“And yet you still beat him for valedictorian. Was it close?”
“No.” He glanced over at the TV. It was still on the same news station.
She wasn’t sure whether or not to be worried about him. She’d heard genius was just a step away from crazy. If that was true, Lyndon had to be a mere nudge away.
Fifteen minutes later, Lyndon was still standing there with crossed arms. Kadance had sat down.
Finally, she heard shoes clacking from down the hall—fancy and new men’s dress shoes. She stood as a man in his thirties wearing a lab coat and tailored slacks came around the corner.
Lyndon looked over at him.
“What’s this nonsense you’re telling my staff?” the man asked.
“I just need a few minutes of your time. I know you’re busy,” Lyndon said.
“You do realize what I’m doing here.” The man gestured all around, as if he was in charge of the entire facility.
“I know your time is valuable.”
Dr. Spallings crossed his arms over his chest. “So, what’re you doing nowadays anyway? I heard you’re not even working.”
“I’m conducting independent research.”
Dr. Spallings failed to squelch a smirk. “Independent, huh?”
“My research has been focused entirely on the history and origination, and through that, effective treatment and an eventual cure of Ebolavirus.”
“And you’re trying to tell me you’re doing this independently? Do you have a lab? How do you pay for staff and equipment?”
“I certainly don’t have the same benefits you’ve gained here at the CDC. But I—”
“I’m sorry, but I have time only for credible information.”
Kadance could almost feel how hard Lyndon was trying to flatter him. That kind of thing just wasn’t natural for him.
Lyndon glanced at Kadance, and she could see in his eyes what he was about to do.
eighteen
LYNDON TURNED BACK TO DR. SPALLINGS. “I realize you wanted to be valedictorian and that you would like to finally put me in my place. But this is far beyond concerns of ego.”
“You think I have a problem with ego, when you’re the one barging into the Centers for Disease Control and demanding the undivided attention of the principal deputy director?”
Kadance continued to stand there quietly. All she could think was, Wow, can this guy not hear himself?
“All I’m asking is that you put ego aside for a moment and listen to credible information from a fellow qualified doctor.”
“Qualified? Where do you work again? I’m sorry—this is sounding more and more like a conspiracy theory. I always suspected you were a bit over the edge.”
“I have reason to believe someone is planning an attack at the State of the Union address. It’s an Ebola super-virus. I believe it’ll be disseminated through the fire sprinkler system, or we currently think that’s the most logical option.”
For the first time, Dr. Spallings glanced past Lyndon to Kadance. He looked at her up and down. “This is the ‘we’ you’re talking about?”
The last man who’d looked at her that way had very quickly bled profusely from the nose, but she kept herself in check and stood there with her usual lack of expression.
Lyndon shifted to stand between her and Spallings. His back straightened in a protective stance. Kadance wanted to grin at his protectiveness, how unnecessary it was. And then her grin slipped when she realized no one had ever done something like that for her. She’d never needed nor wanted anyone to protect her, but having someone want to protect her was kind of nice.
Lyndon addressed Spallings. “Will you please ready the CDC as much as possible in preparation for such an attack and reach out to the director of the DC office?”
Spallings shifted to the side to look past Lyndon to her.
Lyndon shifted in the way again. “I realize she’s a stunning woman, but contrary to popular belief, most women do not like to be stared at lecherously.”
The word stunning replayed in Kadance’s head.
“I don’t need to stare at women.”
So, they just fall at your feet, do they?
Kadance set a hand on Lyndon’s back. “I think we’ve accomplished as much as we can.”
Still facing Spallings, Lyndon answered, “I think you’re right.” Then he said to Spallings, “I ask simply that you serve the American people as you’re supposed to and ready all resources at the CDC’s disposal.” He turned and motioned for Kadance to precede him back down the hall.
She started walking and glanced back at Lyndon trailing behind her.
He murmured, “I don’t want him watching your backside as you walk away.”
She kept going. Once they turned a corner, he moved to her side.
Back out at the car, he said, “I’m sorry.”
“I’m not so easily offended or upset. I just wish he would’ve listened better.” She opened the rear driver’s side door to check on Mac. He was lying on the seat and purred like a lawn mower as she petted him. Then she got in the driver’s seat, and Lyndon sat next to her.
“Maybe he’ll still ready some resources, though,” Kadance said.
“We can hope.”
“You did the best you could.” She put on her seat belt and started the engine.
“You’re probably very well versed in dealing with that kind of thing,” Lyndon said. “I’m sorry if I offended you.”
“How could I be offended by someone trying to do the right thing?” she said. “While I don’t need protection, he did need someone to point out to him that his behavior wasn’t okay.”
“And if you did it, he’d probably be bloody.”
She nodded. “Probably.”
“It’s happened before?”
“A lady doesn’t tell.”
He grinned.
While she drove, the word stunning kept flashing across her mind. She kept wondering if he meant it, and then she reminded herself she didn’t care—truthfully, she never had. Being considered pretty had never been helpful in the past, rather the opposite.
“Should I get on the freeway and head toward DC?” she asked.
“Are you hungry?”
She shrugged. She’d eaten more regular meals in the last few days than she ever had.
“Do you mind if we stop someplace for a little while? We should eat something decent, and I want to talk through everything with you. Obviously, we can’t depend on anyone else to help, so we need to come up with some more structured plans.”
“Probably a good idea.” She drove until they came to a little Irish pub.
They parked and got out of the car, and this time, she brought Mac along. He trotted behind them. She was pleased to see his happy wagging tail.
They walked into a large darkened space with green walls and a massive bar made of dark-stained wood. Behind the bar were matching wood shelves full of liquor bottles.
A pretty woman with dark hair called from behind the bar, “Sit wherever ye like.”
Kadance headed for a booth in the corner farthest from the bar. She motioned to Mac, and he jumped up into the booth. He sat on the bench and looked across the table, as if he were a person.
The server walked up to the table. “I’m sorry, but ye can’t have a cat in here.”
“He’s my emotional support animal.” Kadance leveled a steady gaze at the woman and waited for her to acquiesce.
The server pursed her lips. “What would ye loike to drink?”
They ordered, and she gave them some menus and walked away.
“I need to learn from you,” Lyndon said.
“What? I didn’t lie.” She rubbed Mac’s head, and he leaned into her hand. “You are my emotional support animal, aren’t you?”
Mac meowed in response.
She turned back to Lyndon. “See?”
The server returned with their drinks. She glanced at Mac, who stared right back at her, but she didn’t argue further.
“The next logical step,” Lyndon said, “is to go to the FBI.”
“Too bad we’ll get some lackey who’ll treat us like conspiracy theorists and might not even bother opening a file.” If she thought it’d help, she would risk getting arrested to get him in to talk to someone higher up, someone who might listen, but she also didn’t want to risk leaving him unprotected. “But, yes, we should at least give it a shot. Do you have any other contacts we could try? Any other old classmates or professors in important positions anywhere?”
“The only one I’ve kept in contact with was Dr. Grant. It was a fluke that I knew where Spallings worked. What about you? Any contacts from your previous position?”
She appreciated that he was careful what he said in public. “I’ve been disavowed.”
He drew his eyebrows together. “Why?”
“My father ‘leaked’ information about me. He made sure the army got it, of course, but it also made it to the agency as well.”
“How bad was it? Would they arrest you if they found you?”
“He didn’t give them any actual evidence, of course, so they have nothing to arrest me for. It’s more like they wiped me from existence.”
“What did he leak? What could he leak that didn’t implicate him and the rest of your family?”
“He said I’d married a Saudi man and had changed allegiances.”
“And they believed it?”
“He made sure they could trace the information back to him, a trusted retired Marine and my father. Even though my record is perfect, they couldn’t take the chance on trusting me further with the country’s security.”
He sighed, and she heard his frustration.
“This is why I like that your skills at lying are horrible.” She looked down at the menu. She’d meant it to come out in a teasing tone, but it’d come out serious.
“Because you can trust I won’t double-cross you,” he said, lowering his voice, almost gentle, “or at least that you’d see it coming.”
She didn’t respond. That was exactly it. She hadn’t trusted anyone in years, not since James, and that’d been disastrous. The experience had honed her ability to detect deception even more.
The server set their drinks down in front of them. “Ready to order?”
Kadance ordered whatever her gaze landed on first on the menu, and Lyndon ordered as well.
“It’ll be roight up.” The server took the menus and walked away.
Lyndon leaned his back against the booth and glanced over at the server, surely to make sure she was out of earshot. She wore a fitted shirt and skinny jeans and had the figure to pull it off nicely, and yet his gaze didn’t linger on her, nor had he given her very pretty face any special notice when she was at their table. Maybe Kadance’s first inclination to think he simply didn’t feel attraction or passion was right.
He turned back to Kadance. “So, head to DC, meet with the FBI, and then investigate the layout and security of the House chamber as much as possible.”
“Maybe try to befriend one of the guards.”
He nodded, but then he sighed and knocked his glasses askew as he rubbed the bridge of his nose.
“Focus on one thing at a time,” Kadance said. “Maybe that’ll help.”
He fixed his glasses and looked at her.
“Right, the guy who can memorize text at a glance and read it later in his head, all while explaining infectious diseases, doesn’t focus on just one thing at a time.”
“I wish I could sometimes.”
“How in the world do you sleep, anyway?”
“Sometimes I don’t.”
Mac jumped down under the table and back up onto Lyndon’s bench. He set his front paws on Lyndon’s thigh and looked up at him.
Lyndon smiled down at him. “Of course. Petting a cat is the ultimate cure. How could I forget?”
Mac leaned into Lyndon’s hand as he stroked him and purred.
“I literally can’t remember the last time Mac let someone else pet him,” Kadance said. She wondered if Mac sensed he was trustworthy, or if Lyndon was simply the only person Mac had had contact with for any length of time other than her.
“Are you Lyndon?” called the server from behind the bar. She had a phone in her hand.
Lyndon glanced at Kadance and then back to the server.
Kadance looked to the front door and then back at the kitchen entrance and a hallway that led to the restrooms and a back door. She’d spotted all the entrance points upon walking in and had watched them carefully. And she was positive no one had followed them at any point while they’d been in Atlanta.
“I should find out who it is,” Lyndon said. “Maybe I can get some information.”
“Be careful.”
He stood and walked toward the bar.
She stood as well, parted the blinds on the nearest window and looked outside. The parking lot and road were empty. She motioned for Mac to follow and walked over to the front door, about ten feet back from the bar.
The server handed a cordless phone to Lyndon.
“Cancel our order please,” Kadance said to the pretty woman.
The woman walked through the swinging door to the kitchen.
“Hello?” Lyndon said into the receiver.
nineteen
“HELLO?” Lyndon said again into the phone. He could feel Kadance watching him and everything around them intensely.
“It’s probably an unusual feeling for you to be surprised.” The voice was disguised with some kind of digital device. He couldn’t even determine gender, let alone any subtleties.
“It is,” Lyndon said. “But let’s put an end to my surprise. Tell me who you are.”
Laughter.
“That’s all right,” he said. “If you know me at all, you know I’ll figure it out.”
“Oh, I know you. I know you well enough to know I am one of few in the world who can stay one step ahead. I also know you should dump the unenlightened, primitive, brunette Barbie and get on the right path.”
Lyndon realized this person had no idea who Kadance really was.
“I’m disappointed you’re again letting a pretty face distract you,” the voice said.
Alarm bells rang in Lyndon’s head, but he focused on the most important information he needed to try to extract. “And on what path should I be?”
“The path that’s been laid out for you. Stop allowing yourself to be distracted. You need to prove yourself to earn the right to survive the cleansing.”
More alarm bells. “How long has this cleansing been forthcoming?”
“Long enough.”
“And how do you know how to create an Ebola super-virus?”
“Very good. I’m impressed. How’d you figure that out?”
“You don’t already know?”
“The mastermind of the great cleansing sees all.”
“And you foresee I am the only one who can challenge your super-virus.”
“You should be by my side for the new world, but don’t forget who the mastermind is. You are running through the maze I constructed.”
Unless I jump the walls. “That you constructed years ago.”
The person made a small sound, like a smirk.
“If I’m to be by your side, why are you trying to kill me?”
“Kill you? You misunderstand. The shooter was aiming for your little brunette Barbie.”
He clutched the phone so tightly his hand shook, but he managed to keep his voice calm. “So, why the call? To prove you’re watching? To throw me off?”
“On the contrary. I have but one goal for you—focus. I’d thought you’d learned this lesson, but apparently, you need more help.”
“Don’t forget, I am a man. I have needs science does not satisfy.” He needed to make sure this person remained blind to Kadance’s value, did not realize the threat she presented.
“Now is not the time to let your base instincts lead you. Get rid of her. Now.”
“A
beautiful distraction can help my mind focus.”
A sigh. “Fine.” And then the call ended.
He set the phone down on the bar and turned to face Kadance. “Let me use the restroom before we get out of here.”
Her expression was hard and focused. She didn’t argue.
He headed down the hall, passed the men’s room, and walked out the back door. He’d done what he could to shield her, but he had no right to keep her involved in this. He could not let her be hurt. Or worse.
He made sure the door closed silently, and he walked quickly around the side of the building. He’d have to find someplace to hide until she decided to leave.
At the sight of Mac sitting in the small space between the side of the building and the neighboring fence, he stopped. Mac meowed, an aggressive sound that was more like a bark.
He didn’t want to hurt Mac, so he backed up. He’d have to jump the fence at the back of the property. He turned the corner and stopped short at Kadance leaned against the building with her arms crossed.
There was a long pause while they looked at each other. He saw no anger in her eyes, no menace. Just curiosity.
“The shooter at my apartment, he was aiming at you. This mastermind told me to get rid of you,” Lyndon said. “I’m afraid for your safety.”
“Sounded like you made me out to be nothing but a toy. Nice job, by the way.”
“I can’t keep putting you in danger.”
“You’re not putting me in danger.”
“This isn’t your fight. It never was.”
“I took an oath to defend the country. I meant it. This is my fight, maybe more mine than yours.”
He felt his jaw tighten.
“Neither of us can do this alone. I don’t have your knowledge of science, and you don’t know how a terrorist mind works.”
Mac walked up to him and rubbed against his leg.
Lyndon looked down at his fluffy orange fur. “I thought he was going to try to attack me.”
“He would have. And he would’ve stopped you too. At least long enough for me to get to you.” She squatted down and held her hand out, and Mac trotted over to get his back rubbed. She looked up at Lyndon. “Are you going to tell me what they said?”
Lyndon hesitated. He was becoming quite certain he wasn’t going to keep her out of this. “Should we leave first?”
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