Seemingly satisfied that the entry was safe, Casper stepped inside the cavernous hall and Ashley followed. The door swooshed closed behind them. Ashley swallowed over the notch in her throat.
The hall was lit with dim red lights. Casper walked forward, reaching behind him for Ashley’s hand and she grasped his. Sweat trickled down her back from the humidity. Considering how dry a climate Colorado had, the dense air inside the building seemed strange.
Casper’s flashlight bounced from side to side. At the end of the hallway was another door with a lock that resembled the same one on the outside of the building. They repeated the code. Just as before, only a scan of Ashley’s face was required for admittance.
The second door opened.
Why was that? All the times before something had been required from Casper, as well.
Ashley’s skin pricked.
Casper looked back at her, his eyes narrowed in question. Were they asking themselves the same thing? Each of them had a reason to go on. Did this building hold the secrets to finding Ashley’s father? Would Casper get the answers he was looking for about who was responsible for killing his partner? Despite their joint reservations, confirmed by Casper’s guarded movements into the next section of the building, they proceeded farther, though Casper’s grip on Ashley’s fingers tightened—almost uncomfortably.
Once they were through the next doorway, Casper dropped her hand.
Ashley shielded her eyes against the bright lights, blinking rapidly until her pupils constricted to regulate the images she was seeing. Casper turned and they were standing back-to-back at the edge of a circular room.
The first thing Ashley registered was the yellow, tri-circled emblem that denoted they were in the presence of potential biohazards. There were four large rooms, each enclosed with glass. Casper moved forward, Ashley trailing behind him, with the awestruck feeling of a kid seeing an amusement park for the first time.
Except what this building represented wasn’t exuberant fun, but death cultured secretly.
Each room was designed to fit a biosafety level—all the way up to level four—which meant they were experimenting with the deadliest pathogens.
“Looks like this lab wasn’t decommissioned after all,” Casper said.
Any response Ashley thought to say seemed moot. Who was funding this? Casper had made it clear that the United States didn’t participate in the development of these weapons anymore—that the Russians had verified it at one point in time. How could that be the case? Two towns having suffered from a frightening, engineered pathogen wasn’t a coincidence. Who other than Jared could be behind this? Considering the equipment alone and what it would take to maintain such an operation, this entity had to be requiring millions of dollars.
They kept walking forward. Each room had progressively more equipment. The first room, merely lab tables and microscopes. Little personal protective equipment was in view—things like gowns and face shields. Boxes of gloves lined the wall. Several notebooks sat in a bookcase close to the glass with large black lettering on the binders.
Ashley broke away from Casper and pressed her nose to the window. “Casper, come look at this.”
He sidled up next to her. A brief thought flashed into her mind. This is how people viewed newborns in the nursery. Faces up against the glass, breath misting in puffed exhalations, as they looked for their new bundle of joy wrapped in a pink or blue blanket.
Except nothing they were looking at held one ounce of joy.
On the back of each notebook was a letter and a number.
“It’s the same code the Russians used for their weapons programs.”
Ashley stepped away from the room and walked to the next one. The second room had enclosed hoods. From what Ashley remembered from her brief exposure to infectious disease medicine, level two safety was typically for “mild” infectious diseases. Mild in the sense that they were unlikely to kill the host. Things like measles and hepatitis. A little more caution required but exposure didn’t mean death. There was more protective clothing in view. An open cabinet held packaged gowns, face masks and goggles. There was a single door into the room from the hall.
Ashley walked to the next window, stopped and examined the inside of the room. “Casper, maybe we’re thinking about this in the wrong way.”
Outside this room was a box similar to the facial scanners they’d used to access the building. Controlled access was a requirement of a biosafety level three lab. Also, there were two doors to get in so airflow out could be controlled.
“I’ve been thinking the same thing,” Casper said.
“Jared is working with someone within the Russian government to deploy this bioweapons attack, but why?”
“I don’t know if I’d go so far as to make that claim. Whoever is running this place is definitely using the Russian system, but it could also be a free agent. Someone who wants to cash in on the knowledge he has.”
“If we have access to this place, it means my father was here at some point. Do you think he could be aligned with them? That he turned to the other side?”
Casper looked at Ashley, his brown eyes dark as he considered her questions. He closed his eyes tightly and shook his head. “No, I don’t believe that—I can’t believe it. That you have access to this place...concerns me. This lab’s existence on the surface doesn’t mean anything nefarious. Perhaps it’s funded by a private entity. Perhaps they’re researching a cure for ES1 and they have these notes through CIA spies. I don’t think we have a smoking gun yet. Maybe your father is helping the good guys and he wanted other good people—” Casper motioned his hand between the two of them “—to find it to help keep it that way. To make sure it stayed in the right hands if he ever went missing. Maybe that’s what his files were intended to do.”
They passed the fourth room. Now they found the characteristic yellow pressurized suits hanging. The same style Ashley had found torn and discarded in Black Falls. Orange hoses hung from the ceiling.
Casper pointed to a door exiting the circle. “Let’s see what’s through there.”
Ashley followed. As soon as they were through the door, the raucous noises of animals bit into her ear. Metal clanged against metal. As they walked, Ashley identified several different types of animals. Mice. Rabbits. Monkeys.
Some looked listless in their cages. Were Casper and Ashley being exposed to something right now?
Casper turned to his right and stopped abruptly. He backpedaled, turned on his heel and grabbed Ashley by the shoulder.
“Ashley...”
“What don’t you want me to see?”
She pushed past him around the corner. There was a small alcove, and at the end of that alcove sat a man, secured to a chair with leather straps.
Her father.
Adrenaline surged through her body. She rushed forward, but felt Casper’s hand briefly try to catch hers.
“Ashley!”
Russell Drager’s cry for her wasn’t joyful.
It was angry.
She slowed, her heartbeat faltering.
“Go back!” he screamed at her.
The loud pop made her stop in her tracks. There was a loud clang as something metallic clattered against concrete. Ashley looked down.
A bomblet had crashed to the floor and vapors leached from its cracks.
SIXTEEN
Casper’s heart sank to his feet as he watched the mist leach from the bomblet. Ashley turned and faced him, tears streaming down her face. He walked toward her and she put her hands up. He kept walking, first reaching out and then easing his hand around hers.
“Casper, get out of here,” she said, but he could see in her eyes that she knew the truth.
He pulled her close and hugged her tightly against him. Her body trembled. “It doesn’t matter. I’ve been exposed anyway.”
Ashley pu
shed away from him and ran to her father, falling to her knees and wrapping her arms around him. Russell leaned his head against hers, shushing her like he probably had when she was a child.
Dr. Drager was a faint shadow of how Casper remembered him. Thin—likely malnourished. He’d grown a beard—perhaps not by choice. He wore a ragged pair of jeans that looked half slipped off his hips. His shirt was thin and tight around his torso. The outline of his ribs could be seen easily through the fabric.
Ashley lifted her head up. “How long have you been here?”
Russell narrowed his eyes. A mean look crossed his face. “You have to leave, Ashley, right now. They’ll be coming.”
Casper looked around the room for a set of keys for the restraint locks.
“I mean it!”
Ashley stood up and backed away from her father. “We’re not leaving without you.”
Casper grabbed Ashley’s arms. “He’s right. This is a trap and we’ve walked right into it.”
Russell looked at him. “The cure, you have to find it, or both of you will die.”
“How many days?” Casper asked.
Russell’s voice cracked. “Maybe three before you’re incapacitated. Go, now!”
Casper pulled Ashley back. She stumbled and fell. Just as he reached down to help her back up he heard the sound of the door opening.
The animals, who had quieted after the sound of the bomblet dropping, were hollering again. Casper looked around. He didn’t see any other exit.
Around the corner came Jared and two armed men. Each was dressed in biohazard suits, their weapons trained on Ashley and Casper.
Jared clapped his hands together. The sound was muffled by the thick gloves he wore. “Finally, the family reunion I’ve been waiting for.” He shook a finger at Ashley and Casper. “You two are quite the slippery ones, but I finally accomplished what I was aiming for.”
Ashley backed up against a wall and slid to the floor, her head against the wall, her eyes up, blank.
Disbelieving.
Jared walked up to Casper. Evidently, neither the hit he’d taken from Casper’s bat nor the grenade had injured him enough to keep him down. As soon as Jared approached, one of the armed men moved closer to Ashley, training his weapon for a kill shot.
“I know what you’re thinking, Casper. That if you just put a little tear in my suit, then I’ll get exposed and you can have your revenge.”
White heat flared in Casper’s chest. “You’re not even going to deny what you did?”
“Why should I? There’s no reason to rebut the truth of what’s going on here. You and Ethan discovered that there was a planned bioweapons attack. Ethan suspected I was behind it. Russell already figured out that he couldn’t trust me so he developed a cure once he found out my true intentions, which didn’t make my partners very happy. That’s when I changed my plan.”
The other gunman motioned for Casper to place his arms in front of him.
Jared took a step closer. “Come on, Casper, you’re one of my smartest agents. Take a look at this picture.” Jared opened his arms wide. “What do you make of what’s happening?”
“You captured us to flush out the cure. You know that Ashley has been exposed to the pathogen and that her father will give up the location where the cure is stored in order to save her life.”
Jared laughed. Casper launched forward and the armed man pistol-whipped him on the back of the head. His vision blackened and he fell flat onto the concrete. The voices became distant, fuzzy.
Stay conscious. Ashley needs you. You can’t let her down.
A kick landed to his midsection. His old injuries cried anew.
“Why would I merely allow Russell to cure his daughter? What would that do for me?”
Casper blinked against the darkness. He opened his eyes. Jared leaned over him.
“You want to sell the cure for a price after the weapon is released. You’re just in this to make money,” Casper said.
Jared laughed. “A lot of money, Casper. A lot.” He turned his attention to Russell. “So, Russell, you ready to tell me where that cure might be?”
* * *
Ashley could not believe what had happened. Her eyes were closed, and she tried to block out the noise of the men fighting. When they started beating Casper, she tried to crawl to him to get them to stop, but the man who had had the weapon trained on her roughly pushed her against the wall with the bright blue plastic boots that he wore.
Lord, Casper and I need strength and wisdom now. Your purpose cannot be for Jared to win. For him to ransom a cure as he unleashes this terror against innocent people. How can we stop him when Casper and I will be sick?
When we will in all likelihood die.
Ashley contemplated those words and what they meant. Death was usually a surprise for families, even when they were anticipating it. She’d seen this play out time and again in the ER. Even those relatives who helped care for patients in hospice were stunned when the moment came.
We didn’t think it would be today. We thought we’d have more time.
Time. That nebulous aspect of life. Always marching forward, never back. Those regrets in life had to be left behind because there was no fixing them, only figuring out how to live with them or move past them.
And now their lives were on the line. The chances of both of them dying without treatment were high. Was she ready for that? Her thoughts clarified. She understood intellectually Christ dying on the cross. Emotionally, it seemed like a crazy thing to do voluntarily. Die for all of humanity?
Sure, sign me up.
Now, perhaps Ashley gained an understanding of the sacrifice of that situation. Offering oneself so many could be saved. Even if her father gave up the cure, it didn’t guarantee that the cure would save everyone infected with ES1. The only way to stop what was happening was to destroy the stockpiles of the weapon and any data on how to manufacture it. Jared seemed determined to find the cure—it was for him the most profitable thing. If they kept it from him, would he give up this attack?
Could they do that before they died?
What was her life worth? A lot if it could save many. Maybe it was her sense of duty as a physician that drove her to defeat death in any way she could. What she knew was that she couldn’t live with herself if she didn’t do all she could to prevent the demise of millions.
Ashley, resolve strengthening her heart, opened her eyes and looked at her father. His eyes were moist with tears. He seemed to be struggling to deduce the morally acceptable way to handle the situation.
“You can’t tell him where the cure is, Dad.”
He shook his head against her words. “You don’t know what you’re asking me to do, Ashley. I can’t sign your death warrant.”
“Dad, I don’t welcome death, but if that’s what it takes to stop this man, then it’s the only way.”
Jared crossed his arms over his chest. “Such an honorable girl you have here, Russell. What you should know is that if you don’t give up the cure for Ashley, then I’ll go after your wife and son. I’ll keep taking out friends and colleagues until you bend to my will.”
Fire spread through Ashley’s chest. Her vision washed white. She wanted to take her fingers and scratch Jared’s eyes out. Casper struggled up onto his hands and knees. He lifted his head, his eyes sorrowful pools of regret. How could they come out of this alive?
“First, being infected with this pathogen might not seem like that big of a deal. If you’ve had the flu you might even think it’s possible to live through it. Then the muscle aches set in. The rash that blisters and fills with blood. The pain is like nothing you can imagine. More than one infected person has chosen to end their own life rather than continuing to deal with the pain.”
Casper coughed, sat back on his heels and looked at Russell. “It doesn’t matter how terrible it is. I a
gree with Ashley. I don’t want any part of sickening innocents. Jared won’t release the weapon without the cure because even he couldn’t guarantee he’d survive the pandemic. I’d rather die than see this vile man get anything he wants.” If Casper hadn’t been a gentleman, he would have spit at Jared’s shoes, but his glare was enough even in the absence of the physical act.
Jared walked between Casper and Ashley and placed a hand on Russell’s shoulder. “Is this what you want, Russell? To watch your daughter die of ES1—a hybrid of two of the deadliest diseases known to man? Which one will emerge first? The painful lesions of smallpox or the blood—”
“Just stop listening to him!” Ashley screamed.
“The daughter you always wanted to protect...you’ve now killed. Why you gave her any information is beyond me.”
Russell looked up at Jared, trying to shrug his hand off his shoulder. “I don’t know how far your reach is, Jared. Is this really all about money?”
Jared laughed. “Why does everyone look for complicated motives? It can be just about the money. Even you don’t know how much foreign entities are willing to pay for a cure. Especially after they see the devastation brought on by the attack.”
Russell turned his head away from Jared. The crease lines in his face deepened in anguish. Ashley’s heart sank and she reconsidered all of her preconceived notions about her father. It was hard to understand how distance meant love, but in Ashley’s father’s case, that was exactly what he’d been trying to provide.
Ultimately, he wanted her to live a full life. To protect her from the things he saw—these schemes created by man to kill each other.
And in that realization, she knew he’d give up where the cure was.
“It’s in Copper Lake, Utah,” Russell said.
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