Dead Love - By Wells, Linda Page 0,54

was going on around here.

Suzy knocked on Dr. Adams’s office door and he said, “Come in,” in a louder than normal voice. He was on his cell phone, but said an abrupt good-bye. He was obviously pissed off that this FBI geek was examining his computer.

Mark asked Ray, the FBI tech, “Got anything?”

Ray said, “We can discuss this later. Okay?”

Mark knew that meant something was up, and it had to be handled just right. Mark leaned down, over Ray’s shoulder while Suzy was talking to Dr. Adams, explaining the possible problem, a compromise in the vaccine storage room.

Suzy was standing next to Eric by the bookcase, saying, “Dr. Adams, one vial of H5N1 is missing from the containment room. A decoy vial was found in its place. We’ve had a security breach.”

“Oh my God.” He was stunned. “You received those vials, right?”

“Yes. All the vials were there when I placed them in the containment room. They were stored securely,” she stated.

Eric had no reason to doubt Suzy. She was a bitch but he was certain she was not involved.

“I need to check this out. Please come with me, Dr. Chen” Eric directed.

Things were hitting Dr. Adams from all directions. He was exhausted from the afternoon at the motel, which hadn’t gone exactly as planned. It had been a cat and mouse experience with the bitch and ended in a wrestling match, but he finally got her convinced that she was the only one. She had flirted with him and agreed to the lunch date, but then played hard to get. Fuck that shit.

Now he had to deal with the subway debacle and this fucking H5N1 outbreak. Dr. Adams was a womanizer, but he was also qualified for his job, had worked hard, and was a highly regarded and brilliant scientist, above all, who took his work seriously. His dedication and competence were the only reasons Suzy had stayed at Edgewood, though her motivation had changed abruptly after the Organization contacted her.

Adams said to Mark, “I need to accompany Dr. Chen to the lab.”

“Okay, I am going to stay with Ray.” Mark added, “Please report back here, both of you, after you have looked into the vaccine matter. It might be significant in the investigation.” He called one of the team to go with Chen and Adams to the lab.

Dr. Adams glared at Mark, not used to being told what to do by such a lowlife, and responded contemptuously,

“Certainly.”

Adams and Suzy left, walking quickly to the lab and the cold storage room.

Mark called George on her cell phone, telling her that she might want to check out the vaccine storage room with Dr. Chen and Dr. Adams.”

“Boy, I’m glad that asshole is out of my hair, for the moment, and I think I have found something,” Ray said to Mark.

Ray knew his way around a hard drive.

Mark asked, “What is it?”

After Ray explained, Mark said, “I want this laptop sealed, and we will take it back to headquarters as evidence.”

“I assume you got fingerprints,” stated Mark.

Ray scowled at Mark, “You’re kidding, right?”

“Let’s get Chen’s computer, and I think we need to start asking them some questions,” added Mark.

“How about the assistant’s laptop?” asked Ray.

“Yes, we will look at them all. Their phones, too.”

.

57

The hospital beds were filled in the isolation unit at All Saints Hospital. Several of the staff members weren’t feeling well. They were being tested for the virus, lab results pending. They were in the isolation unit.

Dr. Grant had been on the phone with Dr. Ambrose. Grant knew that they weren’t the only facility dealing with the virus. The CDC tracked pandemics, and from their statistics, most hard hit would be the highly populated areas. It was too soon to gauge the spread of this outbreak.

Jim Lucas was making sure that the staff was being rotated with many resting in the lounges between shifts. The numerous disaster drills had paid off. Everyone was working at optimum level, and the professional atmosphere was beyond reproach. But there was an undercurrent of unexpressed fear.

Thank God people were heeding the Mayor’s request for calm, so far. New Yorkers took most things in stride and were doing what was necessary to handle an unusual situation. Some were skeptics and felt invulnerable. They had survived 9/11 and refused to let out of the ordinary occurrences rattle them. There was the occasional patient that arrived in an anxious state but most remained calm. They were being kept for observation and were comfortable staying at the