Chapter 1

Dr. Eve Shaw inwardly sighed as she pulled into the physician parking lot of the Milwaukee College of Medicine located on the same campus as Trinity Medical Center. How embarrassing to be running late to her own presentation. It wasn't Eve's fault—a harried mother of three had rear-ended her near the day care center. The damage to Eve's SUV wasn't bad, the car was drivable, but the young mother had insisted on calling the police to get the accident on record for her insurance company. Why, Eve wasn't sure as most rear-end accidents were the second driver's fault. Maybe she feared Eve would come back at her for some reason. A ridiculous notion as she didn't have time for that nonsense.

On a positive note, her presentation was via a live-streaming platform with other molecular cellular researchers, so at least she didn't have to worry about walking in late to a huge auditorium full of medical students and professors waiting for her. She'd already done her grand rounds presentation to them last month. This was a smaller group of professors who would hopefully be understanding about her tardiness. She pushed out of her driver's side door, grabbed her oversized shoulder bag, and squinted against the bright June sun.

As she strode quickly to the Milwaukee College of Medicine's research institute where her office was located, she glanced at her watch. Her presentation was supposed to start right now. She inwardly winced. By the time she got into her office and booted up her computer, she'd be at least seven minutes la?—

Boom!A large explosion rocked the earth beneath her feet. Despite her comfy shoes, she was knocked over, her backside hitting the concrete hard enough to make her teeth rattle. Dazed, she looked up at the research building.

Flames and a long plume of black smoke trailed out of one of the office windows. She blinked, trying to comprehend what had happened.

A gas leak? Had to be. Then she realized the smoke and flames were coming from her office window. Wait. Was that right? She double-checked to be sure, counting the windows. She'd been recently promoted to full professor, which had resulted in a move to a large corner office on the third floor.

There was no mistake. It was her office.

"Ma'am, are you okay?" A uniformed officer rushed toward her from a nearby squad, his expression concerned as other first responders ran toward the research building. She stared up at him in confusion, struck off balance for the second time that day.

"Grayson?" Her voice came out in a high squeak.

"Eve? Are you okay?" Grayson Clark loomed over her. Was she imagining things? She hadn't seen the overwhelmingly handsome and charismatic guy since high school. They had been lab partners in advanced chemistry. And while they'd both graduated in the same class, he was two years older than her because she'd graduated from high school at sixteen.

"Yes." She had no clue Grayson had become a cop. "What happened?"

"I'm not sure." He held out his hand, and she allowed him to help her stand. She was annoyed at the tingle of awareness that raced along her nerves. Then she told herself it wasn't him but the shock over what had transpired. "I was leaving Trinity Medical Center after dropping off a prisoner patient when I saw the explosion."

Shading her eyes with her hand, she looked up at the damaged corner of the building. "That's my office."

"What?" Grayson grasped her arm. "You work in there?"

"Yes, of course." His gaze belatedly dropped to her Milwaukee College of Medicine name badge clipped to her collar. "I'm supposed to be doing a presentation from my office."

Grayson's expression turned grave. "You're saying the bomb was meant for you?"

Her eyes widened as the realization sank deep. "I—well, that seems a bit paranoid, doesn't it? I'm sure it was random, right? I mean, who would want to hurt me?"

"I was hoping you would have that answer." Grayson's dark-brown eyes bored into hers. "I see you're a doctor. Is this related to a patient situation? Or something else?"

"I'm not that kind of doctor." She flushed and ran her fingers through her brown hair. It was a nervous habit she'd thought she'd kicked. "I have a PhD in molecular biology." When he frowned, she added, "I'm a research scientist. I've been working for the past five years on a way to rejuvenate pancreatic cells to essentially cure diabetes." A horrible thought struck. "My notes! They're inside my office!"

She tried to pull out of his grasp, but he brought both of his hands up to cup her shoulders. "I'm sorry, Eve, but you can't go in there. Don't you have your notes backed up on a computer system?"

A wave of anguish hit hard. She did have most of her notes on the computer, but not all of them. She doodled when ideas came to her and had many notes lying about on her desk and some she'd stuffed in a file folder.

As she stood there, watching the fire burn in her office, she reminded herself that most of her research was still intact. Whatever ideas she'd jotted down on random sticky notes would come to her again.

Wouldn't they? They'd have to.

She was so close to a breakthrough. She couldn't allow a horrible bomb to set her back.

"Dispatch, this is unit eight. I'm at the scene of an explosion at the Milwaukee College of Medicine. Please send additional units to this location."

Realizing Grayson was right about her inability to go inside, she fished in her large bag for her phone. At the very least, she needed to contact Professor Firestein that she wasn't going to make her presentation.

On cue, her phone rang. She pulled it free, and quickly answered, "This is Dr. Shaw."

"You're late," Firestein said irritably.

"I know. There was an explosion in my office." Saying the words was surreal. "I'm afraid we'll have to reschedule."

"Explosion?" Firestein's tone rose in alarm. "What in the world is going on over there?"

That was a really good question. Too bad she didn't have an equally satisfactory answer. "I don't know. Might be one of those groups who assume all researchers use stem cells or animals to get their results." She didn't use either for her field of study, but it was the only theory she could come up with. "I'm sorry for the inconvenience."

"Oh—ah, don't worry about that." He sounded apologetic now. "I'm just glad you're okay. I'm sure you're right about one of those extremist groups. People have no idea what goes into research like ours. But you can guarantee that if they were struck by illness, cancer, or diabetes, or Alzheimer's, they'd be first in line for the new treatments people like you and I have created for them. I hope the police will do a thorough investigation."

"The police are here, and I'm sure they will. I'll be in touch about rescheduling my presentation for another time." She ended the call, unwilling to discuss the issue further. Dave Firestein was a colleague, but the last thing she needed was for him to tell others about this potential setback. Sometimes researchers could be weirdly competitive about getting their research published in top-notch journals. And her cutting-edge research had many of her colleagues impressed and maybe even a little jealous of her success. Especially since she was the youngest professor on staff.

The shrill sound of fire truck sirens split the air. Grayson still held her arm, and now he nudged her back from the burning building.

"I... don't know what to do." She hadn't felt this discombobulated since she'd entered college at sixteen. That first year had been difficult. After conquering the world of academia, she'd found her place here within the Milwaukee College of Medicine Research Institute. She loved nothing more than working in her lab.

How much damage had the lab sustained? Would the equipment be salvageable? She tried not to dwell on the negative, but it wasn't easy. Years of work would be impacted by this explosion. Years!

"Tell me again about this presentation of yours." Grayson stepped in front of her, blocking her view of the fire.

She frowned. Hadn't she already done that? Maybe he hadn't heard her clearly because of the fire truck sirens and commotion going on around them. "I'm a molecular biologist. I received a national research grant to fund my project to rejuvenate pancreatic cells in children and young adults to cure diabetes." She waved a hand at the building. "That's my office, and it's close to the lab in the center of the building. My work is important, having the potential to change people's lives for the better. But critical enough to justify something like this? That's difficult to comprehend."

"But what about your presentation?" Grayson pressed. "Tell me more about that."

"I was giving an update on my research to a dozen professors across the Midwest via a live-streaming service. I could explain more, but it's rather technical. I was running late because some woman rear-ended me in front of the day care center..." Her voice trailed off.

If she hadn't been hit by the mother of three, she would have been sitting in her office, smiling into her computer screen, and introducing herself to her colleagues at the exact moment of the explosion.

Her knees went weak, and she sagged against Grayson's strong frame as the knowledge sank deep. God had been watching over her today. He had sent that poor mother of three directly into her path at the right moment.

This wasn't just about the loss of her research notes.

The bomb had been planted in her office with the intent to kill her.

* * *

A cold chillsnaked down Grayson's spine. Difficult to believe that anyone would try to take out a research scientist, but that's exactly what had happened.

And if not for the fender bender, his former high school classmate Eve Shaw would be dead.

"Grayson?" At the sound of his name, he glanced over to see his immediate boss, Lieutenant Joe Kingsley, jogging toward him dressed in full tactical gear, the way he was. Joe reported to Captain Rhyland Finnegan, and this type of bombing was exactly the type of case their tactical team would be called in for.

"Hey, Joe." Up until January, Joe had been a fellow officer, often taking the lead on various situations, which had helped him get promoted to the rank of lieutenant. Like Rhy, Joe wasn't much on titles; he just remained focused on getting things done. "You got here fast."

"Rhy is concerned about the bombing." Rhy was their captain and their explosive device expert, and he'd been training Grayson to become more well-versed in the various devices bad guys used to create death and destruction. "He wants you to stay in the loop on this in case there are more devices. He also has several of our team members en route so that we can evacuate this building and the others nearby to search for additional bombs."

That suited him just fine. The idea of more devices being planted made him anxious to get to work. But they'd need to wait for the firefighters to get the blaze under control.

"Joe, this is Dr. Eve Shaw." Grayson made the introductions. "It's too early to say for sure that she's the target, but that's her office on fire up there. And she was supposed to be there doing a presentation at the time of the explosion."

Joe's eyebrows hiked up in surprise. "Dr. Shaw, do you have any idea who would do something like this?"

"No. It's got to be one of those extremist groups, though." Eve looked pale and shaky. She had been the smartest kid in their entire high school, having graduated as his class valedictorian with a higher than 4.8 GPA. Grayson wasn't nearly as smart; he would have failed that chemistry class if Eve hadn't been his partner.

"What kind of extremist group?" Joe asked.

"Eve is a molecular biologist. She's doing research on a way to rejuvenate pancreatic cells in children and young adults with diabetes, although she doesn't use stem cells or other animal testing. Those types of groups might assume she is, though." He had no clue what that sort of work entailed, but he wasn't surprised by her vocation. Eve had confided in him about her mother's struggles with the disease. He had confidence in Eve's ability to find a cure. "Her office is the source of the explosion. She was supposed to be giving a presentation but was running late. It certainly seems as if she was the target here."

Joe whistled. "Okay, then you need to stick to her like glue until we make sure we have found all the devices."

He nodded grimly. "We need to check her vehicle. And her home."

"The bomb was in my office. I was fine at home this morning," Eve protested.

"The device was placed and detonated according to your schedule," he reminded her. "It's entirely possible that after leaving here, the bomber went to your place to plant another device as a backup." He turned to scan their surroundings, wondering if the bomber was here watching or had already left the scene. He narrowed his gaze on the parking lot. "Which car is yours?"

"The bright-blue SUV." Eve still looked dazed by the near miss. And he didn't blame her. Just the thought of her being killed made his stomach churn.

"Stay here with Joe." He gently pushed her toward his boss. "I'll check it out."

"Do you want backup?" Joe asked with a frown.

"No need. This shouldn't take long." On a cold January night eighteen months ago, their tactical team robot Dot had been used to examine a possible explosive device planted in an apartment mailbox. Unfortunately, the device detonated, blowing Dot to pieces. They had a new robot now, Dot version 2.0, named Dottie that was used by Officer Gully Sullivan, their robot expert. But it would take too long for Dottie to get here, and besides, he was fairly certain he was being paranoid over nothing. If there was a device in her car, it would have detonated in the fender bender.

He crossed the parking lot to Eve's bright-blue SUV. He winced at the color that would stand out from a mile away. Taking his time, he carefully examined the vehicle from a safe distance before moving in closer. Hunkering down, he carefully felt along the wheel wells first, then the bumpers. He noticed the long crack in Eve's rear bumper as he made his way around the vehicle.

When that was completed, he stretched out on his back, pulled a retractable slanted mirror from his pack, sort of a larger version of a dental instrument, and used that to examine the undercarriage. It was painstaking work because he didn't want to miss anything important.

But after a solid fifteen minutes, he deemed the car to be clean and safe to use. With relief, he rose to his feet and headed back to where Eve and Joe waited.

"It's fine." He glanced at Joe. "I think we need to take a few teammates to sweep her house."

Eve scowled. "The research building is a public place where anyone can get inside. I keep my house locked when I'm not there."

"Wait a minute, what do you mean the research building is a public place?" Grayson didn't like the sound of that. "Wouldn't your office and especially the lab itself be locked?"

"Well, yes, that's true." She nodded, then added, "But the main lobby is open to anyone who wants to come in. Mostly medical students or other adjunct faculty who want to chat with one of us. We're a teaching facility as well as performing research. We have a receptionist who will also schedule meetings for us if necessary." Her eyes widened in alarm. "Do you think Barbara is okay? And what about the other researchers? Has anyone been hurt or...?" Again, her voice trailed off.

"It's too early to know," Joe said quietly. "All we can do is pray for the best possible outcome."

Grayson knew Joe, Rhy, and many of their teammates were all believers. At first, he'd been annoyed, not liking the way they'd prayed before eating or discussed various aspects of their faith.

But he'd gotten used to it and had begun to wonder if they were onto something.

"I can't stand it," Eve whispered. "I don't know how I'll live with myself if others died because of me."

"Not because of you, Eve," Grayson hastened to assure her. "Because of the man or woman who planted that bomb. You didn't ask for this."

She bit her lip and shook her head. "I know," she managed. "But still, I want to hear about the conditions of Geoff Abbott and Allan Ballard as soon as possible. They're the two assistant professors with offices closest to mine."

"I'll see what I can do," Joe promised.

Grayson nodded at Joe. "They're going to be tied up here for a while. Let's head over to Eve's house. Make sure the place is clear."

"What's the address?" Joe asked.

The two men looked at Eve, who quickly answered, "I live close, maybe ten to fifteen minutes away on Maple Creek Parkway." She rattled off the house number.

"Okay, that sounds good." He turned to Joe. "Do you want to come along?"

"Yeah, hang on, we need more people to get this done." Joe lifted his hand to his radio and spoke into it. "I need two officers who are closest to the Maple Creek Parkway to meet me and Grayson at the following address."

Grayson heard the call on his radio, too, quickly followed by a response. "This is Roscoe. I'm almost at the research institute."

"Jina here, I'm en route too."

"Great. Peel off and meet us at the private residence of Dr. Eve Shaw," Joe directed. "Grayson and I will meet up with you shortly."

"Ten-four," Roscoe drawled. Despite being with the team for almost six months, replacing their murdered teammate, Kyle, Roscoe often spoke with his native Texas accent.

"Is this related to the bombing?" Jina asked.

"Affirmative. Details to follow." Joe cut off further communication. "Let's hit the road."

Grayson was glad to be doing something constructive. "Eve, are you okay to drive? Or do you want to ride with me?"

"I can drive." She still looked pale and shaken, but there was a hint of anger in her stormy gray eyes too.

Oddly, he would have preferred she rode with him. But he forced a nod. "I'll walk you to your car."

She didn't respond but turned and walked back to the bright-blue car. He stayed close, without intruding on her personal space. Obviously, the reality of the situation was still sinking in. Her research, and likely others', would suffer because of this.

The work of a fanatic as Eve had suggested? Or something more sinister?

"Are you married? Divorced? Seeing anyone?" he asked. Then realizing how that sounded, he quickly added, "Is there a possibility this bomb was planted by someone close to you in a gesture of revenge?"

"You seriously think someone would kill me because I broke off a relationship?" She stopped at her car to look at him skeptically.

"Eve, I'm a cop. I've seen all sorts of personal situations go bad." He thought about the recent attempt to kill Pastor Isaiah Washington, and the sex-trafficking ring they'd helped bust up a few months before that. People did horrible things to each other every day. "I know you mentioned fanatic groups who think you're doing research with stem cells or animals, but this could be something personal too."

She stared at him for a long moment, then sighed. "I broke off a relationship with Andrew Thomas two months ago. He's a physician's assistant at Trinity Medical Center." She shrugged. "I'm sure he's moved on to the next woman by now. Monogamy wasn't his strong suit."

"Andrew Thomas," he repeated. "What does a physician's assistant do exactly?"

"He works on the diabetes team. That's how we met." She flushed. "He was really interested in my research, and we started dating. At first it was fun, but I soon realized all he cared about was my work. He—wasn't interested in me as a woman."

Grayson frowned. "That's strange. You're beautiful and smart. Why wouldn't he be interested in you as a woman?"

Her flush deepened, and she turned away to dig in her bag. "You asked. I'm just telling you that I broke things off, and he was disappointed at first, but he got over it." She opened her car door. "See you soon."

He ruminated over that as he jogged to his squad. He drove up and over the curb to head into the parking lot. There was a rear exit they'd use to leave, as the firetrucks and other emergency rescue personnel were blocking the main road.

Andrew Thomas would have to be checked into. Maybe he had been interested in Eve as a woman, but she hadn't realized it. He'd given her plenty of cues he was interested when they were in high school, but she'd rebuffed him, staring at him intensely through those light-gray eyes of hers before moving on to the next chemistry assignment.

Granted, Eve wasn't really his type. But she was cute in a sexy-librarian type of way. Back then, he'd also dated about half the cheerleaders, so it wasn't as if he'd suffered for female attention.

But that was in the past. He had changed his approach to women since then, keeping them at a distance. But Eve didn't know that.

What difference did it make? He was here to investigate an attempted murder. He followed her to her small gray brick house where Joe, Roscoe, and Jina were waiting. Her home was small enough that it shouldn't take too long to clear the place.

He quickly joined his teammates and Eve who was handing Joe her keys.

"Eve, will you please wait in your car?" Grayson asked. "Just to be on the safe side?"

She looked as if she might argue but then spun on her heel and returned to her car. Once she slid in behind the wheel, he turned back to the others. "Let's do this."

The four of them approached the house. Inside, he looked around curiously.

No surprise, Eve's home was clean and neat. As predicted, it didn't take long to clear the main living space. There were only two bedrooms and a full basement. One bedroom was an office, the other her master suite. "I'll take the office," Grayson offered.

"Jina, take the garage, then join me in the basement. Roscoe, clear the master bedroom and bath," Joe said.

He entered the office, noting with amusement that this space was not neat and tidy. Eve had papers everywhere and at least a dozen sticky notes pressed on various surfaces. Thinking of her office at the research institute, he approached the desk first. He pulled the chair out and bent to look underneath.

And froze.

A pipe bomb was strapped beneath the desk.

He quickly used his radio to alert the others. "Device found in the office. Evacuate the area ASAP!" Then he took a deep breath and began to slowly back out of the room, anxious to get out of there before it detonated.