was spreading. She had done everything the Organization had required of her, and she hoped they lived up to their agreement. They didn’t know about the vaccine she had manufactured, and she hoped they wouldn’t. The Organization had provided a large sum of cash for her mother and father, the roundtrip airplane tickets to Hong Kong, and all documents necessary to allow Lee to enter the United States. Suzy hoped she had covered her tracks well enough that nothing could be linked to her. The Organization had promised protection.
“Max will be here soon,” Suzy thought.
All she had to hold on to was Max and the thoughts of her parents and Lee. Seeing him was dangerous, but she couldn’t say no. She needed him and the comfort of his loving arms. If only for one last time. For his protection, she must tell him nothing, only that there is an investigation. Nothing more.
She touched the garage door opener and pulled in, parking her Lexus in its usual spot. She grabbed her purse and briefcase, opened the car door, and stepped out. The silent figure slipped into the garage, crept up to her car, two feet behind Suzy, and placed the muzzle of his BerettaTomcat .32 ACP, loaded with hot FMJ rounds, at the base of her skull and fired one crisp, clean shot into her brain stem. She fell instantly onto the concrete, her purse and briefcase scattering, her legs askew, one black high heel resting near her small stockinged foot.
The figure slipped out, undetected, hidden in the darkness behind her condo. He reached the street and began a light jog, looking casual, just another jogger out for his evening run, in black baggy running shorts and lightweight gray nylon jacket. The Tomcat was invisible in the palm of his hand. The passive surveillance tracking device he had placed on her Lexus several months ago had paid off. He smiled.
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61
Megan Evans, the charge nurse, was checking Joey’s IV. He was in the military hospital at Edgewood Medical in isolation and on a ventilator. He had pneumonia, high fever, and unstable vital signs. The anti-viral medications were so far ineffective. Though young and healthy, Joey had a high exposure volume of the toxic virus. His prognosis was bleak. Megan was worried, having never seen patients reach such a severe stage of infection so quickly.
Captain Sanders was the attending physician in charge of Joey’s treatment as well as the other stricken members of the subway crew. They were all struggling with fevers and acute respiratory symptoms. Marty, Joey’s boss, was extremely ill with pneumonia. Sanders had never seen or heard of such a virulent strain as this H5N1. Onset was sudden, and the duration of the infection was unpredictable. He had spoken to Dr. Ambrose from the CDC, but Ambrose had no definitive answers regarding duration or incubation period of this particular mutated strain of the avian flu virus.
Sanders walked into the isolation ward and spoke to the unit clerk, Barb. She smiled a hello, and he sat down next to her, looking at the computer screen, reading the patients’ charts. His concerns were growing. Megan had recorded their recent vital signs, and they were unstable. Joey was worsening rapidly. The anti-viral medications had not helped, and Sanders was running out of treatment options.
Sanders walked over to Megan, and asked, “What do you think?
Megan responded, “It doesn’t look good.”
Sanders said, “Let’s get the families on the phone. Damn, I hate making these calls.”
Megan looked up and said, “Are you going to have them come here?”
She was worried about the contagion, even for herself, but she tried to hide her fears. She didn’t feel the families should be near this facility, in spite of the imminent deaths of their loved ones.
“It will be their decision, but they need to know the status. Please ask Barb to get them on the phone. Joey’s family first.”
Megan knew, just from the obvious physical signs, that it wouldn’t be long. Dr. Sanders was facing some tough phone calls, but the families were facing far worse.
Suddenly, a loud beeping noise came from the monitor next to Joey’s bed.
Sanders said to Megan, “He’s coding! Get the cart. Stat!”
Megan grabbed the cart, and she and the other nurse rushed to his bedside. Joey was in cardiac arrest.
They administered drugs into Joey’s IV to stimulate his heart, and Sanders began CPR, but it was futile.
“Damn!” said Sanders under his breath.
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62
Wally speculated, “Could be a shadow terrorist cell pulling all the strings.”
Wally, George,