angels. If any of them were in this room, you would have just signed my death certificate. Like I said, no one is allowed to reveal the real name of any member. But if they do, the demons will make sure their ticket gets punched.”
“I think you’re safe,” Mike said, smiling. “No Circle members here. Just law enforcement personnel who will do everything in their power to protect you.”
Alex was trying to get the timeline straight in her head. “When did you say you quit going to Circle meetings?”
Jimmy scrunched up his face, making it clear he was thinking. “Let’s see, I want to be sure I’m telling you right. Yeah, it was ten years ago. After my wife died.”
So about the time Walker had probably finished college and his father died.
“When did you start going?” Alex asked.
“Twenty-five years ago.”
Just before I arrived at Willow’s, twenty-four years ago.
“So you went to meetings for at least fifteen years,” Logan said, a look of surprise on his face. “That’s a long time.”
“It sounds like it, but we didn’t have meetings very often.” His forehead wrinkled. “I just remembered something else about this guy.” He stabbed a finger at the photo of Walker. “He told us Circle meetings were every week when he was a kid. He couldn’t understand why we met only once a month. I don’t think we were committed enough for TM.”
“I need you to come with me now,” Harrison told Jimmy. “Hopefully, it won’t take too long.”
“He didn’t seem to recognize me from the hospital,” Mike said in a low voice as Harrison led Jimmy away.
Alex turned to stare at Logan. “Did you catch it?” she asked.
“Yeah.”
“We all did,” Monty said. “TM. Train Man.”
31
It had taken him several days to decide exactly when he was going to take her, but he was ready to move. Laura had gone to church this morning, and they had a Sunday evening service too. He would wait to see if she attended that one this evening and if she went alone. If so, he would grab her after the service. He couldn’t take her at the church. He would wait outside her apartment, which he’d learned was over the garage at the house where he’d followed her before. It would be dark, and the treelined street would provide the perfect covering.
Excitement bubbled up inside him. It was almost time. He’d created the perfect way to disperse the virus. No one would suspect a man carrying a package. He planned to bump up against passengers waiting for planes and trains. They probably wouldn’t feel the tip of the needle pierce their skin. If they did, he doubted they would pay attention to it. But they would carry the virus to other states, other countries. It was so virulent it wouldn’t take long for many people to be infected.
Planes were hothouses for germs. His victims would be touching the overhead compartment, their seats, the armrests, everything in the bathrooms. So many others on the plane would touch the same surfaces. Then they would change planes and carry the virus onto the next flight.
Then back to Union Station. A few pricks here and there. His last visit would be to area hospitals. When patients began to pour in, they’d discover that nurses and doctors had already infected hundreds of people. It would be a pandemic beyond anything ever experienced.
He smiled to himself. But first the last sacrifice.
Tonight the world would change forever.
Alex spent Friday and Saturday working at the command post. She, Logan, and Monty continued assessing what Walker’s next move might be, even though she felt they’d done just about everything they could with the information they had. Jimmy was still being questioned. Alex could tell he was tired, but everyone was doing all they could to find Walker’s sixth target before it was too late.
They’d also come up short exploring Walker’s connection to Wichita. Other than Jimmy’s news that Walker had attended a couple of Circle meetings with his and Willow’s group, they had nothing. Jimmy didn’t even know how Walker knew about their group, let alone why he chose to check it out. Maybe Harrison had been right. Maybe Walker was looking for minions to help him fulfill the prophecy even then. Just like he’d somehow managed to connect with the chemist in Ethiopia.
Walker’s fifth victim, the one found at Union Station, had been identified—Gerald Gregg. He was a maintenance worker at the station. The police and railroads had clamped down so tightly