Viral Siege

by Don Pendleton

  “Too late. I heard,” Kim said. “That leaves you out in the cold.”

  “Not exactly,” Bolan said. “I understand what Rackham is doing. He’s working a deal to supply your people with a nasty strain of virus. Something Rackham’s people have been working on. I didn’t get the full spec, but I can make a guess it’s a virulent strain your government wants to use on some unsuspecting target.”

  “Whatever may be wrong with you,” Kim said, staring at Bolan’s facial injuries, “it does not appear to have affected your imagination. Perhaps you should analyze the situation and see where it takes you. Perhaps along a false path.”

  “Don’t try to throw me off,” Bolan said. “This meeting was a delivery. From Rackham to you.”

  Bolan indicated the attaché case on the bed. Kim glanced at the bag and a ghost of a resigned look crossed his face.

  “Open it,” Bolan said.

  Kim did. The case was crammed with banded wads of U.S. currency.

  “That takes care of your payday,” Bolan said to Callum.

  The man wasn’t listening. He was gazing at Kim, and his expression revealed the suspicion he was harboring. If Bolan’s normally keen insight hadn’t been dampened by the lingering effects of Pembury’s drugs, he might have picked up on what Kim had been implying himself. Regardless of Bolan’s failing, Callum didn’t miss the remark.

  Perhaps you should analyze the situation and see where it takes you. Perhaps along a false path.

  “Son of a bitch,” Callum yelled, realization dawning.

  He powered away from the wall, his unexpected move catching Bolan off guard. The man caught the Executioner in the side, slamming him off balance. As Bolan went to his knees, Callum recovered and snatched at the handgun Kim had tossed on the bed. He arced the weapon around and centered it on the man. Callum fired, putting a slug into the Korean’s chest, knocking him back against the wall. Kim slid a short distance, leaving a smear of blood behind.

  Bolan wrenched his own body around, the SIG Sauer lining up on Callum as the man began to turn in his direction. He triggered the 9 mm handgun and put his first shot into the man’s right shoulder. Callum gasped as the impact of the slug cracked bone. Still fighting, he tried to realign his weapon. Bolan fired again, this time hitting Callum’s lower torso. The force of the shot spun the man off his feet. He thumped to the floor, his body shuddering from the trauma of the shots. The pistol dropped from his hand, and Bolan kicked it out of reach as he gained his feet.

  He heard a murmur of sound and looked across to where Kim lay hunched against the wall. He had one hand pressed over the bloody wound in his chest. He was staring directly at Bolan and made a gesture with his free hand.

  “Not North Korean,” he said as Bolan crouched over him. “South. Undercover. Working with the FBI to flush out a North Korean cell.”

  “This was a setup?”

  The man nodded. He used his free hand to slide a cell phone from his pocket and handed it to Bolan. “Call for assistance,” he said. “First number on the call list. Just say Kim needs help. Give them the location.”

  Bolan keyed in the number and informed the answering voice of the situation, giving the location.

  “Your man Kim has been shot. One to the chest. You need to move fast. And bring in the CDC. There could be a lethal virus here. It’s secured at the moment, but it needs to be taken care of.”

  He cut the call and turned back to Kim. The Korean was studying him intently.

  “So who are you?”

  “A friend. A curious friend. What was this all about?”

  “A sting operation intended to catch these guys in the act of buying what’s in that case.” Kim was losing concentration. His free hand caught hold of Bolan’s wrist. “Who are you?” he repeated.

  “Not one of the bad guys,” Bolan said. “Someone who got dragged into this. Trying to help.”

  “You with an agency?”

  “Only in a loose sense.”

  “Loose enough to have stepped into the middle of this.” Kim’s grip on Bolan’s wrist slipped away. “Is Callum...?”

  Bolan stepped away and checked out Callum. The man was unconscious but still alive.

  “Dead he couldn’t talk. This way we might get some background from him,” he told Kim.

  “I hope so.”

  “Looks like I screwed your assignment.”

  Kim shrugged. “You weren’t to know. Do you have a line on his organization?”

  “Some but I need to check it out further.”

  “You should follow it. Take these bastards out.”

  Bolan nodded.

  The sound of an approaching siren cut the air. Bolan checked out the window and saw an emergency ambulance pulling up outside the hotel.

  “What do I call you?” Kim asked.

  “Cooper.”

  “Cooper, get out of here. Members of the Bureau will be showing up any minute. If they find you here, you’ll be questioned for days. Go find these people and do what needs to be done. I don’t know what agency you work for, but the stuff these people are peddling can’t be allowed to be distributed. Find them, Cooper, and shut them down. Permanently.”

  Bolan pushed to his feet. He put his weapon away.

  “You know a guy called Bremner? He’s FBI,” he said. “They have him.”

  “It’s not a name I’m familiar with. Now get the hell out of here,” Kim said again.

  Bolan slipped out the door. The corridor was empty. He left the door open and made his way to the elevator, thumbing the button and hearing the soft ping just before the doors slid open. He checked himself out as the elevator descended. No blood on his clothing. He tidied himself up and waited for the car to stop. As he stepped out, he saw white-coated EMTs crowding into the lobby. Guests were milling around in confusion. Bolan blended in with them and let himself be moved along. He waited until the last moment before he reached out and touched an EMT on the shoulder.

  “Second floor,” Bolan said. “Room 256. I heard shots.”

  The man stared at him, then relayed the information into the handset he was holding.

  Bolan saw the exit in front of him and allowed the press of the crowd to take him through the door. The EMT disappeared in the press of people. Bolan knew the guy would try to alert the police.

  He broke from the evacuating crowd and moved swiftly away from the hotel, across the concourse and onto the sidewalk where he slid into the growing crowd of onlookers. He negotiated the sidewalk and made for the parked SUV.

  Devon was watching the growing crowd, her face anxious. When she saw him, Bolan caught the relief that showed. He slid onto the passenger seat.

  “Let’s go,” he said. “But do it calmly. No screeching tires and burning rubber.”

  “As if,” she said.

  She pulled away with remarkable restraint, despite the rising sound of police sirens. As she slid into traffic, a couple of police cruisers whipped by, sirens at full pitch and lights flashing.

  “Where to?”

  “Right now anywhere away from the area. When the police find the vial of virus in that room, this part of town will be sealed tight.”

  She glanced at him. “So what happened?”

  “The North Korean buyer turned out to be an undercover agent.”

  “If that had come from anyone else, Matt, I would have thought it was a bad joke.”

  “No joke,” Bolan said.

  “So how did it end?”

  “Callum wounded the agent.”

  “And you shot Callum,” Devon said. “How did I know that?”

  Bolan showed a weary smile. “It’s a gift you have.”

  “Is Callum dead?”

  “No. The FBI will be able to talk to him.”

  �
�There’s a blessing,” Devon said.

  “Cynical, aren’t we?”

  She smiled. “Must be the effect of hanging out with you.”

  “That’s over,” Bolan said. “Laura, I can’t let you stay with me any longer. This is getting out of hand.”

  “I know what I’m letting myself in for.”

  “So do I,” Bolan said. “That’s why I want you out of harm’s way. I need to go back to the facility and shut this operation down before Rackham takes it up a notch. You’ve helped me, but it’s time for you to walk away. I need to focus on what I’m doing. If I have you alongside, it means taking my eye off the ball. No offense, but I can’t have you there.” Bolan saw the look in her eyes. “Don’t hold it against me. I can’t chance having anything happen to you.”

  Devon concealed her disappointment, but she admitted he was right. If he was going up against Rackham, he needed to be able to concentrate fully on that. Not be concerned that she was shadowing him and hanging that responsibility around his neck.

  “Then I’ll drive to where I left my vehicle and I’ll go back to the diner.” Bolan nodded. She glanced at him. “You’re not going to drive up to the gate and ask to be let back in, are you?”

  “I think I can be a little more subtle than that.”

  “Oh? So what will you do?”

  “Go in on foot. No warning. Catch them off guard.”

  “Sounds good on paper,” she said.

  “My instinct tells me I’ve done this before, so I’ll work on that basis.”

  * * *

  THE TRIP BACK ALLOWED Bolan to rest again, trying to shake off the lingering effects of Pembury’s drugs. He had no other means of recuperating open to him. And knowing what lay ahead he couldn’t afford to delay his return. When news of what had happened at the hotel reached Rackham, he was going to push to complete the full batch of the virus and make alternative arrangements with his buyer.

  Watching the forested landscape flash by, the heavy clouded sky threatening more rain, Bolan stirred restlessly. His mind was churning with half-remembered images. Faces. Places. Always just out of reach. Ready to slip away the moment he tried to focus on them.

  He glanced at Devon, her face in profile as she drove. Right at that moment she seemed the only real thing in his life. Since he had met her, she had been solid and dependable, with him through the hectic moments, and never once complaining. He would miss her. But rather that than have anything happen to her.

  * * *

  “MY CAR IS ABOUT TWO MILES away.”

  “You go straight to the diner,” Bolan said. “No diversions.”

  “Are you sure about this?” Devon asked.

  “No discussion, Laura. Rackham is going to be ready to tear out my throat. No way I want you near that place.”

  Devon eased off the gas and coasted to a stop, scanning the area. She sat for a while, searching the way ahead.

  “I can make it from here. Trust me. I know the area. I can cut through the trees and check it out before I go for it. Like you said, Matt, I’m a liability. Let me go now.”

  Bolan reached out and touched her cheek. “You are a hell of a soldier, Laura Devon. Good to have known you.”

  He leaned and kissed her gently on the lips.

  Devon cleared her throat. “Turn around. Stay on this road for six miles. You’ll hit a steep climb. Just follow it. The facility is around fifteen miles farther on. When the pavement ends and it’s dirt you’ll be close.”

  “You remembered that?”

  She nodded. “Not a route I’m likely to forget. Now get moving, mister. And you better come calling when this is over.”

  She slipped out the passenger door, closed it, then crossed into the thick undergrowth, quickly vanishing in the dense clusters of trees.

  Bolan swung the SUV around and stepped on the gas.

  He set his mind on what lay ahead, trying to put Devon out of his thoughts. He smiled at that. Here he was trying to recall past memories and now he was deliberately trying to lose one.

  Chapter 9

  Rick Nash and Zeke Macchio sat in their SUV on the approach to Hardesty simply watching. Nash’s instincts told him this was the place to be. While the rest of Rackham’s people were searching the forest around the facility, Nash had driven the route that ended at Hardesty.

  “I think the woman will come home,” Nash said. “Cooper will drop her off and head out. She’ll come back to Hardesty.”

  “You know she’s from Hardesty?” Macchio said. “How?”

  Nash tapped the side of his head. “While Rackham was making noises and giving the rest of the guys a hard time, I used my brain. I contacted base and had them run a check on the vehicle the woman and Cooper were in when they were taken, a 4x4 Jeep. It’s registered to her...Laura Devon. Hometown is Hardesty. Background check showed she was in the military. Medic in Afghanistan. Just the person to patch Cooper up.”

  “Regular Girl Scout,” Macchio said. “You tell Rackham all this?”

  Nash smiled. “Later maybe. He’s got enough to handle with the deal going south.”

  “Nothing to do with you coming up looking good?”

  “Shame on you, Zeke. Would I pull something like that on our beloved boss?”

  “Oh, yes,” Macchio said. “Not to mention impressing the bitch from hell.”

  “Can’t say I like her much, but she has clout with the top dogs. So it doesn’t hurt to keep in her good books.”

  Macchio stared out through the windshield, working out things in his mind.

  “So you figure the woman will lead us to Cooper?”

  “Maybe. If the guy’s still alive. He was banged up when he totaled his vehicle. He took a hell of a whack on his head. Pembury pumped him full of that serum to loosen his tongue because Rackham wanted to find out how much he knew about Bremner. Then there was the screwup with the virus.”

  * * *

  THERE HAD BEEN NO SIGN of Cooper and the woman since they had broken out of the facility until Cooper had shown up at the hotel where Callum was to pass along the virus sample.

  Rackham had a spotter team on the street in case Callum needed protection. They were too late. The only solid piece of information they got was a sighting of Cooper leaving the hotel and getting into the SUV he had commandeered on his escape from the facility. They were unable to follow him due to the snarl of traffic outside the hotel as every police cruiser showed up to control the crowd. By the time they broke through and took the road out of town, Cooper was long gone. Calling Rackham only earned the spotter team a wild tirade. It was obvious the deal had been blown apart, and the matter was further confirmed by the arrival of both the FBI and a vehicle from the CDC at the hotel. Rackham’s team had seen Callum being taken away by ambulance, one of the FBI vehicles following. A second ambulance ferried an Asian man out of the area shortly after.

  Rackham ordered his people back to the facility while he rapidly altered his plans. He had contacted the North Koreans, explained what had happened and promised them a fresh virus sample. He had realized the security of the facility might have been compromised and made the decision to move their handover of the sample to a fresh location. With the Koreans reasonably mollified, Rackham had marshaled his remaining team into search mode. He was aware that his principals wouldn’t be happy over the breaches in security, and he needed to show he was still in control.

  Cooper was still a threat. As long as he was out there he had the power to cause more problems. Rackham wanted him back. He needed to find out Cooper’s background and what information he had on the organization. It was important to Rackham that he still had the approval of the top echelon.

  He sent out the teams. Searching for and finding Cooper was their objective. Rackham made that clear.

  Nash had quietly i
ndicated for Macchio to stay close as they exited the facility and climbed into their SUV. Nash had waited until the rest of the team had dispersed before driving out of the compound. He had taken the route away from the general search area.

  “Where are we going?” Macchio asked.

  “Patience,” Nash said.

  “You working one of your hunches?”

  Nash grinned. “I don’t care what they say about you, Zeke—you’re a sharp guy.”

  Macchio wasn’t convinced that was a compliment.

  * * *

  NASH HAD DRIVEN OFF the road, concealing the SUV in the thick undergrowth and trees that bordered it.

  “What if Cooper doesn’t drop the woman off?” Macchio said. “Maybe he’ll keep her with him.”

  “Uh-uh. This time he’s going to be on his own. He’ll want the girl out of harm’s way. He had no choice when we grabbed him last time. Cooper is the kind of guy who won’t put her back at risk if he has any say in it.”

  “So why are we wasting time here?”

  “Leverage,” Nash said. “We take charge of the woman. Haul her back to the base.”

  “We put her back on the firing line?”

  “Simple,” Nash said.

  “If it’s that simple,” Macchio said, “why didn’t we wait and take them both?”

  “Because we would have ended up in a firefight. We could have been hurt, Cooper could have ended up dead, and Rackham wouldn’t have been pleased if all we had to show was a dead body. This way we snatch the woman and take her back. Gives us an advantage. Cooper for the woman.”

  “Sounds good. But Rackham isn’t going to be happy having a witness walk away.”

  “The woman? When Cooper comes after her we have them both. Rackham won’t let her walk free once she’s been used.”

  “That is a sneaky plan, Nash.”

  “Isn’t it just,” Nash said. “Think of it as gaining a tactical advantage. Cooper is less likely to go hog wild if the woman is around.”

  “We’ve got to get to her first,” Macchio pointed out.