Patient Zero_ A Joe Ledger Novel Part 34

Chapter Eighty-Seven.

Sebastian Gault / Afghanistan / Thursday, July 2 "LINE?" ASKED THE American.

"Clear," said Gault. Toys was right there with him, listening in on the call.

"I have some bad news for you. The Boxer slipped the punch."

Gault heard Toys hiss quietly. "How?" Gault asked.

"He KO'd the other players. I think he had a corner man. Police found the vehicle at a rest stop on the Jersey Turnpike. No trace of the Boxer. Seems like they already had another play running, and the knock-down order reached them too late."

Gault stood up and walked across the tent and stared out into the Afghani darkness. The Red Cross camp was quiet and the sky above was littered with stars.

"What about the chocolate box?" Gault asked, then abruptly swore in frustration. "For Christ's sake, let's skip the sodding code. Tell me what happened?"

After a long pause the American said, "The trigger device has already been picked up. Someone identifying herself as the wife of Sonny Bertucci picked it up an hour ago. The woman fit the description of the woman that's been sleeping with Ahmed Mahoud, El Mujahid's brother-in-law."

"Then they're already two steps ahead of us," Gault said. "That means that you're going to have to find some way to stop him when he makes his run,"

The American swore and the line went dead.

"b.l.o.o.d.y h.e.l.l," Gault said. "It's all coming apart."

"Don't start," Toys snapped. Since the moment when he'd slapped Gault the dynamic of their relationship had undergone a change. He'd stepped up into a position of greater power even though Amirah's betrayal had only made Gault stumble rather than collapse. They had not drifted back into their old pattern, and maybe never would. Both of them were aware of it though neither put the topic on the table. "Now we have to be very careful, Sebastian. If the Yank has to spill his guts to the authorities in order to stop El Mujahid then your name is going to be mud on five continents."

Gault snorted. "Oh, you think?"

"Well, just be glad we planned well in advance. You have enough false ident.i.ties and bolt-holes to stay hidden for years, probably forever." He sniffed and brushed a strand of blond hair from his eyes. "Which means I'll also have to go into hiding. We'll need new faces, new fingerprints " He sighed. "b.u.g.g.e.r all."

Gault saw the misery in Toys's face. "I'm sorry. It was all working so well."

"That's a consolation."

Gault stared up into the limitless nothing of the sky. "We'll be at the Bunker day after tomorrow. If there's any luck left in the bottle then Amirah will have a cure and then maybe we can find a way to bring it to market while there's still an intact world economy."

Or an intact world, Gault thought, but he didn't say it.

Chapter Eighty-Eight.

Crisfield, Maryland / Friday, July 3; 10:01 A.M.

I STAYED AT the plant again that night and spent Friday alternately working with Jerry and working with Church to concoct a news story that would calm the public. The new story, which was released to the press via the Maryland governor's office, said that a major meth lab had been raided by a task force under the direction of the ATF, but during the raid part of the lab blew up. Church's computer techs cobbled together bits of video footage of other raids-enhanced with some nifty computer graphics-that showed tactical teams raiding the plant. It was pretty convincing, and it did what we wanted it to do: it knocked the phrase "terrorist attack" right off the headlines and out of the CNN news crawls.

BY LATE FRIDAY night I was totally fried. So was everyone else so we bagged it and decided to head back to the Warehouse. In DMS parlance the temporary headquarters on the Baltimore docks was now being called the Warehouse, capital W; just as the Brooklyn facility at Floyd Bennett Field was called the Hanger. Grace said that the Warehouse would probably become one of the organization's permanent sites, it being conveniently close to D.C.

Church wasn't going with us. He said that he needed to brief the President personally and he took a Bell Jet Ranger to Washington; Hu went with him, but before they boarded I took Church aside.

"Every time I close my eyes I see the face of that lab tech with the detonator saying that it's all too late. It's nagging at me."

"You're not alone in that," he admitted. "Do you have a suggestion?"

"I do. You already said that if this thing was launched on some big event that it would get out of control. Tomorrow's the Fourth of July and there's no bigger event that I know of than the rededication of the Liberty Bell."

He nodded. "I've already alerted their security teams to be on ultrahigh alert."

"I was supposed to be on that detail," I said, "and I think I want to follow through on that. But I want to make it a field trip. I want to take Echo Team to Philly and let them put their eyes to work. Give them some fieldwork that doesn't involve zombies. Maybe take Grace and Gus, too."

When I said Grace's name there was the faintest flicker of amus.e.m.e.nt in his face, but it was gone in an instant. Maybe I imagined it.

"Is this a hunch?" he asked.

"Not really. Maybe half a hunch. It's just that if I were going to launch this thing, that's where I'd do it."

Church leaned a shoulder against the chopper and considered the point. "The First Lady will be there. Perhaps I should request that she be removed from the event."

"That's your call. I could be wrong about this. There are a lot of big celebrations tomorrow, all over the country; and maybe these guys are too smart to pick the one where about every third person in the crowd is carrying a federal badge. No, I can't see disrupting the event on a half a hunch, but I think you should reinforce your warning to all commands to stay extra frosty."

He nodded. "I'll do that; and I'll be with the President in a couple of hours and he can punctuate the request. But I'll have some National Guard units on standby just in case."

"Fair enough."

We shook hands and he climbed into the chopper.

The rest of us climbed into the Seahawks and we rose into the night sky, flying across Maryland with two Apaches giving close air support. For some strange reason going back to the Warehouse felt like going home.

Chapter Eighty-Nine.

Baltimore, Maryland / Sat.u.r.day, July 4; 1:12 A.M.

BACK AT THE Warehouse we each went our separate ways. Echo Team was already sacked out for the night but Top had left me reams of notes on the new recruits. I put that aside for later and headed off to get clean. In the shower I let the hot water blast me for a long time. I do some of my best thinking in the shower and as I washed, rinsed, and repeated I wondered about who Lester Bellmaker might be and despite furious lathering I came up with nothing.

It was already into the early hours of July 4. I figured we'd head out early and get to Philadelphia in time to add a little security muscle to the event. And if nothing happened at least they have great hot dogs, soft pretzels, and beer in that town.

Back in my room I was bemused to notice that Cobbler had been fed and even his cat litter changed.

When I climbed between the sheets Cobbler crouched at the foot of the bed and stared at me like I was a stranger. I told myself that he was only spooked by having been handled by someone he didn't know, but I knew that wasn't really it. It was me. Rudy was right-I'd been changed, too. Cobbler could see it in my eyes and he kept his distance. After five minutes of trying to coax him nearer I gave up and turned out the light.

I could feel him watching me with his wise cat eyes.

I finally fell asleep around one or so but within minutes a tap at the door woke me. It was tentative. I lay in the dark and listened, uncertain whether it was real or part of some complicated dream. Then it came again. Firmer this time.

I switched on the bedside light and padded to the door in sleeping shorts and a T-shirt. There was no peephole or intercom so I unlatched it and peered cautiously through the crack. I guess I expected Rudy, or Church. Maybe Top Sims or Sergeant Dietrich.

I never expected Grace Courtland.

Chapter Ninety.

Baltimore, Maryland / Sat.u.r.day, July 4; 1:17 A.M.

SHE WORE MAKESHIFT pajamas-blue hospital scrubs and a black tank top. Her hair was untidy, there were fatigue smudges under her eyes. She held a six-pack of Sam Adams Summer Ale beer by the handle of the cardboard carrier.

"Did I wake you?"

"Yes."

"Good, because I can't sleep. Let me in." She let the sixer of beer swing from her finger.

"Okay," I said, and stepped back to pull the door open. Grace nodded and walked past me into the room. She gave it a quick, flat appraising look and grunted.

"They brought a lot of your things."

"They brought my cat," I said as I closed the door. Cobbler jumped off the bed and came over to her, sniffing tentatively. "Cobbler, be nice to the major."

Cobbler still looked cautious but when Grace squatted down to pet him he allowed it. Her fingers flexed luxuriantly in his fur.

"Have a seat," I said, indicating the recliner. I got the bottle opener that was attached to my key chain, opened two bottles and handed her one. I took mine and sat on the edge of the bed.

She rose and stood looking down at the cat for a moment, sipping thoughtfully.

"I like your friend Dr. Sanchez."

"Rudy."

"Rudy. We met outside the showers, had a bit of a heart-to-heart. He's a good man."

"You any judge?"

"I've known a few shrinks in my time." She looked away, but I saw that her eyes were wet. Cobbler was still close so she busied herself by scratching between his ears, then she tilted the bottle back and drank nearly all of it.

"These last few days have been unreal," she said softly. "UnG.o.dly "

She shook her head, sniffing back tears. She finished her beer, got another. I handed her the opener and as she took it her fingers brushed mine. She wanted it to look casual, but she wasn't that good an actress. My skin was hot where she'd touched me.

"It must have been pretty bad at the hospital," I said. "I still haven't seen the tapes, but Rudy told me. Worse even than the crab plant, from what he said."

Back in her chair she looked at the beer bottle as if interested in something on the label. When she spoke her voice was almost a whisper. "When we realized something about about what was going on, when we saw that we were losing control of the situation at St. Michael's I " She stopped, shook her head, tried again. "When we realized what we had to do it was the worst thing in my life. It was worse than " A tear gathered in the corner of her eye.

"Have some beer," I suggested softly.

She drank and then raised her head and looked at me with her red-rimmed eyes. "Joe when I was eighteen I got pregnant by a boy during my first year at university. We were just kids, you know? He freaked and b.u.g.g.e.red off, but then he came back when I was in my third trimester. We got married. A civil ceremony. We weren't ever really in love, but he stayed with me until the baby was born. Brian Michael. But he was born with a hole in his heart."

The room was utterly silent.

"They tried everything. They did four surgeries, but the heart hadn't formed correctly. Brian lived for three months. There was never really a chance he'd make it, they told me. After the last surgery I sat with my baby day and night. I lost so much weight I was like a ghost. Eighty-seven pounds. They wanted to admit me."

I started to say something, but she shook me off.

"Then one afternoon the doctor told me that there was no brain activity, that for all intents and purposes my baby was dead. They wanted me to they asked me if I would consent to having the respirator disconnected. What could I say? I screamed, I yelled at them, I argued with them. I prayed. For days." The tears broke and cut silvery lines down her face. They looked like scars. "When I finally agreed it was so horrible. I kissed my baby and held his little hand while they stopped the machines. I put my face down to listen to his heartbeat, hoping that it would go on beating, but all I heard was one heartbeat. Just one, he died that quickly. One beat and then a dreadful silence. I felt him die, Joe. It was so awful, so terrible that I knew that I would never- could never feel anything worse." She drank most of the second bottle. "It ruined me. My husband had left again after the second surgery. I guess to him Brian was already gone. My parents were long gone. I had no one else in my life. I continued to get sicker and I wound up in a psychiatric medical center for nearly three months. Are you shocked?"

She looked at me defiantly, but something in my expression must have rea.s.sured her. She nodded.

"In the hospital I had a counselor and she suggested that I look for something that would give me structure. I had no family left and she knew a recruiter. She wrote me a letter of recommendation and two weeks after discharge from hospital I was in the army. It became my life. From there I went to the SAS. I saw combat in a dozen places. I saw death. I caused death. None of it touched me. I believed that whatever had made me a person, a human being, was gone, buried in a little coffin with a tiny body. Both of us dead, killed by imperfect hearts."

She wiped at the tears then stared with subdued surprise at the wetness on her fingers. "I hardly ever cry anymore. Except sometimes at night when I wake up from a dream of holding Brian's hand and hearing his last heartbeat. I haven't cried in years, Joe. Not in years."

My mouth was dry and I drank some beer to be able to breathe.

Grace said, "When Al Qaeda attacked the World Trade Center I didn't cry. I just got angry. When the bombs went off in the London subways, I tightened up my resolve. Grace Courtland, Major SAS, combat veteran, professional hard-a.s.s." She took a big breath, blew out her cheeks. "And then St. Michael's. G.o.d! We went in there hard and fast, so tough and practiced. You never got a chance to see the DMS at its best, but everyone in Baker and Charlie teams were absolutely first-rate. Top-of-the-line combat veterans, not a virgin among them. What is it you Yanks say? Heartbreakers and life-takers? State-of-the-art equipment, cutting-edge tactics, nothing left to chance. And you know what happened? We were slaughtered! Grown men and women torn apart. Civilians killing armed military with their fingers and teeth. Children taking shot after shot to the chest, falling down and then getting right up again, their bodies torn open, and still they kept running at our men, tearing and biting them. Eating them."

"G.o.d," I whispered.

"G.o.d wasn't there that day," she hissed in as bitter a voice as I've ever heard. "I'm not a religious person, Joe. Faith isn't something I'm good at, not since I buried Brian; but if there was ever a splinter of belief or hope left in me it ended that day. It was consumed by what happened."

"Grace you do know that you and Church had no other choice?"

"Is that supposed to make me feel better? Do you really think that makes any difference to me? I know we didn't have another choice, that's why we made the choice we did. We were losing, Joe. Losing. Suddenly, all the training, all the power that we thought we had was gone. It failed us. Just as medicine and prayer failed Brian. All we could do was disconnect another switch, turn off more lives because there was nothing else left for us." Tears fell steadily but she didn't bother to wipe them away.

She gave me a twisted smile. "The thing is that was even worse than turning off my baby's life support. Worse, do you understand? And afterward do you know what I felt the most? Guilt. Not for having to kill all of those people. No, I felt-I feel-guilty because that was the worst moment of my life. It probably always will be. So I feel like I've somehow betrayed or maybe abandoned my baby because now this event is bigger and worse even than that. I feel like I've lost Brian again. Forever this time. It hurts so d.a.m.n-"

Her voice suddenly disintegrated into terrible sobs and she dropped the bottle and covered her face with both hands. I was up and across the room before her bottle rolled to a stop. I took her by the arms and gathered her to me, pulling her off the chair, wrapping her up against my chest. The sound of her sobs cut through my flesh and into my heart. I held her close-this angry woman, this bitter soldier-and I kissed her hair and held her as close and as tight and as safe as I could.

SHE WEPT FOR a long time.

I walked her to the bed and we lay down together, her face buried against me, her tears soaking through my T-shirt, her body fever-hot. Maybe I said something, some nonsense words, but I don't remember. Her body bucked and spasmed with the tears until slowly, slowly, the immediacy of the storm began to pa.s.s. Her arms were wrapped around me, her fingers knotted in my shirt. The knots of tension eased by very slow degrees.