Rebecca overheard and said, “Make that two, kind sir!”
“Two whiskeys, coming up.”
Scarlett took her seat while Zak returned with two whiskeys and handed them to Caitlin and Rebecca.
Caitlin murmured her thanks and quickly downed her glass, needing that liquid courage as the plane began to taxi.
“Are Laird and CJ going to meet us there?” she asked, trying to occupy her brain with anything other than the knowledge that the plane was taking flight.
“Yes. How are you feeling?” he asked.
“Better,” she answered, which wasn’t entirely a lie, but it wasn’t truthful, either. Her hands were still shaking and she wanted to puke but she didn’t feel the need to cry. She could use another whiskey but she’d try to close her eyes and make it work.
“I love to fly,” Rebecca prattled on, oblivious to anyone but herself. “And this is definitely way better than flying coach like I normally do. Once I took an eight-hour flight to the Bahamas and spent the entire flight with a kid kicking the back of my seat. It was horrible. By the end of the flight I was pretty sure I never wanted to have kids.”
Caitlin smiled wanly, which was the equivalent of saying, “Cool story, bro,” but Rebecca didn’t seem to mind. She was just tickled to be traveling in such style.
Thankfully, the flight was short enough and the whiskey did help dull the edge. By the time they landed at JFK in New York, her anxiety had lessened, replaced by the tremulous nerves of coming face-to-face with quite possibly the most dangerous bioweapon of today’s age.
It could kill her.
It could kill them all.
Her hands were shaking like leaves in a stiff wind.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Zak asked, grasping her hand softly. “You’re shaking pretty hard.”
“I’m scared shitless but I’m not running away. No one can do this but me and my team.”
Zak’s mouth firmed with displeasure but he didn’t argue. He simply shouldered the huge bag she required and they exited the plane.
It was go time.
* * *
Zak didn’t like this one bit. It was one thing for him to rush headlong into the lion’s mouth but entirely another for the woman he cared about to do the same.
But there was no telling her to stay at the lab. Hell, he could see the fear in her eyes when she stepped on board the plane and yet her feet had never faltered. He respected her guts, her grit, but goddamn, it scared the shit out of him.
A sleek all-black Tahoe awaited them at the airfield, taking them straight to the hospital where the patients were quarantined.
They came in through a service entrance and were greeted by some very pissed-off CDC officers.
Scarlett took point as she flashed her Red Wolf credentials.
“I don’t care who you are, you’re not authorized for this level of clearance,” Roger Peterson, the lead CDC officer, barked. “I’ve done some research. Red Wolf is nothing but a bunch of mercenary thugs willing to do the dirty work for anyone willing to pay the price. What makes you think you’re qualified to step into this investigation?”
“Because we’ve been hired by Tessara to protect the one woman who’s smart enough to save all our asses from what you’ve got percolating in your quarantine right now,” Scarlett answered, meeting the man’s gaze without flinching. “We can sit here and measure our dicks all you want but I can guarantee you, mine is bigger, and how embarrassing would that be? Or we can work together and possibly prevent an epidemic that has a one hundred percent mortality rate. Factor that into how many people have potentially been exposed and you’ve got an inkling of the seriousness of what we’re dealing with.”
“Red Wolf also has the full cooperation of the FBI,” a voice said from behind them. Zak turned to see Xander striding in, his dark suit and equally dark trench coat giving him a superhero look. Damn, homeboy makes that outfit look good. He’d have to bust his balls about it later. For now, Zak was happy to see him. Scarlett, on the other hand, didn’t look so pleased.
Xander flashed his own credentials and Roger looked like he’d just been forced to choke down a shit sandwich. “What we want to remember is that we’re all on the same side,” Xander said. “We’ve got a potentially world-threatening event on our hands, so let’s keep our egos in check.”
Scarlett cast Xander a look that promised a conversation later but otherwise simply nodded in greeting and returned to Roger. “I understand you have questions, but the longer we wait around, the less likely Dr. Willows will be successful in finding the cure we all need to prevent a catastrophe.”
Roger looked to Caitlin, his gaze shrewd. “This the doc?”
Caitlin stepped forward. “I am.” She showed him her Tessara credentials. “Please, Mr. Peterson, time is our enemy. The virus has a forty-eight-hour life span. It is quick and ruthless.”
Roger couldn’t argue that point. From what they knew, they’d already lost a few patients. By the time they’d realized they were dealing with something virulent, it was impossible to know how far the contagion had spread, which was exactly how whoever was orchestrating this nightmare wanted it to work.
“Follow me,” he said gruffly, turning on his heel and leading them down the halls to the cordoned-off area. He stopped them short of the plastic sheeting blocking off the doorway. “From this point forward, anyone going in must wear full-body hazmat suits. We have the quarantined rooms set up with negative pressure and their own lab capabilities but this is unlike anything we’ve ever seen. We’re taking every precaution possible.”
“That’s wise,” Caitlin said. “This virus is within the same class as Ebola but it is not Ebola. It is stronger, faster and more deadly. It also adapts to its environment with frightening efficiency. This virus was created in a lab, not by Mother Nature, and as such doesn’t seem to follow the rules.”
“Who in the hell would create such a terrible thing?” Roger asked.
“That’s a question for another day,” Caitlin answered, sharing a look with Zak. The details of where the virus came from and how Tessara came to acquire it were still highly hush-hush. Zak was proud of Caitlin for knowing what to share and what to keep quiet about.
He watched as Caitlin and Rebecca climbed into the sterile, white hazmat jumpsuits and zipped up, securing all entry points with duct tape so that nothing could get in. His heart rate was like a rabbit on meth. He didn’t want her going in there.
Scarlett caught his anxiety and gave him a minute shake of her head. He wasn’t going to stop Caitlin but it didn’t mean he had to like it.
He couldn’t even kiss her before she went into the hot zone. Couldn’t hold her hand, couldn’t pull her in tight in case it was the last time they were able to touch without neoprene between them.
“Be safe in there” was all he could say but she got it.
The wordless exchange between them was enough.
After one final look, Caitlin and Rebecca disappeared behind the door where hell awaited them.
And Zak was forced to wait on the other side.
Chapter 23
Caitlin and Rebecca, armed with their sample collection kits, walked into the patient’s room, careful to walk slowly and cautiously. The room wasn’t built without sharp edges, so anything that could tear the suit presented a potential hazard.
The patient, a young woman, didn’t look good.
Blood wept from her eyes and nose as she stared, her gaze glazed from the massive doses of morphine given to keep the pain at bay as her insides liquefied. Her appearance gave Caitlin the creeps. This was horrific. How could anyone willfully set out to do this to another human being?
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered, swallowing the lump in her throat. Her hands shook as she reached into her kit for a needle. Rebecca stopped her with a worried expression. “I’m okay,” she assured her b
ut she wasn’t okay. Not by a long shot. It was one thing to read about the effects of a virus and even to see gruesome photos, but to be faced with the patient, to see their suffering first-hand, it was entirely different.
She sniffed back tears and refocused as she cleared her throat. To the patient, she said, “I’m going to draw some blood through your IV. You shouldn’t feel anything.” She might as well have been talking to a brick wall. The woman was practically in a medically induced coma but Caitlin felt obligated to say something. This wasn’t a lab rat—she was a person. Prior to this moment, she’d been someone’s daughter, possibly a sister or, God forbid, a mother.
She withdrew enough blood to test, labeled it and placed it in the containment box. She nodded to Rebecca, and they moved to the next patient. In all, they collected blood samples from eight infected patients.
By the time they left the quarantined area, Caitlin’s previous scientific excitement was tempered by the reality of the situation. The virus in action was nothing that mere notes and slideshows could convey. Human suffering was visceral and it grabbed your soul in a way that stole your breath—that part was hard to accurately report with charts and graphs.
After a thorough decontamination bath, Caitlin exited the quarantine, shaken and ready to have a mental breakdown, but somehow she held it together long enough to make it to the bathroom.
Then, she broke down and sobbed.
That was how Rebecca found her—curled on the bathroom floor, knees hugged to her chest, crying into her folded arms.
Rebecca slid down beside her with a sigh. “Zak sent me in to find you. He was worried.”
Caitlin could only nod.
“Man, that was intense,” Rebecca said. “Who knew saving the world was so gross.”
Caitlin agreed, crying a little. “So, so gross,” she said with a hiccup, recognizing that Rebecca was using humor to defuse the awful situation. “That woman is dying. All of these people are dying. Some lunatic released a virus that could kill us all. Every single one of us could die exactly like they are right now if we don’t figure out how to stop it. I don’t know if we can. I’m freaking out right now.” She sniffed back a wash of tears to peer at Rebecca. “Why aren’t you?”
“Maybe I am and I deal with it differently,” Rebecca said, rubbing her leg. “People deal with tragedy in different ways. Doesn’t make it wrong.”
Now she felt even worse. “I’m sorry, Rebecca,” Caitlin apologized, wiping at her eyes. “I’m a mess. I shouldn’t have said that. I’m just overwhelmed right now.”
“Yeah, I get that. But to play devil’s advocate for a minute...there’s a grotesque beauty about the way the virus takes care of business. Even Ebola can take up to two weeks to get the job done. This virus is an efficient killing machine. Gotta respect the biology, right?”
“Of course. I’ve said that from the beginning. On paper, it’s stunning. I just wasn’t prepared to see what that efficiency would mean to a real human body. Maybe I’m not as analytical as I thought,” Caitlin said, wiping at her eyes.
“Some might consider that a good thing,” Rebecca teased.
Caitlin shared a watery chuckle, blowing out a long breath, finally catching hold of her runaway emotions. She was better than this. She hadn’t risen to the top of her field by running scared every time a challenge bested her. “Sorry, I lost it. That was embarrassing,” she said to Rebecca, climbing to her feet and helping Rebecca up. “Enough crying, time to get back to work. Do me a favor and promise me we’ll never mention this again?”
“Oh, hell, no, this is leverage,” Rebecca said with good humor.
Caitlin laughed. She wasn’t sure but this was beginning to feel like a real friendship. “Fine. But I’ll deny it.”
“I would expect nothing less.”
Caitlin grinned. “Just as long as we understand each other.”
Rebecca gave her a sly look to ask, “Hey, since we’re sharing and being all honest...tell me, are you sleeping with your bodyguard?”
Caitlin, hand on the bathroom door, returned the sly grin and answered, “Every chance I can get.”
Rebecca’s crow of laughter was the final boost her spirit needed to kick this virus’s ass.
* * *
While Caitlin was doing science stuff—he wasn’t going to pretend to understand what was happening in that head of hers—he, Scarlett and Xander were out doing what they did best.
Running down leads.
“Where was Patient Zero discovered?” Scarlett asked Roger, as they convened in a vacant conference room at the hospital.
Roger consulted his notes. “Patient Zero, Londa Jackson, forty-three, was brought into Lenox Hill at 0405, five days ago. She died within two days of being hospitalized.”
“Who brought her in?”
“Unknown.” Roger’s irritation didn’t stop Scarlett.
“Why not?” Scarlett pressed. “Isn’t it CDC protocol to follow the chain of contagion?”
“The CDC wasn’t contacted until after the body had been cremated. There was, admittedly, a breakdown in protocol.”
“We need to find out who brought in Patient Zero. Londa Jackson could be our connection to who is behind all of this,” Scarlett said.
“Or,” Roger injected sternly, “she could simply be a victim. It wouldn’t take much to infect someone with this virus undetected.”
“Well, I guess there’s one way to find out,” Zak said, rising. “Let’s find out where Ms. Jackson called home.”
“Calm down, son, this isn’t our first rodeo,” Roger groused. “We already did the follow-up. Londa Jackson lived alone with a cat. She had no known relatives and lived off disability. For all intents and purposes, she was a recluse, which is a good thing because it limits how many people she was exposed to.”
“Then how did she infect seven more people?” Zak asked.
“With an infectious agent like this virus, it can happen with a simple touch or shared air.” Roger pulled another sheet of paper. “From what we’ve figured out, Londa came into contact with patient number 2 when she ordered takeout Chinese from Bamboo Sunrise. He passed it on to his two-year-old-daughter, LeeLee Sing, and so on.”
Zak felt sick. “They’re all dead?”
“Half of the infected are dead, but patient number 5, Simone Heland, is alive but not looking good. Hell, none are looking good. We can’t seem to stop this thing, no matter what we throw at it,” Roger said. “I want to know how a private company could, in good conscience, have something like this in their possession when the goddamn CDC doesn’t even have knowledge of it. This is what happens when money overrides good sense.” Roger shot up abruptly, kicking his chair out from under him, growling, “I need some air.”
Zak waited for Roger to clear the room before he admitted, “I hate to say it but he’s right. Tessara was playing with fire.”
“It wasn’t just Tessara. You know there are other factors at play here,” Scarlett reminded him quietly. “The irony is not lost on me that the US government stole the sample from North Korea, who’d been hoping to use it as a weapon against the US, and then it was stolen by a domestic terrorist to use against its own people. In a sense, they’re doing North Korea’s dirty work for them.”
“Damn politics. No one wins,” Zak muttered. “I’m sick of fighting the wars of old men who hide behind their ivory towers.”
Xander sighed, knocking his knuckles lightly on the mahogany. “Be that as it may, it doesn’t change the fact that we’ve got a real situation facing us right now. We don’t know who did this and we don’t know how to stop it.”
“Thanks, Captain Obvious,” Scarlett muttered, turning to face Xander. “And about that—what the hell are you doing here? I never asked you to ride up to play the hero.”
“Stow your pride, Scarlett,” Xander said, cutting to the chase. “We don’t have
time to pussyfoot around your issues on this one. Look, you do need my help and I wasn’t about to let you face this alone. This case affects everyone, not just Red Wolf.”
She couldn’t argue. God, Xander was probably the only person on the planet that could handle Scarlett so masterfully. Their sex was probably epic...and probably left bruises.
“Fine,” Scarlett bit out. “But don’t think for a second that when this is all over I’m not going to ream your ass over this.”
“I look forward to it, baby.”
Zak grimaced. “I think I need to wash my ears out.”
Scarlett ignored him and moved on. “I want to know everything about this Londa Jackson. I want to know why the body was cremated. Find the person who signed off on that order. That body was evidence.”
Zak nodded. “I’ll take that.”
“Good.” Scarlett rose, along with Xander. “I’ll follow up with the CDC and find out what else they’ve uncovered about Londa Jackson and her day-to-day. The answers are there, we just have to find them. I don’t have to remind everyone the clock is ticking.” She paused to add, “Oh, and make sure to wash your hands. You never know where that virus could be lurking.”
Zak made a face. “That’s a sobering thought.”
“Right?”
“Just one more thing to add to my nightmares,” Zak said. “Ah, what the hell, I was feeling too emotionally well these days anyway.”
They broke off into separate directions and Zak detoured to Caitlin first. He had to see her, hold her, make sure she was okay.
This shit had a way of making everything else seem small.
He couldn’t lose her. He’d lost Zoey—he couldn’t lose Caitlin.
Chapter 24
Caitlin saw Zak from across the containment room and motioned for him to wait while she decontaminated. While impatience thrummed in her veins, she took the time to go through each protocol with due diligence until she could safely exit and go straight into his arms with a grateful sigh.
Soldier Protector (Military Precision Heroes Book 2) Page 19
