What Lies Behind

by J. T. Ellison

  There was a brief pause, and Amanda shook her head.

  “It gets worse. This new hemorrhagic fever kills in forty-eight hours, and it could be airborne. Right now, it is unstoppable, especially in an unsecured environment like Africa. The data points were absolutely terrifying, and just as I was making progress on discovering who, exactly, is behind this, they shut things down, wiped the files clean, destroyed every bit of evidence, and everything I had went up in smoke. And I knew my word wasn’t going to be enough. You know how this administration works. You have to have a knife to their throat for them to pay any attention to these threats.

  “I’d only gotten the name of a single company that was involved—Denon Industries, out of London. The money trail led directly to them. They have a charitable arm that has been funding the development of this horrible weapon.”

  Denon jumped up from his seat. “That’s preposterous. I had nothing to do with this!”

  Sam hit Stop on the video. “Mr. Denon, please, sit back down. We will hear everything Amanda has to say before making any assumptions or judgments.”

  “Sir?” It was Bebbington, excited now, standing in the doorway to the living room. “Ms. Bouchard, she’s right. I’ve tracked some of the funds. Whoever embezzled them from us set up a trust under the guise of being a charitable organization. It traces back to the pipeline project, but it’s in your name, under your private accounts. According to the records, you’ve been pumping money into this experimental medical treatment for two years.”

  “Jesus H. Christ on a piece of toast, Bebbington. How the hell did this happen?”

  “I haven’t been able to trace the information all the way back to the perpetrators yet, sir. Whoever did it has managed to obfuscate their trail masterfully. It’s going to take us a while to figure out who’s behind it. But I’ll keep working on it. I’ll find them, I swear it.”

  “You do that.” Denon drew himself up to full height, faced Sam and Fletcher. “Denon Industries will cooperate fully with the FBI and any other international law enforcement organization you see fit to involve here. These actions are clearly of a single person who set out to deceive me and the company. I would never sign off on such a thing. It goes against everything I believe in.”

  Sam put her hand on his arm. “Sir, I appreciate that, but please sit down. Let’s hear the rest of Amanda’s story.”

  Fletcher moved a step closer, and Denon glanced at him, then sat, looking miserable. Sam pressed Play on the video, and Amanda Souleyret continued her confession from the grave.

  “Something seemed odd about the trail suddenly leading me to a single organization, but I had to move quickly. I set up an infiltration strategy and implemented it. It didn’t take long to get inside the company. What I found showed my earlier suspicions were right. I believe Denon Industries is being set up as the fall guy behind this massive genocide. And genocide it is, I’m sure of it. First in Africa, and, soon enough, in Europe and America. It is a perfect weapon.

  “You know what I do, Robin. I’ve been intimate with James Denon for nearly a year now. I do not believe he is aware that his company’s finances are being used to fund the operation, nor do I believe him personally capable of knowingly authorizing such devastation. My software found a back door that was bleeding funds, but quietly. He has a mole, but I haven’t been able to figure out who it is.”

  Sam saw Denon’s face collapse at this news. He loved this woman, and she’d just exonerated him. Sam felt infinitesimally better. At least she wasn’t sitting in her living room with a mass murderer.

  “I sent Thomas Cattafi into the company to see if he could work this from another angle. He hired on to their African pipeline project as an intern, a liaison between the company and the locals, and in that guise was able to get into the areas affected in Sierra Leone. What he saw there was frightening. David Bromley is Thomas’s mentor. He’s a virologist at George Washington University and a preeminent scholar in hemorrhagic fevers. Tommy explained what was happening, and took Bromley’s guidance on testing the blood of the people affected and reporting back with his findings. Tommy told me that there are reports of a British man who comes to the area once a month. We think this is how the bug is being delivered, in the medications that are supposed to be relieving the suffering of those afflicted.

  “Tommy brought out the samples, and he and Dr. Bromley have been working for the past few months on a real vaccine. It’s complicated to explain, but Tommy figured out that stem cells from cadavers showed the most promise in combating this disease.”

  Sam looked at Fletcher. That explained what Thomas Cattafi was doing at the anatomy lab. He’d been taking samples to use in his fight against the bug.

  “Cattafi and Bromley have been working hard to reengineer the stem cells to create a workable therapeutic vaccine against this superbug, which means they can give it to people who’ve been exposed and halt the spread of the disease. I know they’re very close to success. They’ve had to test in the field, with Bromley going directly to Africa to inoculate the infected people, and I understand it’s been rough going, but they are starting to see a positive response. Their work will save the people affected, if they can get to them in time. And if we are attacked, we need to have the means to stop an epidemic.

  “Meanwhile, I followed the money. I believe I have identified at least eighty percent of the people involved, from the terrorist organization in Africa to the company manufacturing the bug. I infiltrated their systems and stole the material I hope contains the answers to stopping the spread of the disease. It’s time to turn this information over to State and let them sort it out. I’ve included a list in this package. You’ll see some familiar names. Jason Kruger, for one, who works for Gina, which is why she’s in so much danger. I believe he is the ‘British’ man they talk about—you can look at his official travel to prove where he’s been, and though he grew up in South Africa, he has a British accent, probably from early schooling there.”

  Amanda shook her head.

  “Greed, sister. Greed drives terrorism, and the people who are trying to do good are being overwhelmed by the ones trying to make a buck on the backs and lives of the people. It sickens me, and I’m sorry I couldn’t be the one to end their attack.

  “Please, Robin, act quickly. I have a lot of evidence, but not a lot of answers. It’s time for me to let Gina shut down the funneled funds from Denon’s company. With any luck, they will be able to discover who, exactly, is behind all of this. They’re going to need James’s cooperation, and I promise you, he will cooperate. He’d never want anything like this to happen. He’s a good man, and I care for him deeply. If you get a chance, please tell him so. And while you’re at it, will you tell him my real name? He only knows me as Juliet Bouchard, and it’s important that he understand why I deceived him. I wanted to tell him myself, when all this was over, but I don’t think I’m going to get a chance.”

  A small sob leaked from Denon’s mouth. The screen went black, and everyone froze, then began speaking at once.

  “Hold on a minute, there’s more,” Daniels shouted.

  A few seconds later, Amanda came back onto the screen. She was in a different place, a hotel room, from the looks of it, and it was full daylight out. She looked disheveled and scared.

  “Robin, I screwed up. I’m pretty sure Kruger discovered what I’ve been up to, and has warned his people I’m coming to the States. Kruger opened a dialogue with me out of the blue, asking for my help on a case they were working in Sierra Leone. He began emailing me, asking for information, said they had word there was a terrorist attack in motion. I know he works for Gina, but this has been close hold—she hasn’t told anyone what I’m doing.

  “I played along, but I’ve found a money trail that leads directly to his accounts. Right after that, my house was tossed, my passports stolen, my phones were tapped. I knew I was being followed,
despite my precautions, so I cleared out of France immediately, but it’s probably too late. I’m in London right now, and will be taking a flight tonight to New York with James. We leave in a few hours, and I pray I make the flight. I’ll have the samples with me. I have to get them to Cattafi. That’s the only thing that can save us now.

  “My enemies are in the shadows. I’ve taken precautions to make sure the information I have is making it to the people who need it. I’ve mailed this to my house in D.C., and to you. Gina will also receive this, and I’m bringing in more information on my person, in the way you told me about a couple of years ago.

  “I know you can pick up where I left off. But, Robin, I have to warn you, I think everyone who knows about this is in great danger. Something I saw before the trail disappeared scared the hell out of me. I believe the bad medications have been sold to the highest bidder. The terrorist organizations in Africa have been in the market for anything and everything they can use to attack the United States, and this is the perfect weapon. If they’ve already gotten their hands on the medicine, it may be too late for us to stop their infiltration into our health system. It’s as easy as infecting several of their people and putting them on a plane to the US. We won’t even see it coming.

  “I’ve already warned Gina of the possibility we’re going to be attacked, and that her life is in danger. She needs eyes on Kruger immediately. He will lead us to the rest of the people involved.

  “Please, for the sake of all the people we serve, catch the person behind this, and do it now. I’ve failed our country, our people, James, Gina and you. Worse, I’ve failed myself. I should have come forward with this information sooner, but I had no idea how far things had progressed.”

  Amanda was openly crying now. Through the tears, she put her fingers to her lips, then blew a kiss toward the screen.

  “I love you, sis. I have faith in you. I’ll see you again someday.”

  And the video ended.

  TUESDAY: EVENING

  Death is a delightful hiding place for weary men.

  —Herodotus

  Chapter 45

  Riley’s houseboat

  Tuesday evening

  REGINA GIRABALDI HAD been in the catbird seat and out of the field for too long. Robin almost laughed at the look on her face as she marched the woman’s bodyguard toward her, the gun still nestled against his temple.

  Girabaldi’s hand went to her side for a moment, in search of the cool weight of a gun holster on her hip she’d become accustomed to after years in the field, but, finding no weapon, raised both hands slightly in a defensive gesture.

  “Robin. Don’t hurt him. We’re just here to talk.”

  “Gina, do you really think I’d be stupid enough to shoot a Secret Service agent?”

  “No. But you might shoot me. I’d rather we talk like civilized adults.”

  Robin bared her teeth at her mentor in an approximation of a smile. “Then you’ll understand why I don’t put my weapon away. The door’s unlocked, just pull the latch.”

  Girabaldi stared at the barrel of the gun for a few moments, took a deep breath, swallowed and turned around with her shoulder blades tensed as if expecting the firing to commence immediately. When Robin didn’t shoot her in the back, the proud shoulders dropped an inch, and she slid open the doors and entered. The Secret Service agent followed her, looking like a dog that had just been kicked.

  Robin walked after them, pulled the sliding glass door shut behind her. She knocked the guard in the shoulder good-naturedly.

  “Don’t worry about it. I’m pretty good at sneaking up on people. I was taught by the best, remember.” She used the gun to gesture toward a chair. “Sit.”

  He stiffened.

  “Please,” she added, and he acquiesced, taking a seat at the table and muttering the words “I’m sorry” to Girabaldi. Regina shook her head as if to say, Don’t worry, it was my fault, and he looked even more unhappy.

  Robin sat down, as well, leaned back in the chair. Girabaldi’s eyes were wide, but she, too, sat, running her hands along her arms as if she were cold.

  “Do you want to do this in front of him?” Robin asked.

  “Do we have a choice?”

  Robin shrugged. “I’m not comfortable letting him loose into the wild just yet. I can tie him up and gag him, stash him in the trunk of your car, but I have nothing to hide. I’ve done nothing wrong, and I want you to tell me what in the hell is going on. So if you need him to disappear, just say the word.”

  “Witnesses can be handy. He stays.” Girabaldi smiled then, and set her hands on the table. Robin was shocked by how aged they’d become. Seeing those capable hands, ones she’d emulated so many times, wrinkled and spotted and heavily veined, hit her hard. She dropped the nose of the weapon, let it dangle casually toward the floor.

  “What the hell, Gina? Who killed Mandy?”

  “I don’t know. And I’m being honest with you. She’d been working on a case deep undercover. I’m talking off the grid entirely. A long game, which put her in an unbelievable amount of danger.”

  “Were you running her?”

  “Yes.”

  “So no matter who wielded the knife, you’re responsible for her death.” Her fingers caressed the gun gently, raising it slightly. Girabaldi’s chin rose to match it. “How could you let it get this far?”

  “Amanda went offline two weeks ago. All she had to do was call me and I would have moved heaven and earth to save her. Instead, she got too cute by half, and someone caught on.”

  “What was the job, Gina? Quit beating around the bush and tell me. I know it has something to do with James Denon, but that’s as far as I’ve gotten.”

  “First, I need to ask you a question. Did Amanda say anything to you about what she was working on?”

  Robin caught the anxious tone in Girabaldi’s voice, the lavender words spilling out of her mouth. It put her even more on alert.

  “She sent me a note a month ago. Asked for a spot. I couldn’t break away.” Couldn’t, because you’d just fucked up your own world and you were too busy trying to bail yourself out, and where did that get you? Sidelined. Well done, you.

  She told the voices to shut the fuck up, and felt better.

  “I heard about that. I’m sorry. If I were still your boss, I wouldn’t have shuffled you off. You’re too good for that.”

  “Quit trying to make this all okay. It won’t be. Ever. Tell me about Amanda. Now.”

  “We have the beginnings of another pandemic in Africa. Worse than the terrible Ebola outbreak of 2014. We have a generalized viral hemorrhagic fever that mimics Ebola, but the time from exposure to death is less than forty-eight hours. It developed by accident, and we still aren’t one hundred percent sure how it was spread. A pseudovaccine was engineered and used. Unfortunately, the new vaccine kills half the people who contract the illness, and heals the other half. There’s no way to know which will happen. But if they aren’t treated, the mortality rate is one hundred percent. We think this outbreak is simply a testing ground. Some very undesirable people want to use the sickness as a weapon, since its efficacy in killing people is so high.”

  “Great. Wonderful. So you unleashed a bug you can’t stop. That’s terrible, but this involved my sister how?”

  “We didn’t unleash the bug. Amanda found proof of an attack plan in the works, and she got in bed with the money trail for us.”

  Robin raised an eyebrow. She hadn’t particularly liked the methods her sister used to get to the information she needed, but that was her choice. Amanda was a grown-up. She could bed whoever she wanted, for whatever reason she wanted.

  “And the money had her killed when she exposed him?”

  “No. He hasn’t been exposed. We think someone in his company had her killed, and then killed everyone wh
o was working the project along with her. We’re still trying to find out who that person might be. In the meantime, Mandy had found a couple of doctors who thought they could reengineer the vaccine. Apparently, they’d been working on it privately, and were close to having a cure.”

  “So why would someone want to kill her for it? It sounds like a great thing. She may have found a way to fix a very bad situation.”

  “I believe the truth of the matter is they don’t want it fixed. The people behind this are selling the illness to a terrorist organization. Amanda thought we might be attacked in the near future. She got one of her own recruits into the mix, genius kid, to see if he could help.”

  “Cattafi?”

  “Yes.”

  “His buddy Bromley is dead. In case you hadn’t heard.”

  Girabaldi collapsed then, from proud face and shoulders to the bottom of her spine. She hunched over the table, put her head in her hands. “Everyone who worked on this is dead. Someone’s trying to clean up their mess.”

  “And you’re next?”

  Regina nodded.

  “Why didn’t you save her, Gina? Why did you let my sister die?”

  “I didn’t. I would have done anything within my power to protect her, you know that. She wasn’t like you. She needed me. She’s always needed me.”

  Robin felt the familiar flame of jealousy rise up in her, pushed it away. “I needed you, too, Mom. It would have been nice if you’d realized that.”

  “Your sister—”

  “Your daughter.”

  Regina closed her eyes. “You’re my daughter, too. Don’t think this hurts me any less than it hurts you. I’ve already lost one of you. I can’t lose you, too. I’ve done all I could for you. But now I need your help. Please, Robin. Don’t make me beg.”

  “Done all you could except be a mother when I needed one. A boss, a mentor, yes. You taught me how to kill, how to hide in the shadows, how to be the woman I am today. But you never could talk yourself into loving me. You reserved all of that for Amanda. And now you want me to be your shield. To protect you. That’s rich, Gina. Really, really rich.”