Calculated Contagion Read online

  “You got it. Take care of Dani. Ree’s been fussing over her from here.”

  “Doing what we can, Parker. Thanks for your help.” Tyler hung up the phone and placed it back in his pocket. He took one last look at Dani then returned to his laptop to see if the analysts had sent any new information.

  29

  Ree tapped on Dr. Fabian’s door at 9 a.m. sharp. She should have been nervous, but the closer they got to finding Dani’s adversary, the more energized she was about the task at hand.

  “Come in, Dr. Lewis. How can I help you today?” Dr. Fabian answered smoothly, almost covering up the annoyance in his eyes.

  “I have some questions about Keith.”

  Dr. Fabian looked at his desk and winced instead of answering.

  “Is there a problem, Dr. Fabian?” Ree asked.

  “What was your question?” Dr. Fabian became very interested in a paper in front of him and the hair on the back of Ree’s neck stood up.

  “I’m worried about an ethical issue.” Ree kept it vague, her tone confident.

  “I see.” Dr. Fabian folded his hands on his desk. “You found out Keith fabricated the data.”

  It had to be related to their investigation, but she needed just a little more. “Yes. The numbers did not seem realistic,” Ree bluffed.

  Dr. Fabian sighed. “You are correct. My vaccine did not work as well as expected. Keith performed the experiment incorrectly and tried to cover his mistake with fake data. I needed his help to fix it. I confronted him and we were working on recreating the real data together. I told him Dani brought it up so he would work with me to fix it. Keith can be…defensive. We will submit the corrections and revise the reports once the new testing is complete.”

  Dr. Fabian began to fidget and, without warning, reached into a drawer. He was going to kill her. Clean up his mess now that he’d confessed. Ree tensed and pulled her gun out of an ankle holster. When she pointed it at Dr. Fabian, the report he held in his hand fluttered to the ground.

  To his credit, he swallowed hard and raised his hands slowly in the air. Shit. Ree slowly lowered her hand. “I apologize, Dr. Fabian. I am required by my employer to bring a weapon in case I’m threatened and was concerned I’d backed you into a corner. Please excuse the misunderstanding. I trust you’ll keep this between us.” Shit. Shit. Shit.

  Dr. Fabian paled and he slid the report to Ree with one hand, keeping the other in the air. The door burst open. Parker’s mouth dropped open in mock surprise and his tone was firm. “Dr. Lewis. A word.”

  “Ohmigod Parker, I’m so sorry,” Ree whispered with Parker’s hand on her arm, leading her out of the office.

  Parker’s response was loud enough for Dr. Fabian to hear, but not so loud that it boomed through other open offices. “I don’t care if you’re my boss, I have to report this. This is the second time this has happened and you’ll get us both fired. Patrick will hear about this.” Ree returned the gun to its holster. Parker turned to Dr. Fabian and his tone was cold. “My apologies. I will take care of this, and we’d appreciate your discretion in the process.”

  Parker led Ree out of the front door and she began to shake in earnest. He said under his breath, “It’s okay. Just keep it together for another two minutes and we’ll talk.” As they approached the van, the door slid open of its own accord. Scarlett’s face was apologetic while Mike and Alexis were faced away from her. Cringing, most likely.

  Scarlett said, “You made a call, Ree. You had to protect yourself, and you thought you were facing a threat.”

  Ree put her head in her hands. Through her fingers, she said, “I pulled a gun on someone who was pulling out a report.”

  “At least you didn’t shoot him.” Mike whirled around. “Although Dani might be disappointed to hear you didn’t.” Ree allowed herself a small smile. She was still clutching the report and held it up.

  “Before almost blowing it, I found out Keith was making up data at work. The date on this report is from over a year ago. So he’s had some time to make a plan.”

  “We heard. Is that a strong motive in your world?” Mike asked.

  Ree said, “Sure. If someone found out he faked data on this, it could ruin his career. Maybe even permanently. He thought Dani was telling people behind his back, which explains why he turned on her.”

  Alexis snapped her fingers. “So, he gets busted for making up data. He thinks his old friend from college is on to him, and he doesn’t like her anyway. Then he creates a bioweapon?” She scrunched up her nose like she’d just tasted something bitter. “We’re missing a piece.”

  “Not anymore.” Mike’s confident baritone quieted Ree’s fidgeting. “Remember the news story about the guy who was working in a national lab? He leaked sensitive data and then disappeared? Looks like he was Keith’s old college roommate, who was last seen in Moscow.” Mike placed a printout on a table. “Hot off the press. He might have planted the idea. Maybe Keith gets a ticket out and the chance to finally show Dani that he’s smarter than her. Two for one. Alexis, thank Jordan and the rest of the analysts when you get a chance.”

  Alexis grinned. “Don’t want to let it go to his head.”

  Ree’s hope was momentarily buoyed. “So, we can arrest Keith now?”

  Parker nudged her with his elbow. “We can bring him in for questioning. With this evidence, arresting him is a formality. You stay here. I’ll take him out without making a scene. Once I have him, you guys can call for backup.”

  When Parker returned to the van, the team already knew that Keith was gone. He hadn’t come in that day, and a check of the national databases showed he’d booked a trip to Russia the night before. His flight landed in Moscow at 8 a.m. Minnesota time. The team packed up silently for the long journey home. They’d station someone at the labs, but if their intelligence estimate was correct, they’d never see him again.

  * * *

  “More good news.” Cam chucked his phone onto the table and locked his jaw, taking a minute to glare at the ceiling before getting back to work. Tyler looked up from his paperwork to see what had set Cam off, but Cam just stared past him into space. Tyler leaned back, waiting for Cam to calm down enough to share the news. After several days in tight quarters, Cam’s impatience with his inability to solve the problem was not unlike that of a big dog lunging against a thick chain.

  Tyler cocked an eyebrow, sending a quiet signal to his friend to finish his thought. Instead of answering his unasked question, Cam jerked his head to tell Tyler to follow him. Dani was curled into a ball on the couch, doing her best to act as if she was reading research papers.

  “Be right back,” Tyler said to Dani, who watched them leave. He followed Cam into one of the small bedrooms and stood with his arms crossed.

  Even though they were alone, Cam’s voice was low. “Parker’s team believes they have enough evidence to conclude that Dani’s subordinate, Keith, is behind the thefts at the lab.”

  “Okay, so arrest him.”

  “They tried. He’s gone.”

  “Where’d he go?”

  “Russia.”

  “Well, shit.”

  “Exactly. Look, this is smelling like the Russians are involved over here, and we can’t exactly ask them to keep an eye on him without tipping our hand. Could be one of their guys going rogue, but if it’s a government op, we’ll put ourselves in a bad spot.”

  “You packed?” Tyler said, looking for a bag in the room. He gestured to the small duffle by the door and Cam nodded. Cam was always ready to move. Like clockwork, he packed his things every single morning.

  “Can you handle Dani alone?”

  “Yeah. We probably should stick around the safe house though–I don’t want to be her only bodyguard out there if this thing blows up. Look, about earlier. Nothing happened.”

  “Forget it. You’re both adults. But for my sake, keep it PG till the operation is over. And I don’t know anything about it.”

  “It won’t even be that, Cam.”


  “You say so, buddy.” Cam slapped him on the shoulder and wore a superior grin. “So, stay in the safe house and out of trouble. And keep your phone on. I may want you to look into stuff while I’m there. I’m going to be poking around in Moscow where I don’t belong, and things could turn pretty quick. Once I’m done, I’ll go back to the camp. Just sit tight and wait for updates. You should probably tell Dani about Keith–she needs to know we confirmed his involvement. Just ease her into it.”

  “You got it. Need a ride?”

  “I’ve got it covered. Your only priority right now is to make sure the accomplished daughter of a famous and benevolent multi-millionaire doesn’t die on a CIA-sanctioned operation.” Cam raised his eyebrows and Tyler nodded in agreement. Tyler didn’t care who she was or where she came from, but he agreed with one thing–whoever was trying to hurt her would have to go through him first.

  * * *

  Cam had been gone for only a few minutes when Tyler decided it was time for Dani to find out the truth. He didn’t have answers, but in case Keith came to Romania via Russia, Dani needed to be prepared. She sat at the tiny kitchen table, dunking a cheap tea bag into a paper cup, and greeted him with a smile.

  “Are you going to tell me what sent Cam on the run?”

  Tyler sighed and settled in the chair next to Dani. “Trust me, Dani, you don’t want to know. But you need to.” He explained to her what the FBI team had found out about Keith and her face fell.

  “You know, I should be surprised. Or at least horrified. But there were so many times I thought he was lazy or that he was hiding something and I assumed it was plain old jealousy. Guess I was wrong about the root cause, but I should have listened to my instincts.” Dani stared into her cup of tea. “Is everyone I work with out to get me?”

  Tyler shook his head. “We’ve run background checks on everyone and we have every reason to believe that Keith was acting alone. It’s extremely unlikely anyone else at VacTech would target you.”

  “Even Dr. Asshole?” Dani challenged.

  “Especially him. But you should know, at least some of his crazy behavior lately was because his precious lab results were wrong and he was trying to cover it up. Ree was kind enough to leave the evidence of his role in the cover-up in your desk, should you decide to use the evidence to fire him upon your return.”

  Dani smiled. “Well, that was thoughtful. But, hey, at least I know he’s not a murderer, right? And, not being a psychopath virus thief puts him ahead of at least one of his coworkers.” Dani raised her eyes to the ceiling. “How do I get over this?”

  Tyler smiled. “After facing down everything you have in the last couple of weeks, I have a feeling Dr. Fabian will be no match for you, Dani.”

  Dani lifted her cup of tea by way of response and Tyler left her alone to process.

  * * *

  The only phone in the safe house rang, and Dani smiled at the name on the screen. It was nice of Ree to call again. Even if the FBI was making Ree check up on Dani, Ree always seemed genuinely happy to talk to her.

  “Dr. Ryland, aren’t you supposed to be working?”

  “Even I can take a break every once in a while, Dani. I was worried about you. How are you doing?”

  “A little stir crazy but hanging in there, actually. We haven’t gotten much farther than finding the doctored records. It sounds like you guys were successful enough to give Cam a lead, though.”

  “Just another service we provide,” Ree said. “You okay?”

  “Surprisingly, I’m getting there. My instincts were right about Dr. Fabian and Bruce. I’m glad I can at least trust myself. There’s some small amount of reassurance there, and I’m trying to think about that part of it.”

  “That’s good, at least. Are you still in Romania?”

  “Yes. We’re in a town called Sighetu Marmaţiei.”

  “Where have I heard that before?”

  “No idea. It’s not a huge metropolis or anything. We’ve only been here to visit the hospital and get records. I’m not sure what else is here, truthfully.”

  “I know I’ve heard that before.” Dani heard a clicking noise and waited patiently. A few short moments later, Ree was back on the phone. “Huh.”

  “What’s up?” Dani curled her legs underneath her and Tyler moved over to join her on the couch. He kept a very careful space between them. “You’ve got Tyler curious too. I’m putting you on speaker.”

  Ree spoke slowly, as if looking for something as she talked. “It’s the lithium mine. I know I saw an article on it and I’m almost certain it’s where you guys are at. Matt Brown, my colleague, showed it to me but now I can’t find it. It’s like it disappeared.”

  “Are you searching by the town name? Trying to spell it with all the special characters could be throwing it off.”

  “No. I’m searching on the news website he showed me. It’s gone. That’s just strange.” Next to Dani, Tyler stiffened.

  “When did you see the article, Ree?” Tyler’s voice was steady, but he’d leaned forward a fraction.

  “It was the day Parker asked me to go up to Minneapolis with him for a second time. I remember it because I love electric cars. Matt and I were joking that it would make my dream car more affordable. I went back and read the article in more detail later. I’m sure of it.”

  “I’ll do some poking around and see what I can find. I’ll let you have Dani back now.” Tyler stood and began pacing the floor. Dani talked to Ree for a few more minutes before hanging up. “It’s got to be related. But what does a lithium mine have to do with…anything? I thought we were chasing a couple of lost vials of virus from your lab.”

  “Yeah, so did I. Could that be the Russian connection? Any need for lithium?” Dani speculated.

  “Oh, shit. It’s Ukraine.” Tyler’s pace picked up. “But I can’t prove it. They can’t just brute force their way in here…” Dani watched Tyler walk around the living room until she couldn’t stand the nervous energy any longer. She rose from the couch to put a hand on Tyler’s arm and mercifully, he stilled.

  “You’re making me crazy with your pacing, and you’re not making any sense. Start over, and maybe we can figure this out. Together.”

  Tyler looked at a spot on the wall and ticked off the facts. “There are factions in Russia that want to regain control of Ukraine, and they have allies in the country who are happy about it but plenty who aren’t. They need cash to continue their activities. If they control a lithium mine, they’re sitting on a high-demand material that’s essentially cash in their pockets. We know we have a dirty politician in Russia. So, let’s say he wants to up his credibility by gaining control of the lithium mine. It would fund their operations and give them an excuse to spend more time in Ukraine. But how would they do it? They can’t just barge into a foreign country. The UN would lose it and it’d be a political nightmare.” He began pacing again but slower.

  “What if they’re trying to create a situation where they’re invited in?”

  Tyler froze. “Oh no. They’re going to cause an outbreak.”

  “The death rate among the healthy is not that high.”

  “Then they swoop in to save the day and no one could prove they were behind it. And no one dies.”

  “Yeah, except for the sick, the old, and the people with pre-existing conditions. You can’t control an outbreak, Tyler. It’s not a gun. You don’t just point a dangerous pathogen at someone and have the hubris to think you can just stop it whenever you don’t need it anymore.”

  “Look, we don’t have enough evidence to back this up.”

  “Yeah, but do you have a better explanation? Anything at all that fits the facts?”

  Tyler shook his head. “No, which means we have to find the evidence we need.”

  Tyler pulled up an image of a map on his tablet and began marking locations. Vienna, for Dani’s capture. An X in the middle of the wilderness of the Carpathian Mountains for the camp, one in Moscow, the location of the phone calls from Dmit
ri to Stanislav. And an X in their current location, which they no longer believed was simply the place where the hospital records were located. Going back to the hospital wasn’t a viable option, even though she still wanted to see the lab records and setup. The CIA had given an emphatic “no” to that request since they believed the risk was bigger than the reward. It looked like they’d been right.

  Tyler sent a message to Morgan, and minutes later, her face appeared on his laptop.

  “Hey, Tyler. What do you have for me?” Tyler explained their theory, couched in the caveat that it was undeveloped, not fully thought out, and could be completely wrong.

  As he finished explaining, he asked, “What can we do from here?”

  Morgan set her mouth in a line. “Get some rest. If you’re right, this is going to blow up and we don’t know how. Worse, we can’t confront the Russians without risking our local sources and our relationship with them. If we accuse them of this, even if we’re right, they could take some concrete action and freeze the diplomatic relationships we’ve been working so hard to build.”

  “Sorry, but why would they get upset if we’re only present the evidence we’re sure about? Facts aren’t political,” Dani said.

  “Unfortunately, the niceties of modern diplomacy demand that we dance around the topic. In our world, even the facts have to be handled with kid gloves. Let us take it from here, and Tyler, make sure you’re happy with the security in the safe house. I may need you to do some recon on the ground, and we can’t risk Dani being exposed to any of this. Good job, you guys.”

  The connection ended and Dani shook her head in disbelief. Tyler said, “You better get some rest. This is probably going to get worse before it gets better.”

  * * *

  Tyler rubbed a hand down his face. Dani had gone to bed a half-hour earlier and he should go soon too. However, they were getting so close to figuring this out that it was hard to take a break. Finally admitting defeat against his own exhaustion, Tyler walked to his room but began to run when he heard Dani screaming. He pulled his gun from its holster, threw open the door, and found her, tangled in her sheets, covered with sweat, and mercifully, alone. Her eyes were still glazed as she looked his direction and began to scream impossibly louder. He placed his gun on her dresser and tried to wake her up.