“You seem to have a take,” Casper said.
“It’s a bomblet. My father worked in a lab during WWII, not far from here, in biological and chemical weapons. War makes governments develop things they might normally leave alone. Desperation causes people to do things they would never normally consider.” Oscar tapped the photo. “The first time I ever saw one of these was through my father, who sneaked pictures of them from the facility where he worked. He probably shouldn’t have but that’s neither here nor there.”
“What did your father say they were used for?” Ashley said, trying to focus the man’s attention.
“In the photo I saw, these were packed into a warhead that could be launched by a missile and dropped over enemy military. They’d be filled with biological agents. The Soviet Union was quite fond of them, too.”
“Do you think the one found by the patient could be left over from your father’s work decades ago?” Casper asked.
Oscar shook his head. “Do you see the picture? That thing is new, gleaming shiny metal. No way someone found that in an old building or that it sat in that field for decades. Someone put it there. I don’t know who, but it was intentional. Of that I have no doubt.”
Casper eased two photos from the folder he’d brought with him. One of Jared Fleming and the other of Ashley’s father. They’d been hoping to show these to someone in Black Falls. Hopefully, Oscar would be able to shed some light.
“Do you recognize either of these men?” Casper asked.
“Both of them.”
Ashley fell back against her seat, her eyebrows raised. It was almost as if Casper could feel the increased rhythm of her heartbeat in his own chest.
Oscar tapped the first picture. “This is the guy from the military—called himself Jared. He’s the one who took everything over. Placed the patients in quickly built biohazard units. Even the blood samples had to be processed outside the building. They set up a tent to the back of the hospital for just such purposes.”
Casper shuffled his papers. “Did you ever see the pathogen?”
“Only a photo one of my staff showed me.”
Casper slid out the photograph of what he knew to be termed ES1.
Oscar slapped the table. “Never thought I’d see that booger again. Hoped I’d never see it. Those two people, I’d never seen anyone sicker in my entire life.”
“What happened to them?” Ashley asked.
“The two patients? Alive and well. Still live in town to my knowledge—all because of this man.” Oscar pulled Russell’s photo closer to him.
“How so?” Casper asked.
Oscar glanced through the partially opened door. Seemingly satisfied that no one was eavesdropping, he leaned forward conspiratorially.
“Not a lot of people know this but one of the ICU nurses told me a man sneaked into the unit one night in one of those fancy suits, and hung a small pouch of fluid on each of these patients. It was late—a few hours after midnight. She was suspicious because she didn’t see many of the military types at the bedside overnight. She took a photo of him after he unsuited just in case she’d need to notify the police. I saw that photo. It was him for sure.”
“And?” Ashley encouraged him.
“Well, both patients rapidly improved, which sort of quelled the nurse’s doubts. Whatever that man gave them, it cured them. I know that with everything in me. However, Jared seemed incensed at the patients’ improvement and began grilling the staff, flashing pictures of the man who brought the cure. The nurse confessed she’d seen him—actually feared for her life the man was so angry. After that, they camped out in the ICU undercover and not two nights later they nabbed him.”
Casper’s gut knotted. If Jared had captured Russell, was he still alive? He reached for Ashley’s hand under the table. Her skin was cold, the tendons taut.
“I don’t know anything more,” Oscar said. “I do still wonder what happened to that doctor—assuming he was a doctor.”
Casper gathered up the items, placed them back in the folder and quickly stood. Ashley got up, as well. Did she sense the urgency he was feeling?
Casper extended his hand. “Oscar, you’ve been very helpful to us today.”
Oscar gripped his hand tightly. “My pleasure. Were there other outbreaks other than this one?”
“It’s classified.” Casper began to guide Ashley to the door.
“You’ve been a big help, Oscar. Thanks so much,” she said.
They exited the staff lounge quickly. One man seemed particularly interested in their presence, his eyes never wavering as they entered the hall.
Outside the lab, Casper pulled Ashley into a small alcove.
Just as they scurried into it, they saw Jared Fleming walk by.
* * *
Ashley’s heart was in her throat. After seeing Jared, both of them tucked themselves tighter into the corner. After a few minutes, Ashley saw a housekeeper exit a room just across the hall, pulling a utility cart behind him. She pointed at the partially open door and Casper nodded in agreement.
Casper grabbed Ashley’s hand, peeked down both sides of the hall, sprinted into the vacated glorified closet and shut the door behind them.
Ashley leaned against the wall, light-headed. Seeing her father’s nemesis again was frightening. A leech they couldn’t shake.
“I think one of the people in the lab ratted us out. Jared’s probably been hovering in this area hoping we’d check out this site. If I were him, I would do the same thing. It makes sense that we would look into these events. He’s probably bribed a few people to let him know if we’re seen.”
Putting her hands on her legs, Ashley tried to take some slow, deep breaths to ease the dizziness. “How do we get out of here? What do you think Jared would do to us if he caught us?”
Casper smoothed his hand over Ashley’s back. She could sense the tenseness in his fingers. He was just as nervous about the situation as she was.
“We have to get back to our car. Once we’ve done that, we’ll hightail it out of here and then try to get somewhere safe for the night. We’ll think through the next step.”
“We need to get back to the first floor.”
Casper nodded. “Stairwells are usually close to the elevators. Those weren’t far from the lab.”
“Jared’s probably in the lab. Don’t you think his operatives would be in the stairwell watching?”
“Good point. How do we get on the elevator without drawing a lot of attention?” Casper looked around him. There were several pairs of overalls hanging on hooks that lined the walls. “Quick, we need to get in some of these.”
They turned with their backs to one another. The one Ashley grabbed seemed to be for a man taller and heftier than she was. The cuffs ended well past her fingertips. She began to roll them up. Same with the pant legs.
When she turned, she could see the zipper of Casper’s pair was taut against his chest. “Seems like we should have picked each other’s. We’ll have to keep them as is. No time to change.” He grabbed two ball caps off the hooks. “Put your hair up inside.”
“We look ridiculous. This isn’t going to fool anybody.”
“It’s our best option.”
Casper turned around and grabbed the spare utility cart. He handed her some window spray and a cleaning cloth. Opening the door, he surveyed the hall and motioned her forward. The clicking of the wheels over the cracks in the cement sent raw anxiety through her nerves.
They passed a few oblivious people on their way to the elevator and they clamored in as soon as the door opened. Ashley leaned against the wall. She could hardly catch her breath. Would this ruse really work?
The elevator lumbered up the shaft. When the door opened, they saw an armed guard, too paramilitary for hospital security, turned away from them, examining the side parking lot. Jared’s crew for sure. Casp
er rushed out of the elevator, turning to the right so if the guard turned around, he would merely see their backs.
“Keep your eyes forward,” Casper ordered.
Ashley’s skin crawled with fright. She halted as she saw another armed man in camouflage walking toward them. Casper stopped the cart and opened a sign that read Closed For Cleaning. He quickly nabbed several supplies off the cart and hustled Ashley through the door into the women’s bathroom.
No one was inside.
Ashley steadied her nerves by leaning against the wall. “How are we ever going to get out of here?”
Casper bolted the lock and looked around the room. There were a few windows above the toilets in the stalls and he stood on each of them, getting a view of the parking lot. He stepped down and returned to the sinks.
“I’m hoping there aren’t very many men. I think there’d only be a small group who would get involved in something this nefarious.”
“You’re assuming Jared just recruited from the CIA.”
Casper scrambled up onto one of the sinks and tested the latch on the window. “That’s true. Look at your mind becoming all devious.”
It was a stab at humor, but under the circumstances she didn’t find it very funny. He stepped down. “You first. I don’t see anybody between us and our car. Once you’re out the window, just lie on your stomach against the wall a few yards down so I don’t land on you. This side of the building is in the shade so you won’t be easy to see.”
Everything in her wanted to argue, but she didn’t see any alternative. Her palms were so sweaty they slipped on the edge of the porcelain sink as she tried to hoist herself up. When she tumbled, Casper caught her.
He gripped her shoulders in his hands. “It’s going to be okay. We’ll get through this.”
Lord, we need Your protection. Guide us and show us a way to make it out alive.
Ashley climbed back onto the sink. With one foot steady on the edge, she reached up and forward, her upper torso through the window, her elbows resting on the sill. Her vision fuzzed. She felt like she was going to pass out.
“Someone’s testing the lock,” Casper said, his voice resonantly lower. “Cleaning!” Casper hollered.
“We need you to open the door. There is a security concern regarding two fugitives on the hospital grounds.”
“Just a minute.”
Casper took ahold of each of her ankles in each of his hands and pushed her up and out the window. The cold, damp ground did not cushion her fall. She’d landed haphazardly on her right side and scrambled out of the way just before Casper fell out of the window, too.
They could hear violent blows against the wooden door. Casper scrambled to his feet and held his hand out for Ashley. She didn’t register any pain but guessed the adrenaline rush masked whatever might be injured.
Casper stood quickly and ran toward their car. Ashley followed suit. He wrestled the keys out of the custodian’s overalls. From the corner of Ashley’s eye, another dark-clad figure caught sight of them and ran their way. He raised a sidearm and pelted off one shot.
No sound. He was using a silencer.
It ruptured the metal in the hood of a car just as they ran past.
Ashley reared up, but Casper reached back, grabbed her and pulled her hard. He unlocked the vehicle and they piled in. Just as his key inserted in the lock, another round of shots hit the car.
“Get down!” Casper ordered.
Ashley did as instructed. The car roared back. The back windshield popped like a small explosion. Casper shifted the car into gear, moving forward. Another round popped through the front windshield but didn’t take out the window. The wind whistling through the fracture agitated Ashley’s already raw nerves.
After several nausea-inducing turns, Casper patted her gently on the shoulder. She eased up and he continued taking odd, random turns through the town.
“Now where do we go?” Ashley asked.
“We need to stay near this town. This is the last place your father was seen—and was presumably captured. He had a cure that worked. Two of the labs on his list are close to here. We need to check those out. Something tells me that the mystery of all of this ends here.”
“How can we do that when people inside the hospital seem to be giving us away?”
“We’re not going back to the hospital, but I do have an idea. It’s risky.”
Casper turned into a shopping mall. “How much cash do we have on hand?”
Ashley shrugged. “Maybe ten thousand.”
Casper pulled into a parking spot. “Keep your eyes out for a college-age boy walking to a very beat-up car.”
Ashley shrunk down in the seat. Most of the people they saw were women with baby strollers. She was beginning to lose hope when a young man parked in the spot next to them. His car was rusted in several spots. One back passenger window was duct-taped shut.
Casper got out of the car and engaged the man in conversation. Ashley couldn’t make out the words. After a few minutes, the young man gave Casper his car keys. Casper opened the back door and began grabbing their belongings.
“We got a deal.”
“That easy?” Ashley said.
“When you’re a young man looking for an upgrade on your set of wheels, five thousand dollars is a lot of money.”
Ashley got out of the car and helped Casper load their stuff into their new wheels. The young man had vanished, evidently escaping with the money before Casper could change his mind.
“What’s the plan?” Ashley asked.
“Hide out. Tonight we’ll do some reconnaissance on the labs.”
Ashley got in the passenger’s seat. The car reeked of cigarette smoke.
With Jared on their heels, this plan seemed risky, like walking into the lion’s den without any protection.
Did they have any other choice?
FIFTEEN
Casper parked the car approximately a mile away from the lab as marked on the maps found in her father’s files. After they hiked through the hilly terrain, he motioned Ashley down into the weeds, where he pulled out a set of binoculars.
Seemingly, he’d been right. Their escapade in leaving the hospital went unnoticed by the local news media. The one radio station that covered the town hadn’t had a mention of it. That was surprising considering they’d been shot at in the open daylight. Perhaps no one noticed because of the muted gunfire. Casper reasoned Jared had likely convinced the small local police department, if they’d attempted to become involved, that doing so would put a federal investigation in jeopardy. After all, Jared was still employed by the government.
For Casper, that didn’t mean good things. How many people in this town could be under Jared’s thumb? Was there a threat that Casper didn’t understand? Or was the operation so secretive that it hadn’t garnered any local scrutiny?
Through the lenses, Casper looked at the site. There weren’t many cars in the parking lot. In fact, just two. An argument could be made that the day shift had ended and they were operating with a skeleton staff, but Casper felt differently. According to the files, this lab had been decommissioned as part of sequestration.
There shouldn’t be anyone on-site.
The lab looked like any other nondescript, gray concrete building. No sign called attention to it. There were a few outdoor lights. Outside defenses looked relatively easy to get through. A chain-link fence. No razor wire. But from this distance, it would be hard to tell if the fence was electrified. Casper zeroed in on the one door he could see. It opened and out came two figures. He didn’t recognize them.
They were leaving the building unattended—at least that was what it looked like.
“Do you think it’s that simple?” Ashley asked as each man got in a car and drove off. Now the parking lot was empty.
“That no one’s inside? Maybe. Jared might
be convinced we’ve left the area.”
“This seems like it should be our next step. Should we risk going inside?”
Casper rolled onto his back, taking a moment to think. Bright stars filled his vision. It was risky, but what else could they do? Seemingly the men were gone. This could be the place that would hold all the evidence they needed to prove Jared’s scheme, to find out where and when the biological attack was taking place, to finally end this nightmare.
This plan worried Casper, but they were also at a dead end. Who could he call? If the town wasn’t talking about the incident at the hospital, who knew what powers were keeping this secret or what threat they had in place to keep people quiet?
He turned back to Ashley. “Let’s see what Jared’s hiding.”
* * *
Ashley agreed with Casper’s plan to take a wide berth around the building. They approached it from the other side of their observation point. There were a few outdoor lights embedded in the dormer as they grew closer. Casper raised the firearm he had and shot out the lights.
Was this too easy? Did Jared and his henchmen feel so comfortable in their lawlessness that they didn’t fear discovery by anyone?
They neared the building under a shield of darkness and slowly made their way around to the door that had released the two men a few hours earlier. Casper shot the lights flanking the entrance, as well as placing a hole in the center of the surveillance camera. The door was held closed by what appeared to be another facial scanner.
Ashley’s heart dropped.
“Let’s just try it. Your father might be craftier than we think. He’s left a trail for us so far. Maybe he left a way for us to get in.”
Casper input the same code they used at the cabin. A shield opened up. Ashley set her face on level with the scanner. After a few moments, there was a whir and a faint snap.
Ashley placed her hand on the lever and pulled.
The door opened.
Her fingers tingled as Casper held the door open an inch.
Casper nudged her back and took the flashlight from his pocket. Ashley gripped the door and pulled it back wider. The air drifting out was dank, and Ashley pressed the back of her shirtsleeve to her nose. The stench reminded her of her time in the cadaver lab at medical school—hints of decay with an overwhelming smell of formaldehyde. Though here there was more of a notion of something medicinal.
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