While researching the cause of beehive demise across the country, scientific prodigy Javier stumbles onto a breakthrough discovery—a virus carried by bugs that insecticides can’t eradicate. It explains a string of human illnesses and deaths, and it means a vaccine is possible. But instead of his achievement being celebrated, his bosses try to murder him.
Bloody and bruised, Javier flees only to collapse in the courtyard of a homeless shelter. Liz, a jaded widow, saves him and agrees to help as the authorities trump up charges against him. Together, they become fugitives, and in searching for a way to develop a vaccine, they discover an intricate chain of secrets that leads to the most powerful entities in the country.
Now, to win freedom for themselves and for millions of others, Javier and Liz must fight an impossible battle against government bodies and corporations that will imprison and kill before letting their secrets out. While winning means relief from decades of manipulation and oppression, losing would result in more deaths than the virus ever threatened—including their own.
This is the standalone sequel to my best-selling novel, The Fourth Descendant. Sales have been steady, as buyers of Descendant tend to also buy The Seventh Seed.
Javier grabbed the headrest in front of him as the car peeled around another curve. Hale groaned, cranking the wheel and keeping them from flying over the mountainside. Craning his neck, Javier strained to see the dash between the two men’s shoulders. The speedometer was near sixty.
He squeezed the edge of the seat. If these guys planned to get him to Missouri alive, this was no way to do it.
“Shit.” Hale steadied the wheel with both hands and pressed himself into the seat as he mashed the brake.
The car didn’t slow.
Oh God. Javier held his breath.
In the passenger seat, Sanderson fumbled for the seat belt. “What are you doing? Slow down!”
“I can’t!” Hale grabbed the parking brake between the seats.
Jaw clenched, Javier checked the speedometer again—almost seventy-five. This old car won’t do well in a crash.
The car swerved into the oncoming lane.
A straight stretch of road appeared, and Hale gripped the brake. “Hold on!”
He yanked on the lever.
The car lurched forward. Javier’s seat belt smashed into his sternum. A bang and a jolt slammed him into his seat as the car resumed its race down the inclined road.
“Son of a—” Hale downshifted and when that only revved the engine, he squeezed the wheel as the car veered around another turn, heading straight for a van coming the opposite way. “Shit!”
Javier grabbed the headrest again. His heart pounded in his ears.
The van’s horn blared and Hale yanked the wheel, sending the car over the edge. Javier’s stomach jumped to his throat for the few seconds they were airborne.
