Calculated Contagion

by K. T. Lee

  “We’ll just play it by ear. I know it’s not ideal, but it’s probably the easiest way to handle it,” Parker said.

  Dani rubbed her arms. “Where are Cam and Tyler now?”

  “They’re still chasing down leads, probably the ones in Romania, at least for the short term. Don’t worry, Dani. They’ll be in touch,” Alexis said, running her finger along the locked windows in the living room. She’d just come back from tossing her duffel bag in the guest room and if Ree knew her at all, from checking all of the windows in the other half of the apartment.

  Parker wiggled his phone in the air. “They’re in touch right now. Cam and Tyler say hello.” Ree leaned over to read his texts since they’d probably said more than “hello,” and snickered.

  She raised an eyebrow as she read out loud, “Cam also says to tell you that Mike isn’t as big of a pain in the ass as you think he is, and Parker is exactly as much of a pain in the ass as you think he is. Ouch.”

  Alexis snorted. “Do I want to know what he said about me?”

  “He didn’t say. Must mean we’re as close to perfect as you can get.” Ree threw an arm over Alexis’s shoulder and Mike rolled his eyes.

  “Parker, ladies,” Mike said, “we have an early start tomorrow, so I suggest we settle in and get some rest. Dani, we have cameras in the hallway and on the outside of the building. In addition to Alexis, you have a remote team keeping an eye on things. You’ve got as much security as we can give you without putting a tank in the lobby. Also, I am definitely as big of a pain in the ass as you think I am. But, hopefully, we’ll be out of here before you believe me.”

  * * *

  The following morning, Dani flexed her shaking fingers and clipped her work ID onto her belt loop. The cheerful face in the dated badge photo stood in stark contrast to her mood this morning. She made a strong cup of tea in a travel mug and listened for noises from her guest room. When Alexis came into the kitchen wearing trousers and a dress shirt, Dani tried to work out why she would be so dressed up to sit in a surveillance van. Alexis looked down to check her clothes under the weight of Dani’s stare before shrugging and tucking her weapon into a small holster on her ankle.

  “I thought you weren’t coming in today?” Dani finally asked when the agent offered no additional explanation.

  Alexis lowered her pant leg and nodded with understanding. “Ah, the clothes. I’m not planning to, but it never hurts to be prepared.” Alexis’s tone was nonchalant as she ran a hand down the leg that concealed her ankle holster. It was the same tone of voice Dani would use when telling a coworker what the cafeteria was serving for lunch.

  “Oh. Thanks,” Dani said, not sure what else to say to a badass FBI agent checking a scary-looking handgun in her kitchen, prepared to kill someone if needed on her behalf. At least she didn’t count the bullets in front of her.

  Alexis crossed her arms and grinned. “You ready to go catch some bad guys?”

  “Are you always this excited about your work?” Dani asked, bemused.

  “Aren’t you?”

  “Yeah, but it’s a little different. You know what, never mind. Is Ree ready?” They turned in concert at the knock on the door.

  “Guess so.”

  Dani wiped her palms on her pants for the fifth time since she’d left her room. She prided herself on projecting a cool, calm, and collected appearance, even on those days she felt entirely different on the inside. She had been raised to believe that her actions reflected on her family, and she had worked hard to make sure the reflection was a positive one. Today, however, her well-practiced poise felt alarmingly distant. She stood frozen in the doorway of her kitchen until Alexis gave her a friendly pat on the back. “We’ve got your back, Dani. Start with answering the door. It’s just one step at a time after that.”

  Alexis’s reassurance gave Dani the nudge of confidence she needed without pushing her too hard. Or at least gave her enough of a push to answer the door. After leaving the apartment with her new friends, she found some comfort in her routine during the drive to her office.

  Dani parked her car in her usual spot after a few too many minutes alone with her thoughts. A number of her coworkers were parking at the same time, which made the cavernous garage slightly less terrifying. She gave a wave to Keith, one of her employees, and he smiled and waved back without any fanfare. Perfect. His unremarkable greeting was confirmation and relief that her parents had done as she asked and kept the nature of her absence from her coworkers. As the crosswalk flashed “WALK”, a black sedan slowed in front of the building to let out its passenger. Ree gave her a discreet nod and slowed her pace to ensure Dani entered the building first. They really did have her back. It was hard to quantify what the change in circumstances did to the statistical likelihood of her not dying, but it probably reduced it by at least an order of magnitude.

  Dani approached the front door in her high black stilettos, smooth dress pants, fitted white dress shirt, and perfectly tailored coat. She allowed herself one last steadying breath before fixing her game face solidly into place. She passed through the revolving glass door, followed by Ree and a few of her coworkers shuffling in from the cold. She gave those she knew a genuine smile and a small wave. Dani led Ree to the security desk to get her visitor’s badge.

  In contrast to the comforting normalcy of seeing Keith Brooks on the way into the building, Dani sucked in a quick breath when she saw Bruce Stevens staring at her with an indecipherable look on his face. Bruce was a quiet man who kept largely to himself, except for when he had to talk to Dr. Brock Fabian, his boss and general thorn in Dani’s side. What else, really, did she know about him? Cam had asked about his chrome plating business back in the FBI office in Chicago, which meant he was a suspect, person of interest, or whatever they called it. While she’d dismissed Cam’s question initially, it felt a little less theoretical now. Dani shook her head. It was one question, which she had answered. The worst thing she could do was to screw everything up before they even got started because of a man she’d barely given a second thought to before this moment. At least Bruce normally spent more time staring at his shoes than her and likely wouldn’t notice she was jumpy. As long as she didn’t imagine she saw enemies where they didn’t exist, she’d be just fine.

  Keith had reached the building before her and leaned against the security desk, chatting easily with the security guard. He gave her a wave before pushing himself up. He wore designer jeans and with his sandy blond hair, looked like he’d be more comfortable on a beach than in an office building in Minneapolis. He ran a hand through his hair as he turned away from the security guard to greet her. “Morning, Dani. Glad to see you again. How was the conference?”

  Dani unclenched her tight fists and ignored her racing heart. “Uneventful.”

  “Glad to hear it. Good to have you back.” Keith flashed a brilliant smile before leaving for the security line. He wasn’t the best worker on her team but he was always friendly. He was smart enough to do the job, but she hired such high achievers that he didn’t especially stand out from the rest of her team. Still, he always finished the work he was given, even though he had a tendency to procrastinate and then pull late hours to make it happen. He’d learn his lesson eventually.

  With Keith no longer blocking the way, Ree showed her identification to the security guard. After reviewing her documents, he handed Ree a paper VacTech badge that read Dr. Rita Lewis. Ree moved to stand in the security line behind Keith, who gave Dani a small salute as he passed through the security equipment. The security line was a necessary precaution, given the danger of the infectious diseases they handled, and today, she was especially grateful it was there.

  * * *

  Ree stared at the badge with her alias after a brief meeting of the eyes with the security guard manning the scanner. He’d been told by her FBI counterparts to ignore the presence of the weapon in her bag and did so without flinching. Good job, Parker. Ree retrieved her things from the belt and fussed with her glas
ses before remembering that it would distort the video feed. She stilled her motions to keep her partners in the surveillance van from getting seasick.

  Despite the team getting everything they needed from the camera in Ree’s glasses, the lack of a more direct line of communication for Ree had been a point of contention at an impromptu meeting at Dani’s apartment the previous evening. Ree didn’t like feeling isolated, but the lack of two-way equipment made Dani more confident that she could fake normal. They settled on cell phones and the remote camera after Mike reassured Ree they would keep a close eye on things. Finding out that VacTech employed a couple of armed guards didn’t hurt either.

  Ree’s muscles tensed from the concerted effort of not checking over her own back as they walked through the hallways back to the lab areas. Dani’s shoulders were the most relaxed Ree had seen them since they’d met. Dani clicked down the hall in her black power heels, waving to those she passed.

  They stopped in front of an office door and Dani set her mouth in a line. “I’m going to take you to meet Dr. Brock Fabian. He is a colleague of mine and the other manager in the lab. You’ll need to work with him to complete your audit. I, of course, am also here to answer any questions you may have.” Dani’s words were neutral but her voice was strained. Either she was nervous or there was something else lurking beneath the surface–attraction, maybe? Dani knocked on Dr. Fabian’s door before opening it and turning her full attention to him.

  “Dr. Fabian. I’d like to introduce Dr. Rita Lewis. The foundation sent an auditor to review the lab procedures and files on an unannounced inspection. She just arrived and will be working with us until the audit is complete.”

  Brock Fabian rose immediately, walked around his desk, and held out a hand. He shook her hand firmly and greeted her without looking directly at Dani.

  “Dr. Lewis. A pleasure to meet you and welcome to our labs. Ms. Christensen can show you where all the conference rooms are, but if you have any questions of a technical nature, I am best suited to answer them. Ms. Christensen also makes a great cup of coffee. Did she offer to get you some?” Brock Fabian lingered on the “Ms.” and looked pointedly at Ree’s empty hands and his own full cup on his desk. Ree recognized the pissing match for what it was, but for the sake of her new friend, she ignored it. At least he was kind enough to show her his cards early.

  “I’m good, thanks.”

  Dani’s voice was tight as she explained, “Brock has been working on the traditional puncture vaccine research and can absolutely help you out if you have questions specific to those programs. Thank you for offering to help with your area of expertise, Brock. However, if you have any questions on our oral formulations, I am the subject matter expert and can help you with those.”

  “Of course you can, Dani. And if the question is outside of your comfort zone, you can always come ask me.” He patted her on the hand, keeping his tone pleasant. Dani’s eyes went wide and the hand he patted clenched into a fist.

  “Thank you, Dr. Fabian. I’m sure Ms. Christensen can help me with whatever I need. We’ll let you know if you are required for the audit.” Ree turned on a heel and prayed Dani would follow her. She looked like she wanted to throw something at him and Ree couldn’t exactly blame her. He was deliberately insulting, cutting her down without saying anything quite bad enough to justify getting him fired. What a jerk.

  Dani followed Ree out of the office and resumed the lead. As they rounded a corner, she spread out her hands to relax them.

  “Easy there, killer,” Ree said under her breath and fortunately, Dani chuckled. She turned to explain.

  “You don’t understand. He is terrible. All the time. You’d think after everything I’ve been through, I’d realize he’s not worth worrying about. Instead, after being in the same room with him for five minutes, I already want to dump coffee on his pompous head. I wouldn’t. But I want to. I swear, I’m not a horrible person, but that man makes me nuts.”

  “You and me both. Don’t worry, Dani. Those types, they’re everywhere. And for the record, I thought you’d throw a stapler at Dr. Asshole, not go for the coffee. But I like your way. It’d leave a big stain down his shirt as a warning for the next poor soul who has to talk to him.” Dani snickered and covered her mouth to muffle the noise. Ree checked the hallway to make sure they were alone, and then whispered, “And hey, with any luck, he’s breaking the law and we can take him to jail. I bet Parker would let you cuff him and everything.” Ree’s phone buzzed and she pulled it from her pocket. She showed Dani a message from Parker: It’s a deal. –P.

  Dani let out a belly laugh for the first time since the conference. She covered her mouth with her hand and straightened before showing Ree the rest of VacTech’s facilities.

  16

  Ree tried not to stare too long at the unfamiliar equipment in the lab. The foreign objects were a reminder of how little she remembered from high school biology. Vials and pipettes were everywhere, as were coolers and small round disks that Dani explained were used to grow “bugs.” Ree gave the refrigerator plastered with ominous red Biohazard signs a wide berth as they continued their tour. Dani detoured into her office to open a small safe. She removed a keycard and led Ree to the locked cleanroom at the back of the lab.

  “Isn’t this level of security overkill?” Ree said. Aside from the biohazard signs, the lab felt a lot like her old automotive safety laboratory. Quiet scientists running experiments, writing notes, and taking pictures. It was, in a word, unremarkable.

  “Not exactly. We often have to do some testing on live viruses in vitro–that means lab-based, not in humans–to find out what kills them. Ours is one of the small number of labs in the country allowed to work with such infectious diseases. Finding the cure starts with understanding the disease. But, you don’t want just anyone playing with these bugs.” Dani swiped her keycard across the reader. At the sound of a loud click, she pulled open the heavy door. “Put this on, please.” Ree took a step back in surprise and stared at the pile of thick, disposable protective clothing in Dani’s hands. Dani was already swapping out her killer stilettos for a pair of white rubber shoes from a cabinet. She pulled on the gown in one fluid motion, tucked her hair into a cap, and gestured for Ree to do the same before pulling a mask over her face. For the first time, Ree began to worry she might run into more than just a kidnapper on this little pro bono FBI assignment. Too late to do anything about it and hoping her new friend knew what she was doing, she put on the protective clothing and followed Dani into the lab.

  Dani pointed to each piece of equipment and described its purpose. Her explanations were muffled through the mask, but Ree could make out the words, if not the meaning. After ten minutes, Ree understood slightly more than nothing, but hopefully someone at the FBI would find their tour useful. When Dani gestured to a refrigerator with clear glass and a temperature reading on it, Ree looked into the tiny fridge more out of polite curiosity than genuine interest…at least until Dani described the contents.

  “We keep live measles in that cabinet.” Ree took a large step backward, and Dani placed a gloved hand on Ree’s arm, still covered by the odd white material. “It’s fine, they’re all sealed. Also, all samples are accounted for through a tracking sheet. I’m just telling you since it’s something an auditor might ask about. You’ll probably want to remember that. Over here, we have the current formulation of the oral vaccine that I’ll begin bench testing on the measles virus in a week. Our testing isn’t an exact parallel of how it will behave in the body, but it will still provide some useful information. I have the complicating feature of the digestive tract to deal with, but I’ve coated the vaccine in substances that should mask it long enough so it can be absorbed in the intestine. I’m working with the pharmaceutical scientists in VacTech’s commercial businesses to finalize the formulation. I’ve set up the experiment so that even if it doesn’t work, someone can apply the findings to future research. Hanging with me, Ree?”

  Dani paused her tour to wa
it for Ree’s response. Only Dani’s eyes were visible under the mask and head covering, and they were bright with purpose. The lab was small, and because there was nothing else to see, Ree nodded and tried not to show her disappointment. Despite the fact that the FBI was hoping her technical background would help her understand Dani’s world, in practice, she wasn’t going to be very useful. The only thing semi-useful she did on the tour was counting the vials Dani showed her, which she did more out of the habit of counting samples in her lab than any particular reason. So basically, she’d completed a task that required the skills of an elementary school student. Not a brilliant start to the investigation. The idea of contagious diseases just sitting in vials in a lab gave her the creeps. It wasn’t a very scientific opinion, considering she’d been vaccinated for the measles at a young age, and the material in the lab was all being handled by professionals. Still, her visceral reaction was to do what needed to be done and then get the heck out of there.

  As they exited the lab, Dani detoured into her office and gave Ree an armload of files. Dani escorted her into an unoccupied conference room to look at them in detail. Ree thanked her for the benefit of whoever was listening and sat at the conference room table to study them. While she had initially thought they would be giving her dummy files and asking her to keep herself occupied, Parker and the rest of the team had prioritized files they thought could help them figure out who might want Dani kidnapped and tracked. She opened the first large three-ring binder just as Dr. Fabian tapped on the doorway. He was handsome with a neat, dark goatee and dark brown eyes. Ree hadn’t noticed his looks earlier. They’d been overshadowed by his unattractive personality. Forcing herself to control her knee-jerk distaste of the man, she turned up the corners of her mouth slightly and forced a polite wave. Unfortunately, he took this as an invitation to join her and sat across from her at the conference room table. Dr. Fabian looked at the file she was reading from the other side of the table.