by Barber, Tom
The journey took a couple of minutes. As the taxi pulled up outside the lab building on Amsterdam, Archer saw a lone figure sitting outside on a bench, wrapped up in a dark coat.
Maddy Flood.
She was sitting not ten feet from where her father had died. The point of impact on the sidewalk in front of her had been cleaned up and the team who were here earlier were long gone, all traces of the suicide removed. Archer paid the fare, then stepped out of the cab and shut the door, and the vehicle headed off uptown.
He walked slowly towards her, well aware of the hostility she’d been directing his way all day. He stopped six feet away from her, his hands buried deep in the pockets of his coat.
‘I thought you were meant to have a detective with you?’ he said.
‘He went to get us some food and I left. I wanted to be alone.’
‘Are you OK?’
She looked at him, then sniffed. ‘What happened to your nose?’
‘Jacobs is dead.’
‘What? How?’
‘The meet at the club was a set-up. They killed him with a rifle.’
She thought about what he said, then looked back at him. ‘What are you doing here?’
‘I wanted to take a look around upstairs.’
He watched her closely.
Her anger seemed to have softened a touch. He took a chance.
‘Feel like showing me around?’
Across the street, a man watched the pair walk into the building. He pulled a cell phone from his pocket and dialled a number.
‘It’s me,’ he said. ‘I checked out the lab. It’s clear. The bitch arrived a moment after I got out. She just went inside.’
‘Alone?’
‘Some asshole is with her. He just showed up. They’re going up together. Young guy.’
‘Is it rigged up?’
‘It’s been prepared. I used the bug and keypad like you showed me. When they go in the main lab, they’ll die.’
‘Good. Using what’s left and what we don’t need to get rid of her. I like it. Well done.’
‘What about Kruger?’
‘Wicks couldn’t get to him. There were detectives in the corridor outside his apartment.’
‘Is that a problem?’
‘No. Won’t be an issue. Get back across the water. I’ll see you at Kearny.’
‘Are you OK.’
‘I’m fine. The pigs arrested me but my alibi checked out.’ Pause. ‘Nice work brother.’
*
Flood Microbiology occupied the 17th and 18th floors in the building. Once the lift arrived on 17, Archer and Maddy stepped out and walked towards the entrance to the lab complex. Downstairs, the building security had changed to the night shift, but the guy behind the main desk had barely looked up from his newspaper as they walked in.
Up on the 17th floor, there was another reception desk but no one was manning it. Straight ahead was the entrance to the lab. The door and the walls were all made of transparent glass, which meant Archer could see inside. It was dark, lit only by faint green and red glows from equipment around the complex, but even in the poor light Archer could see that everything was clean, polished and sterilised. Maddy pulled a key card and swiped them in, pushing the door back.
‘Let’s go to Dad’s office,’ Maddy said, as Archer followed.
She led him all the way down the main corridor, then turned right. Dr P Flood was printed on a gold-coloured tag pinned to the door of a private room. It was already unlocked and she pushed it open. The office was of average size, containing a desk with a comfortable-looking chair behind it. Filing cabinets were standing against the wall to the right beside a series of clothing hooks for lab-coats. Books were stacked neatly on shelves on the wall to the left, medical journals and such, nothing Archer recognised. He moved to the right and pulled open the top drawer of one of the filing cabinets. Everything inside was labelled alphabetically.
‘Did he have a file on the virus?’
‘He did. But he destroyed it.’
‘Paper shredder?’
‘No. Burned. That’s why he was up on the roof in the first place.’
He turned.
‘When we arrived this morning, we saw that all but one of the vials were missing,’ she explained. ‘Then we got a call from one of your people saying that a man had been gassed and killed in Central Park. When they described how he died, Dad immediately put the two together and knew it had to be his virus.’
‘What did he do?’
‘He went into a frenzy and started destroying everything. Then I found him up on the roof, torching all his papers in a trash can. I turned my back for a moment and when I looked back he was standing on the edge of the building. Then you and your partner showed up.’
Archer nodded and slid the drawer of the cabinet shut. He moved around Peter Flood’s desk and sat down in the swivel chair. The padded leather gave a slight wheeze as it took his weight, the air decompressing. It was comfy. The desktop was sparse, save for a computer screen and a picture frame to the right. It was a shot of Peter with Maddy on what had to be her graduation day. Dressed in a black gown, a mortar-board on her head, she was holding a scroll. Her father had his arm around her and they were both smiling proudly at the camera.
‘Yale,’ she said. ‘Five years ago.’
Archer’s mind flashed back to the expression on Peter’s face up on the roof. The fear. The red-rimmed, tired eyes behind those thick glasses.
Thousands of people are going to die.
He looked up at her. ‘I’m sorry about what happened. I mean it.’
‘I know.’
Turning his attention to the computer, Archer grabbed the mouse and gave it a light swivel. The screen flicked into life. No password required. He clicked on Firefox, then went to Browsing History.
It was empty.
‘Did he have an email account?’
She nodded and moved around the desk. ‘He used the company one. He wasn’t particularly good with computers.’
Leaning over him, she hit a few keys and the company logo came up beside a username and password box. She tapped the keys again and after hitting Enter the screen changed to Flood’s inbox. As she concentrated on the screen, her hair tumbled forward and Archer caught her perfume. He focused on the screen.
Empty.
‘Shit,’ Archer said. ‘He deleted everything.’
‘No. There is something. I realised it this morning. Everyone kind of hurried past it.’
‘What is it?’
‘In his hurry, Dad went to destroy everything. Old files, emails, notes, messages on his phone. He took all the information in his head with him. But in his hurry, he forgot the most important thing of all.’
She looked down at him.
‘Do you want to see it?’
‘See what?’
‘The virus.’
Archer looked at her for a moment, then rose and nodded. They walked around the desk and headed back outside into the corridor.
‘He forgot to destroy the last vial?’
‘He wasn’t thinking clearly. And it was locked away in the freezer. It must have slipped his mind.’
She led them down the corridor, then arrived at a keypad facing what had to be the main lab. The first door led into a small cubicle. There was an ultraviolet glow inside. Maddy saw him looking up at the lighting.
‘Helps show any traces of bacteria on our suits,’ Maddy said. ‘The shower and air-system take care of most of it, but we need to be sure.’
‘Do we need to suit up?’
She shook her head. ‘Don’t worry. I took the vial out this morning, but locked it in a Class III cabinet. No one can get to it other than me. It’s secure.’
She tapped in a quick six digit code and the glass door buzzed, sliding open.
Archer followed her inside. They were forced to stop as the first door closed, the two of them standing close together in the shower cubicle. Then the second one opened and they walked into
the lab. The door slid shut behind them.
The laboratory was rectangular. There were white worktops lining the walls, all sorts of equipment placed incrementally along them. Although the main lights were turned off, the lab was illuminated by a faint glow from some LED lights and the UV lighting in the decontamination shower. Straight ahead against the far wall there was a rectangular shaped freezer with a glass door. It was big, about the size of two refrigerators stacked side by side. Archer saw racks of test tubes and beakers inside containing different coloured fluids.
And just to the left of the freezer, he saw what had to be the virus.
He walked forward slowly beside Maddy and looked into a thick containment cabinet. It was octagonal, glass panels separated by thick strips of metal. There were several holes with long black rubber gloves leading into the glass case to allow the doctors to work on the materials inside.
Towards the back of the airtight case was a rack with six slots.
Five of them were empty.
In the centre of the rack rested the last remaining vial.
‘Bleeker stole every one he could see,’ she said. ‘The only reason he missed this one was because I’d stored it in the freezer.’
Archer stared at the vial, like a moth drawn to a flame. It was about the size of a large shot glass. The liquid inside was muddy yellow, resting on the bottom of the glass like river silt giving off its own little caramel glow. It looked so inconsequential. However, Archer thought back to the store by Pier 17, standing amongst the fifty nine infected dead, blood and pieces of lung tissue around them.
Looks could be deceiving.
‘Tomorrow, I’ll come in and destroy it for once and for all.’
Archer nodded, but cocked his head. ‘What’s with the receiver?’
‘What receiver?’
He pointed. ‘Behind the vial. Look.’
She turned and looked closer. There was a little electrical bug clipped to the back of the cabinet. It was about the size of a small pencil sharpener.
She frowned. ‘That shouldn’t be there.’
Archer’s eyes widened.
He grabbed Maddy’s shoulder.
‘Step back,’ he said, sharply.
Confused by his change in tone, she moved away from the cabinet. Archer stared at the bug. It looked like a receiver. But for what? He examined the cabinet, then lowered his gaze to the cupboard under the worktop. He dropped to his knees, facing the drawers.
He took the handles and pulled them open.
There was a timer inside, red numbers this time.
They were counting down.
0:54.
0:53.
‘What the hell?’ Maddy said.
Archer rose, moving back. ‘Is this room secure?’
She nodded quickly, staring at the timer. ‘Yes, it’s airtight.’
‘We need to get out of here right now and lock it down.’
Maddy didn’t need to be told. She was already making for the door. Archer turned and followed her. She pushed in her code on her keypad.
But a red light buzzed above it.
It wouldn’t open.
‘What? This should work!’ she said, incredulous, frantically trying again.
Buzz.
Red light.
‘Someone’s locked us in,’ Archer said. He turned, and saw a camera mounted in the corner of the room. ‘Try and get the guard’s attention on the camera.’
As she ran over and waved her hands frantically, mouthing Help, Archer looked back at the timer.
0:42.
0:41.
‘Wait!’ Maddy said. ‘There are bio-suits in here. We’ll be safe.’ She turned from the camera and ran across the room, pulling open a locker.
But there was nothing there.
The rail was empty.
‘Someone’s taken them!’ she shouted. ‘They should be right here!’
Together, they looked back at the clock-face.
‘Oh my God!’
0:37.
0:36.
0:35.
‘Archer, what are we going to do?’
He didn’t reply, looking around the lab.
Think, man. Think.
He moved back over towards the device, examining it. It was at 00:29.
‘Quick, defuse it!’ she said.
‘I’m not a bomb tech,’ he said. ‘I can’t touch it. It might go off.’ He turned and grabbed a chair, running over to the glass wall. ‘We’ll have to smash our way out and run for it.’
He hammered the chair into the glass, but it just bounced off. He kept trying, but the glass was reinforced. There was no way he was breaking it. Dropping the chair, he pulled his pistol and fired three times. But all it did was leave three white dented splodges on the glass.
It wasn’t breaking.
‘Shit!’
He turned and looked around as Maddy ran back to the timer.
‘Twenty seconds!’ she screamed. ‘Oh my God, we’re going to die!’
Across the room, Archer looked around frantically.
Think!
Think!
‘Archer, what do we do?’
Scanning the room, his heart racing, he looked for a solution.
And suddenly, he had an idea.
He ran forward to the cryogenics freezer, ripping the doors open. He started pulling all the beakers and racks of test tubes off the shelves, placing them quickly on the desk top. He didn’t know if the gases inside were flammable or toxic, but took them out as quickly and carefully as he could.
‘Ten seconds!’ she screamed.
He ripped out all three shelves, throwing them out of the way.
They clattered to the floor across the room.
‘Five seconds!’ she screamed, unable to tear her eyes off the countdown. ‘We’re going to die!’
Archer ran to his left and grabbed her. He tore open the door to the freezer and dragged her inside with him, then pulled the door shut.
It closed and the plastic seal formed.
Then the bomb detonated.
Archer and Maddy saw the vial and cabinet shatter from the bug clipped to the back. The destroyed glass showered to the worktop and floor and the yellow virus started to seep out. It slowly drifted out into the room, giving the air a toxic golden tinge. Panting, Archer and Maddy stared at it, protected behind the glass and watching the evil miasma spread into the lab.
THIRTY SIXThe sealed door had saved them from the virus but now they were trapped. Inside the freezer, it was unbelievably cold. It was designed to hold and preserve chemical liquids, not living human bodies. The adrenaline was starting to pass, their heartbeats slowing and both Archer and Maddy’s bodies were starting to react to the freezing temperature. They were shivering hard. They’d pulled their collars up, folded their arms and closed their fists, trying to preserve any warmth their bodies created and protect their fingers from frostbite. But the cold was unremitting. It made the temperature out on the street seem almost tropical.
Archer had pulled his cell phone, taking utmost care not to nudge the door and break the seal, the only thing protecting them from the virus. Beside him, Maddy looked out of the glass door into the lab.
‘Anything?’ she asked.
He cursed. ‘Nothing. There’s no signal.’ He moved the phone around the freezer as much as he could, taking care not to hit the door and keeping his eyes on the display. No bars. No service. ‘Shit.’
He tucked the phone back into his pocket and wrapped himself up, trying to retain his body heat.
‘So what now?’ Maddy asked.
‘We wait until someone finds us.’
‘How long could that take?’
Archer didn’t respond. He was looking through the glass at the toxic yellow air.
‘Someone set this up.’
‘How did they know we’d be in here?’
‘The receiver was a bug. I’ve seen them before. When you entered the code on the keypad to get in, it set off the countdow
n. When it ended, the bug shattered the glass.’
‘Who would do something like that?’
‘I don’t know. But they wanted to kill whoever came in here next. That’s why they took the suits.’
He looked at her beside him.
‘All the documents are gone. The computer’s been wiped. Your father and Dr Tibbs are dead. Dr Glover is missing. They were about to kill Dr Kruger before we showed up.’
‘They’re killing anyone who knew about the virus,’ Maddy finished.
Archer nodded. ‘It must have been one of Rourke and Sway’s people. They knew only you and Kruger have access to the lab. They figured both or either one of you would be the next people to come in here.’
Maddy didn’t reply.
Shivering, Archer lifted his arm carefully over her.
He felt her tense.
‘Relax. I’m not making a move. We need body heat.’
He felt her stay rigid for a moment. Then she slowly relaxed and leaned into him, the two of them shivering together.
Waiting.
Downtown, the rest of the detail was still gathered outside Tonic East. The CSU had been able to work out from the trajectory of the bullet that the shot had come from a newly opened apartment building south and west of the bar on Lexington Avenue. They were over there now, trying to find the exact window from where the shot had been fired, but the rifleman had thought of everything. He hadn’t left any evidence behind, certainly not a cartridge or a rifle, and nobody inside the building had seen anyone suspicious. There was a chance that he was still hiding out somewhere inside so ESU were working their way up each floor, clearing each apartment which was slow, painstaking and disruptive work.
Sway had been released, much to Shepherd’s annoyance. He’d wanted to keep him in custody but Faison was calling the shots and told Shepherd that he needed to let him go. He’d said that Sway could lead them to Rourke but Shepherd wasn’t convinced. The man now knew for a fact that the NYPD had been tailing him. Catching him with the virus now was going to take some work. Furious, Shepherd had watched Sway walking away, his handcuffs taken off and a smirk on his face. He’d willed him to hail a cab in front of him so he could catch the plates but Sway had walked around the corner and disappeared out of sight.
