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Everyone in the store cheered, although he was certain he heard some snickers from the police.

No good deed ever goes unpunished.

Revani handed Slash his items and slapped him once more on the shoulder. “I’m sorry, my friend, but we’re out of plastic bags. You’re welcome back here anytime.”

“Thanks.” Slash just wanted to get the hell out of the store—the sooner the better. It’d been a heck of a day, and, damn it, he was supposed to be on vacation.

He’d just taken two steps out of the store when he heard the shouting and saw a half dozen television cameras pointed at him. He tried to slip the box of tampons under his jacket, but it was too late.

In seconds he was swarmed by reporters.

Chapter Five

Gwen

I’m a scientist and will remain calm and logical during the interview.

It sounded easy, except it wasn’t when you were interviewing for the opportunity of a lifetime and the competition was two other amazing scientists you happened to know well and who were more experienced than you.

Regardless, I made important contributions to the project. I may be younger, but I’m every bit as qualified to go as they are.

She gripped the steering wheel a little tighter as her GPS signaled her destination was one minute away. Breathing deeply to calm herself, she took a left and pulled into the parking lot of a modest red brick building. A large crowd of people assembled on the front entranceway, holding signs and shouting.

What the heck?

She found an open parking spot and pulled into it, killing the ignition and getting out of the car, her purse over her shoulder, her briefcase in hand. For a moment, she just stood watching the crowd, trying to figure out what was going on and how in the world she was going to get through it to make her interview on time. Clearly, they were protesting something. But what? What could they have against a nonprofit organization trying to protect people against malaria?

Squaring her shoulders, she began to wind her way through the crowd. She stopped beside a young woman waving a sign and screaming, “No experimentation on people!”

Gwen glanced up at the sign and saw a crude drawing of a woman jabbing a needle into a child’s arm. “What’s going on?” she asked the woman.

“Vaccitex is experimenting on children,” she shouted even though Gwen was standing right next to her. “They’re going to kill them with their experiments.”

Gwen frowned and wanted to tell her that this wasn’t the case because she knew firsthand what was going into the vaccine and it was going to help, not hurt, children. But from the look in the woman’s eyes, she had a feeling the woman wouldn’t listen. Gwen continued moving through the crowd because—demonstration or not—there wasnoway she was going to miss this interview.

She was nearing the building entrance when a dark-haired guy with a beanie and a red bandana tied across his face suddenly tossed a brick through one of the glass doors at the front of the building. The glass shattered and the crowd cheered wildly.

Gwen froze. Things had taken a violent turn. Where were the police?

It was one thing to be in the middle of a peaceful protest, but a violent protest was something entirely different. People could get hurt. People could getkilled.

A figure appeared in the shattered doorway and appeared to be about to exit, perhaps to talk or confront the angry crowd. Given the current mood, Gwen thought that would be an exceptionally bad idea. Just as she slipped a hand in her purse to grab her cell and dial 911, she heard sirens in the distance.

About time.

Now she was having second thoughts about the interview. As important as it was to her, she couldn’t imagine the people inside would be receptive to having one with all the screaming and shouting going on outside. The protest would be a perfectly acceptable reason as to why she wasn’t able to make the appointment. Not that she even believed it would happen at this point.

Her gaze sought out the dark-haired man with the bandana who had thrown the brick. She saw him among several young men huddling near the open door of a car near the front line of the protest. He was crouched on the ground working on something while the others closed ranks around him in a circle. She didn’t know what he was doing, but she didn’t have a good feeling about it.

Against her better judgment, she pushed closer to get a better look. Before she’d gone far, a dark-haired woman from inside the building stepped through the shattered glass door, and stood in front of the building, her arms crossed against her chest, staring calmly at the crowd.

For a moment, the crowd went silent. Gwen thought her impossibly brave or incredibly stupid. She stood there alone and unafraid, and that made her an imposing sight.

The moment passed and the crowd went wild screaming hate-filled obscenities. The woman started speaking, but Gwen couldn’t hear anything she said.

The mood turned even uglier.

Maybe it’s time after all to retreat until the police calm things down.