Calculated Contagion Page 20

  “Dani. It’s me. It’s just Tyler. Wake up.” Dani’s eyes became more focused and she gasped, patting her clothes and then his cheek. Tears streamed down her cheeks and he pulled her tight.

  “I’m so embarrassed.” She forced out the words as she sucked in air and scooted away. Tyler took a chance and pulled her close, keeping his hold gentle so she could pull away if she needed to, if the contact was upsetting rather than comforting. Instead, she leaned into him and took huge breaths, trying to calm herself. She whispered, “I hate being so weak. I don’t want to be fragile.”

  “Dani, there’s nothing weak about you.”

  Dani snorted and Tyler pulled back so he could look her in the eyes. “Dani Christensen, you are a researcher who was kidnapped in broad daylight and managed to get out of your situation alive.”

  “Because I was lucky.”

  “No. Because you were smart. If you hadn’t gotten yourself away from the larger group, it would have been that much harder for us to get you home safely. You did everything you could under the circumstances.” Dani sniffed. “Now, you’ve followed us halfway across the world, have had every opportunity to give up, and even though it’s taking a toll on you, you refuse to back down. Strength isn’t all physical. I’m not saying you could best me in a bar fight, but the reason we’re on the right track is because you haven’t given up. Don’t forget that.”

  Dani stilled, her voice quiet as she responded, “I’m scared.”

  “Good. Being scared keeps you alert. Use your fear to your advantage. You are strong enough that this will not break you. If you can find a way to channel it into action, they have no chance.” Tyler let silence take over until Dani’s body relaxed, her breathing becoming deeper and more even. Once she was asleep, Tyler slipped away.

  30

  Cam looked down at the camp from what he now considered to be his rock. Something had changed. The jeep was gone, and there was no sign of Stanislav. The quick trip to Russia hadn’t been a total bust. He’d picked up a jump drive with information from a drop site and found what they needed to confirm Tyler and Dani’s theory. It was all starting to come together but Stanislav was gone. A man like him wouldn’t leave his most important crew alone without supervision. That could only mean one thing. He’d mobilized his men and Cam was already one step behind.

  * * *

  The urgency in Morgan’s tone carried through the small apartment and Dani padded out of her room to see what the fuss was about. Her eyes were still gritty from crying the evening prior, something she wasn’t terribly proud of, but getting it out of her system had done the trick to keep the nightmares away for the rest of the night. Tyler had set up his laptop on a table but was pacing in front of it as he talked to Morgan.

  “So no trace? We know they’re gone, we know they have the virus, and we don’t know where they’re headed.”

  “We have your theory and corroborating evidence from our sources in Russia. And the good news is that there is a free vaccination clinic being put on by the WHO a mile from where you guys are staying. So depending on how long it takes the vaccine to work, the clinic will help limit the spread. We can spread the word they’re in town to immunize as many people as possible before this thing gets too far. I’m afraid all we can do at this point is minimize collateral damage.”

  Dani blinked hard to chase the sleepy haze from her thoughts. “Wait, what?”

  Tyler turned to her, concern evident in his eyes. His voice softened. “You sleep okay?” Dani nodded and saw a strange look pass over his superior officer’s face. “Morgan said the WHO is conducting a vaccination clinic this afternoon, so that works in our favor.”

  Dani ran a hand through her hair. “I guess. It takes a couple of weeks to get maximum immunity, so as long as they strike after that, it’ll help somewhat. Do you know when they plan on releasing it?”

  Morgan addressed Dani. “We know they’re on the move now, but no, we don’t know when they plan on acting.”

  “What if… no, that’s crazy. No one is that evil,” Dani said, more to herself than to anyone listening.

  “What is it, Dani?” Tyler asked.

  “What if they were going to use the people coming into the clinic as targets? Their weapon will have the most impact among the unvaccinated and they’ve already sorted it out–just spread it to the people who are in line.”

  Morgan’s eyebrows raised. “Tyler, if that’s the case, we can’t get you help in time.”

  Dani took a step closer to the screen. “He has a vaccine researcher with him. It’ll help.”

  “No.” Morgan’s tone was firm.

  “If this is a liability issue, I’ll sign whatever you want. With all due respect, ma’am, you can’t make me stay in the safe house,” Dani said.

  “Dani, it’s not a liability issue. I just don’t want to see you get hurt.”

  “I got into the business of vaccines because I wanted to help people. You can’t expect me to just sit around and let a bunch of people get sick because someone might figure out I’m there. The probability that they are looking for me instead of focusing on the task at hand is slim to none.”

  Morgan looked away for a moment, and Dani heard her fingers tapping on her desk. “I don’t like it.”

  “Understood. I just want to make sure Tyler doesn’t get in any trouble if I, utterly of my own free will, decide to follow him.”

  “Fine. But my official position is that I don’t want you going. Unofficially, you’ve been a huge help to our team. If you choose to continue to do that, I understand it is your decision. But please, be careful, Ms. Christensen.” Dani nodded as her respect for Morgan grew. She was tough, but she wasn’t completely unreasonable. As the screen went black, Dani realized they had some work to do.

  * * *

  Twenty minutes later, Tyler had secured his knife, gun, phone, and extra ammunition. Dani had pulled her long black hair back into a tight ponytail and changed into jeans and a non-descript long sleeve t-shirt. At his request, she’d returned to her room to add a bulletproof vest under the shirt. Tyler checked himself to make sure all of his gear was hidden from view. It was time. He couldn’t look at Dani, not directly. He didn’t want her coming at all, personally or professionally. It was dangerous enough with just him. But she would go, with or without him along. At least he could watch her back if they went together.

  “I’d rather you stayed here.” Tyler threw one last Hail Mary pass.

  Dani put her hands on her hips. “Noted. Also, please note that if you leave me here, I will just follow you.” Tyler nodded once and he turned to open the door.

  Tyler paused when he felt a tug on his shirt. Letting her pull him close, she kissed him softly, and he wrapped his arms around her waist, enjoying the moment before his brain could tell him to knock it off. She pulled away and looked him in the eyes. “Don’t you dare die on me.”

  Tyler chuckled. “Same goes to you. Are you always this demanding?”

  “Only when the situation requires it.”

  He grinned. “And I require it?”

  “Most definitely.” Dani shrunk away, and he pulled her close for a few more seconds. She sighed and rested her head on his shoulder. Cam had already called him out on it, which wasn’t exactly an endorsement, but it was one less reason to keep his distance. Too soon, he pulled away and led her out of the apartment.

  “Stay close and let me know if you see anything,” Tyler said, huddling into his coat as they walked along the narrow cobblestone street.

  “Where are we going?”

  “We’re going to walk a loop around the hospital and see if we can find any signs of trouble.”

  The WHO was using the main hospital in town as a home base for the vaccination clinic. As they got closer to the public building with signs directing locals to the temporary clinic, Dani sped up.

  “Easy, Dani,” Tyler said. He wrapped a hand around hers and she slowed her pace. Tyler began to methodically scan his surroundings. A line h
ad formed outside of a door and a volunteer held a clipboard, taking names. He was wearing a light jacket and a ball cap. Dani tightened her grip on his hand. Hard.

  “Tyler, it’s him. It’s him,” Dani whispered. Tyler pulled her down a side street and out of view of the clinic.

  “Keep walking with your head down.” Once out of sight of the man, Tyler stopped, and Dani leaned against a stone building, breathing deep.

  “That was the man who kidnapped me. I know it’s him.” Tyler held up a finger and walked to the end of the street, leaving Dani in place. He placed his phone around the corner and, thanks to some modifications from the CIA techies, got a high-res image of their suspect. He sent it to Cam and Morgan. They would confirm his identity, but he was already sure Dani was right. It wasn’t all that easy to forget the face of your kidnapper, particularly when you’d seen him only a few weeks prior.

  “What do we do?” Dani said when Tyler returned.

  “We should figure out where the vaccines are stored and make sure no one has tampered with them. And we need to find out if he’s here alone. We need to assume he has company since Cam said Stanislav went missing too.” Tyler scanned the area, looking around Dani. “We’ve got to find someplace for you to hide while I figure out what’s happening. And reiterate the call for back up, for what good it’ll do.”

  * * *

  “Not a big CIA presence in Sighetu Marmaţiei?” Dani asked, feigning bravery.

  Tyler’s apologetic smile answered Dani’s question. Dani began to strategize, as if external to the situation. A large crowd of people had gathered. The grouping of locals was a high-risk area and where they’d most likely find Stanislav’s other allies. If they couldn’t figure out what to do with the virus without her help, they probably didn’t have the capability to aerosolize it. What Dani really wanted to do was to find a way to distribute masks and hand sanitizer to the whole crowd until she figured out how they were planning on spreading it.

  “Tyler. We have to stop the clinic before they distribute vaccines.”

  “We can’t do that without letting Stanislav and his team know we’re on to them. Let me make a call to Morgan. She can try to shut it down through other channels, and we’ll get backup to find the rest of them before they leave. It’s too dangerous for us to spook these guys.” Tyler dialed a number, taking a few more steps deeper into the alley. His tones were whispered and urgent. Morgan must have caught on quickly because he was back at her side in less than a minute.

  “We won’t have backup for at least another hour. We’ve got a team and an emergency helicopter on its way. I’m taking you back to the safe house.”

  “No way.”

  “Dani, it’s not safe.”

  “For them. I have about a ninety-seven percent chance of being perfectly fine.”

  “That’s…specific.”

  “It’s the effectiveness of the measles vaccine. It’s my life. I am the least likely of everyone here to get hurt by this because I know how to handle it.” Dani placed her hands on her hips and waited. She didn’t have everything in her life under control, but this was her area of expertise, what she’d worked her whole life for. If she had to go on the front lines to fight this virus in person because some idiot was using it for political gain, there were very few people in the world more prepared than her.

  Tyler laid a hand on her arm. “Dani, I’m not worried about you getting measles. I’m worried about whoever was on the other end of the gun in Minneapolis not being real happy to see you alive again.” Dani swallowed hard, then remembered the crowd of people gathered in front of the hospital.

  Dani placed her hand over Tyler’s. “Then let’s try not to get me shot.” Her tone was final. Tyler glanced one more time at the end of the alley and then threaded his fingers through hers.

  “Okay. Follow my lead.”

  “Where do we start?”

  “Morgan will get the crowd cleared out within the hour. That’s going to make Stanislav’s men angry and not a little desperate. So we need to see if we can find them, figure out what they’re up to, and stop them before the clinic is supposed to open. And it’s just the two of us.”

  “That’s all, huh?” Dani tried to laugh, but her nerves choked it off.

  “Yep. Let’s do this.”

  31

  Dani shivered as she walked through the large double doors of the hospital, despite the blast of warm air that greeted them. The hospital staff moved at a consistent, efficient pace. She spied someone walking around with a clipboard, commanding the other staff. She checked his name tag, and despite her lack of familiarity with the Romanian tongue, it was impossible for her visual brain to forget the name she’d seen on the doctored charts. She nudged Tyler. “That’s the doc who covered up the measles cases.”

  “Friend or enemy?” Tyler said under his breath.

  “Friend. No question.” Dani didn’t speak Romanian, but in the language of medicine, the doctor had expressed his vehement disapproval about the cover-up.

  “Too bad he doesn’t speak English.”

  Dani raised an eyebrow. “You know what they say about making assumptions.”

  The doctor spied them, stopped in the hallway, and began to approach. He rattled off a few sentences that neither understood, and Tyler put himself between the doctor and Dani. Tyler said, “Do you speak English?”

  The doctor frowned. In perfect English, with a thick accent, he said, “Yes, I speak English. Who are you and what are you doing in my hospital?” Dani’s eyes went wide.

  “We have an appointment.” Tyler lied smoothly and pulled gently on Dani’s elbow to leave.

  Dani held her ground. “Wait, Tyler. May we speak with you privately?” Dani asked the doctor. The doctor eyed her suspiciously and gestured with one finger to an open office.

  “Dani, what are you doing?” Tyler hissed.

  “He’s on our side, Tyler. We need all the help we can get.” Dani said quietly. The doctor held the door to the office open for them and eyed them critically. Dani swallowed hard and entered, with Tyler close behind.

  The doctor closed the door and the room felt suddenly smaller. Too late, Dani became aware of the enormous consequences of her snap judgment. She shrunk back in response to the stern look from the doctor. He had dark features and bushy black eyebrows with a matching mustache. A man in his domain, he sat behind his desk and steepled his hands. “What is your purpose in my hospital?”

  “We’re here with the World Health Organization security team,” Tyler lied smoothly.

  “I know of no such team.”

  “That’s the point,” Dani said, with just the slightest air of superiority.

  Tyler crossed his arms. “We’re investigating a terrorist threat against your hospital, and we believe it’s imminent.”

  The doctor frowned. “I’m afraid you have it wrong. It wasn’t a terrorist action that caused me to contact the World Health Organization to request the vaccine clinic. It was the case of five men coming in with the measles.”

  Dani raised an eyebrow. “Do you want to explain why you changed their records?”

  The doctor’s shoulders fell. “Ah, yes. I was forced by the head of the hospital to change the records. I modified them, as I was directed to do so, but wanted to ensure our population was not under threat. Truly, I didn’t want to change the records.” The doctor’s look was apologetic.

  “We know,” Dani said, softly. “Unless you normally quarantine your patients for five days after getting their tetanus shot?”

  The doctor gave a sad smile. “No. It is not typical for us. So we will have the clinic and it will be taken care of.”

  Tyler cleared his throat. “I’m afraid it’s not that simple. Those men were infected accidentally while trying to build a bioweapon.” The man across from them drew in a breath. “You did the right thing by contacting the WHO, but now we need your help.”

  The man in front of them said, “How can I assist you?”

  “Hav
e you noticed anyone unusual here today? Someone you didn’t recognize?”

  “Yes, the volunteers are all new to the hospital. I would start with them. We have one person collecting names outside, and the rest are sorting through boxes of vaccines and supplies in the hospital laboratory.”

  “Are they alone?”

  “No, they’re being supervised by someone from the World Health Organization.”

  “Did you check his ID?”

  Silence was his only response. The doctor moved towards the door and led the way to the hospital lab. Tyler pulled his gun from its holster. Dani followed him closely. They reached the lab and the doctor entered the room to ask questions of the volunteers. They grunted their responses and Tyler looked through the small window and nodded once. Dani peeked through the window and clapped a hand over her mouth.

  “Oh no. That’s it.” The words tumbled out of her mouth. “The weapon is the men. They are sneezing, coughing. A few of them have rashes on their necks. But they don’t need to have a rash to be contagious. They’re touching everything they can, right before it goes out.”

  The doctor slipped out of the room, closing the door behind him. “Do you need to go in?”

  Dani pulled the doctor by his upper arm, careful not to touch his hand. “You need to do two things. One, you need to scrub your hands up past your elbows before you touch anything else. Two, you need to tell us if that door can be locked from the outside.”

  The doctor startled and Dani gestured to the closed door. “The rashes on their neck.”