting me.”

“Did you see it?” Seth asked.

“Only a glimpse. It was big and white. It walked on two legs.”

Lachlan traded another weighty look with his team.

Footsteps made her look up, and she saw Axel and Callie return.

“We’ve accounted for all bodies,” Callie said. “One of the scientists is missing.”

Rowan jerked to her feet. “Who?”

“A man called Lars Jensen.”

Her heart leaped. “He could still be alive?”

“We don’t know yet,” Lachlan said. “We’ve searched the domes. He’s not inside.”

“Maybe he ran in the mayhem?” she said.

“Maybe,” Lachlan agreed readily. “Rowan, can you show us the item you pulled from the ice?”

She frowned. “The strange circular object?”

Lachlan nodded and pulled something from the pocket of his coat. It was a printed picture of the object.

She sucked in a breath. “How did you get the photo that I took?”

“Rowan, where is the object?” His face was set in serious lines.

She looked around at all the set faces, her brain whirring. Something else was going on here that she didn’t quite understand.

“I’ll show you.” Steeling herself, she left the rec dome and moved back to the labs. As they entered, she saw the body bags lined up in a row on the floor. The pain and grief were crippling.

So much senseless loss. They’d been her friends and colleagues. Smart, accomplished people with so much to give the world.

She felt a warm hand on her back, and she stiffened her spine. She moved over to the storage shelves. Some had been knocked over and smashed, but as she scanned the labels, she saw the one where the object had been stored was still upright.

Rowan pulled out the tray.

It was empty.

Her hands clenched on the plastic. “It was here.”

She watched the others shift closer.

“Who had it last?” Lachlan asked.

“I think Lars was planning to look at it again after dinner.”

Lachlan touched his ear. “Brooks, are you there?” He paused. “I need you to run everything you can on a Dr. Lars Jensen.”

“You think Lars stole it?” Rowan shook her head. “That he killed everyone?” She shook her head again. “No, that’s impossible. He’s sweet and geeky. He’s not capable of doing this.”

Rowan studied Lachlan again, her thoughts firing. A few things clicked into place, and she narrowed her gaze.

“Wait a minute. What branch of the military are you guys with?”

Silence.

She took a step back. “Oh, my God. You weren’t sent here to rescue us.”

He stepped closer. “Rowan—”

She pressed her fist to her chest and shook her head.