Finding the Texas Wolf

by Karen Whiddon

  His smug grin made him look drunk. Rick revised his thought about drugs to include alcohol. “We can do both. You work on the body and I’ll take the vial.” Scott puffed out his chest. “I’m sure you know, but I’ll say it anyway. It’s imperative that we take precautions so we aren’t infected.” His condescending tone had Rick gritting his teeth.

  He wondered what it cost Carmen not to snap at this fool. Cool, calm and collected, she only nodded and stepped away from them both. “Full suits,” she said, gesturing to a wall of closed lockers. “I checked them out before. They’re old, but I did a cursory examination and found no tears or holes. There are enough for all three of us to have one.”

  “We’ll check them again,” Scott interjected. “Not that I don’t think you’re thorough, but I personally don’t have any desire to die because these people skimped on proper precautions.”

  Now Rick had to curl his hands up into fists to keep from doing anything foolish. Judging by Carmen’s narrowed gaze, she felt the same way.

  “I second that,” she finally said. “I don’t want to die, either.” Her first lie, at least to Scott, since the virus wouldn’t affect her. She was already dead. Again, Rick admired her acting ability. There were many facets to Carmen and her beauty was the least of them. He thought he might really enjoy getting to know her, which surprised him.

  “Landers here is going to stand guard,” Gus announced. “He’ll remain in position outside the lab until someone comes to relieve him.”

  Landers strutted around, glaring at them. He obviously considered himself a deadly menace. One look summed him up. A bully.

  Still, of course it would have to be Landers. Judging from the menacing way he held his rifle, he hoped someone would give him a reason to use it, whether smashing someone with the butt of it or firing off a few shots. Rick entertained a brief fantasy of shifting into a wolf and ripping out the other man’s throat.

  “I don’t think he needs a suit, though,” Scott said slyly, pointing at Rick with a shaking finger. “Why waste one when we might need a backup? He’s only your assistant. There’s no reason for him to come inside the lab.”

  Inwardly tensing, Rick waited for Carmen’s response instead of reacting and telling this fool what he thought of him.

  “I want him there,” she said smoothly. “That’s reason enough.”

  Though Scott mumbled something under his breath, he didn’t challenge Carmen any further.

  Once they’d all suited up, Scott and Carmen went through the purifying process to get into the sterile environment. Though wearing the claustrophobic and cumbersome suit, Rick remained outside the chamber, announcing he was ready to bring them whatever they needed.

  Carmen nodded, her smile letting him know that this setup pleased her. Him, too, despite his orders. If something went wrong, neither of them wanted Rick to be the test subject for ascertaining whether or not Shape-shifters were immune to the virus.

  Something about Scott’s movements worried Rick. However, even if the other scientist planned to “accidentally” infect Carmen, the virus wouldn’t hurt her. What Rick couldn’t figure out was the other man’s agenda. Clearly, he had a grudge against the CDC. Yet he seemed intelligent, so he had to realize the fact that he’d successfully stolen a vial of the virus made him a force to be reckoned with.

  He could have had all the power to himself. Instead, he’d chosen to align himself with a fringe group of crazies.

  Unless... Once again, Rick realized there had to be a lot more to this story than he realized. It was like peeling back layers on an onion.

  Right then he decided to join Scott and Carmen inside the lab. In there, he could keep a closer eye on things.

  * * *

  When she’d first begun working with biological diseases, Carmen had found the suits cumbersome and awkward. These days, she actually liked them. They reminded her of the old days, when Vampires had believed it necessary to sleep in coffins.

  “The vial is in here,” Scott said, his voice muffled due to his headgear. “I waited for your arrival before running any tests.”

  Something in his voice. She gave him a sharp look. “Are you absolutely certain of what you have?”

  Before he could answer, Rick stepped into the cleansing room. A moment later, he joined them inside the lab.

  “I’m so glad to have you here,” Scott said, rubbing his gloved hands together. “You can be of much more assistance than if you’d stayed out there.”

  For herself, Carmen felt the opposite. For safety’s sake, she’d much rather have had Rick stay where he’d been. Of course, she couldn’t vocalize that. She didn’t want any of the people to have the slightest inkling how important Rick was to her.

  The knowledge slammed into her like a punch to the gut. Despite everything, she loved him. Even though she had no idea how he felt about her.

  Scott said something and she shoved the newfound knowledge away. She’d examine it later.

  “We need to bring the victim in,” Scott said, carefully placing the vial back inside its Styrofoam nest. “After we do blood samples, I want to make sure he has the same virus.”

  Carmen shrugged. “Sounds good.”

  Barking out his request to have Ted brought in to Landers, Scott gestured to Rick. “You go and help him. See if there’s an extra protective suit he can wear.”

  To her surprise, Landers instantly obeyed. Since one suit remained, he clumsily put it on while they all watched.

  Once Landers finished, Rick went back through the disinfecting area and joined the other man. Together they left the barn.

  She and Scott waited silently until they returned with the still sealed carrier that contained the hapless Ted. Each man held one end, though due to the rigid shape of the container, she couldn’t tell which was the head and which was the feet.

  Poor Ted. She couldn’t help but wonder if he’d even be alive once they opened the enclosure. Either way, it wasn’t going to be a pretty sight. The virus wasn’t just lethal, it was disfiguring, as well.

  Landers and Rick stood in the decontamination chamber, holding Ted between them. When the light turned green, they entered the clean room.

  “Over here,” Scott directed, gesturing at a long stainless steel table. He stood watching, impatiently shifting his weight from one foot to the other. Once the container was settled, he ordered them to step aside.

  Landers complied immediately, going so far as to leave the room. Carmen noticed he didn’t remove his protective suit, though, even as he made sure to put as much space as possible between himself and the virus.

  Just as Scott reached to unfasten the first of the three clips, shots rang out, coming from somewhere outside the barn. Landers attempted to spin, but the heavy protective gear made him clumsy, and he fell. Hard.

  Rick grabbed Carmen, attempting to push her to the ground. She twisted away from him, or tried to. Moving in these suits was like trying to swim in quicksand.

  “Take cover,” he ordered, clearly forgetting momentarily that she was a Vampire and invulnerable to guns and bullets. Just as he was, unless the shooter happened to be savvy enough to have used silver bullets. Humans never did, since they had no idea Shape-shifters even existed.

  Another volley of shots. Scott, who’d frozen in place, cursed loudly. “Those idiots,” he said. “How can they not understand the importance of what we’re doing in here? They swore they’d keep us safe.”

  “Yeah, well, I guess they failed,” Carmen told him. “And if you want to stay alive, I suggest you drop to the floor and take cover.”

  “Drop? In this suit?” He shook his head. “Impossible. I notice both of you are still standing.”

  Carmen and Rick exchanged looks. “True,” she admitted.

  Through the clear glass, they all watched as Landers struggled to rise to his feet. It would almost have been comedic, if not for the sound of more gunfire, closer this time.

  Rick shook his head. “What the hell are they up to?”<
br />
  “I don’t know,” Scott answered, as if the question had been posed directly to him. “But we need to protect this virus. We can’t let anyone else get their hands on it.”

  Great. The last thing Carmen would have suspected was some rival group attempting a raid. But then again, why not? This entire situation had been crazy.

  A moment later, the barn door crashed open. Five fully armed men stood in the opening. Landers cursed again, fumbling to remove the suit so he could reach his own weapon.

  “Freeze,” one of the intruders yelled, training his rifle on Landers. Landers froze.

  Carmen again glanced at Rick. Unbelievably, he wore a wide grin on his face.

  “Friends of yours?” she asked.

  “You might say that.” Rick waved. “Hey Pete, over here.”

  What happened next seemed to go in slow motion. Rick unclipped his headgear, pulling it off his head in one easy motion.

  Horrified, Carmen shouted at him to put it back on. For a second he only stared at her, clearly having forgotten the danger. Then, realizing, he slammed the headgear back into place, securing the clips with fumbling gloved fingers. “It should be okay,” he said. “We haven’t opened Ted’s container or the vial. Since the virus isn’t airborne, I should be all right.”

  Scott nodded in agreement. “He’s correct.”

  Meanwhile, the team of armed men came closer. “Clean lab?” the one named Pete commented. “Fancy.”

  “Yeah.” Rick grinned. “Give us a second and we’ll be right out.”

  “Wait a moment.” Scott stepped in between Rick and the exit. “Do you know these people?” Then, without waiting for an answer, he groaned. “It’s an inside job. You two are working with them, aren’t you?”

  “I have no idea who these people are,” Carmen protested. Though Rick clearly did. She wasn’t sure how all this factored into his undercover role, or what the men were doing here, so she’d let Rick take the lead.

  “Relax,” Rick said, glaring at Scott. “They’re not here about the virus. They’re working with me on something else. Now if you’ll excuse me...” Without a backward glance, he went out into the cleansing chamber and finally out into the other room where Landers still stood as still as a statue.

  This time, when Rick yanked off his headgear, he took a deep breath and smiled. “Much better,” he commented, before relieving Landers of his rifle. Shedding the rest of the bulky suit, he stepped outside with the other men and closed the barn door behind him.

  “Do you trust him?” Scott asked, glancing sourly at the closed door. “Or are we about to be killed in the midst of some sort of coup?”

  She told the truth. “Honestly, I have no idea what’s going on.”

  “I thought he works for you.”

  “Rick?” She shrugged, as if she didn’t care. “We’re partners. But I don’t know everything about him, and he doesn’t know everything about me.”

  Scott’s scowl told her what he thought of that. “I can assure you that there are powerful people behind this backward group, the Sons of Darkness. How else do you think they got funding to build this lab? There are forces at work here that you—and he—cannot possibly comprehend.”

  “Ah, but I do,” she said quietly. “The future of the world is at stake. Power and powerful people will crumble before the death and destruction that this virus can bring. That’s why it’s imperative that an antidote be found quickly.”

  His jaw went slack, as if he found her statement not only shocking, but absurd. “If the combined forces of the best infectious disease biologists working for the CDC can’t find an antidote, how can you possibly believe we can?”

  “Because I’m just that good,” she responded. “Now, while we don’t have any idea what’s going on outside this barn, how about we get to work? No one is going to be foolish enough to interrupt us while we’re working with an infected body.”

  Considering for a moment, Scott finally agreed. “Who knows,” he said, his tone bleak. “Maybe we can come up with an antidote before someone shoots us.”

  “Maybe we can,” she agreed. “Let’s get to work.”

  * * *

  Seeing Pete not only was a major surprise, but Rick knew immediately that something had to have gone terribly wrong. Otherwise, his team never would have risked unmasking his cover.

  But first, they all exchanged greetings, amid much back clapping and arm clasping. “Sorry, man,” Pete said. “But we had to take out the others up in the house.”

  Gus and his crew. “How many were there?” Rick asked. “The number of people at this place seems to fluctuate quite a bit.”

  “We rounded up five.” Pete grimaced. “We were just going to contain them, but one of them—the bald one—decided to try something stupid. As soon as he started shooting, the others went for various weapons. We had no choice.”

  Which meant Gus and his gang were all dead.

  “What about the ones in the barn?” Pete asked. “I know you’re working with Carmen, but who are the other two men?”

  “One is part of the gang. The other is a former CDC scientist they’ve brought in. Or so he claims.” Rick shook his head. “What the hell are you guys doing here?”

  “We heard you were given orders to be the test case for the virus, to see if it affects Shifters.” Pete’s narrow-eyed gaze told Rick what his friend thought about that.

  “True. I was. I don’t like it, but I can’t fault the logic. One person is acceptable collateral damage, especially if my sacrifice saves others.”

  “It’s a trap.” Pete crossed his arms, his expression grim. “They already know the virus kills us. They have documented proof. Several of the dead over in West Latvia were Pack.”

  Stunned, Rick wasn’t sure how to respond. When he did, he could come up with only one question. “But why? Why would they ask me to die if they already know?”

  “I don’t know. Who have you pissed off lately?” Pete asked, clearly only half kidding. “Or did you find out something you weren’t supposed to?”

  “Not that I know of.” Genuinely perplexed, Rick thought back. “Olson Ferring’s been giving me my orders. Does he know you guys are here?”

  “Hell no. As soon as we found out what was going on, we headed out to rescue you. No way we’re letting one of our own go down without a fight.”

  Grateful, Rick nodded. “I appreciate that.”

  “Good. Let’s go. We want to get you out of here before the powers that be find out what we’ve done.”

  While that idea held a lot of appeal, Rick wasn’t running off and leaving Carmen. “I can’t,” he said. “This mission is too important.”

  Pete eyed him. “You’re not making sense. I just told you that you’re being set up.”

  “And I appreciate that. I can now take effective precautions. But if there’s even the slightest chance that the two biologists in there can come up with an antidote, I’ve got to make sure it gets into the right hands.”

  Squinting at him, Pete finally slowly nodded. “It’s your funeral.”

  “It’s all of our funerals if we don’t find a way to stop this virus,” Rick said. “I honestly believe this may be our last hope.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Yeah. Unfortunately. I appreciate you guys having my back, but I can’t leave.”

  Slowly Pete nodded. “Then we’re staying with you.”

  Touched and honored, Rick nodded. “You need to understand you all could die if this goes south.”

  Pete shrugged. “We will all die anyway if what you say is true and this virus starts running rampant through our population. Better to be on the right side and go down knowing you did whatever you could to prevent it.”

  Those words were, in a nutshell, the reason why Rick’s unit was the best of them all.

  “Go on back in there,” Pete directed. “Me and the guys will stay outside here and guard the place.”

  Taking a deep breath, Rick turned to head back into the bar
n.

  * * *

  Working carefully, Carmen and Scott opened the container that held Ted’s body. Once they got it fully opened, inside was another body bag that they had to unzip.

  The instant they did that, a horrible odor hit them, so strong it sent Scott reeling away from the table. Even Carmen, who’d smelled many awful things over the centuries, fought to keep from gagging.

  Then she caught sight of what had once been Ted. “Will you look at that?” she breathed. “It’s not even recognizable as having been a human being.”

  Her statement brought Scott rushing over to see for himself. Eyes huge, he stared down at the writhing mess of goo inside the body bag. “What the hell is that?”

  “What the virus does to its host, if allowed to incubate after death,” she replied. “That’s why they’ve been burning the bodies over in West Latvia.”

  Though he nodded, Scott didn’t take his gaze from what Carmen now thought of as virus breeding ground central.

  “We should be able to get some good samples from this,” she said. “Can you please bring me three new test tubes?”

  Moving like a man in a dream, he complied. When he handed the first one to her she saw his hands were shaking. For the first time, she wondered if he’d truly have the balls to handle this type of work.

  “What department did you say you worked in at the CDC?” she asked, keeping her voice casual.

  “I didn’t.”

  Not a good answer. Since time was of the essence, she decided to cut to the chase. “Do you have any idea what you’re doing?”

  Instead of his usual bluster and bragging, Scott merely swallowed hard. “I wasn’t on the front line in the lab. My job was more data focused.”

  In other words, he entered the data into a computer.

  While that job, too, held some importance, the fact that he’d passed himself off as a top research scientist infuriated her. “Why?” she asked, knowing he’d understand the question.

  “Because I wanted to do some good,” he responded. “I am a degreed, trained biologist. I took a data entry job as a way to get into working at the CDC with the hopes I could eventually move into the research lab. When I saw my chance, I took it.”