Jesse, who was now in the lead, made a snap decision and detoured into the corridor of the third floor. Everyone followed.
They dashed to the stairwell at the opposite end. Jesse held up until Sheila brought up the rear. As Jesse was about to open the door, he caught a glimpse through the door’s window of someone coming up the stairs. Quickly he ducked down and motioned frantically for the others to do the same. They all heard the heavy footfalls of several people charging up the stairs, heading to the fourth floor.
The moment Jesse thought he heard the stairwell door above close, he pulled open the door in front of him. He looked up. Satisfied the stairwell was now empty, he motioned for the others to follow him down to the ground level.
They regrouped in front of a door that said it was armed and was restricted for emergency use only.
“Everybody here?” Jesse whispered.
“We’re all here,” Eugene said.
“We get in that van and we’re out of here,” Jesse said. “I’ll drive. Let me have the keys.”
Nancy gladly passed them to him.
“Okay, go!” Jesse said. He burst through the door, setting off the alarm. The others followed closely at his heels. They ran half bent over. Within a few seconds they were inside the car, and Jesse had the engine roaring.
“Hang on,” he warned. He gunned the engine. With a screech of tires they rocketed out of the parking lot. Jesse didn’t bother to stop at the security gate. The van hit the black-and-white wooden bar and snapped it cleanly off.
Jonathan turned and looked out the rear window. Glancing up at the darkened windows of the fourth floor, he saw several pairs of glowing eyes. They appeared like cats’ eyes reflecting the beam of a headlight.
Jesse drove rapidly but purposefully within the speed limit. He’d passed a few squad cars and didn’t want to attract their attention.
At a traffic light everyone began to calm down enough to discuss who it could have been that had tried to corner them in the Serotec building. No one had any idea. Nor did anyone know who would have tipped them off. Nancy questioned whether the night security man might be one of “them.”
At the next light, Pitt happened to glance over at the car alongside them. When the driver turned to look at Pitt, his face immediately reflected recognition. Pitt saw him reach for his cellular phone.
“This sounds crazy,” Pitt said. “But I think the guy next to us recognizes us.”
Jesse responded by ignoring the red light. He surged forward between cars, then turned off the main street. They bumped down a back alley.
“Aren’t we going the opposite direction from the airport?” Sheila asked.
“Don’t worry,” Jesse said. “As the expression goes, I know this city like the back of my hand.”
They made a few more surprising turns down small, out-of-the-way streets. Then to everyone’s surprise they sped up an entrance to the freeway that no one in the car besides Jesse knew existed.
They drove the rest of the way to the airport in silence. It was becoming clear to everyone the extent of the conspiracy and that they could not let down their guard.
Jesse drove up to the departure level of the airport and pulled to a halt at terminal C. Everyone piled out of the van.
“We can take care of ourselves from here,” Sheila said, grabbing the briefcase containing the hastily assembled report. “Why don’t the rest of you get back home to safety?”
“We’re going to see you three off,” Jesse said. “I want to make sure there is no more trouble.”
“What about the van?” Pitt asked. “Do you want me to stay here with it?”
“No,” Jesse said. “I want all of us inside.”
The interior of the terminal at that hour was all but deserted. A cleaning crew was polishing the expansive terrazzo floor. The Delta counter was the only one occupied. The monitors said that the Atlanta flight was on time.
“All you people head out to the gate,” Jesse said. “I’ll get the tickets. Just be sure to have your picture IDs handy.”
The group hurried across the terminal and approached airport security. There were a few other passengers who were waiting their turn to put their carry-on baggage into the X-ray detector.
“Where are the black discs?” Cassy whispered to Pitt.
“Eugene has them in his knapsack,” Pitt answered.
At that moment Eugene dropped the knapsack on the conveyer, and it disappeared inside the machine. He stepped through the metal detector.
“What if they set off an alarm?” Cassy said.
“I’m more worried that the security personnel might be one of ‘them’ and recognize the image on X-ray,” Pitt said.
Both Pitt and Cassy held their breath as the woman security guard halted the machine. Her eyes were glued to the X-ray image. It seemed like a full minute before the woman restarted the conveyer belt. Cassy sighed in relief. She and Pitt stepped through the metal detector and caught up with the others.
They all avoided locking eyes with any of the other passengers as they walked out the concourse. It was nerve-racking not knowing who was infected and who wasn’t. As if reading everybody’s mind, Jonathan said: “I think you can tell who they are by either their smiles or their eyes.”
“What do you mean?” Nancy asked.
“It’s either a fake smile or their eyes glow,” Jonathan said. “Of course you can only see the eyes in the dark.”
“I think you are right, Jonathan,” Cassy said. She’d witnessed both.
They arrived at the gate. The plane was already mostly boarded. They moved to the side to wait for Jesse.
“See that woman over there?” Jonathan said while pointing. “Look at that stupid grin. I bet five bucks she’s one of them.”
“Jonathan!” Nancy whispered forcibly. “Don’t be so obvious.”
VINCE GARBON PULLED THE UNMARKED POLICE CAR OVER to the curb, directly behind the Sellerses’ minivan.
“Obviously they are here,” Captain Hernandez said as he got out of the car. A second car pulled up behind the first. Candee, her parents, and the other plainclothes officers emerged.
Like iron filings being drawn to a magnet, a number of infected airport workers immediately drew around the captain and his group.
“Gate 5, terminal C,” one these people said to the captain. “Flight 917 for Atlanta.”
“Let’s go,” Captain Hernandez said. He stepped through the automatic door into the terminal and waved for the others to follow him.
NOW WHERE’S JESSE?” SHEILA ASKED. SHE LOOKED FOR him back along the concourse toward the main terminal. “I don’t want to miss this flight.”
“Eugene,” Nancy whispered to her husband. “With all that’s going on, I’m having second thoughts about leaving Jonathan. Maybe one of us should stay here.”
“I’ll watch out for him,” Jesse said. He’d come up behind the group in time to hear Nancy’s comment. “You do your thing in Atlanta. He’ll be fine.”
“How did you get here?” Sheila asked.
Jesse pointed toward an unmarked, locked door just behind them. “I’ve been to the airport so many times investigating various crimes that I know the place better than my own basement.”
He handed tickets to Nancy, Eugene, and Sheila. Nancy gave her son one last hug. Jonathan remained stiff with his arms at his side.
“You be careful, hear me?” Nancy said, trying vainly to look Jonathan in the eye.
“Mom!” Jonathan complained.
“Let’s go,” Sheila said. “It’s last call.”
With Sheila in the lead and Nancy bringing up the rear to give her son a final wave, the three checked in at the gate, showed their picture ID’s then disappeared down the jetway. A few minutes later the jetway pulled back from the plane and the plane taxied out into the night.
Jesse turned from the window with a sigh of relief. “They’re off, thank God,” he said. “But now we…”
Jesse didn’t get to finish his sentence
because he saw Captain Hernandez and Vince Garbon leading a large pack of people. They were walking quickly down the center of the concourse, heading directly toward gate 5.
Cassy saw the cloud descend over Jesse’s face and started to ask what was wrong. But Jesse didn’t give her a chance. Roughly he herded the group back against the unmarked door.
“What’s going on?” Pitt demanded.
Jesse ignored him and quickly punched in the combination on the keypad next to the doorknob. The door opened. “Go!” he commanded.
Cassy was first through the door followed by Jonathan and then Pitt. Jesse pulled the door shut behind himself.
“Come on!” he whispered harshly. He rapidly descended a flight of metal stairs, and ran along a corridor until he came to a door to the outside. On a series of pegs next to the door were yellow rain ponchos with hoods. Quickly he tossed one to each of the others and told them to put them on, including the hoods.
Everyone complied. Cassy asked who he’d seen.
“The chief of police,” Jesse said. “And I know for sure he’s one of them.”
Once again typing the combination onto a keypad, Jesse opened the door to the outside. The group stepped out onto the tarmac. They were directly below the jetway for gate 5.
“See that luggage train over there?” Jesse said as he pointed. It was a tractor-like vehicle hitched to a string of five baggage carts. It was parked about fifty feet away. “We are going to walk over there real casual like. The problem is we’ll be visible from the windows above. Once there you all are going to climb into one of the baggage cars. Then, God willing, we’ll ride back to terminal A, not C.”
“But our car is at terminal C,” Pitt said.
“We’re leaving the car,” Jesse said.
“We are?” Jonathan asked. He was shocked. It was his parents’ car.
“Damn right we are,” Jesse said. “Let’s go!”
They got to the baggage cart without incident. Everyone was tempted to look up into the windows, but no one did.
Jesse started the engine while the others climbed aboard. They were thankful for Jesse’s decisive authority. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief as the baggage train twisted around like a snake and then headed for terminal A.
They passed a few airline workers, but no one challenged Jesse’s performance. They arrived at terminal A baggage claim without incident. There, they again benefited from Jesse’s knowledge of the airport layout and procedure. Within minutes they were outside on the arrival level waiting for the airport bus.
“We’ll take the bus back to the city center,” Jesse said. “I can get my car from there.”
“What about my parents’ van?” Jonathan asked.
“I’ll take care of it tomorrow,” Jesse said.
The sound of a huge jet thundered overhead, making conversation momentarily impossible.
“That must have been them,” Jonathan said as soon as he could be heard above the din.
“Now if they can only find receptive people at the CDC,” Pitt said.
“They have to,” Cassy said. “It could be our only chance.”
BEAU WAS OCCUPYING THE MASTER SUITE AT THE CHTEAU. There were French doors over a balcony that looked down on the terrace and the swimming pool. The doors were ajar and a soft night breeze rustled the papers on the desk. Randy Nite and a few of his more senior people were there, going over the work that had been accomplished that day.
“I’m really pleased,” Randy said.
“So am I,” Beau said. “Things couldn’t be going better.” He ran his hand through his hair and his fingers touched the area of altered skin behind his right ear. He scratched it, and it felt good.
The phone rang and one of Randy’s assistants answered. After a quick conversation he handed the phone to Beau.
“Captain Hernandez,” Beau said happily. “Good of you to call.”
Randy tried to hear what the captain was saying, but he couldn’t.
“So they are on their way to the CDC in Atlanta,” Beau said. “I’m glad you called to let us know, but I assure you there won’t be a problem.”
Beau disconnected but did not hang up the receiver. Instead he dialed another number with a 404 area code. When the call was answered Beau said: “Dr. Clyde Horn, this is Beau Stark. That group of people I told you about today is on their way to Atlanta as we speak. I imagine they’ll be at the CDC tomorrow so handle them as we discussed.”
Beau replaced the receiver.
“Do you expect any trouble?” Randy asked.
Beau smiled. “Of course not. Don’t be silly.”
“Are you sure you should have let that Cassy Winthrope leave today?” Randy asked.
“Goodness, you are a worrywart tonight,” Beau said. “But yes, I’m sure. She’s been rather special to me, and I decided I didn’t want to force her. I want her to embrace the cause voluntarily.”
“I don’t understand why you care,” Randy said.
“I’m not sure why I do either,” Beau admitted. “But enough of this talk. Come outside! It’s almost time.”
Beau and Randy stepped out onto the balcony. After a glance up at the night sky, Beau stuck his head back inside the room and asked one of the assistants to go down and turn off the underwater lights in the pool.
A few minutes later the pool lights went out. The effect was dramatic. The stars were much more intense, especially those in the galactic core of the Milky Way.
“How much longer?” Randy asked.
“Two seconds,” Beau said.
No sooner had the words escaped from Beau’s lips than the sky lit up with a profusion of shooting stars. Literally thousands of them rained down like a gigantic fireworks display.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Beau said.
“Marvelous,” Randy said.
“It’s the final wave,” Beau said. “The final wave!”
14
8:15 A.M.
“I’VE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THIS,” JESSE SAID.
“You know what I’m saying. I mean, how long does it take three young people to get themselves together to go out for breakfast?”
“It’s Cassy’s fault,” Pitt said. “She was in the bathroom for eight years.”
“That’s untrue,” Cassy said, taking immediate umbrage. “I didn’t take as long as Jonathan here. Besides, I had to wash my hair.”
“I didn’t take long,” Jonathan said.
“You most certainly did,” Cassy said.
“All right, enough already,” Jesse shouted. Then in a more moderate tone he added: “I’ve just forgotten what it’s like having kids around.”
They had stayed the night at Pitt’s second cousin’s apartment, thinking it was the safest place. It had worked out fine with Pitt and Jonathan sharing a bedroom. The only minor problem had been the single bathroom.
“Where should we eat?” Jesse asked.
“We usually eat at Costa’s,” Cassy said. “But I think the waitress there is an infected person.”
“There’s going to be infected people no matter where we go,” Jesse said. “Let’s go to Costa’s. I don’t want to go anyplace where I might run into any of my fellow officers.”
It was a beautiful morning as they emerged into the sunlight. Jesse had them wait by the front door a few minutes while he went out to reconnoiter his car. When he saw no evidence of it having been tampered with, he waved them over. They piled in.
“I got to stop for gas,” Jesse informed them as he pulled out into the street.
“There’s still a lot of people walking around,” Jonathan said. “Just like last night. And they all have that weird shit-eating grin.”
“Foul language is no longer cool,” Cassy admonished.
“Jeez, you sound like my mother,” Jonathan said.
They drove into a gas station. Jesse got out to pump the gas. Pitt got out to keep him company.
“Have you been noticing what I have?” Jesse asked when the tank was almost full. Th
e gas station was very busy at that time in the morning.
“Are you referring to the fact that everybody seems to have the flu?” Pitt commented.
“That’s exactly what I’m referring to,” Jesse said. Most everyone they saw was either coughing, sneezing, or looking pale.
A few blocks away from the diner, Jesse pulled over to the curb at a newsstand and asked Pitt to get a paper. Pitt got out and waited his turn. Like the gas station, the newsstand was busy. As Pitt got closer to the stacks of papers, he noticed that each was being held down with a black disc!
Pitt asked the proprietor about his paperweights.
“Cute little things, ain’t they?” he said.
“Where did you get them?” Pitt asked.
“They were all over my yard this morning,” the man said.
Pitt ducked back into the car with the paper and told the others about the black discs.
“Wonderful!” Jesse said sarcastically. He glanced at the headlines: Mild Flu Spreading. “As if we didn’t know that already,” he added.
Cassy took the paper in the back seat and read the article as Jesse drove on to Costa’s.
“It says the illness is miserable but short,” Cassy said. “At least for healthy people. For people with chronic diseases, it advises them to seek medical attention at the first sign of symptoms.”
“A lot of good that’s going to do them,” Pitt commented.
Once inside Costa’s they took a booth toward the front. Pitt and Cassy were on the lookout for Marjorie. They didn’t see her. When a boy about Jonathan’s age came over to take their order, Cassy asked about the waitress.
“She went to Santa Fe,” the boy said. “A lot of our staff went there. That’s why I’m working. I’m Stephanos, Costa’s son.”
After Stephanos disappeared back into the kitchen, Cassy told the others about what she’d seen in Santa Fe. “They’re all working at this castlelike house,” she added.
“What are they doing?” Jesse asked.
Cassy shrugged. “I asked; it was a natural question. But Beau just gave me platitudes and generalities about a new beginning and making everything right, whatever the hell that meant.”