The Secrets We Live In: A Novel
Page 29
Again, Brianna opened the brass box and removed the tube, a midsized bottle, a burner phone, a small black titanium Ultralight 200 ml clip on a small bottle, a timer, alcohol wipes, a bottle full of pure alcohol, organic soap, a wireless chip, and a portable nebulizer. Brianna mixed the items in an empty bottle to look like she was carrying water.
“Is that some kind of sulfuric acid?” asked Dash.
In her concentration, Brianna said nothing. Then when the contents looked to be blended completely, she took a deep breath and poured the solution into first a spare thin bottle, locking it with the lid and then placing it inside the black titanium bottle.
“Yes, Dash, but it is only part of it. It also has aluminum, boron, gallium, and indium,” she said.
After the contents looked to have matured, she poured the solution from the mixing bottle into the tiny test tube and tightened the lid.
“Dash, Rick, use your leather gloves as you do this. Once you get to the right floor, take this test tube and place the contents of it inside this portable nebulizer, attach the wireless chip—do not turn this on,” she said firmly.
“I repeat, do not turn this on. Place it on the desk against the wall and then place the timer next to it and get out! Before you enter this car, use the alcohol wipes all over your hands.”
The two confirmed their steps.
“If you guys can take out three gunmen in six bullets, this will be a piece of cake,” Brianna laughed.
“Any questions?”
“How far can the timer be placed?”
Brianna adjusted her jacket. A magnet next to it needs to clip with the wireless chip. That’s how I can activate it with this burner phone.”
“Does Aphroditus know about this?” asked Ric.
“You mean, does he know both of your involvements in the abduction of that journalist—what was his name? Oh, yes, John Thomas —and the list of things you’re both doing to bring about his ‘untimely death’?”
“How long do we have?” asked Rick.
“Exactly twenty-five minutes to place the bottle. Oh, one more thing…” said Brianna.
The two men looked at her again and listened carefully.
“If at any time you suspect Chloe is walking with someone into her office, send me a message on this burner phone. You have the number already.”
Dash and Rick confirmed that the target was Chloe Kamikazed.
“Any other questions?” she asked. Brianna handed over the bottle and the aerosol device separately.
Dash and Rick exited the car into what looked to be a cold winter night. Brianna thought back to the episode when she and her brother were confronted by the killer Kamikazed had sent to their home. It was their good luck that he had died in a police shootout, but so too did her brother Malek.
But that incident had set her on a path where she was always on the run. As she thought about her dear brother Malek, she pondered how wonderful and supportive he was in her difficult and lonely years. But even until his last moments, he was a huge fan of Zain. She looked at Zain’s photo from the newspaper. Years may have passed, but his kind soul had not changed.
The burner phone buzzed with a notification within fifteen minutes. Dash and Rick had already placed the nebulizer with the contents in position. The message read,
“Confirming on the placement, but Chloe is with a man and girl in her office.”
Brianna responded.
“Take appropriate caution.”
This was not what Brianna wanted.
“Confirming, leaving at target location! Do you accept?”
What she had feared had come true.
“Do you accept?”
With the touch of a button, she could easily unleash an infectious, radioactive substance into the air around Kamikazed, her daughter Sumeyyea, and her husband.
“Do you accept?”
Brianna looked one last time at Zain’s picture in the newspaper.
“I accept!”
There was a strange pause.
“It’s done!” came the message.
Brianna looked at the building outside for one last time. Then she looked at Zain’s picture again.
“I love you, Zain, but it’s Chloe’s time to pay now.”
╔ ——————————————— ╗
About
THE AUTHOR
╚ ——————————————— ╝
FAZLE CHOWDHURY is a fellow at the Global Policy Institute and a university lecturer. Previously, he served with IBM, UNDP, and held positions in technology, finance, and managed projects in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq. He now spends his time between Montreal and Washington DC.
FOLLOW HIM ON:
twitter.com/faslec
instagram.com/fazlech
facebook.com/faslec
www.fazlechowdhury.com