“Bremner. And Kim. Not my best week.”
“How is Kim?”
“He’ll be okay. They fixed his shoulder. It’ll keep him off work a few months.” Duncan cleared his throat. “I owe you my thanks for getting him medical help when you did. It made a difference.”
“It was unfortunate that I walked in when I did,” Bolan said. “I was tracking Callum and caught up just when Kim was completing his meet.”
“You weren’t in the loop, so how could you know? What the hell, Cooper, this isn’t the first time it’s happened. Covert operations are what they are, so screwups happen. At least we got our hands on the virus sample and Callum cuffed to a hospital bed.”
“Has he given up any helpful information yet?”
Duncan shook his head. “Nothing. I think he’s trying to work out how to make a deal.”
“I could try some old-fashioned Apache persuasion,” Riba said.
“After realizing what these people have been doing,” Duncan said, “I wish I could oblige.” He clenched his fists in sheer frustration. “They were doing it for money. Nothing else but money. That’s what pisses me off. Not for some mistaken political beliefs. Not for misplaced patriotism. But money.”
“How far did Bremner get into Rackham’s setup?” Bolan asked. “Is he working alone, or is he part of some criminal organization?”
“That’s the hell of it. He’d reported he was getting close to finding out. He disappeared before he had the chance to update us on this place.”
“You knew him well?”
“Yeah. Years. He was a damn good agent. A good team player and a good undercover agent. He’d worked a number of sting operations successfully. He had the ability to take on a new persona so damned easily. Sometimes he’d vanish for weeks, then come up with the goods so we could move in.” Duncan paused. “I’ll miss him.”
“Is he a family man?”
“Thankfully no. Apart from a sister who lives in Hawaii. I’ll tell her myself. I gave him the assignment, so it’s down to me.”
One of Duncan’s agents approached and spoke quietly to the man. After he had moved on, Duncan turned back to Bolan. He reached into his jacket and withdrew a cell phone. He passed it across.
“I was asked to deliver this by my section chief. It’s fully charged.” Duncan smiled. “I was asked—told—not to ask too many questions where you are concerned. It appears you have the ear of the President, no less. From what my chief said, you have anonymity stamped all over you.”
Bolan took the cell. “Thanks. As for the rest, it’s the nature of my work. I don’t have any ties to known agencies, but I’m not in competition with any of them. I have the greatest respect for all of you.”
Duncan had taken a long look at Bolan’s appearance. “Looks as if you’ve been busy out there. Anything we need to know?”
“Some bodies in the forest,” Bolan said. “They were determined to prevent us reaching the facility. And while we were doing that, Rackham slipped away. No doubt to arrange final delivery of his virus.”
“My people will be making a search. Let’s hope we can come up with results sooner rather than later.”
“I’m sure you and your people can deal with things here,” Bolan said. “Riba and I need to move ourselves. First we need to deliver a certain young lady back home. It’s time she was relieved from duty.”
“She isn’t part of your team?”
“No. Just an innocent who got caught up in things and stayed on board to offer help. I’m relieved she came through without serious injury.”
“You’ll find my number in the cell’s directory,” Duncan said to Bolan. “Call if you have any information, or need me.”
Riba indicated Bolan’s clothing. “He could do with the name of your tailor.”
“Duncan, we need a ride to backtrack and pick up Riba’s truck and Laura’s wheels,” Bolan said.
“No problem.” Duncan called over one of his men and told him to give Bolan and Riba a ride. As they followed the agent out, picking up Devon from where she was waiting, Duncan said, “Find him, Cooper. Do what you have to. Just find him.”
“Consider it done,” Bolan said.
Duncan recognized something in the man’s voice that confirmed there would be no backing off from that promise.
“Okay,” he said to himself. “Time to go and make peace with Dr. Tasker.”
Chapter 16
“Did you trust Duncan?” Devon asked. She was in the rear seat of Riba’s truck as he picked up the route she had described for him. “I’m not sure I did.”
“Very cynical,” Riba commented. “You’ve been around Cooper too much.”
“You think?”
“Duncan is FBI,” Bolan said. “They exist in a closed world. It rubs off so they come across as not trusting anyone. The man has a difficult job to do.”
“You’re not exactly in the fun business.”
“No, but my winning personality helps me through.”
Bolan had been silent for a long time, staring out through the rain-streaked windshield. His mind was grappling with facts concerning the current situation as well as filtering through the foggy pieces of jumbled memories.
“Hey,” Devon said, resting a hand on his shoulder. “Are things coming back?”
He nodded briefly. “Names. Some places. The memories are fragmented and hard to slot into place.”
“Don’t fight them,” Devon said. “Let them come back on their own.”
“You remember you still owe me that hundred dollars?” Riba said.
“No.”
Riba grunted. “Yeah, he’s getting better,” he said, grinning into the rearview mirror for Devon’s benefit. “We’ll miss you.”
The woman slumped back in her seat. “You’re dumping me again,” she said. “Leaving me back at the diner.”
“It’s time you got back to your normal life,” Bolan said gently. “I won’t put you in any more risk. And this time you stay put.”
“I get the message. You’ve had to pull me out of trouble once too often.”
“Think yourself lucky you can quit while you’re ahead,” Riba said. “I figure Cooper and me are going to need to head after Rackham. And it’s no place for a nice young lady where we’ll be going.”
Bolan twisted in his seat to catch her attention. “One thing, Laura...”
“I know. Don’t mention anything about what Rackham plans. No talk about missing viruses.”
Bolan nodded, knowing he didn’t need to worry on that score.
“Joshua, let’s go pick up the lady’s wheels.”
* * *
THE DINER WAS A WELCOME sight as Riba rolled into the parking lot, Devon following closely behind in her Jeep. As they climbed out of the truck, the door opened and Mitchell appeared. The relief was plain to see on his face as he watched Devon park her Jeep and join them.
“I was starting to worry,” he said.
“No need,” Devon said. “I had protection.”
She hugged Mitchell. He stared at her disheveled appearance.
The diner was deserted, but the smell of brewing coffee reached them. Mitchell led the way. “Sam’s been hopping mad ’cause he can’t get any details.”
“Truthfully, Vern, he doesn’t need to hear any details.”
Mitchell glanced at Bolan. “Like that, huh?”
“Laura’s back. He’ll have to be satisfied with that.”
“I need to tidy up,” the woman said as she left them.
The lingering look she offered Bolan told him she understood he needed to move on.
“She going to be okay?”
“That’s one great girl,” Riba replied. “I think she’ll be fine.”
“Tell her w
e had to go,” Bolan said. “No more time left. She knows why.”
* * *
BACK ON THE ROAD BOLAN said, “You got a clean shirt back there in your gear?”
Riba looked him up and down. “I was wondering when you might ask. Go help yourself. I always carry changes of clothing when I’m working. It should fit you pretty well. We’re about the same size.”
Bolan slid into the rear of the cab. He located a dark shirt and a pair of pants.
“You having any more flashbacks?”
“Names without faces. A couple of faces but no names.”
“How’s the headache?”
“Easing, but it’s not going to go away so easily. As soon as I start making myself try to remember, it returns.”
“You should come back home with me. Spend some time in the sweat lodge. Good place to meditate. It gives the body and mind a chance to get purification. No joke, it works. All that hot steam drives out the bad spirits and lets good thoughts in.”
Bolan climbed back into the passenger seat. “Joshua, I might take you up on that.”
Riba gave a noncommittal grunt. “This might seem like a weird question, but just where are we heading?”
“The hospital where Callum is being looked after. He needs to answer a couple of questions.”
Bolan took out his cell phone and called Brognola. He explained what he needed and was promised a swift return call. The call came much quicker than Bolan had expected.
“You always this fast?”
“We try to be. I got your location. I understand the urgency, so I called ahead after I spoke to your new best bud Duncan. You have the okay to question Callum.”
“I’ll keep you updated.”
Bolan relayed the hospital location to Riba. He keyed it into the truck’s navigation system.
“It should take us just around forty minutes.” When Bolan didn’t reply Riba said, “What?”
“What if Rackham decides Callum has outlived his usefulness? That he presents a high risk factor if he stays alive?”
“You think he might try for him at the hospital? Cooper, that would be crazy. Rackham would have to know Callum will be under close protection.”
“The man doesn’t play by normal rules, Joshua. Whoever’s behind him seem to have plenty of funds to hire whatever they need. They might decide it’s worth the risk to silence Callum before he decides to talk. I better contact Duncan.”
“This just gets better,” Riba said. “Shut down one part and something else takes its place.”
* * *
“WE HAVE A THREE-MAN team watching over him,” Duncan said after a perfunctory greeting to Bolan. “I’ll see if I can pull in a few more. The trouble is, we’re a little thin on the ground around here. I can do it, but it might take time.”
“We’re close,” Bolan said. “We’ll rack up the speed and hope the local P.D. isn’t around. I’ll keep you updated, Duncan.”
Chapter 17
“What do you think?” Riba asked. “Looks peaceful enough to me.”
They had pulled into the quiet lot in front of the hospital. Bolan scanned the area. About thirty cars were parked around them. He looked beyond the parking lot to the highway nearby. Nothing seemed out of place. It was just a normal neighborhood going about its business. Traffic was light due to the rain.
“Let’s do this,” he said. “The longer we wait the more chance trouble could show.”
They climbed out of the SUV and ran across the lot to the hospital entrance.
“Do you think it ever stops raining in this damn place?” Riba grumbled, slapping his hat against his leg.
“Let’s hope we don’t need to stay long enough to find out.”
They stepped inside as the automatic doors slid open. The reception area was quiet. A couple of uniformed hospital staff stood behind the curved desk, and a smartly dressed young man seated on one of the chairs ranged along one side of the area. He pushed to feet as Bolan and Riba appeared.
“He’s got to be FBI,” Riba said. “He’s dressed so neat and tidy.”
“Mr. Cooper? Mr. Riba? I’m Agent Travis. I was told to expect you by...”
“Agent Duncan?” Bolan said.
Travis nodded. “I’ll take you up to Mr. Callum.”
“How is he?”
“Medically fine. The bullet was removed and Mr. Callum has been made comfortable.”
“So he’s okay?” Riba said.
“He keeps threatening everyone. To be honest, the man is a pain. It’s hard to feel any sympathy for him.”
“Have you been told what he tried to do?” Bolan asked, and when Travis nodded, Bolan said, “Then he’s lost the right for sympathy.”
They took an elevator to the next floor. Private rooms stretched the length of the open corridor. To their left the glass front wall extended up from below in a continuous curve, providing the maximum amount of daylight. Travis led them to a door that had another FBI agent standing watch.
“We have one more man inside,” Travis explained. “SAC Duncan is trying to get some more people to help out.”
He pushed through the door and led the way into the room.
Callum was propped up on the bed, his shoulder swathed in bandages. His free hand was cuffed to the headboard. When he recognized Bolan, his anger burst to the surface.
“He’s the one who shot me. Came crashing in on me and shot me.”
“If I have the facts correct, Callum, you shot an undercover agent while you were in the act of supplying a deadly virus.”
“Yeah? He knew the game he was playing.”
“You think that excuses you?” Bolan said.
“I was tricked.”
“Your intentions contravened Code 18,” Travis said. “Which means you are still guilty.”
Callum’s anger caused him to surge forward, pulling at the drip tubes feeding into his arm. “Don’t quote your goddamn rules at me.”
Bolan said, “I’d take note, Callum. Code 18 has become very important in your life. If it goes against you in court, you get the death penalty. I’d think about that. No jail time where you finally might get out. Code 18 delivers a short walk to the execution chamber. End of the line. Is that worth whatever Rackham was paying you?”
Travis glanced sideways at Bolan, studying the taut profile of this man who had been allowed to question the prisoner. He hadn’t inquired why Cooper had been allowed the privilege. It wasn’t his right to ask why. Duncan was his superior. It was his call. Travis was simply curious.
“I’m wondering,” Bolan said. “Who runs your organization? Not Rackham. He’s just the local gofer, taking orders from someone else.”
“What makes you say that?” Travis asked.
“Look at Callum. He’s way down the ladder. A plain and simple grunt, doing the dirty work and getting hung out to dry.”
“Hey, I’m still here,” Callum said.
Travis ignored him, having picked up Bolan’s ploy.
“I hear Rackham has moved on. Left the facility now that he’s got what he needs.”
“He’ll do his deal and take the money.”
“Leaving Callum to take the flak.”
“Smart move. While we concentrate on the facility and Callum, Rackham walks free and clear.”
“Got to hand it to the man.”
“You figure all this cross talk is going to get me to give you information?”
Bolan glanced at him, smiling. “Callum, if you figure protecting Rackham is going to save your ass, think again. He doesn’t need you. The facility is down. FBI and CDC are all over it. Your buddies are dead or in handcuffs. Rackham has his goods, and he’s going to sell them. End of the line. No one is coming to bail you out.”
�
�On the other hand, you might have callers. I’d guess any visitors you get from Rackham will be on line to make sure you don’t talk,” Travis said. “The man is going to be tying up loose ends.”
Callum’s gaze alternated between Bolan and Travis. He even glanced in Riba’s direction. The P.I. returned his scrutiny with stoic indifference.
“Rackham wouldn’t do that,” Callum said. “We’ve known each other for a long time.”
“In that case,” Travis said, “I can pull my detail and send them away. No point wasting taxpayer money if they’re not needed. Hospital security can take over.”
“You’re leaving me with bloody rent-a-cops?”
“They’ll handle things until you can be moved,” Travis said.
“Moved to the morgue,” Callum muttered, suddenly beginning to feel exposed.
“Callum,” Bolan said, “if you want protection, offer us something to work with.”
“You’re not getting out of here,” Travis added. “Understand that right now. Make a plea to lessen your sentence by giving us some help. I’ll make sure my boss gets to hear about it. But if you want to play hardball, see what that gets you. It’s a limited offer. If one of your buddies back at the facility talks first, the offer is off the table. He’ll plea bargain and you get nothing.”
“How do I know you won’t screw me? Suppose I did give you information. How do I guarantee protection?”
“Weigh the odds,” Bolan said. “Trust us, or cling to the hope Rackham comes through for you. Make your choice.”
“If I talk, I could disappear once you get what you want.”
Travis conveyed dismay. “Are you suggesting the FBI would allow that to happen to a witness?”
Callum shook his head, turning to Bolan. “Is this junior G-man for real? Hasn’t he heard about people going missing?”
“I’d trust him,” Bolan said. “He’s your best chance out of a poor choice.”
“Easy for you to say. If Rackham learns I pointed the finger, he’s going to want me dead.”
“No need for him to learn who pointed the finger,” Travis said. “Just give us a location. We’ll act on it and nothing will be traced back to you.”
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