“I have my Blackberry in my purse. If you get it out of the car, I can show you some emails that will convince you that what I am saying is true,” said Katie.
The man thought about it for a moment. “Ok, but don’t try and go anywhere or you will be hanging high by the time I get back.” He then tied her hands behind her back for added insurance.
Katie did her best to stay still. She didn’t want to slip and end all of her chances to make it through this terror. The man soon reappeared. Katie gave him her password and he opened up her email. He pulled a stepping stool next to her and scrolled through the emails where she could see.
“Go to my sent mail,” she said. “Find one I sent to Ben Shah earlier today.”
The man found the email and then opened it. Thankfully, Katie’s anger at Redman’s arrogance had paid off. She had let it rip in this email, commenting on how Redman would be pissed that she and Ben were the only ones on the trail of the disease and saying how it galled him that she wanted the information to go public. In the same email she had explained her most recent estimates for life expectancy for people in the U.S. She had used the ages of 40 and 55 and had estimated five and one half months for a relatively healthy 40 year old and two months for a 55 year old.
“It is all right there. I didn’t make this up.” She paused to gather her thoughts.
“Do you have a family? If you want any chance of them being saved by a cure, killing me is the wrong thing to do. We are the only two people who are making progress,” she said with great emphasis. “Please let me go so I can help save your family.”
She could now sense that what she was saying was starting to make sense to the man. He was really beginning to work up an anger toward Redman.
He thought a few more minutes.
“This is what I am going to do,” he said. “I am going to let you go on one condition. Either you agree or you don’t. If you don’t you will be committing suicide and condemning your family right here and now.”
“I will do whatever you ask,” said Katie, desperate to live.
“Okay then, here’s the deal. You cannot tell anyone what happened tonight. Not the police, your husband, your boss, no one, and if you do, a lot of innocent people will die. I will not only hunt you down and kill you, I will also kill Rob, Bret, Sam and Hope, along with your parents and Rob’s parents and all of the children and staff at the Center. Do I make myself clear? Don’t doubt me for one second,” said the hired killer.
This guy is serious, thought Katie. She was shaking even more now, thinking about all the people that could die because of her. He had obviously been following her for a while.
“What about Redman, how will I be able to face him at work, knowing what he tried to do?” she asked.
“You don’t worry about that, I will take care of it,” said the man curtly.
“You have a deal,” promised Katie. “I will never discuss anything that has happened this evening.” Her family’s life depended on it.
The man loosened the rope and let her down from the chair. He was holding the gun at her again, just in case she wanted to be bold again and run.
“One other thing, if you try anything right now, I will be forced to kill you and all of the other people I have mentioned tonight. So, don’t try anything.”
Relieved somewhat, Katie wasn’t about to try anything.
“Sit down in the chair,” the man commanded. “I am going to leave now and I want you to count to five-hundred after you hear the engine start on my car. Be sure, because I’ll be watching you. You will find this gun in the mailbox at the end of the road. You are to take it to your home and put it back in the locked cabinet where you keep it. Do you understand?”
“Yes sir.”
“Good, I am leaving now.”
Katie sat obediently in the chair as she watched the man methodically coil up the rope and move towards the barn door. After a short time she heard a car engine start and quickly drive away. She then started to count to five-hundred, taking her time, but suddenly she started to cry uncontrollably. How could this be happening she thought? She didn’t know if she would ever be able to get the thoughts of tonight out of her head.
After some time she slowly pulled herself together and then she started to count to five-hundred again.
CHAPTER 43
It was a little after 11 p.m. and Jim Redman had just arrived at his home in Arlington. He got home about this time every night, unless there was some major crisis in progress. He dropped his briefcase by the door and went into the kitchen to grab a cold bottle of Corona and slice of lime from the refrigerator. He pulled the bottle opener from a drawer, pried open the top and then he pushed the lime into the mouth of the bottle, giving it a lite shake just like every other night. He dropped his jacket on a chair and kicked off his shoes in the living room on his way to his office. Entering his office, he flipped on the lights and eased around his massive desk, taking a seat next to his computer. He glanced out of the picture window at the swimming pool and hot tub in his back yard, thinking he might take a quick swim and sit in the tub for a while before he checked his email.
He swung his chair around and, startled, saw Nicholas standing next to his book case in the shadows. Nick stepped forward. He was holding a gun with a silencer at this side.
“I thought I told you never to come here?” said Jim.
“You did, but I am here to collect the rest of my payment,” said Nicholas.
Jim was confused. “What are you talking about? “I paid you in advance, like always. Is there a problem with the payment?”
“Yeah, it isn’t enough,” said Nick. “You forgot to tell me that I am infected with the disease that is likely to kill me within a month.
Jim began to panic.
“Well, I didn’t think that would do any good,” he said nervously, trying to cover his sudden fear.
“How about my family, Jim? You know I have a family. I need to take care of them. How much cash you got in your safe?” Nicholas asked.
“What safe?” asked Jim.
“The one behind the curtain. What, do you think I’m dumb?”
“I’ve got about twenty thousand in there,” Jim replied.
“That will be a good start. Open the safe and give me the 20K,” said Nicholas.
Jim reached in his desk drawer and withdrew a key. He walked over to the curtain that hid the wall safe and drew it back. He inserted the key and manipulated the combination until the door opened. He reached into the safe and withdrew twenty thousand dollars in 100 dollar bills.
“Looks to me like there is more in there. Bring it all out,” said Nicholas.
Jim withdrew two more stacks of $100 bills.
“Looks more like $40K, Jim. You shouldn’t have lied to me, I don’t like it when you lie,” said Nicholas, smacking him with the handle of his pistol. “This is going to cost you another $40K when I come back.”
“But I don’t have another $40K in cash,” said Jim, blood now in the corner of his mouth.
“Maybe you should sell some of that vaccine you have. I’d bet you could get millions for that now. It does exist, doesn’t it?”
“Of course it does,” said Jim unconvincingly as he walked back over to his desk and sat down.
“Lying to me again,” Nick replied now with anger in his tone. “Now you’re going to have to come up with another $100K and I want it in the next two days. You can put it in the normal spot and I will have someone pick it up.”
“How about if I just write you a check,” said Jim as he reached in his drawer and pulled out a snubbed nose thirty eight pistol. Just as he was raising the pistol into shooting position, he heard two quick thuds as the two shots Nicholas fired struck his chest, knocking him against the back of his chair. As Nicholas watched, Jim’s face went blank and he slumped forward, landing face down on his desk, blood quickly pooling around his head where it lay on his large desk pad. He still had his pistol in one hand and the money in the other.
Nicholas relieved him of the $40k and whispered, “You should have taken my deal, at least then you would still be alive.”
Nicholas slowly turned and began walking towards the door. He suddenly heard a loud blast and felt an explosion in his chest. He dropped the money and his gun, clutching his gaping chest wound. When he looked down he saw a large section of his chest was missing. As he gasped for air, all he could say was, “Oh shit.”
As he lost consciousness, Nick turned and saw Jim’s gun fall from his hand. “At least it cost that son of a bitch six or seven months,” he thought. “This only cost me a month.”
“Not a bad trade,” he said out loud as he slumped to the floor.
Katie arrived home at about 11:30 p.m. She had stopped in Upper Marlboro at the McDonalds Restaurant, just off Route 4, on the way home to get something to eat and to clean up. She was scared that Rob would know that something was wrong and she didn’t want to talk about what had just happened. She wanted to forget about it. Forever.
As always, Rob was waiting up for her.
“I am glad you are finally home,” he said. “Why didn’t you call to let me know you were coming?”
“I forgot to call before I left the office and when I went to call you with my cell phone, it was dead,” Katie lied, as she had turned her cell phone off in case Rob called because she needed time to get her composure back before dealing with any questions.
Rob poured Katie a glass of wine and they sat and talked. After a pause, Katie explained that there was now another person who was negative and that person also had Down Syndrome. She had received permission to have all the staff and students at the Center tested. Patti from church was going to stop by about noon and draw blood samples from everyone who was there and was willing.
“Sounds like a good idea,” said Rob, after some thought. “It will at least rule out any coincidence. I‘ll help round up permission arrangements in the morning. If all of our Downs students are immune, then what would that mean?”
“Well, if we don’t find a cure, it means that they will have to survive on their own,” said Katie matter-of-factly.
The wheels started turning in Rob’s head. “If you think that is a real possibility, I think I should then prepare for the worst case scenario. I will have to see what would need to be modified at the Center to make it a self-sustaining environment that could be totally operated by any surviving students.”
As they sat and talked Rob noticed a mark on Katie’s neck.
“What happened to your neck?” asked Rob.
“Oh, it is just a rash. I think it must have been caused by that turtleneck sweater I wore yesterday. I noticed it when I got up this morning. I put some cream on it but it just seemed to get a little worse through the day. I am going to put some Neosporin on it tonight and hopefully it will be gone in the morning,” lied Katie.
“Sounds like a good idea.”
“I’m bushed,” said Katie. “And tomorrow is another big day. Let’s hit the sack.”
They both went in to check on the kids. They were all sound asleep. Katie went to each kid and gave them a kiss good night. As she kissed Hope, she stirred and rolled over and looked at Katie. “I love you mommy,” she said.
“I love you too, Hope. Sweet dreams.”
Meanwhile, back in Arlington, the Police had received a report of gunfire in Redman’s neighborhood. The police did a door-to-door check on the politicians, high-ranking military personnel, businessmen and newly minted entrepreneurs that favored this part of town, checking to see if everyone was alright.
There was no answer at the Redman house, so the officers checked the back of the building, scanning the pool area before seeing the back doors were left open. A few minutes later an officer was on the radio reporting what looked like a double homicide. “Or maybe a robbery gone bad,” added the officer on the radio.
Around midnight the Chief of Staff at the White House received a call informing him that the National Security Advisor had been shot dead in an apparent robbery attempt at his home.
The President was still awake and was shocked when he heard the news.
“Meet me in my office in ten minutes,” he said. “We need to let the staff know and discuss a successor. This is a tragedy. Jim was a faithful and honest friend. I’ll miss his counsel.”
The Chief of Staff felt the same, but he knew there would be no tears shed by the President’s Cabinet, who all saw Jim as a pariah.
Within the next hour, the President had his Cabinet on a secure teleconference. “I feel it is necessary that we fill this vacancy as soon as possible. I would like possible nominations from all of you no later than eight this morning.” The discussion continued for about another fifteen minutes and then the President ended the call.
The President looked earnestly at his Chief of Staff.
“Do you think I am moving too fast? Jim was always concerned that the other world powers would think we were weak if we shared too much information with them about the epidemic. Should we look for someone who is like-minded?”
“Sir, I think the biggest threat to national security today is the epidemic. If we don’t do something quick, there will be no world powers. Unchecked, this disease has the ability to wipe out our entire species from the face of the earth. Whoever you choose must be the right person to help you lead us through this crisis. I am not worried about attacks from other countries. I am worried about our survival,” reiterated the Chief of Staff.
“Thank you for your frank opinion, Harvey. I’ll have a lot to think about tonight. You should try and get some sleep. We are going to have a big day tomorrow,” said the President.
CHAPTER 44
Ben and Natalya were up early. They saw the kids off to school and then headed to the office.
“I hope we get those blood results soon. I am interested to know if Nadya is negative or positive,” said Ben.
“And what if she is negative? Who will take care of her if we are gone?” asked Natalya, a concerned shadow crossing over her face.
“Let’s hope it never comes to that,” said Ben. “When we get into the office, who should I see about planning the trip to Ust’Nera?” asked Ben.
“I will take care of that. Just give me a list of things you want to take and we can plan on leaving tomorrow morning. How many days do you think we need there?” asked Natalya.
“I think two days on the ground would be adequate. I guess the real question is who has the equipment to analyze the soil and plant samples I would like to take?”
“The research lab in this building has the capability, I think,” replied Natalya. “They have been doing some spectrograph measurements on the body tissue of the victims which hasn’t reaped any profitable information. This should be a good change of pace for them.”
Ben went down the hall to his office. He sat down at his computer and reviewed his email. He saw an email from Katie and opened it. It was the physical exam results of the blood donor in Austin, Texas. He scanned the exam for any clues. There in front of him was the link - Down Syndrome.”
Ben rose from his chair and made his way back to Natalya’s office.
“The second negative also has Down syndrome,” said Ben. “So, there is every likelihood that Nadya is also negative.”
Natalya thought she would be happier, but this information magnified her anxiety tenfold with her new concern over who would care for Nadya if she wasn’t around anymore.
“That’s great news. Now what do we do?” asked Natalya, thinking out loud.
“We go to Ust’Nera and try to find some clue as to what is causing this epidemic so a cure can be discovered. That’s what we do,” said Ben reassuringly.
Always the optimist, thought Natalya.
“Ok, let me get to work on our arrangements. Don’t forget to provide me a list of supplies you will need for the trip.”
“I got it,” said Ben.
The morning passed quickly as Ben researched the items he would need f
or this exploratory journey. He knew the exact location where the mammoth was found, but figured he had better have the exact GPS coordinates anyway. He emailed Dr. Patel in New Delhi to see if he had the information.
After doing an exhaustive search for the instruments and sample bags he thought he would need, he decided to check the world news to see if here were any developments regarding the epidemic. All he saw was the same old articles. No new information except that the WHO had reported that the current daily death toll worldwide stood now at 7 million people.
Ben was about ready to log off his computer and walk down the hall to see if Natalya wanted to grab a bite to eat for lunch when a Breaking News banner flashed across the top of his screen. “U.S National Security Advisor Found Dead in His Home.” Ben quickly clicked on the banner and the article came up. It was only two paragraphs long, but from what Ben could surmise, someone had tried to rob Jim Redman in his home and it resulted in both Redman and the burglar being shot and killed. It seemed very strange to Ben that two of the President’s top advisors would die in the same week. He was sure there were others that were asking the same question regarding this coincidence, including the FBI.
The alarm went off at 6 a.m. and Katie rolled out of bed. She dreaded going to work after what happened last night, but couldn’t just lay in bed awake like she had for the last two hours. How was she going to handle it the next time she saw that murderous bastard on the DVC? And the worst part was she couldn’t say a thing about it.
Changing her routine a little, she went in to check on the kids. They were all asleep, safe and sound. That was a relief. When she returned to the room, Rob was sitting on the edge of the bed.
“Are you okay?” asked Rob.
“I was just checking on the kids. I had a dream that someone had kidnapped them all and I just wanted to make sure they were ok, and they are. It must be all of the trauma and late hours at work,” said Katie.
The Perfect Pathogen Page 27
