The Ninth Day

by Jamie Freveletti

  Emma fixed La Valle with a stare. “I have pills to cure it in the cabin. Let me go get them.”

  La Valle hit her again. This time she tasted blood. She’d bitten the inside of her cheek.

  In the distance came the sound of sirens.

  “Get in the car,” La Valle said to Mono.

  “Let me get the pills,” Emma said. La Valle gave her a massive shove, and she stumbled forward, but managed to keep her feet under her.

  “Move.”

  Emma jogged past the unconscious police officers and stepped onto the porch. There she found the body of the third. Blood pooled around his torso from a still bleeding neck wound that had nicked his artery. Emma stepped over him to the splintered door and pushed it open. La Valle hovered in the entrance behind her, keeping a watch outside as well as on her. She went to the refrigerator, where she’d stored some of the more perishable antibiotics. They were worthless against leprosy and probably even less than worthless against this new strain, but she pulled them out and pretended to read the labels.

  “Hurry up,” La Valle said.

  She placed the bottles on the counter, and used her body to block La Valle’s view. She reached up and removed one of the charging cell phones from its base. She busied herself with the bottles with one hand while she pocketed the phone. She jogged back toward La Valle, grabbing the tote filled with pills on her way out. La Valle shoved her forward, toward the BMW. The trunk gaped wide and as she neared she saw that Vanderlock was already there, his body filling the small space. The siren noises grew louder.

  “Get in!” La Valle pushed her. Vanderlock moved deeper inside. She climbed in next to him, arranging herself so that they could both fit, spoon fashion. La Valle slammed the trunk closed and darkness descended.

  Chapter 41

  Banner picked up his cell phone that lay next to him in his hotel room in Kansas City.

  “Banner here,” he said.

  “This is Oswald Kroger. I need your help.”

  Banner put down the communique he was reading.

  “Is Emma Caldridge with you?”

  “No. La Valle abducted her and Lock.”

  “Lock?”

  “Wilson Vanderlock.”

  Now Banner was on his feet. “Wilson Vanderlock? What’s he doing in the United States?”

  “Listen, I don’t have a lot of time. They said you’re a match for La Valle. You have to stop the shipment.”

  “What type of shipment?”

  “Marijuana. It’s tainted.”

  “With what?” Banner said.

  “Leprosy. Emma called it nontraditional, mutated, and highly contagious.”

  Banner prided himself on his cool, but the word “leprosy” activated some ancient, atavistic memory that made the hair on his arms stand on end.

  “You sure about this, Mr. Kroger? Because we had some marijuana we found in an airplane tested, and preliminary results from the CDC are leaning toward a virulent form of a fungal infection.”

  “I’m sure of her. She says it’s a leprosy mutation, I believe her. La Valle has three tons of the leaves stashed in a storage area somewhere on his usual route between Texas and Kansas. He’s preparing to ship it to D.C. and arrange for it to be found by the authorities. He hopes to infect everyone. You need to stop it.”

  “Where are you?”

  “I’m irrelevant. She gave me some pills that she stole. Investigational. I’m still very, very sick, but not dead yet, so that’s a plus. My only goal is to stop that shipment before I die.”

  “Do you know how far along the route it is?”

  “Perhaps Kansas by now. La Valle’s driving a BMW with some hidden in a false dash, there’s a fake ambulance with more, and the rest filled half a semi truck.”

  And an airplane flown by Vanderlock, Banner thought. He kept this to himself while he jotted down everything Kroger said.

  “He’s planning a meeting with the heads of all the major Midwestern gangs that distribute his goods. He’s going to have them move the shipment, infect them all, then a Chicago crew will take over distribution.”

  “Any idea where they’re stashing her and Vanderlock?”

  “There won’t be any stashing. They’ll kill them both. Last I saw them they were stuffed in the trunk of La Valle’s BMW.”

  “Alive?”

  “Yes. I can’t tell you where they took her, and I won’t be able to help you further. I’m contagious, and I’ll be damned if I’ll curse anyone else with this disease. I’m going to hole up and take these pills until I die. Here’s where I saw them last.” Kroger gave Banner the directions to the Creek’s View Motel.

  Banner rang off and headed out the door.

  Emma shifted so that she could reach the cell phone in her pocket. The trunk’s stale air was hot, and the heat from both hers and Vanderlock’s body made it rise even more. They could hear Mono, Raoul, and La Valle’s voices through the trunk walls.

  “You all right?” Vanderlock whispered in her ear.

  “I’m okay. I grabbed one of the phones.” She pulled it out of her pocket, stabbing Vanderlock in the stomach with her elbow in the process. She dialed Sumner’s cell number. It rolled into voice mail, and after the beep she said, “Sumner, it’s me. Track this signal, I’ll leave the phone on, but be careful, wherever I end up will be loaded with gang members.” She got no further. The car stopped, and she returned the phone to her pocket and rearranged herself once again. She heard the crunching sound of shoes on gravel, and the trunk lid flew up. Mono stood before them.

  “Get out,” he said. Emma unfolded from the tight position to maneuver out of the trunk. Vanderlock followed at a considerably slower pace. They stood in front of a large barn. Mono pushed at her. “Move. Go inside.”

  She walked through the wide open doors into a cavernous area lit by three overhead lights that hung six feet down on cords. Stacks of marijuana bales filled one half of the chamber, the ambulance occupied the other half. On one wall a long worktable with benches held all the ingredients to make meth, along with a jumble of tools, a blue-canister blowtorch, a couple of stick lighters, and twine. A gasoline can sat on the ground next to some automotive parts. Mono opened the back of the ambulance and jerked his chin at it. Emma climbed in, noting that Oz’s motorcycle was still strapped against one wall. Vanderlock moved in behind her. La Valle walked up to the entrance, holding the tote.

  “Which ones?” he said.

  Emma passed over the investigational pills in the tote. Instead she sifted through the pile and took out one of the broad-spectrum antibiotics. She handed the bottle to La Valle and took the tote back.

  “One every three hours to start, then one every four hours.”

  La Valle snatched the container out of her hand. He stalked away, and Mono slammed the doors closed. Emma heard the padlock being placed on the handle. She pulled the phone out, lit the screen, and checked the signal.

  “No reception in here,” she said. She swallowed, hard. She could only hope that Sumner would have had enough time to track a portion of the trip to the barn.

  She couldn’t see Vanderlock in the dark, but she started to feel for him. She encountered his hand, the one covered with the glove. She ran her palm up his arm and located his face. She stroked the side of his cheek and felt the stubble. He was sitting on the side of the ambulance, his back up against the wall and his legs stretched out in front of him.

  “How are you feeling?” she said.

  She felt his shoulders move in a shrug. “Not great, but not as weak as Oz.”

  She tapped the cell phone’s screen to light it and fished the investigational antibiotic out of the tote.

  “Take this.” She opened the bottle and shook out two pills. The cell phone went dark and she reached out to him again, this time running her hand down his side to locate his free hand. She picked it up and placed the pills in his palm.

  “Is there a way out of this ambulance?” Vanderlock said.

  “Not that I can
recall. I’ve been in this thing so many times over the last days that I must have explored every inch. The padlock Mono is using isn’t very large, though. Between the two of us perhaps we could kick the doors open. Given enough time and no interruptions, that is.”

  “They’d have to leave us alone for that to work.”

  “La Valle’s goal is to get this shipment east. We’re bound to hit the highway again once the sun comes up. I imagine they’re going to sleep at some point this evening. They have to.”

  “They’ll leave a sentry, though. I would.”

  “Carlos,” Emma said.

  “Yep.”

  “He’s mean, but I think he can be manipulated.”

  Vanderlock snorted. “Only after La Valle is dead. The guy leads by fear and Carlos is way too low in the organization to fight him.”

  “Maybe when they pull the ambulance out of the barn the phone will get a signal again. They can’t mean to leave it here forever. They have to get it to the next stop on the delivery route.”

  Vanderlock fell silent. She rearranged herself to sit next to him, her back against the wall and her shoulder touching his. She dozed in the darkness, waking only when he shook her.

  “Listen,” he said.

  She heard the sound of voices raised in a heated argument. The conversation was held in rapid-fire Spanish.

  “You speak Spanish?” Vanderlock said.

  Emma shrugged, then realized that he couldn’t see her. “A little. I’ve been using a computer program. So far I can grocery shop, travel, and ask directions. I have no idea what they’re arguing about.” She moved closer to the door. One word was repeated twice: leproso.

  “I think it’s Mono and Carlos. They’re talking about leprosy,” she told him. The padlock rattled against the handles. The doors swung open, and Mono stood alongside Carlos. He pointed a gun at her.

  “You said the shipment has leprosy. Is this true?” Mono said.

  Emma nodded. Mono looked at the bales and bricks stacked all around them, the fear on his face almost palpable.

  “Is it in the air?”

  Emma hesitated. She was more than willing to say it was if it meant getting out of the ambulance. She sidled close to the open door, hoping that the cell phone in her pocket would regain its signal. She weighed the options of lying or not and what Mono would do either way.

  “I don’t know for sure. Why?”

  Mono translated the statement for Carlos. “You think we need the pills?”

  Emma was starting to see the light. Mono wanted to steal the pills from La Valle to save his own skin.

  “I think you do.”

  Mono waved at the tote. She pretended to look inside, then shrugged. “La Valle has the good ones. You’ll need to get them from him,” she said.

  Mono grabbed the bag from her, tossed it on the ground and waved her out of the ambulance. “You come with me. We’ll steal them from a pharmacy.” Vanderlock came alongside. Mono pointed the gun directly at Vanderlock’s forehead. “Not you. You stay here.”

  Vanderlock subsided. Emma shot him what she hoped was a reassuring look before jumping down onto the floor.

  “Why not just take some of La Valle’s?” Emma said. Mono frowned, and to her surprise, it was Carlos who answered.

  “He no give,” he said. His face reflected a mulish anger that came through loud and clear in his broken English. Emma drove the wedge in deeper.

  “I would think he’d want to protect his best two men.”

  Mono frowned. “Shut up.”

  Carlos directed a long string of Spanish at Mono, whose own face displayed a progressively deepening rage.

  “I just want to warn you. I stole those pills from the last lab. You know the one, Mono, where you chased me. There’s no guarantee that a regular pharmacy will stock the same ones that La Valle is taking.”

  Carlos hit Mono on the arm and gestured for him to translate. Mono did, and Carlos spit out some more incomprehensible Spanish.

  La Valle and Raoul walked into the barn, both holding weapons in one hand, and between them they each held the handles of a cooler, about three feet long. They strode to the long table and placed the cooler on the ground next to it. La Valle leveled a stare at Mono.

  “You ready for some fun?” La Valle said to Emma. She didn’t think she’d ever heard a voice as filled with menace as she did at that instant. Mono blanched and Carlos got a terrified expression on his face as he glanced at the cooler.

  “Get the pilot,” he said. Mono shot Carlos a look, but did as he was told. He opened the ambulance doors and waved Vanderlock out. Emma stared at the cooler along with Carlos, and a horrible thought started to worm into her brain. The blood rushed to her head, and she inhaled, taking deep breaths to counteract the dizziness. Vanderlock moved next to her. He hadn’t yet spotted the cooler, and so threw her a quizzical glance. She held it, doing her best to tear her eyes off the scene in front of her. If she could spare him even one minute of the realization of what La Valle intended to do, she would.

  “Tie him up,” La Valle said.

  Mono moved toward Vanderlock. He put his gun in his waistband and yanked at Vanderlock’s wrists, tying them in front with the same twine that was on the long table. Mono jerked the rope. Vanderlock grimaced. Mono tightened it more. Vanderlock’s eyes never left Emma’s face. It was as if he was memorizing her features. She stared right back, willing him not to look away. Not to see the cooler. She gritted her teeth and the thought came to her, unbidden, that it just might be her day to die. La Valle walked over to the table and swept his hand across it. Empty liter bottles, wrenches, the blowtorch and lighters flew off the top, landing on the beaten earth floor with thuds.

  “Lay him down. On his back.” Mono shoved Vanderlock toward the table. He broke off staring at Emma and looked La Valle’s way. “Bring her with him. I want her to watch.”

  Carlos pushed her alongside Vanderlock. Mono shoved Vanderlock backward until he was forced to crawl onto the tabletop. As he scooted onto it he looked down and saw the cooler.

  His breath came out in a huff, as if someone had punched him in the gut. Mono shoved him back and Raoul tied his ankles together while Mono hauled his hands above his head, stretching him out. La Valle turned to Emma, his eyes glittering with excitement. Vanderlock swallowed once, and then turned his face to Emma, once again holding her gaze. His jaw clenched, as though he was doing his best not to make a sound, but his throat convulsed as if a scream was trying to break through.

  He knows, Emma thought.

  “You know what a liver sells for on the black market?” La Valle said. “I’ll take that first. His heart will still beat. The kidneys are next. The heart last.” He lifted the weapon in his hand, a wicked-looking knife that curved upward at the tip. “Bring her closer,” he said. Carlos shoved a hand against her spine. Her foot hit the blowtorch canister.

  “I’m going to faint.” Emma infused her voice with panic, which wasn’t difficult, because she was so frightened that she thought she would vomit. She rolled her eyes upward, pretending to faint. She dropped her legs, moving straight down. At the bottom her hand hit the cannister. She wrapped her fingers around it and knelt on her knees, pretending that she was going to face plant on the earth. She moaned, but collected one of the lighters with another hand. She flicked on the blowtorch, snapped the lighter to life, and hit the nozzle with the fire.

  A line of flame, a full eighteen inches, shot out from the metal tube. Emma ran it across Carlos’s legs on her way to grab a nearby brick. He yelped and jumped. She had the leaves in her hand and was up, backing away, holding the torch before any of the men had moved. They’d all stashed their guns while they held Vanderlock in place, but the moment they released him to draw their weapons he kicked out with his feet, catching Raoul in the stomach with the heel of his boot. He swung his tied hands down and hit Mono under the jaw. Emma heard the man’s teeth clack together with the hit. Vanderlock rolled off the table on the side away from La Va
lle and scuttled away, moving into the shipment bales.

  Emma held the blowtorch and brick in the air. “Everybody freeze or I set the shipment on fire. You all know what happens when you inhale the smoke.” The men froze in place, but Emma didn’t. She walked backward, stopping next to Carlos, who reared away from the blowtorch and the tainted brick. Emma held the leaves out in front of her and kept the flame within inches of them. The only sound in the room was the roaring of the blowtorch.

  “I don’t care, I’m a dead man anyway,” Raoul said, and he raised his weapon.

  A side door creaked open and Sumner walked into the light, holding an automatic weapon. He fired, the noise assailing Emma’s ears and making her wince. A bullet hole formed on Raoul’s forehead, dead center. Sumner shot Mono next. He dropped into a crumpled heap. La Valle dove between the shipment bales. Sumner’s shot entered one and bits of leaves and twigs flew into the air. La Valle made it to the back door, using the bales as cover and was gone. Emma put the blowtorch on Carlos’s wrist, forcing him to drop the gun that he was poised to fire at Sumner. He screamed and dropped the weapon. Emma kicked it out of his reach.

  “Get down on your stomach. Now!” Emma said. Carlos lowered himself to the ground, face-first. He put his hands up in surrender. Vanderlock regained his feet, standing twenty feet to Sumner’s right. Sumner swung the gun in his direction.

  “Don’t shoot him!” Emma said.

  Sumner paused. He lifted his head to look at Vanderlock. “You’re the cartel pilot.”

  Vanderlock nodded slowly.

  “He helped me. Don’t shoot him, and don’t get near him either,” Emma said. The look in Sumner’s eyes was unlike any she’d seen on him before. Always a determined man, he now seemed like granite, willing to do whatever it took to get his way.

  “You okay?” Sumner called to Emma. His voice was remarkably normal in light of the fire in his eyes. “Anyone else in here?”

  “No, but don’t touch the leaves. They’re tainted, and so am I.”

  Sumner walked toward her, moving carefully around the shipment bales, keeping his weapon high. “Tainted with what?”