times each day. She walked down the empty carpeted hallway and, with a quick look, opened his unlocked office door and stepped inside, locking the door behind her. It was a well-appointed office and richly decorated, befitting his title, which, if life had at all been fair, should have been hers. Dr. Adams had made sure that she, the “Chink broad,” wouldn’t get the promotion.
What a prick. He was attractive, and she had dated him steadily for several months. He was Mr. Suave, and she fell for it. Damn, how could she ever have ever fallen for him. She had believed his every word and thought he truly loved her. He had promised her further advancements, how they would work together on fascinating life-saving discoveries, never seeing or believing, or wanting to believe, who he truly was. How abruptly she had found out the truth.
Suzy put hostility aside for the moment, needing full concentration, and stepped behind his desk. She opened the laptop, which was sitting on a small computer stand, just to the right of his desk. She was well acquainted with his habits, after many months of observation, and knew he always left his computer behind during his trysts. After accessing the network, Suzy logged on to the secret e-mail account she had set up from his laptop. She wrote a new e-mail, with the brief, memorized message, and saved it as a “draft” making it appear to be a “dead drop.”
All of this took only a few minutes. She shut down the computer, wiped the keys with the handkerchief she had placed in her lab coat pocket, closed the laptop, and wiped off the lid. She turned the light off in his office. His tall oak bookcase was against the wall on the left side of his desk. She grabbed a book from the shelf, The Study of Virology, a reference she frequently borrowed. As Suzy opened the door, she glanced around to make sure no one was in the hall. Suzy walked down the hall to the coffee room, carrying the book. She poured some hot water for tea, grabbed a teabag, and walked back to her office, waved hello to her assistant, Beth, who was talking on the phone in the office adjacent to Suzy’s.
“That went well,” she thought. “Bastard!” she said under her breath.
.
35
George and Mark were headed to ECBC, the Edgewood Chemical and Biological Center. They wanted to speak to Dr. Adams, the lab director as soon as possible, regarding the possible toxin or agent in question. They needed to know who had access to the delivery, storage, and testing of the dangerous biological agents and toxins. The more information they could obtain, the sooner the perpetrator or perpetrators would be found.
The drive had started out slowly. George was making notes as Mark made his way through the city. He placed the red flashing light on top of his car to ease the way through traffic snarls. He got to I-95, hooked up with the state police car, and headed south. Traffic was steady, and they were making good time. The siren helped.
Occasionally, George would glance over at Mark and study his face and strong forearms as he drove. He was intense, and she could tell he was thinking about the case. He was going over the evidence and trying to piece things together, but this particular event was of vast magnitude, with consequences difficult to comprehend. They were both determined to find the person or persons responsible.
Mark followed the Maryland State Police escort to the secure entrance of the Edgewood Lab. Mark gave a wave of thanks to the trooper who responded with a nod as he pulled away. Two well-armed MPs flanked the twelve-foot high wrought iron gates in front of the Edgewood complex. One of the guards approached the car and asked Mark for ID.
After looking it over, he said, “Wait here, sir.” He went into the security booth, spoke on his radio, and then approached Mark’s car again.
“Agent Strickland, your escort will be with you any moment. May I see your ID, ma’am?” he asked. George passed it to him, and after looking it over, he handed it back, saying, “Thanks.”
“Please open your trunk, sir.” Mark pushed the release on the dashboard.
The guard stepped to the rear of the car and, a moment later, shut the trunk. He returned to the booth and opened the gate. A staff car was waiting inside, and Mark followed the car to the