by Julie Rowe
“We’ll kill your brother if you don’t get us the virus.”
“It might take some time. I don’t have access to it right now.”
“You have twenty-four hours.”
That wasn’t enough time…unless they knew she was going to the high-containment lab tomorrow. They knew. They had to know where and when she’d be there.
“But how will I find you after I’ve got the virus?”
“We’ll find you.” That last word was spoken with confidence. Too much confidence. “You will tell no one about this. Not your parents, your friends, or your coworkers. If you do, he dies.”
“I won’t do anything if you don’t call me every four hours and allow me to talk to my brother. If you miss a check-in time or you’re late, I’ll go to the authorities and tell them everything.”
“You will tell no one about our arrangement, Miss Toth. We will know, and your brother will pay a very high price. We have eyes and ears everywhere.” The call ended.
She put the phone down, realized her hands were shaking, and clenched them into fists. What she wouldn’t give to be in the room with the owner of that distorted voice. She’d put them on the ground in a hold and keep them there until they begged for mercy.
They had her brother. They were going to kill him. Ha! Who was she kidding? Whether she got the virus or not, they couldn’t let him survive.
Ruby covered her face with her hands. Those stupid assholes. Not only had they taken her brother, they wanted smallpox. Vaccinations for the disease ended in the seventies, and the disease declared eradicated in 1980. Most people from their midforties and younger would never have been exposed to it or been vaccinated for it. If it were reintroduced into the population now…millions of people could become infected and die.
It could decimate the world.
What was the point of killing so many people when you had just as great a chance as anyone else to die of the disease you started? It was so stupid and wasteful and stupid.
What were the chances she’d ever see her brother alive again?
A sob broke through the constriction in her throat, and she let herself cry for a minute or two.
Suck it up, girl. She couldn’t break down now. Nate needed her sharp and thinking.
She needed to tell someone, get help.
They’d said they would know if she told anyone, contacted the police, or Homeland Security. How would they know?
Did they still have someone on the inside? Someone who worked at the CDC? Or maybe it was at Homeland Security? Maybe both.
They knew enough to grab her brother. Did they know which HC lab she was going to tomorrow?
They knew enough, and only someone inside the CDC or with access to sensitive information would know any of it.
Who could it be? Someone she trusted?
Ruby went through the list of people she knew, picturing their faces, imagining them working with terrorists.
She couldn’t see anyone going along with it, sharing information about staff and what they were doing. Couldn’t see anyone stabbing a coworker in the back.
Well, almost anyone. Raymond might.
No, he wouldn’t…would he?
She had no proof, no reason to suspect him, other than he was an immature, lazy boy.
What could she do? Could she tell Henry, or maybe the drill sergeant?
No, they would tell other people—law enforcement, Homeland Security. The FAFO would find out and Nate would be dead.
Her phone rang, and it surprised her so much she almost dropped it. She checked the screen. Her parents.
“Hello?” Her voice quavered as it came out, a wishy-washy wet sound.
“They called you, too?” her mother asked in a flat tone that said she already knew the answer.
“They said if I talked to you, they’d kill him.”
“Bullshit. They need you to do a job for them. They’ll keep him alive until they get what they want, then they’ll kill him. I’m putting the phone on speaker. Tell us what they said.”
Ruby took in a deep breath then relayed the entire conversation.
“Damn it,” her father said. “His phone is still at his workplace. We thought he’d just slept there again.”
“So did I until the kidnappers called.” She sucked in as much air as her tight chest would allow, then asked, “Dad, if you bring the NSA into this, is it going to get him killed?”
“They made the same demand and threat. Told us that if the NSA started looking for your brother or you, they’d kill him.” He said nothing for a couple of seconds. “I’m beginning to think that Human Resources woman they arrested for leaking to the FAFO was only a convenient throwaway to appease law enforcement.”
“In other words, the real culprit is still out there and watching.”
“Someone with reach,” her father said. “In a position of power and smart, or we would have found them already.”
“Could there be more than one?”
He snorted. “Given the damage the FAFO has done, anything is possible. We’re going to have to investigate slowly and carefully.”
“We don’t have time for careful. I have to get the sample to them in twenty-four hours or less.”
“Like I said, someone with a lot of reach.”
The idea someone that high up was the enemy made her stomach flip over.
“We need time, honey,” her father said. “Go along with their demands for now. We’ll find your brother.”
“What if you don’t?”
“Then we catch them during the exchange. Keep in touch, but be discreet.”
“I will.” She hung up.
Her parents would do their best, but it was a volatile situation, and the FAFO always seemed to know things they shouldn’t.
Getting the virus and giving it to them might end up being her only option.
Except they’d probably kill Nate and her anyway. And even if they didn’t, they planned to release the virus, which would still kill them.
Her breath caught. No, she wouldn’t let that happen. She’d figure something out, turn the situation around somehow, and save Nate.
If he didn’t destroy the FAFO from the inside out.
Her brother had many talents and flaws; one of them was a clumsiness that generally resulted in chaos wherever he went. His coworkers at Mars Mission Labs were used to the destruction and disarray following him. His workspace was set a little farther away from everyone else’s to cut down on the accidents. People knew to clear a path when he went into a room, because if they didn’t, he’d run into something, knock it over, and spill all manner of contents on the floor.
Or caustic chemicals into your coffee.
Or release flammable gases into the air.
Resulting in…boom.
One way or another, they were going to be sorry they took him.
Ruby closed her eyes and focused on her breathing, slowing it down, calming herself. Then she took another look at the contents of her go-bag. If she was going to do this, she’d need to add a few more things not on anyone’s list of useful items to take to work.
Chapter Six
Wednesday, May 8, 4:13 a.m.
Henry stood outside the small house Ruby and her brother were renting. He’d noted a few lights were on inside the house and knocked on the door, expecting someone to answer it within ten or twenty seconds, but so far…nothing.
He pressed the doorbell, heard it ring inside the building, and waited.
Movement at the periphery of his vision had him turning to see Ruby’s face in the window, looking to see who was at the door.
Good. She was cautious.
After a few moments, she opened the door, leaned to one side to see if there was anyone behind him, then beckoned him in.
She closed and locked the door, h
er movements jerky, then stepped back a couple of paces to stare at him.
Something was off, but he couldn’t put his finger on what.
“What do you want?”
He blinked; he’d never heard her voice so flat. And she continued to stare at him. She almost never maintained eye contact beyond a couple of seconds. “What’s wrong?”
Her stare went from flat to frosty. “You’re here at four something in the morning. Hours earlier than planned.”
“You look like you haven’t gotten any sleep at all,” he said, ignoring the complaint he heard in her voice. He noted a duffel bag set against one wall. “You’ve got your go-bag ready?”
“Yes, as instructed.” Her eyes narrowed. “Were you afraid I wouldn’t be ready?”
He sidestepped the question. “I wanted to head out before the stated time in the travel plan I submitted to Dr. Rodrigues. I’m probably being paranoid, but if information is still getting out…” Yeah, he was paranoid, but he was going to listen to his gut, even if it made him look like a suspicious bastard.
She snorted then rubbed her face with both hands. “I don’t think you’re paranoid.” This time when she met his gaze, the cold, desolate expression was gone in favor of her normal curiosity. “What’s that old saying? Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is enemy action.”
“We’re way beyond enemy action.”
“What’s beyond that?”
“Siege. We’ve been under sustained attack for months, but the FAFO has been careful to change up their method of attack every time. It’s clear now that they won’t give up until we stop them or they stop us.”
Ruby’s gaze had become unfocused. “We can’t let them win.” It sounded like she was talking to herself, but he put his two cents in anyway.
“No, we can’t. How soon can you be ready to go?”
She gave herself a shake. “Ten minutes.” She disappeared around a corner, and he heard a door shut. A few seconds later, the sound of a shower reached him.
That meant she was naked…and wet.
Shit.
His mind filled with images of soft, wet skin, rounded in all the right places, and he had to clench his fists and force himself to stay right where he was.
He wanted to touch, to stroke, to savor, but he had no business thinking those thoughts. She was a coworker and he was her mentor, in a position of authority over her.
He couldn’t touch her. Not if he wanted to keep his job and his self-respect.
His right leg throbbed below the knee. Problem was, everything south of midthigh had been blown to shit over twelve years ago. Today, he was wearing one of the semiflexible prosthetics he used most of the time.
Fucking phantom pain. Massaging the muscle that remained didn’t help, but he also couldn’t stop from trying.
The shower shut off. A couple of minutes later, Ruby came around the corner, dressed in a CDC polo shirt and scrub pants with her hair in a braid. It made her look about fourteen years old.
There were dark circles under her eyes, and her face was pale. Too pale.
“Are you sick?”
She didn’t even pause as she stepped into a pair of scuffed boots and pulled the laces tight. Were those steel-toe? Yep.
“I’ve had about two hours of sleep,” she said as she picked up her duffel bag. “Ready.”
Prickly.
He went out the front door, waited while she locked it, then led the way to his Jeep.
They were a couple of blocks from her place before he asked, “You always up so late?”
“No.” It didn’t look like she was going to add anything to her answer, but then she said, “I blame my brother.”
Ah. Family trouble.
“DS told me you and your brother were pretty tight.”
“We are, but he’s a walking bad-luck magnet. Catastrophe follows him everywhere. He doesn’t intend to create a whirlpool of disorder and destruction whereever he goes, but it almost always happens anyway.” She pinched the bridge of her nose. “I get a headache right here.”
“Is he clumsy or something?”
“A little. Mostly, he just doesn’t pay attention to where he’s going or the obstacles in the way. He leaves a trail of devastation behind him.” She sighed. “MML had to get a special rider on their insurance just for him.”
“No way.”
“Way. Everyone who shares office space near him has a fire extinguisher within reach.”
Henry wanted to laugh, but she really did look like she had the headache she mentioned. Short-tempered and tired never resulted in a happy woman.
“Once, when we were kids,” she continued. “he burned down our house.”
Whoa. “On purpose?”
“No. He was goofing off with some magnesium and…it caught on fire.”
“Magnesium burns hot.”
“Yes, it does.” She gave him a wince. “Could we talk about work? Or I assume that’s where we’re going and not some dark field where you plan to kill me and bury the evidence.”
What the fuck?
After a second or two, Ruby muttered, “I can’t believe I just said that.”
She sounded so surprised and horrified at herself, he felt bad for her. “Two hours of sleep will do that to you,” he said, proud of how normal he made that sound. “If you want to catch a few minutes on the way, be my guest,” he offered.
“Where are we going?”
“The highest-rated HC lab we have.”
“And no one knows we’re going right now?”
He pointed at himself. “Paranoid, remember?”
She sat, stiff and silent in her seat.
“Ruby, what’s wrong?”
Her posture didn’t change. “I’ve never been scared of doing my job before,” she said finally.
Now she tells me?
“You didn’t have to take this assignment. Why didn’t you say something earlier? I could have found someone else to—”
“That’s not what I meant,” she interrupted. “I meant…the FAFO. They’ve managed to injure several of the CDC’s people and kill quite a few others. What’s the point?” She crossed her arms over her chest. “It doesn’t make sense to want to release a bioweapon. It could kill everyone.” She paused for a second then added, “It’s stupid.”
“I agree.”
“I hate stupid people.”
“Same.”
“I want to punch them in the face.”
“Sounds like fun.”
She glanced at him. “You don’t think I’m ridiculous for suggesting it, do you?”
“I think it would be very satisfying to punch them in the face.”
“You’re laughing at me.”
“I’m not. You’ve had two hours of sleep, remember? You’re allowed to rant.”
She covered her face with her hands. “I’m an idiot.”
“No, you’re not. Stop that.” He swatted her shoulder very lightly. “You don’t usually say much, so this is…enlightening.” And cute, but he wasn’t going to say that out loud.
Henry drove up to a security checkpoint outside a nondescript warehouse. After their IDs were cleared, the gate rolled back and Henry drove in.
The warehouse was two stories tall with only a few narrow windows on each side. At 3:30 a.m., no lights were on, so it looked like a giant black brick.
“This is it?” Ruby asked, looking around.
“The outside,” Henry said, getting out of the vehicle. He grabbed his duffel, and she grabbed hers.
At the door, he entered an eight-digit number into the keypad and held his thumb over the fingerprint scanner. After a moment, the door opened with a click. Henry took two steps inside before the lights came on. He turned and waited for Ruby to clear the door before going any farther.
“What’s this, the waiting area?” Ruby asked.
“Sort of. Our credentials are being checked.”
She frowned, looked around, then at him. “By whom, and how are they doing it?”
Henry pointed up.
Above them, all of the fixtures were illuminated except one in the center of the ceiling. It was the same size and shape as the others—six-inch glass domes.
“Oh. I thought the light was burned out.”
“That’s what you’re supposed to think. It compares our voices, height and weight, and facial features against our known samples on file.”
The second door clicked then opened.
“Congratulations. We’ve passed the second security checkpoint.” He led the way into a hall the same drab gray as the previous room.
“What would have happened if we hadn’t passed?”
“We’d both be taking a nap right now on some very nice happy gas. Which makes you sleepy and agreeable, two conditions that make any intruder easy to deal with.”
“Very James Bond.”
“At that stage, I didn’t think injuring a person was warranted.”
“There’s a stage where it’s warranted?”
“Human species–killing pathogens are worth protecting with extreme prejudice.”
They passed several doors, all locked with the same kind of keypad as the outside door.
“Offices?” she asked.
“A few,” he replied. “There are a number of researchers who work here on a variety of projects. Some of the rooms on this floor are labs for working with level two and three pathogens.”
“Where is the level-four lab?”
“Labs,” he corrected. “And they’re in the center of the building and two floors down.”
“So, this is like a box within a box.”
“Yeah. The closer we get to the center and the lower we go, the more secure it is.”
“Is the whole building constructed of concrete?”
