by Kara Lennox
“She was the sniper. I learned later that her husband had been killed by a very old land mine—probably dating from the Korean war. She held Americans respon sible, and it was her life mission to kill as many as she could.” He took another breath. “She killed at least six more after she recovered from the gunshot wound I gave her.”
There was a long silence before Nadia finally asked, “Why me? Why would you trust me with this information?” She made a point of peering through her binoculars. Her hand trembled noticeably, but perhaps Rex would think she was shivering with the cold.
“Because I knew you would understand. And maybe because you have a right to know exactly the sort of man into whose hands you’ve put your daughter’s life.”
“Nothing you say will change my mind about that,” Nadia said. “You’re the one who can bring her home, if anyone can.”
“What if I can’t shoot?”
“If the need arises, you will do what has to be done. I have complete faith in you.”
“I can’t imagine why.”
She shrugged. She didn’t know why she was so sure of him, his motives, his character, his very essence. But she was. Though he took great pains to hide his true self behind the rough, tough man of action, she’d been able to see into his soul almost from the hour they’d met.
“I appreciate your confiding in me,” she said. “Especially when I’ve been less than a hundred percent forthcoming myself.”
“I understand security regulations.”
Yes, and he’d just violated several by telling her of his work in Korea. Obviously he trusted her completely. “I’m working in nanotechnology at JanCo Labs.”
“I sort of figured that out. You said something to Peter about a nano. Nadia, you don’t have to tell me. Unless it’s information I need to do this job better—”
“You’re risking your life for my daughter. If you’re going to kill, or be killed, you have a right to know the stakes involved. It’s life or death, but not just one life or hundreds or thousands. It’s the future of the entire planet.”
REX HAD NO IDEA how to reply to that. If that statement about the end of the world had come from anyone else, he would instantly conclude they were crazy. But Nadia was one of the most sane, down-to-earth people he’d ever met, not the type to inflate her importance with wild stories.
Finally he settled on a response. “You aren’t going to leave me hanging there, are you?”
“Do you know much about nanotechnology?”
“Small stuff, right? Constructing chemicals and machines at the molecular level.” He’d read some about nanomachines. Information had filtered beyond scientific journals and into the popular culture, and he liked to keep up with science and technology. She turned around to look at him, maybe to see whether he was kidding or not. “Hey, I got a brain.”
She smiled. “I know that.”
“So you’re working on making little machines?”
“Specifically, tiny assemblers that convert organic waste into something resembling crude oil.”
“Wow. I thought stuff like that was decades into the future.”
“So did we. It was a surprise breakthrough, an accident, really, a couple of years ago.”
“Your breakthrough?”
“Me and a couple of colleagues. Needless to say, we got unlimited funds from the U.S. government to work on it. The technology has the potential to solve the world’s energy problems.”
“I take it there’s a catch.”
“A rather large one. You need a lot of assemblers—millions and millions—to create even a small amount of fuel oil. It would take eons to build them, so they have to be self-replicating. And once they start replicating…”
“Like rabbits?”
She nodded. “Given enough raw material, in just ten hours an unchecked self-replicating autoassembler would spawn sixty-eight billion offspring, all starving for more raw material.”
“And the raw material is…”
“Anything organic. Garbage, plants, animals and people. In less than two days the autoassemblers would outweigh the Earth.”
“My God, you’re talking about gray goo, aren’t you.” A shiver slithered up Rex’s spine. Some scientists had been preaching caution when it came to nanotechnology because they believed an out-of-control nanomachine could reduce the earth to nothing but glop. But they were a small minority. “I thought gray goo was a myth.”
“It may be. We don’t really know what would happen if the stuff went unchecked. But a very real possibility exists that the entire earth could become nothing but a rock coated with petroleum sludge.”
“Which makes your little lab experiment potentially one of the most lethal weapons ever known, right up there with the atomic bomb.”
“Bingo. Peter says he wants it so America won’t have a monopoly on such a powerful technology, that every country has the right to cheap energy. But who’s to say that once he has it in his hands, he won’t sell it to the highest bidder, whether that was Russia or Iran or whoever?”
“My God,” Rex said again.
“Before we were divorced, Peter asked me to smuggle a sample of the Petro-Nano—that’s what we call it—from the lab. I put together a fake, to placate him. I thought he would go back to Russia and I could report him. But he figured out I’d double-crossed him. That was when—” Her voice broke. “That was when he broke my jaw. But he must be crazy to think I would put something so dangerous in any civilian’s hands.”
“Not even to save Lily’s life?”
“Only to have her turned into sludge with every other human? No. I love my daughter, and I would give up my life for her in a heartbeat. But others’ lives are not mine to bargain with.”
Rex knew in that instant he felt more than simple lust for Nadia. The realization shocked him. He’d always thought “falling in love” was a silly notion, a romantic rationalization humans had come up with to justify a perfectly natural biological urge to mate that, in his mind, didn’t need justification.
But there it was; his heart had just inflated to three sizes beyond normal and the back of his throat ached with the swell of emotion he felt for this incredibly strong, compassionate, intelligent woman who trusted him enough to violate national security regulations—and put her daughter’s life in his hands.
She hadn’t yet labeled him a nutcase despite all the evidence he’d given her, but if she knew what he was thinking now, she probably would call for the men in the white coats.
“Look, there,” Nadia said suddenly. Her body tensed and she sat up straighter, letting the blanket fall off her shoulder. “That old car, pulling into the driveway of that white house. Isn’t that the car Peter was driving at the mall?”
“That car was stolen. He abandoned it later that day. But this is the same model, a couple of years newer. He might have stolen another one. Car thieves tend to have their preferences and stick with them.”
“Is it worth a closer look?”
“Definitely.”
The car, which was blue rather than green, had pulled into the one-car garage behind one of Nadia’s target houses. A man in a raincoat emerged from the garage, pulled the door down, then headed for a back door.
“Is it him?” Rex asked.
“I can’t tell, with the hood of his coat pulled around his face like that. But he’s the right size and shape.”
“And he’s coming home at an odd hour. It’s only a little after four. Most of the people in this neighborhood will be getting home after five, when the factories have their shift changes.”
“What should we do?”
“Get a closer look. You keep watching. I’m going to see what all Lori has back here in her van-o-tricks.”
Rex was too big to squeeze through the gap made by the armrest as Nadia had, so he opened his door, climbed out and quickly ran around to the back and entered through the double doors without getting too wet. He rummaged around in various storage compartments until he found what he n
eeded—a utility repairman’s coveralls, complete with legitimate logo. Another boyfriend of Lori’s had provided them. A hard hat would lend authority to the costume. There was even a bogus ID badge.
Rex decided to cross the street on foot carrying a toolbox, go to the door and use some story about needing to get into the backyard to check something.
Via his headset, he let the others know his plan. “Beau, you drive up the alley and park just out of view in case anyone tries to escape out the back. Craig, after I ring the bell, pull into the driveway of the house next door. I’ll tuck my headset just inside my collar and leave the channel open. If I give the word, prepare to move in.”
“What about me?” Lori asked, having obviously grabbed Craig’s headset from him, since Rex hadn’t given her one.
He could hardly leave her out of it. “You’re Craig’s backup.” As he talked, Rex took off his leather jacket and stepped into the coveralls, wishing he had some work boots to go with the costume. His running shoes would look conspicuous. But hopefully whoever answered the door wouldn’t be looking down at his shoes.
“What do you want me to do?” Nadia asked.
“You’ll stay here with your cell phone and dial 9-1-1 if things go south.”
“I could help,” she argued. “I could hide in the bushes and maybe dart in and take Lily to safety—”
“No. Nadia, you’re not trained in this type of work.”
“I certainly know how to grab a baby and run.”
“No,” he repeated. “I can’t do my job if I’m having to worry about you.” He almost told her right then that he was falling in love with her and couldn’t bear for anything to happen to her. But he bit his lip just in time. She was so right when she pointed out there was no future for them. It would only make things harder on both of them if he admitted he felt more than physical attraction for her.
“I’m rolling,” he said into the radio. “Is everyone else ready?”
He got affirmatives from everybody. But before exiting the van, he pushed the armrest forward and leaned through the gap, kissing a surprised Nadia. The kiss was hard and, by necessity, fast.
“Oh,” was all she said.
“For luck. And courage.” And because if anything did happen to him, he wanted Nadia’s kiss to be one of his last memories. But he tried not to think too hard about his own mortality.
Toolbox in hand, he walked up the street to the crosswalk, across Dupree, then switched directions, heading for the white house. He saw Craig’s car move into position, ready to turn into the driveway of the house next door.
“I’m in position,” Beau said over the walkie-talkie.
“I’m almost there,” Rex replied. “I’m taking off the headset now, so I won’t be able to hear you, but I’ll leave the channel open so you can hear me. Beau, give me two sharp horn blasts if anything happens in your direction.” He pulled off the headset and tucked it beneath the collar of his coveralls. Then he walked up to the porch and rang the doorbell.
He heard a baby crying inside, and his adrenaline surged.
A woman answered—young, thickset, definitely not the rat-faced woman of Nadia’s description. She had a toddler on her hip, a blond-haired little girl. Rex’s heart hammered inside his chest, but a half second later he realized the little girl was not Lily. No way.
“Hi, I’m from Payton Power & Light,” he said with a friendly smile. “We’ve got some power outages in this area. You folks having any trouble?”
“No,” the woman said, friendly as can be. “But we’ve had some trouble in the past, about six months ago. There was a big tree—you folks cut back the limbs, but maybe they grew out again.”
“I just wanted to warn you I’ll be in your backyard. The trouble’s with some new residents—we went to turn the power on and it’s not working.”
“Maybe we’re getting some ice buildup,” the woman said, peering past Rex at the leaden sky. “You must mean those folks who moved in a couple of doors down.”
“Yeah. A foreign couple, Russian I think,” Rex said, grabbing the opportunity the woman had given him. “They got a cute little tyke about the same age as yours.”
The woman frowned. “Oh, no, I was talking about an older couple, the Copelands. From Iowa.”
“Honey, who is it?” A man’s voice. The man himself soon appeared, still wearing his wet raincoat. Not Peter.
“It’s a man from PP&L,” the woman said. “He says we have more new neighbors, a Russian couple with a baby Kayla’s age. We’ll have to keep an eye out for them.”
“I guess there’s a lot of people moving into the neighborhood,” Rex said, adding a folksy laugh. “Thanks for your trouble.”
“No problem.” She shut the door, and Rex let out a long breath as he grabbed the headset and put it back on.
“Did you copy that?” he asked the others. “False alarm.”
The others acknowledged they’d heard.
Rex was still cursing their damnable luck as he trudged back toward the crosswalk when a hand reached out from a bush and snagged his arm. He yelped in surprise, his fight-or-flight instincts in full flower, ready to deck whoever had invaded his space—until he realized it was Nadia.
“What are you doing here?” he demanded. “You were supposed to stay in the car.”
“I saw that the woman had a baby. It looked like Lily. I couldn’t stay all the way across the street.”
“It wasn’t Lily.” He dragged her out of the shrubs where she’d been hiding. She was thoroughly wet and bedraggled looking, and so beguiling he didn’t know whether to shake her or kiss her.
He did neither, of course.
“I wasn’t going to interfere,” she began again. “But I needed to see what was going on—”
“We’ve had this discussion before,” he said curtly, dragging her along with him as he neared the corner. He didn’t want to miss the light. He’d had enough of standing in the rain. “When I give an order, I expect it to be followed.”
“I just lose my good sense when it comes to Lily, I guess,” she said miserably.
He knew it was true. The only other time she hadn’t done exactly as he’d told her was at the mall, when she thought Peter would take her to Lily. The light refused to turn green, so he just crossed the street against it, earning a couple of honks.
As they reached the other side of Dupree, Nadia pulled her arm out of his grasp. “Look, for the record, I don’t like being dragged around like a sack of potatoes. I don’t like being pushed around at all. I’ve put my life—everything that’s important to me—in your total control because I had no other choice. But I’m not stupid, and I wouldn’t have done anything to interfere with your actions. Maybe I was putting myself at a slight risk, but that’s my choice to make.”
“Then I will leave you at home next time.”
“Hey, who’s paying for this operation?”
“I haven’t seen the money yet.”
Nadia knew she had to get away from Rex before she said or did something she would regret. There was a gas station on the next corner. She desperately needed a bathroom and a hot cup of coffee. “I’ll be back in five minutes.”
“You can’t just—”
“I can. Please, just for once do what someone else asks. Go back to the van, watch those houses—Peter could have come and gone ten times while we were standing here arguing. I’ll get us coffee from that gas station. Maybe by the time I return, we’ll both have cooled down.”
Rex started to argue some more, but in the end he let her go.
THE FREEZING RAIN fell in earnest now, tiny balls of ice that stung when they hit Nadia’s skin. She hurried across 42nd Street to the gas station and mini-mart. Inside it was warm and dry, and she just stood there a moment absorbing the heat.
The store was slightly shabby, with narrow aisles stuffed to the gills with junk food and a seating area with two tables, neither of which had been wiped down recently.
Normally chips and cookies didn�
��t tempt her, but she was starving. But first things first. She got the key to the women’s bathroom from the teenage clerk. Thankfully, the bathroom was inside, though it wasn’t much bigger than a shower stall. She took care of business, washed her hands, then emerged to peruse the racks of fat- and preservative-laden goodies, wondering what Rex would like.
She shouldn’t have lost her temper, she knew. He’d been right. She should have followed his orders because he knew best. But the frustration, the powerlessness, had gotten to her—to both of them, apparently. To believe they almost had Peter, then feel the crushing disappointment when they realized the man was not Peter, the baby not Lily—it was almost too much to bear. So she would bring a peace offering and apologize.
Let’s see, was Rex a Cheez Doodles man? Definitely not. She was leaning toward beef jerky—the extra-hot kind—when the bell above the store’s door jingled. She didn’t look up until the newcomer spoke to the clerk.
“Do you have milk?” A soft voice. Faintly accented.
Peter’s voice?
Her heart slammed against her ribs. What were the chances? He was hiding out in this neighborhood, but why here, why now when she was without resources, without backup?
She was in the center aisle. She chanced a peek around the corner and verified that it was, indeed, her ex-husband, looking very normal in work pants, a denim shirt and an old nylon parka. She ducked out of sight.
Peter started down the next aisle over, near the refrigerator cases. Nadia pulled the hood of her sweatshirt over her hair and kept her back to him, pretending to study the candy bars. Her breath came in short, harsh gasps, echoing in her ears. It sounded so loud she was sure Peter would be able to hear her.
He wouldn’t notice her. She was the only other person in the store, but how often did people really notice other customers when they were shopping?
She heard a refrigerator case open, then close. Peter’s rubber-soled shoes lightly thumped their way toward the cashier. She just had to stand here unobtrusively a few more seconds and it would all be over. Then she could watch as he left, see where he went, run back to the van.