The Mile Marker Murders

by C. W. Saari

  Bannister called Stu and gave him the update. While Stu notified task force members, Bannister called Witt.

  “The CDC confirmed the vial contains ricin. We have a definite biological threat.”

  “This is serious,” Witt said. “Save me from having to look it up. What is it, exactly, and how toxic is it?”

  “Ricin is extracted from the oil of the castor bean plant. It’s extremely toxic. If it’s inhaled or injected, it’s bad news. There’s no known antidote.”

  “How quick does it work?” Witt asked.

  “You’ve got to get medical attention immediately or it’s usually fatal. Death normally takes three to five days. The problem is, by the time a victim’s symptoms are diagnosed—severe dehydration, decreased blood pressure, and a build-up of fluid in the lungs—it’s too late.”

  “Should I call an emergency meeting tonight?”

  “It’s your decision, but I don’t think we’d get anything more done tonight. I’d let the boss know and confirm the worst. He might not want to stay in Quantico.”

  “Okay, we’ll meet tomorrow at eight. Can you prepare an operational plan?”

  “It’ll be ready. I’ll notify headquarters. I’d like both the technical and surveillance supervisors to attend.”

  Campbell returned from downstairs with the photos, and Bannister called Adam Kush with the bad news. Kush agreed to restrict knowledge of the FBI’s plans to essential company personnel and advised him that Global would hold an emergency meeting in the morning. Bannister suggested the others call it a day. He knew for the rest of the week they’d be running on high test.

  Everyone left but Bannister, who set to work on preparing an operational plan.

  GLOBAL WATERS—TUESDAY, 8:OO A.M.

  There were two people at Global besides Kush and Mikkonen who knew about the letter. One was Leo Abramowitz, their chief lawyer. The other was Global’s International Relations manager, Terry Hines, who had sent the letter.

  Everyone Adam Kush had requested to be at his emergency meeting was assembled when he walked in with Robin Mikkonen. There was no usual meeting banter. Seated at the table were Global’s General Counsel, Operations Director, Chief Product Development Engineer, and International Relations manager.

  Kush addressed the gathering. “A situation developed late yesterday requiring us to activate an emergency plan. Robin, hand out these copies of our contingency plan and the letter we received. Gentlemen, take a few minutes to read the letter. The vial with the unknown substance was sent to the CDC last night for testing.”

  “Do you think someone would actually carry out this threat?” asked Global’s Operations Director.

  “It’s possible. I called the company president right away, and he instructed me to bring in the FBI,” Kush said.

  “The letter said not to contact the authorities. Aren’t we putting the company at an unnecessary risk, getting the FBI involved?” asked Terry Hines.

  “We’re not the ones putting the company at risk,” Kush said. “Whoever sent that letter is the one creating the risk. The CDC has determined the substance in the vial that accompanied the letter is ricin—a deadly poison.”

  Leo Abramowitz said, “One or more crimes have already been committed, and the FBI has the resources to investigate them.”

  “Are we going to pay the money?” the Operations Director asked.

  “Our position is that we will cooperate with law enforcement and not interfere in their investigation. It’s my understanding they will coordinate closely with our security department. Isn’t that right, Adam?” Abramowitz asked.

  “Correct. Our general liability insurance policy covers payment of a ransom up to five million dollars. However, it’s silent about making extortion payments,” Kush said.

  “The company president can authorize providing the FBI with the five million. I’m sure he’ll turn over the money if this thing isn’t solved by the payoff date. But he’s going to ask me about what to say to the Board of Directors if anything happens to the money,” Abramowitz said. “And by the way, our product recall insurance coverage is twenty million dollars.”

  Global’s Chief Product Engineer scrunched his face. “That may not be enough. Our emergency plans have pretty well defined what steps we take if we have a batch of contaminated water. I don’t have any heartburn over that. But I don’t know of any company that’s faced a biological threat. Hell, we don’t even know if they’ll carry it out. And if they do, we don’t know in what country or city.”

  “Well, our planning calls for us to prepare for a worst-case scenario,” Kush said. “If any of our bottles get poisoned, even if no one drinks the stuff, the costs of a recall will be astronomical. I don’t know if you remember the Tylenol case. Johnson & Johnson recalled thirty-one million bottles. But I think the biggest loss to any company took place when Intel had to recall its defective Pentium computer chip. It cost them over five hundred million. I could point out other cases, but you guys get the point.”

  “I know our plans call for a massive and immediate notification to all our people. Don’t we have a duty to give them a heads up?” the Operations Director asked.

  “Not exactly,” Kush said, swiveling around in his chair. “We’re not going to let any advance information out until we know a recall is required.”

  “We’ll have statements ready for immediate worldwide publication and network coverage,” said Abramowitz. “We’ll do everything possible to minimize damage to our goodwill, and limit liability.”

  “In the meantime, I want all of you to familiarize yourself with our contingency plan and prepare any questions you might have. We’ll meet again Friday, and then every day next week until this matter is resolved,” Kush said.

  “Who’s handling the advertisement with the newspaper?” Hines asked.

  “Robin’s going there with the FBI. That’s it for now. I want all of you to keep your cell phones with you at all times,” Kush said, pushing away from the table.

  As he headed to the door, Hines stopped him.

  “Adam, two months ago I put in for a week’s vacation to take a cruise. It’s supposed to start the day before the scheduled pay off. Do you want me to cancel?”

  “I don’t know. Let me get back with you Friday. If we need you here, the company will reimburse you for any cancellation fees. If I remember correctly, the Business Development Coordinator is really sharp and the two of you are almost interchangeable, right?”

  “I wouldn’t put it that way, but yes, we’ve always tried to make sure if anything happened to cause one of us to drop out of the picture, the other could handle the job.”

  “You have a tentative okay, but check with me later. I appreciate your team spirit,” Kush said as he left to call the company president.

  FBI—TUESDAY, 8:OO A.M.

  Stu Peterson had assembled the team members as well as the technical and surveillance supervisors. Witt walked in and said, “Good morning, men. We might as well begin.” Mercedes Ramirez winked at Bannister in response to Witt’s greeting.

  “We have a new extortion case. It’s also a biological threat involving the toxic agent ricin. The victim is Global Waters, and whoever’s behind it is demanding five million dollars cash. I’ve assigned the case to Ty Bannister, and he’ll outline his plan.”

  “Before we do anything, I’d like all of you to take a couple of minutes to read over the letter. Then give me your initial thoughts,” Bannister said.

  Derek Barnes was the first to speak. In his slow, gravelly voice he asked, “Why Global Waters? Why not someone really big, like Coke?”

  The technical supervisor said, “I agree. Normally it’s always about the money. Why five million, why not ten? And the language about ‘countermeasures’ makes me think we’re not dealing with the normal knucklehead.”

  Stu Peterson added, “I know we have confirmation the substance with the letter is ricin, but I have reservations that whoever’s behind this would actually poison Global’s
water if the payment isn’t made. I also question whether the subject or subjects have a collaborator in Europe.”

  It was quiet for a minute before Ford Campbell added, “Whoever’s behind this has to realize a major corporation that’s threatened isn’t just going to make a ransom payment without contacting authorities, especially the FBI. They must think they’re smarter than us and can get away with it.”

  One of the task force agents with a background in explosives said, “I’d focus on the payoff if we’re going to catch the subjects. They’ve got to know that a van driving around town with five million is going to be followed in some way. I don’t think the van is the last leg of the transfer. I’d be looking at a second transfer to a plane or boat or maybe even the subway. Just food for thought.”

  “Good point,” Bannister said. “Anyone else?”

  The surveillance supervisor spoke next. “A couple things bother me. Why a canvas bag inside a trash bag? Why not a suitcase? Or backpack—you know, something easier to carry. And we can’t make the assumption the driver is going to toss the bag out somewhere. The subjects may force the driver out and hijack the van.”

  “That’s happened before,” Bannister said.

  “I don’t want to sound presumptuous, but I think we’re dealing with a college-educated person,” said Mercedes Ramirez. “If you look at the wording of the letter as well as the grammar and punctuation, it could be something one of us wrote. And I’m sure you’ve already thought of it, but I’d ask the lab to run the letter through psycholinguistics and see if they can’t work up something about the sender’s profile.”

  “If there are no other questions right now, how about letting us know how you want this handled?” Witt looked at Bannister.

  “Each of you has a copy of the plan in front of you. I particularly need the surveillance assignments and recommended technical installations as soon as possible. Right now, I intend to use one of our agents as the driver, with a second agent concealed in the back of the van. I want the van equipped with interior CCTV, external camera coverage, a global positioning system, and an infrared strobe on the roof, just in case the money exchange drags on into the evening.”

  All eyes shifted to the technical supervisor.

  “No problem,” he said.

  “I’ll get together with you later to go over marking the money and installation of a sensor in the canvas bag,” Bannister said.

  “Do you anticipate any problems having a plane up at all times?” Bannister asked the surveillance supervisor. “And we’ll need enough ground units to make sure we don’t lose sight of the van.”

  “Weather’s always an unknown, but we’ll have a contingency plan in place,” he responded.

  “You’ll also be responsible for the arrest team. Treat any subject as armed and dangerous.”

  “You bet,” he said.

  “You’ve got a couple of days to get everything organized. We’ll meet Friday morning to go over details. The lab may have something for us to work on by then. E-mail me any questions or thoughts you have. I’m going to Global now to pick up their advertisement for the newspaper.”

  “Okay, let’s make sure we cover everything,” Witt said as he adjourned the meeting.

  ONE YEAR EARLIER—WASHINGTON, DC

  Dr. Connie Bradford had been Lillian Wells’ gynecologist before Lillian moved to Vienna. Even though she and Felix were buying a house in a new neighborhood, it gave Lillian comfort to be able to return to the same doctors and dentist she’d had before going to Europe. What she found a little unsettling this afternoon was that Dr. Bradford asked her to come into her private office to discuss the results of the exam and lab work. Normally, the doctor talked with Lillian in the examining room. She didn’t have time to wonder what it meant. Dr. Bradford came in almost as soon as Lillian sat down.

  “Lillian, you remember when I asked you if there were any changes in your general health since I last saw you? You mentioned you’d lost a few pounds and have been more fatigued the last two months.”

  Lillian frowned and tilted her head. “I thought it was due to the stress and pressure of moving from Vienna back to Washington. It did occur to me I might be slightly anemic or something.”

  “I’m sure the relocation had some effect on you. But just to rule out chronic fatigue syndrome or a thyroid imbalance, I had you sign a separate consent form for additional tests. Do you remember that?”

  “Yes.” Lillian grew alarmed. “What are you trying to tell me, Dr. Bradford? Do I have cancer?”

  “No, you don’t have cancer, but you tested positive for HIV.”

  “What? No! No, that’s not right.” The blood drained from Lillian’s face, and she slowly shook her head back and forth, not believing what she had heard. “There must have been a mix-up in the lab. I can’t have HIV.”

  “Lillian, listen to me. I had a second blood test conducted, which confirmed the first. I’m sorry to have to tell you this.”

  Dr. Bradford came from around her desk and sat in the chair next to Lillian. She reached over and took Lillian’s hand. “We need to talk about what you should do from today forward. And there are some other questions I’m required to ask you.”

  “How could this have happened?” Lillian asked softly, stunned and still in denial.

  “During the past year, have you had sexual relations with anyone, male or female, other than your husband?”

  Lillian bent forward and placed her hands on her forehead. Without lifting her eyes to meet the doctor’s, Lillian said, “Yes, with one man. We had sex twice; the first time was without protection. Are you saying Andre—I’m sorry, that’s his name—infected me?”

  “You’ve told me you have never used illegal drugs, never received any injections other than inoculations for overseas travel, and have not had any body piercings or tattoos, right?”

  “That’s correct.”

  “Then if you’ve only been intimate with your husband and this Andre, there’s a very strong probability it had to be one of them. After a person is exposed to HIV, it takes from two weeks to six months for antibodies to develop.” Dr. Bradford was silent for a minute. “They’ll have to be notified and should be tested. You understand that, don’t you?”

  “It could be my husband. I’ve suspected him of having an affair, although I don’t have any proof. And I’ve also thought he might have been with prostitutes during one of his trips to Amsterdam.”

  “I’m going to recommend a counselor for you to talk with. She’s extremely competent and understanding. She’ll help you in ways I can’t. Having HIV and AIDS aren’t the same thing. HIV is a virus that attacks your immune system. Eventually, it can cause a range of illnesses that we commonly call Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, or AIDS. I’m going to start you immediately on an antiviral drug program. The names of the drugs won’t mean anything to you right now, but I’m prescribing AZT, 3TC, and Efavirenz. There are over twenty drugs being used to treat AIDS, but those three have been shown to work the best. I want to see you back in my office next week. If you want to bring your husband to my office and have me discuss this with him, let me know.”

  “I don’t know what to think right now. I don’t want my husband to know about the other man until he’s tested. If his test comes back negative, then I’ll tell him about Andre. You won’t tell Felix, will you?”

  “No, our relationship is privileged. But he needs to be told.”

  As Lillian walked out of the doctor’s office toward Felix’s leased Lexus, she started shaking and thought she might break down and cry. Thoughts were cascading through her head so fast she couldn’t think. She didn’t even know if it was safe for her to drive. There was no one for her to call. She couldn’t believe this was happening. There must have been a mistake somewhere. She needed to focus.

  The sun was shining directly through the window of the car, and its warmth on her face felt good. She needed to make sense of everything. She always had lists, and plans, and ideas and things to
do. A person always in control. Until an hour ago. She’d never imagined this happening to someone she knew, much less herself. Of course, she’d occasionally thought about how someone might handle a diagnosis of cancer, but when she tried to imagine herself in that situation the answer was always, “Don’t be negative. Cross that bridge when you come to it.”

  Well, I’m there now, and it’s because of you, Felix. You sonofabitch!

  How long did she have? Could people with AIDS really live a normal life?

  I don’t even know who I can talk to. Who would even understand me if I did tell them? Mom and Dad are gone. Mary Claire would understand or at least she’d try. She knows me better than anyone but would feel so betrayed because I never mentioned anything about Andre. All I know is I just don’t deserve this, and one of the men in my life is responsible. But which one? If it was Felix, then I put Andre at risk. It has to be Felix. It just has to be. He never wanted me to have children, and now he’s made sure I never will.

  And with that, the tears came. After she cried herself out, she felt a little stupid. By the time she finished, she knew she would confront Felix, get the truth, and make sure he was tested. She trusted Dr. Bradford, and she would call the counselor in the morning for an appointment. She’d be able to talk with someone who understood. Knowing she had a plan helped. But how would she tell Andre?

  Felix called Lillian at six o’clock and suggested they have dinner at a nearby Chinese restaurant. She didn’t feel like eating, but she had no intention of cooking for Felix that night. The hour they spent at the restaurant went the way their meals out always did. Felix talked about himself, his day at the office, and all the opportunities he saw in his immediate future. Lillian merely listened, picking at her fried rice. Felix never asked about her doctor’s appointment. Once they returned to the apartment and changed clothes, Lillian said she wanted to talk.

  “Sure,” Felix shrugged as he sat down in the love seat, kicked off his loafers, and put his feet up on the ottoman. “So what do you want to talk about?”