She shook her head to clear the traitorous thoughts. She held no claim on Cole. Yes, there had been fireworks and a near kiss, but he hadn’t explicitly said he was interested in her. Nor did she know if she was interested in dating him. Okay, that was a lie. She was definitely interested in dating him. If she could ever find a vaccine and stop whoever wanted this virus and IF he wanted to date her. Besides, there could be some completely innocent reason the two had gone into his room alone. None were coming to mind at the moment, but she was sure there had to be one.
“Looking for something?”
Cara jumped at the deep voice that had managed to sneak up on her. Her shoulder smacked into the doorframe sending a sharp pain down her arm. Rubbing the tender spot, she turned to see Bruce staring at her with a raised brow. How on earth did that mac truck of a man sneak up on her? She had to keep her attention focused on the problem at hand and not on Cole.
“I was just coming out to join everyone in the living room.” She offered him a smile, but he did not return it. His grey eyes continued to bore into hers. Okay, perhaps she could just change the subject. “What are you doing out here? Was your room not acceptable?”
“The room is fine.”
Cara blinked at him, waiting for more, but he said nothing further. He was definitely a man of few words. “Great. Well, then I guess I’ll head to the living room.” She locked her door behind her and listened for the click as she pulled it shut. She didn’t know why, but Bruce standing so near her room gave her the creeps.
Laptop firmly gripped under her arm, she made her way to the living room. Bruce followed, sending shivers and the urge to run down her spine with every step. Relief flooded her when she spied Anthony and Kat already in the room, setting their laptops up.
“Shall we wait for Malone?” Cara asked as she sat in one of the vacant chairs. She was glad Anthony and Kat had chosen the couch leaving only single chairs in the room. There was no way she wanted Bruce invading her space any more than he already had.
“He had to run an errand,” Bruce said, taking a position behind the couch where he could easily see both Anthony’s and Kat’s screens. “He said to start without him.”
Cara narrowed her eyes at Bruce, but the man’s poker face was unreadable. It was unlike Malone to just disappear, but the other two researchers didn’t seem phased by the news. Perhaps this had become normal behavior for him in the last year. Cara tried not to make more out of it, but she couldn’t help wondering where he would have gone in the middle of a pandemic.
“Okay, well, let me share the information from my cloud with you.” Her fingers flew across the keys and within moments, she had delivered the information from her server to their screens as well. Bruce’s ability to see the information unnerved her, but perhaps Malone had asked him to survey and take notes.
Silence descended on the room as everyone read over the information she and Steve had collected over the last few years.
“So, it appears there was some benefit to using auxotrophic amino acid synthesis mutant strain B. mallei,” Anthony said as he glanced up at Cara and adjusted his glasses.
“Yes, we were able to run that test in the lab before we were forced into seclusion. Unfortunately, while there was some improvement in the mice, they rapidly deteriorated around day sixty, leading us to believe that would only buy time but not a true cure.”
Kat looked up from her laptop and blinked a few times as if processing what she was going to say before the words left her bright purple lips. Not only did her lip color match her hair, but she had accented her eyes with a similar color. “Since the auxotrophic B. mallei mutant deficient in an iron active transport system appeared to work for the acute inhalation variety of Burkholderia but not the others, maybe we need to look not at vaccines, but at two or three different types of cures.”
Cara let the information saturate her brain before forming her question. “You’re saying that perhaps a vaccine will not be possible due to the different varieties, but we could work on a cure for the acute inhalation variety, the topical exposure variety, and the ingested variety?”
Kat nodded once. “I know that is a lot more work, but as it appears that none of the trials the two of you performed worked in all of the cases, yet some worked well in certain cases, it may be the only option.”
“I suppose it’s worth looking into,” Cara said slowly, “although it won’t allow for a vaccine to keep people from being exposed. Plus, it would require that doctors know exactly how the patient was exposed. That isn’t always a possibility.”
“No,” Anthony added, “but it would improve the survival rate in cases where it is known.”
Hope began to pulse inside Cara’s veins. Could this be the answer? “Okay, how about we each take one variety and review the previous attempts that worked well with that variety? Then we can bring back the strongest information to the table and maybe we can take something solid to the hospital.”
The other two nodded in agreement. Bruce, who had remained silent up until this point, fixed her with a steely gaze.
“How many are sick currently?”
Cara blinked at the blunt question. Why did that even matter? “I’m not sure. I haven’t checked in with Nick since this morning, but there were two the last time I spoke to him at that point and at least thirty awaiting results. Plus the three who had already died.”
“That just seems like a small number to be going through all this work.” His blunt, matter-of-fact tone bothered her. Did he not realize how deadly this disease was?
“Would you have preferred the whole town was sick? Or perhaps just me?” She threw the last part in to see if his face would give anything away. Was he behind the unleashing of this disease?
His glare could have cut glass, but it revealed nothing of his internal motivations. “Of course not.”
“Good because even one death is too many, and the mortality rate for this disease is rather high. The sooner we can find a vaccine, the better. So, if it’s okay with you, I’m going to get to work.”
She returned her gaze to Anthony and Kat. “I’ll continue researching the pulmonary infection since it’s what I was studying earlier. Anthony, why don’t you take localized and disseminated infection while Kat takes the bloodstream infection?”
The two researchers looked at each other and nodded. “Sounds good.”
As if Bruce had just been hanging around to see the research and the resulting conclusion, he now slipped away leaving Cara even more concerned about him. Why had Malone brought him? Could he be the snake David referred to? She still didn’t know what David had meant by that or if they had even been coherent words. Perhaps he had only been hallucinating.
With a sigh, Cara closed her laptop and stood to return to her room. Though she was glad to finally have help and was optimistic they had a better handle on this disease, she still had no idea who had killed Steve and David, and that bothered her. Would she ever be able to answer that question?
26
Cole
Cole rubbed his eyes as he pushed back from the computer and stretched. He and Makenna had been researching Bradley Malone for over an hour, and they had found little to convict him. Cara hadn’t been kidding when she said he was squeaky clean. The man had nothing on his record, not even a parking violation. He had been with the military for over twenty years, married for eighteen, and had two kids. Caleb was a junior and Breanna a freshman.
“Is it just me or is this guy too perfect?” Makenna asked.
With a sigh, Cole stood and paced around the room. He needed to get some blood flowing to get his brain working again. “It’s not just you.”
“I mean this guy appears to have it all - the nice house, the perfect family, the leading edge on men’s fashions.”
The words caught in Cole’s brain, and he paused. “Men’s fashions? What do you mean?”
Makenna shook her head. “He’s just dressed from head to toe in half of these pictures. Dress shirt, perfect
tie, cufflinks.”
“Cufflinks?” Excitement flooded Cole. Was this the break in the case they had been looking for?
“Yeah, little gold ones, why?”
Cole rushed back to her side and scooted the laptop his direction. His eyes devoured the picture, focusing on the man’s wrists. Sure enough, tiny gold circles sparkled from the camera’s flash. He clicked the zoom button.
“Did I miss something?” Confusion filled Makenna’s voice.
“Cara and I thought David killed her friend Steve and attacked her, but my lab tech found a gold cuff link at Steve’s crime scene. A cufflink with the image of a snake on it. David’s sister was adamant he never wore cufflinks and that he hated snakes.” The image grew larger, but it was so grainy that Cole couldn’t make out the shape. “Does that look like a snake to you?”
Makenna leaned closer and shook her head. “I can’t make it out, but I bet the police here could enlarge it. Let’s take it to Jordan.”
“Good idea.” Cole shut the laptop and tucked it under his arm. “Should we tell Cara?”
“Let’s wait until we know for sure. She’s probably deep into research right now.”
Cole had no doubt that was the truth. Cara had a laser like focus on whatever she was working on and disturbing her would only delay her finding a vaccine. Besides, Makenna was right. Cole would hate to get Cara’s hopes up only to disappoint her again. “You’re right. Let’s go.”
Twenty minutes later, Cole followed Makenna into the Fire Beach police department.
“Can you page Jordan Graves for us?” Makenna asked the sergeant at the desk. Her grey hair hung in a chin-length bob, and no makeup adorned her face which seemed permanently fixed in a serious expression.
“What would you like me to tell him it’s about?”
“Could you just tell him that Makenna and Cole are here and we need his help?”
Sergeant Serious lifted a single brow, but picked up the phone. “Detective Graves? You have two visitors here who say they need your help.”
A minute later, Jordan, stoic as ever, appeared before them. “What’s going on? Did you find something out?”
“Possibly,” Cole said, stepping forward and indicating the laptop under his arm. “Do you have the ability to enhance a photo?”
Jordan nodded and led the way to their crime lab. After pulling up the photo on their machine, he began zooming in.
“The cuff links.” Makenna pointed impatiently at that part of the picture. “Zoom in on the cuff links.”
After a few more clicks, the image cleared, and Cole sucked in his breath. It was a perfect match to the cufflink Wendy had found at Steve’s crime scene which meant one of two things. Either Bradley Malone had also been at Steve’s place or he had killed Steve. Had he also been the one to attack Cara as well?
“Does somebody want to tell me why this is important?” Jordan looked from Cara to Cole.
“A cuff link that looked exactly like this was found at Steve Steele’s crime scene, and that cuff belongs to Cara’s boss.”
Jordan’s eyes widened with alarm. “Does Cara know? We have to tell her.”
“I’ll call her now.” Cole pulled out his phone and stepped away as he dialed Cara’s number. The phone rang in his ear once, twice… “Come on, Cara, pick up.” The ringing stopped and relief flooded him, but it lasted only a moment as her voicemail kicked on.
Ending the call, he walked back to Jordan and Makenna. “We have a problem. Cara’s not picking up.”
27
Cara
Cara couldn’t believe she was tailing Bruce. This was bound to be a bad idea. Every fiber of her being screamed out that she should have taken Cole with her or that she should call Jordan, but tell them what? Perhaps the man was just going for coffee or to grab something from the store. She would call them as soon as she knew for sure.
Bruce pulled into the parking lot of a large warehouse. Cara wasn’t immediately familiar with the building, but she knew following him into the lot would give her away. She drove slowly past the entrance and pulled into a building across the street. Turning off her car, she watched as Bruce got out of his car, looked around, and then headed into the building. This was no coffee shop, but what was this building?
Craning her neck, she scanned the building for any signs that would allow her to see what it was, but there was nothing. It was large, bare, and…
The knock at her window sent her heart thundering in her chest, but before she could react, the door opened and Malone’s face appeared. “Cara, so happy you could stop by. Why don’t you join me?”
Cara bit her lip as she quickly considered her options. She could reach for her phone but Malone would get her before she could dial 911. It would be better to leave it in the car and hope someone pinged her cell when they realized she was missing. Surely Cole or Makenna would come looking for her soon.
The knife she always kept strapped to her ankle was there, but she didn’t want to give it away yet. She needed to be sure Malone was an enemy before she attacked him. Otherwise, she would be spending time in prison which was definitely not her goal. No, better to just go with him and let it play out.
“Sure, Malone, but I wasn’t expecting to see you here.” She flashed up what she hoped was a confident smile before stepping out of the car to join him.
“Really? You followed my bodyguard here. I can’t imagine you didn’t think I’d be nearby.” Though he still looked the same, there was an unnatural edge to his voice that Cara had never heard before. He withdrew a gun and motioned for her to walk toward the warehouse.
Her mouth dried up as she began the walk she was fairly certain would lead to her death. “Why did you bring Bruce here?” A thousand scenarios ran through her mind - none of them good - but she wanted to hear it from Malone’s mouth.
“I bring Bruce everywhere. He’s quite handy to have around for protection and to clean up messes.”
“You mean messes like David?” She paused and glanced his direction
A momentary look of ire flashed across his face before he composed himself again. “David was incompetent. He was supposed to secure the research and the samples and tie up the loose ends, but he failed miserably.”
“Loose ends like Steve and myself?” Though she was still guessing, the pieces were beginning to fall into place for Cara and they were not painting a happy future.
“The barrel of the gun poked her back. “Neither of you were supposed to survive, but David didn’t have the courage to finish the job. While he got the research and the samples, Steve called me as soon as he came to, and I had to finish the job. Bruce was supposed to make sure you were taken care of, but the arrival of your friends interrupted his mission.”
“Didn’t have the stomach to finish me yourself?” Cara shot at him. Feelings of anger and betrayal simmered beneath her skin.
Malone shrugged. “I always had a soft spot for you. I could have done it, but I wouldn’t have enjoyed it.”
“And you enjoyed killing Steve? We trusted you. Why would you kill him?”
“Money, Cara. I needed money.”
“Money?” She nearly choked on the word. Steve had been killed for money?
They reached the door of the warehouse and Malone pulled it open. “High school is expensive, Cara. Caleb is playing football which is several thousand dollars and Briana does gymnastics and now cheer. You know how little the military pays. I needed money to afford life. Some very interested buyers found out about our research and offered a nice sum of money in return for access to the virus.”
“Terrorists, you mean. What if they unleash it on the US?” The door opened to a dimly lit hallway, and Cara struggled to see in front of her.
“That’s why I had to wait until you were close to a vaccine. Well, I guess a cure in this case. Steve probably would have told you at your meeting, but he had just discovered the day before what you three did this afternoon. One vaccine won’t work, but three different treatments will.
Now that we have that information, I can relax and deliver the goods to my buyers.”
“Do you even have any left? Didn’t David use it all to infect the pool and the garden?”
“You think David did that?” A dark laugh billowed out of Malone’s throat. “We poisoned the pool and then injected David directly. Once his fever spiked, then we gave him the watering can and dropped him off at the church.”
Cara stopped once again and turned to Malone. “Then why kill him in the hospital?”
Malone shook his head. “Because I know how good you are. When you called and told me you knew who he was, I knew you would have already put him on medication. I couldn’t take the chance he would wake up and tell you anything. It was a shame to lose Charles, but I couldn’t send Bruce in case the cops were called.” He poked her again with the gun. “Walk.”
The whole picture was now clear for Cara, all but one question. “How did David get involved in all of this anyhow?”
“He came to me a year ago asking for a job. I’m sure you know his sister has cancer, and he couldn’t afford treatments. He was supposed to just report to me what the two of you were discovering, but he got antsy and I had to get rid of him. Fortunately for him, he had excellent computer skills. The computers at the base were impenetrable, but he assured me he could hack into your private servers if I could get the two of you off base.”
Cara felt sick to her stomach. How had Malone fooled her so easily? Perhaps she had been distracted by her breakup with Stan. No, if she was honest, she knew she hadn’t been at the top of her game since she’d met Stan. That was evidenced by the fact that she had let him abuse her for so long.
The hallway opened to a large room where several men stood around talking. Bruce turned as they approached and flashed a large smile. “I told you she wouldn’t be able to resist following me, Boss.” He picked up a rope from a table as he walked their direction.
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