“Are you sure?” He held his breath. “Don’t do it just for me. It is dangerous, Allie. And I don’t want you to get hurt.”
She nodded. “I am sure.”
“Okay.” He gazed at her. “I have the spinal fluid samples. Do you want to go to the lab and test them? See if anything is there, and if it matches what is in the water?”
Allie felt a frisson of excitement. “You got the samples?! Yes, we must do it, as soon as possible. But you will stay with me this time?”
“I promise,” he said, smiling at her obvious excitement. “I will protect you, Allie.”
“Oh, well,” she said, a bit flippantly. “If you don’t, there’s always the wolf. He’s got my back.”
Caleb fixed a smile onto his face. If only she knew.
“It’s Sunday,” said Caleb. “No one there again. We can be in and out and get it done fairly quickly. And then we will know, at last.”
Allie stood up. “Let’s get going then. There’s no time to lose.”
Caleb stood up as well. A little too quickly. He stumbled a little as pain shot through his leg. Allie frowned, staring at him. “Are you sure you’re okay? Is it your leg again?”
“Right as rain,” he said, trying to smile. “But I might take another couple of painkillers before we go. Keep me on top of it.”
Allie nodded. He walked to the sink, taking out some pills and washing them down with water.
Allie stared at him. What was wrong with his leg? He was wearing jeans, so she couldn’t see anything. That old injury was really playing up.
“What is it?” she asked, still staring at him. “Your knee or your ankle?”
He glanced at her. “My knee,” he said. “I had to get the knee cap scrapped after falling badly during a tennis match. It was years ago, but it still hurts from time to time. Don’t worry about me, Allie. It will be better soon.”
She slowly nodded. Why did she have the distinct impression that he wasn’t telling her the truth—again?
Chapter Sixteen
Allie climbed out of the car, staring at the building. It was another dull, cold day, but at least the city was quieter. It had taken her the normal amount of time to get here. The party revellers from the festival and parade were all sleeping it off or had gone home. Back to their real lives.
Her heart started thudding, just a little, as she stared at it. Only last night, she had been attacked in that building. By a demon, supposedly. Her rational mind still resisted the idea, and the matter-o- fact way that Caleb had told her about the creature. Once again, she wondered who Caleb Stone really was. How did he know about these creatures, and what was his role in this whole thing?
She had meant it when she said that she was willing to risk it. To find the truth and stop this situation. But now, in the clear light of day with the building where she had been attacked in front of her, she questioned that choice. It was going to be harder than she had thought.
Caleb’s car pulled into his usual park, and she watched him getting out. Once again, he had refused them travelling together. She hadn’t even raised an eyebrow this time. He wanted to keep his secrets; he claimed that it was for her own safety that he did so. But it was hard, biting her lip. She loved him, after all. Not that the love was worth anything.
It was destined to wither on the vine. She had to swallow it down and focus on the task at hand. And that task had to be carried out in the building. She must force herself to go in there.
She walked slowly over to him. He smiled when he saw her.
“Ready to finally find out?” he said.
She took a deep breath and nodded. “Yes. We must do it.”
They walked up to the building. Bruce was standing there, back on duty. He watched them approach.
“I heard about what happened last night,” he said to Allie, when they were standing in front of him. “Todd couldn’t believe it. He said that you were really shaken up.”
Allie nodded, slowly. “It was…frightening,” she admitted. “But I am trying to let it go.” She smiled at him. “I didn’t get to finish what I was working on last night. Interrupted by the attacker. Mr. Stone and I thought we could get started on it again.”
Bruce’s gaze swept over them both. “I’m afraid that’s not going to be possible,” he said. “We had to report last night’s incident to Dr. Morgan, and he was a bit mystified why you were both here without his authorisation out of hours. He was adamant that if you both show up again that I don’t let you in.” He smiled to take the sting out of his words. “Sorry.”
Allie blanched. “He said that we can’t have access to the building?”
“I’m afraid so.” Bruce looked apologetic. “Not my call, Allie. I’m sure that he’s only following protocol. He was actually a bit mad, saying that we should have called him to tell him you’d come and what you wanted to do.”
Caleb’s lips thinned. “Let me get this straight: Dr. Morgan is refusing us entry? Even though we are here on work business, trying to find the cause of this illness, which he has authorised us to do?”
Bruce shrugged. “I’m only following orders, Mr. Stone. You will have to take that up with the doctor, I’m afraid. And I can see his point, in one sense. There was an attack on Allie here after-hours, and if something bad had happened to her, he would have had to answer questions as to why she was here in the first place. He probably still will.”
Allie rested a hand on Caleb’s arm, trying to calm him. “It’s perfectly okay, Bruce. We understand. I wouldn’t want to get you or the other security guards into trouble.” She turned and stared at Caleb. “We should leave.”
Bruce smiled, relieved. “Thanks Allie. If you really need to gain access today, maybe you should call him yourself. Talk about it. That’s my two-cents worth, anyway.”
Allie nodded. “We might do that. Thanks, Bruce.”
They slowly turned and walked back down the steps. When they were far enough away, they turned to each other.
“I can’t believe he has done this,” hissed Caleb, his face dark. “Although I shouldn’t be surprised, I guess. He’s been trying to thwart our efforts to find a cause since day one.”
Allie raised her eyebrows. “Are you saying that Dr. Morgan is doing this deliberately? That it’s not about a breach of protocol?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying.” Caleb took a deep breath. “Listen, I know a café not far from here that’s open Sundays. Maybe we should go there, get a coffee, and something to eat. And talk about what to do from here.”
Allie nodded. “I guess, although I don’t see what we can do now.”
“There’s always something,” said Caleb, his frown deepening.
***
Caleb stirred sugar into his coffee, debating whether to tell Allie about Dr. Morgan.
One part of him was reluctant to involve her any further than she already was. It was dangerous, and she was being targeted. On the other hand, she was already involved, and maybe knowing the truth about Dr. Morgan would crystallise her resolve to be part of the fight against this evil.
Before he had left to see if she was okay this morning, he had remembered the pile of letters that he had taken from the doctor’s office. With everything that had happened the previous day, he had completely forgotten about them. He hadn’t wanted to waste too much time on them—he was almost a hundred per cent convinced the doctor was involved with the Vilgath anyway—but it certainly wouldn’t hurt to skim them, at least. See if there was anything suspicious or noteworthy in them.
It hadn’t taken him much time to find it.
The letters had all been from the mysterious Mariana. The good doctor’s girlfriend, who had suddenly disappeared. Some of them were banal, and not noteworthy in the slightest. But then, in one, Mariana had talked about their “discovery” in the Amazon. Begging him not to publish their findings—not yet anyway.
That discovery was a new amoeba. And for some reason, Mariana didn’t want the world to know about it.
So, the doctor was behind this. It was all adding up. He still didn’t know how Mariana was involved, but she was. Large sums of money had been disappearing from Dr. Morgan’s bank account. And around the same time that started, Mariana had suddenly disappeared from the doctor’s life.
Caleb didn’t think it was a coincidence.
He was convinced, now, that this new amoeba was the cause of the outbreak. That Dr. Morgan, or Mariana, had cultivated it and fed it into the water supply. Allie had found an amoeba in the water. And they needed to test these spinal fluid samples urgently to see if it matched up. But now Dr. Morgan was refusing them access to do that. He had already tried to stop them pursuing this, and the Vilgath were trying to stop them, too.
“Maybe we should call Dr. Morgan,” said Allie, now, staring at him. “Just like Bruce said. If we explained that I tested the water myself and found something, he would have to see that we have been justified in pursuing this angle.”
Caleb stared at her, levelly. “Allie, he said that he requested a water analysis, and it came back negative. That’s not possible, is it?”
Allie shook her head, staring down at her coffee. “No. I don’t see how. If that water had been tested like I requested, they would have seen it, straightaway.”
“So,” he said, stirring his coffee again. “Dr. Morgan lied. You’ve already suspected that he has been trying to sabotage our efforts to find the cause. That proves it.”
Allie sighed, staring out the window. “I know that you are right. I’m just having difficulty believing it. He is the director. He is a renowned expert in the field. This is his whole life. What is his motivation for not wanting us to discover the cause?”
Caleb stared at her. “I don’t know, yet. But he has been acting suspiciously. If you called him now, and explained everything, he still wouldn’t let you into that lab. You realise that, don’t you?”
Allie slowly nodded. “Yes.” She took a deep breath. “I just don’t know what to do. If that’s the case, it means that when we go into work tomorrow, he still won’t let us test those samples. But how will he justify that when I tell him what I found in the water?”
Caleb leaned back in his chair. “We have to test those samples before tomorrow. If we have evidence that there is an amoeba in them, then we can send the results to City Hall. We can inform the hospitals. We mustn’t let Dr. Morgan know, or else he will try to stop it.” He took a deep breath. “Allie, this is urgent. We have to find out, and then we can try to find a cure.”
Allie sipped her coffee, frowning. “But we can’t get into the lab. You know that. How are we going to test those samples?”
Caleb gazed at her. “You aren’t going to like it,” he said slowly. “But I think it’s the only way now.”
“What?” she said, her eyes wide.
He leaned forward, his green eyes entreating her. “We have to break in.”
Her eyes widened further, staring at him as if he had gone mad. “Break into the building?”
He nodded. “As you said, we can’t get in the normal way. And we must test them. Tomorrow will be too late. Dr. Morgan won’t listen to a thing we say and will confiscate the samples.”
“But…” she trailed off, staring at him. “How? Bruce is there. The building is secure.”
“Tonight,” he said. “We can get in under cover of darkness, so that we aren’t seen. There are ways around the security guards. But I think we might have to take an extra precaution, just in case.” He inhaled, deeply. “Make sure that Bruce, or whoever is on, is out of action.”
Allie paled. “What are you suggesting?”
“Nothing serious,” he said quickly. “Nothing that will permanently damage the guard. A sedative, put into his drink or food. Something that will knock him out quickly and keep him out of the way while we get in and do the tests.”
“I don’t know,” she said haltingly. “It’s wrong. Drugging a guard, breaking into the building? I’m not a criminal, Caleb, whatever you are.”
“I’m not a criminal, either,” he said, staring at her. “I am on the side of good, believe me. But I also know that the end sometimes justifies the means. In a battle like this, sometimes you must fight dirty, Allie. There’s simply no other way.” He kept staring at her. “Those demons are evil, Allie. Their whole mission in life is to destroy humanity, in a million different ways, on a million different days. This is one of them.”
She frowned. “And you’re saying that Dr. Morgan is involved with them in some way? That he is a part of it?”
Caleb nodded. “Yes. He is. I didn’t want to have to tell you, but there’s no choice now. I have evidence that Dr. Morgan discovered a new amoeba in the Amazon, and I believe that is what is causing this outbreak. The same amoeba that you discovered in the water.”
Allie closed her eyes. “It’s worse than I thought,” she whispered. “Dr. Morgan has deliberately sabotaged the water supply? But why would he do it?”
Caleb stared at her. “He was involved with a woman, and she is mixed up in this, somehow. She wanted him to not publish his findings about the amoeba, and then she disappeared. I haven’t worked it all out, yet.”
Allie stared at him. “Caleb, who are you? How have you discovered all this, and why?”
He gazed down at the table. She noticed that his hand had tightened on his coffee cup. Suddenly, she remembered when he had shattered the one at the other café, when she had refused to discuss if she was involved with anyone else. She had thought at the time that it had been unusual—who had the strength to do such a thing?
Allie shifted uneasily in her chair, still staring at his hand. There was something bigger to this, even more than she had been told. Was he an undercover operative of some sort? Did he work for the police? Is that why he had been so secretive, refusing to discuss his life and not wanting to get involved with her?
He looked up at her, suddenly. “I can’t tell you, Allie. I wish with all my heart I could, but I can’t. I’m not trying to deliberately mislead you, and I didn’t want you to get as deeply involved as you have. It’s too late now.” He paused. “You are being targeted by the demons. And the only way we can stop them, including Dr. Morgan, is to isolate and identify this amoeba.”
“How is the wolf involved?” she asked suddenly.
He took a deep breath. “The wolf is on the side of good,” he whispered. “You were right when you said it was protecting you. It wants to defeat the demons. That’s all I can say.”
She nodded slowly. “I don’t understand any of it. But I trust you, Caleb.” She took a deep breath. “Lord knows why. You’ve lied to me and deliberately withheld information from me. But if it’s for a greater good, then I can accept that.”
He reached across the table, taking her hand. They both felt the spark of connection flare up between them at the touch. Allie felt like bursting into tears.
“Thank you,” he whispered, staring into her eyes. “I would do anything to save you from harm, Allie. But I also have a duty to solve this, which is bigger than both of us. If you don’t want to come tonight, that’s fine. In fact, I would probably feel more comfortable if you didn’t.”
She closed her eyes again. What should she do? He was saying that he wanted to break into the building, and sedate the guard on duty to do so. Never in a thousand years would she have thought she would ever contemplate such a thing. She was risking everything: her job, her livelihood, and her reputation.
But on the other hand, she trusted him. He wouldn’t be suggesting this if it wasn’t the only way. She realised fully that Dr. Morgan was involved in some way, and that he was trying to stop them finding out. People were violently ill, and dying. Her job was to find out why; Dr. Morgan was stopping that.
She thought of Caleb’s words. The end justifies the means.
She wished that he could tell her. What he was; why he was involved with this so intimately. But again, she guessed that was part of trust: the belief that someone was acting pro
perly, even if they couldn’t reveal everything.
Allie took a deep breath, and took a giant leap of faith.
“No,” she said slowly. “I’m coming. My job is to find out what is causing this, and I am going to do it. Come what may.”
Caleb stared at her, his eyes glowing with admiration. “You are a warrior, Allie Holloway,” he said. “I am so proud of you.”
She gazed at him. “Yes, I am a warrior. Just like you are.”
***
Allie could hear her heart thudding in her chest. She was at the side of the building, hiding behind some bushes, like some fugitive. In her hands she held the precious samples they would soon be testing. If Caleb ever came back, that is.
She glanced down at herself. She was dressed in black, looking for all the world like a cat burglar from an old movie. Caleb had suggested it, had told her that it would mean she could slip into the shadows easier. When he had come to pick her up, earlier that evening, she had laughed nervously when she had seen him dressed in a similar way.
“I guess that’s it, then,” she had said. “We are officially undercover.”
He had smiled, gazing at her. “You look good in black. Although I wish it was a black dress you were wearing, and I was taking you out for dinner, instead of what we are about to do.”
She had gazed at him sadly. “Dinner for two, rather than a date to save the city?”
He had laughed wryly. “When you put it like that, I can see I shouldn’t complain.” He had paused. “You are being so brave, Allie. It’s not too late to back out, though. I can test the samples myself.”
She had shaken her head decisively. “No. I am coming. In for a penny, in for a pound.”
And now, here she was. Skulking in the bushes, with her heart in her mouth. She didn’t feel brave. In fact, she had never felt more terrified in her life—and that was even including having faced a demon the previous day. She stared down at her hands, appalled to see that she was shaking.
Caleb had gone off to administer the sedative to poor Todd, who was on duty. She hadn’t asked for any details about what he had procured, or how. Nor had she asked how he was going to do it. She didn’t want to know.
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