Charlie shook his head. “We’ll go as soon as it’s empty. The fewer people involved, the better.”
“I don’t have access if no one’s there.”
Charlie stomped to Javier and stuck a finger in his face. “You’re gonna figure out how to get access, or we’re back to the original plan.” He opened his jacket enough to remind Javier the gun was readily available.
Javier drummed his fingers on his leg. What if he figured out an escape before morning? Brenda could finish and distribute the vaccine without him, and Charlie wouldn’t have an in to the lab or even know where it was.
But if Charlie did know where it was, no one at the lab knew about him. Javier had to keep the lab protected, and fortunately, he had a way. “I can get us in if we wait until morning. The virologist gets there early, before anyone else. She’ll let us in. She trusts me.” No way she would let them in. All he had to do was drop the code word they’d created to warn each other in case LifeFarm became an immediate threat.
Charlie scowled and grabbed Javier’s arm. “All right. We’ll wait in my car.”
****
With Mendez and Liz in the back seat and Mattson in the front, Charlie parked across the street from the building Mendez said was the lab. His car didn’t have the protective barrier between the front and back seats that a patrol car would have, so he’d have to stay awake all night.
Charlie eyed Mendez in the rear-view mirror. “What time does the virologist get here?”
“Early. Around 5:30.” Mendez stared out the window.
“Does she use the front door?”
“Of course she does.”
Charlie twisted around and pointed. “I don’t need you for this. You’ve given me enough. I can get to the lab and to the vaccine without you.”
“So why keep me around?” Mendez scratched his beard.
“Mattson thinks there’s more to this. I want to see if he’s right. The first indication you’re not doing what you say, I’ll make sure this ends here.” That should be enough to keep the kid in the car. “I need to make a phone call.” Charlie opened the door and stepped out.
Shutting the door behind him, he accessed Sylvia’s number and walked across the street, keeping his eyes on the car. “Hey. It’s me. We need to pull something together, and we need to do it quickly.”
Chapter Eleven
Javier bit the inside of his cheek as he watched Charlie pace outside, holding his phone against his ear. Who was he talking to? And if this was the guy who arranged the security team to come after him back in Colorado, why would he bother keeping Javier alive now? There could only be one reason.
Or maybe two reasons. Mattson seemed to be close to Charlie, maybe even family. Yet the kid saved Javier’s life. He could provide enough pull for Javier and Liz to get out of this.
Javier glanced at her. She was staring out the window, likely at nothing in particular. If he hadn’t gone down that damn alleyway, they might have been able to evade Charlie. She’d wanted to continue down the main street. And now they were prisoners with no idea how to escape.
Shaking off his regrets of the evening, Javier focused on what he could control: Charlie’s access to the vaccine. Javier’s ability to save it all came down to timing: Brenda would arrive at the lab half an hour before he’d said she would. Assuming Charlie fell asleep, that would get her comfortably inside instead of walking up the path, where he likely wanted to intercept her. Brenda would have the vaccine, the gun they kept hidden in a cabinet, and the upper hand, once Javier passed along the code word.
But if Charlie saw her arrive, he might jump early. Game over.
Charlie was still occupied with his phone, so Javier could risk getting a little more information. He leaned forward, addressing Mattson. “How do you know him?”
Mattson sat sideways in his seat. “Charlie’s my uncle.”
“Your uncle?” Javier glanced outside again. “I get why he’s here. Why are you here?”
“To save you, apparently.” He smiled, showing his perfectly straight, bright teeth. “I heard him talking on the phone to someone who tracked you down the day before he left California to come here. I guessed you were doing something noble, or the government wouldn’t be trying to off you. So I left that night and beat him to it.”
“Oh.” Javier sat back. “Thanks.”
Mattson laughed. “Anytime. Just so you know, I don’t think Uncle Chuck plans to jump on board with you.”
Liz laughed. “You don’t, huh? Darn. Thought I made a new friend.”
Charlie returned to the car, bringing the weight of the situation with him. “Let’s get some sleep. I’m setting the alarm. If you leave, you’ll wake up half the town.”
****
Liz leaned against her arm on the window, wishing she had something soft to rest on and that she could turn off the street light invading their space. The shelter would have thrown away her belongings, since she hadn’t come back before curfew. It didn’t matter, though. Whatever happened in the morning would determine their next step, and it would likely involve running away again, assuming they figured out a way to escape. She’d have to figure out how to get her purse—her money—from the diner. She’d forgotten it in her rush to find Javier.
Discomfort took hold in her gut. She’d started to like this place. Jonah was one of the best bosses she’d had, and Sam and Javier seemed to grow closer every day. Leaving her wouldn’t sit well with him—a budding new romance was especially difficult to leave. Though maybe it hadn’t hit him yet. He was more concerned about the lab, or at least according to what he said.
As she leaned her other arm on the back of the seat and lowered her head to rest on it, her eyes caught Javier’s.
He checked the car’s other occupants. Mattson was asleep, mumbling a little. Charlie was reading something on his phone. Javier focused on Liz again and brought his finger to his lips. On the seat between them, he traced capital letters that faced her: W-E
After Liz nodded, he wrote out the rest of his message. W-I-L-L F-I-G-H-T
Liz took over and wrote her own message: H-O-W-?
Javier pursed his lips. T-R-U-S-T M-E
His message didn’t help her predict what would happen, but the prospect of fighting gave her hope. She couldn’t let LifeFarm keep her on the run.
****
A muffled pop followed by breaking glass yanked Javier awake. The noise came from the lab.
He sat up in horror—how could he have fallen asleep? He’d planned to stay awake and keep an eye on the building so he’d know when Brenda arrived. The clock on the car’s dash read 4:23. Was Brenda early? The sun was starting to rise.
The time zone. Charlie had come from California. It was 5:23 here. Brenda would have arrived by now, but Charlie was still in the car, staring out the window at the lab.
“What was that?” Javier kept his eyes glued to the building.
“Shut up,” Charlie said.
Three armed men dressed in dark clothing ran out and away from the road. They’d have to run between buildings that way—why do that?
Javier pulled on the handle of his locked door. “What the hell was that?”
“I said, shut up.”
“Dammit!” Javier punched the back of the cop’s seat. “I thought you wanted to see the vaccine. What did those guys do?” His stomach knotted. All of his work might be destroyed, and what if Brenda had arrived on time? He had to get in there and find out. He slammed the door with his shoulder. “Let me out of here!”
Charlie pointed his gun at Javier. “Settle down. That lab is dangerous. My men confirmed it. They’re running to decontamination right now. You had no business being in there.”
Javier’s chest tightened.
Charlie’s phone chimed, and he glanced at it. “We can go.” He pushed a button on the key fob, disarming and unlocking all the doors.
Javier rushed out and ran towards the building so quickly he tripped. He reached the front door and flung it ope
n, slamming it against the brick wall. The hydraulic arm was broken.
In the front room, bits of glass crunched under his shoes, the result of the screen being shattered. The thumbprint lock was smashed and the inner door open a crack.
Javier’s braced himself for what he might find inside—the guinea pig dead or stolen, his bees gone, his research destroyed along with any hope of defeating the virus.
With Liz, Charlie, and Mattson following, Javier pulled open the door and entered the dark, silent lab. After flipping on the lights, his eyes went straight to his work station, then to the floor in front of it.
Brenda lay in a pool of blood coming from her head.
Javier fought the urge to vomit and rushed to her side. Her dead eyes stared at the ceiling, and blood obscured her blonde hair above her ear. Javier lifted her hair, discovering a golf-ball-sized hole. His stomach rolled again. Powering through the visceral reaction, he turned her head and found the entrance wound above her other ear.
His mind racing and his face hot, he jumped to his feet, spun around, and slammed himself into Charlie with a scream, smashing him into the wall.
With his arm pressed against Charlie’s neck, Javier grabbed the gun. Twisting, he freed the weapon from Charlie’s hand then stumbled backwards, training it on the cop’s head. “You asshole! You killed her! Admit it or I’ll blow off your damn head!”
Charlie held up his hands. “She resisted, or they wouldn’t have killed her.”
“Of course she did! She knew what was at stake!” Keeping the gun pointed at Charlie, Javier inched his way to the counter. The guinea pig’s cage was smashed, as was the animal inside. The locked cabinet where he’d kept the bees and all of Brenda’s supplies had been pried open and cleaned out.
But Javier’s work wasn’t the only target. Half of the cabinets in the lab were open, equipment was smashed, and white powder covered one counter and the floor beneath it.
Javier rushed to Charlie, stopping with the gun barrel against his bald head. “Sit on the floor.”
“Is this how you want to go, boy? You’re not fighting for anything here now.” Charlie glared into Javier’s eyes. “Threatening me is an automatic life sentence.”
Hot tears burned Javier’s eyes, but he refused to let them out. “It’s either this or the virus. Your guys made sure of that.” He pressed the weapon into Charlie’s skin. “Besides, you’ve already tried to kill me a few times. A life sentence would be an upgrade. How many people have been murdered by your subordinates? Maybe I should make sure Brenda is the last.”
“Whoa, ease up.” Mattson moved from where he’d been frozen by the door, appearing next to Charlie with his palms out. “Let’s step back a second.”
“What for?” Javier tried to steady his shaking hands and ignore the sweat forming on his brow.
“Maybe Uncle Chuck can help us find the guys who did this. Maybe get your stuff back.” Mattson stood face to face with Charlie and forced Javier to back off. “Right, Uncle Chuck? Don’t you want to do the right thing?”
Charlie’s eyes went from his nephew to the gun, then back. “I did the right thing.”
Javier’s pulse pounded harder. “You . . .” He shook out his shoulders, steadying his hands. “Killing Brenda was not the right thing.”
“She shouldn’t have been here. Shouldn’t have helped you.”
“So she deserved to die?” Fury coursed through Javier’s body, and it took every ounce of resistance to keep from pulling the trigger. “Don’t you see how insane that is?”
Mattson slowly reached for Javier, putting his hand on his shoulder. “There has to be another solution. Killing a federal agent will only make things worse.”
Javier swallowed through the lump in his throat. Maybe there was another solution, but he couldn’t think of it now. “Liz, go find help.”
Liz had crouched next to Brenda’s shoe, touching it. “Who? The authorities are the ones who did this.”
“Just find . . . someone. I need to figure out how to reach Trent. He needs to know about this.”
She stood and put her hands on her hips. “I have an idea.”
****
Liz ran down the street towards the diner. It wouldn’t open for an hour, but she had to get out of the lab and away from that murderer. The only way Brenda could have wound up dead was if Charlie had arranged it. Liz would wait at the diner until Jonah arrived. He was anti-LifeFarm. He’d have an idea for what to do.
She ran to the back of building, where Jonah’s SUV was parked outside—maybe he arrived early to take care of paperwork or prep side dishes for the breakfast rush. She pounded on the back door, and after no one answered, she pounded again.
Jonah cracked open the door. “Marie. What are you doing here?”
“I need help. Can I come in?”
Jonah held the door for her and she entered the kitchen. One of the chefs stood at the grill, preparing potatoes. He saluted with his spatula. “Hey, Marie. I found your purse.” He pointed to her bag sitting on the end of the counter.
She wrung her hands. “Oh. Thanks.” After she retrieved it, she stepped close to Jonah. “I need to talk to you.”
****
While Mattson kept watch at the door, Javier sat on a stool a few feet from where Charlie reclined against the wall. Keeping the gun pointed at the agent, he occasionally glanced at Brenda’s body, forcing himself to keep his composure.
“What’s the plan? Keep me here until . . . what?” Charlie bent one leg and rested his arm on his knee.
“That depends on who Liz finds.” He swallowed. “You don’t understand what you’ve done. More people will get sick and die because of this. We were close to a vaccine.”
Charlie pointed. “The virus. Isn’t. Real.”
“You know it’s real!” Javier jumped to his feet and knocked over the stool, sending it to the floor with a crash. He closed the distance between himself and the agent, staring into Charlie’s eyes. “I don’t know what kind of hold LifeFarm has on you, but it’s real. It’s killed people. I have . . . had the proof. That’s why they tried to kill me in the car accident, isn’t it?”
Javier set the stool upright, sat on it, and dropped the weapon to his side as his grief for Brenda and his frustration at losing his research rushed to the surface. He strained to fight back the tears. “We can’t kill it. We can only prevent it.” He clenched his fists. “You have to help me understand. Why is LifeFarm okay with letting people—their customers—die? How do they make money if everyone’s dead?”
Charlie stood and eyed the gun. “It’s not like that.”
Javier gestured to the room with the gun. “So, enlighten me.”
Charlie slumped. “The virus has been overblown.”
“No, it hasn’t.” Mattson left his post by the door and joined them. “You’ll see. Sooner or later the truth will come out. He knows.” He pointed to Javier. “He can stop it if you stop being an asshole for five minutes and let him.”
The front door banged, and Jonah stormed across the room, eyeing Brenda’s body and the white powder covering the counter. “Oh, God.” He pulled his phone from his pocket, pressed a contact, and held the phone to his ear. “It’s Jonah. The Seventh has been compromised. We’re heading your way.”
Chapter Twelve
Javier drummed his fingers on his knee as he sat on the porch, waiting for Sam to arrive. He was thankful for the brief respite from playing the bad guy. Or the good guy. Or whatever living on the opposite side of the government, the mega-corporation that ran the government, and the majority of the population made him.
On the sidewalk, Jonah paced with his hands on his hips or while talking to Trent on the phone, judging from the things he said. What would a diner owner have to do with this? And since he appeared to be an authority figure in whatever this was, how much did Sam know?
Standing, Javier peered through the lab’s front door and propped-open interior door. He could only see Charlie sitting on the floor and le
aning against the wall from that angle. Liz was doing a good job keeping him in check.
What would they do with Charlie after this? And with Mattson? Not only had they threatened a government official, but that official now had spent enough time with all of them to pursue them indefinitely, if he didn’t arrest or kill them first.
On the other hand, the guy had ordered Brenda’s murder in addition to the attempts he’d made to capture Javier. Those had all resulted in someone dying.
They couldn’t simply let Charlie go.
An old, silver Volkswagen pulled up to the curb, and Trent rushed out without closing the door. He ran past Javier and to the lab, slamming the broken front door against the brick wall as he bolted inside.
Javier braced himself for Trent’s reaction. A moment later, Trent’s voice yelling, “Oh, God!” reached him. The memory of what Trent was now seeing flashed in Javier’s mind.
No other sounds came from the lab, but Javier guessed decisions were being made. As he headed inside, another voice coming from the street stopped him. “Dad!”
Sam, loaded down with a large backpack, hugged Jonah. She hurried towards Javier, tears welling in her eyes.
An odd mix of joy at seeing Sam and despair from their situation took hold in Javier’s gut. “You heard about Brenda?”
Nodding, Sam wiped her face with an open hand. “I can’t believe it.” She wrapped her arms around him. “How are you doing?”
In an effort to stay in control of his emotions, he’d tried not to think about the answer to that question. He closed his eyes, enjoying her warmth. “I’ll live.” Maybe.
Sam pulled back. “There is a bright side, though.”
“Really? What?”
Pulling back, she looked into his eyes. “We’ve been waiting for this. We knew it would happen. We just didn’t think it would be this soon.”
“You knew what would happen?”
The door banged against the bricks again and Trent rushed out, followed by the others. Charlie’s hands were secured behind him with a zip tie.
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