Darkest Fire by Tawny Taylor Page B

eased to twitches, then to tingles.
    With a little grunt, he withdrew from her and flopped onto his back. Having lost the support of his body, she rolled onto her back too. Next to her husband and still flying high on endorphins, she waited for her racing heartbeat to slow and her breathing to regulate. When she opened her eyes, she realized she was smiling. Not at anyone or anything. Just because.
    “Are you okay?” he asked.
    “Sure. I’m fine. Better than fine.”
    He didn’t say anything else.
    It got quiet and she thought he’d fallen asleep. But a little while later, before she’d drifted off, he slid out of bed and crept out of the room.

9
    “W ilkerson’s in the hospital.”
    Talen’s announcement was enough to immediately yank Drako out of his thoughts. He realized, as he jerked his head up, that he’d been staring at his desk for who-knows-how-long. He’d been thinking about Rin, about last night. Again. He’d been doing that all morning.
    This had to stop.
    Drako waved his brother into his office. “What happened?”
    Talen, followed by Malek, rushed into the room and plunked down into the closest chair after dragging it up to the desk. “We don’t know yet. He’s still in the E.R. The doctor’s running some tests. Dobbs called me to let me know. He’s with him now. Said he’d call as soon as he knew something.”
    Drako’s phone rang. He checked the caller ID. Dobbs. He hit the speakerphone. “Dobbs?”
    “Yeah. I’m here.”
    Talen leaned closer to the phone. “I’m here too. And Malek. What’s up?”
    “Don’t know much yet,” Dobbs said. “We went to the old Chimera place, did a little looking around. That building’s big, so we split up. I went one way, Wilkerson the other. An hour or two later, I went to find him, but he was gone.”
    “Why didn’t you call us?” Talen asked.
    “I was about to when I got a call from Wilkerson. Or rather, his phone. It was a nurse calling from the hospital, looking for a family member to answer some questions about his medical history. I headed right over to the hospital, learned someone had dropped Wilkerson off and left. Don’t know who it was.”
    Drako asked, “What’s Wilkerson saying?”
    “Nothing. He’s out of it.”
    Talen shook his head. “Okay, let us know what happens.”
    “Will do.”
    Drako’s finger hovered over the button, but he didn’t end the call yet. “Before you go, Dobbs, did you find anything?”
    “Nothing. But it would take a lot longer than a couple of hours to go through that place, inch by inch.”
    “And you’re feeling okay?” Drako asked, wondering if they’d been exposed to some kind of poison while searching. Considering the state of the place, it was a distinct possibility.
    “I’m fine.”
    “All right.” Talen, looking at Drako, shrugged. “Let us know if you hear anything, or if Wilkerson’s condition changes.”
    “Will do.”
    The call ended, and Drako, Talen, and Malek gave each other a look.
    “There was something on the news last night,” Malek mentioned. “Some kind of mysterious illness.”
    “I heard something about that.” Drako nodded, recalling what little of the broadcast he’d watched last night. “I missed the report. Did you catch it?”
    “No.” Malek shook his head. “But I can check the station’s Web site. I’m sure there’ll be a report.”
    “Good.” Drako pointed at Talen. “T, pull the surveillance tapes. See if you can find anything suspicious.”
    “Okay.” Talen’s expression turned grim. “Do you think Wilkerson’s illness is somehow related to his work with us?”
    “Maybe. But most likely it isn’t. Dobbs is fine, but then again, he was searching a different part of the building. We need to check it out thoroughly, just in case.” Drako’s gut told him it might be. “Could be he came into contact with something in the warehouse, rat poison, or maybe some kind of industrial solvent. I don’t want any more men in there until we