CHAPTER 93
C urtis felt the pit of his stomach tighten as the white, unmarked CIA Learjet taxied to a halt beside the black Learjet 60 with the unmistakable gold ‘H’ on the tail fin. Could Halliwell have returned early? he wondered.
Special Agent Rob Bauer, a rugged-looking veteran FBI operative Curtis had known and worked with for over twenty years, was waiting for him with a search warrant for Halliwell Tower and a warrant for Halliwell’s arrest.
‘Halliwell arrived a quarter of an hour ago,’ Rob said, as they climbed into his unmarked car. ‘I’ve got back up from the Atlanta Police Department but I kept them at a distance until I knew how you wanted to play this one.’ Two dark blue patrol cars with the familiar red stripe of the Atlanta Police Department had taken up positions some distance from the entrance to Halliwell Pharmaceuticals. Rob Bauer was well aware the entrance was under continual surveillance. ‘You know better than I do that if we arrest this guy the shit’s going to hit the fan big time,’ Rob said, as he swung out of the VIP arrivals area at the airport.
Curtis nodded. The trust between the two was rock solid. ‘That’s putting it mildly, buddy, but you’re going to have to trust me on this one. Halliwell is not the only high flyer mixed up in criminal activities here, but we need to get there in a hurry, Rob. I’ve a feeling that the life of one of my officers is on the line.’
Rob Bauer put a portable flashing blue light on the roof of the car and switched to the frequency of the two patrol cars. The time for subtlety had long disappeared, both men gambling that the sounds of sirens might make Halliwell think twice.
Deep in the tunnel underneath the Halliwell Tower, neither Dr Halliwell nor the two women he was shepherding towards the hot zone at the far end heard anything other than footsteps echoing eerily off the reinforced cement walls.
Halliwell pointed his Luger menacingly at Kate. ‘You first! Get on the trolley!’ he demanded. Keeping the pistol pointed at Kate’s head, he clipped and tightened the straps around her ankles with one hand, then anchored her wrists.
‘You’re next,’ Halliwell snarled, turning his attention to Simone. Simone fell off the trolley at her first attempt, the stainless steel gurney running into the far wall of the preparation room with a loud clang. Halliwell put the pistol back in his pocket, retrieved the trolley and manhandled Simone onto it. ‘A pity you let your curiosity get the better of you,’ he sneered as he wheeled the trolley into a waiting bay. ‘From the research I’ve done, Ebolapox works even better on humans than it does on the chimps, but we can always do with a healthy specimen like you to confirm it. It’s one of the cornerstones of scientific research.’ Simone’s red hair was in disarray and her green eyes reflected her fear of Halliwell. She had always known Halliwell to be ruthless, but even she had not detected the mind of the monster standing over her. ‘Any hypothesis requires very rigorous testing before it is proven and the tests must be able to be replicated many times,’ he snarled.
Simone fought against the nylon straps holding her down as the effects of the alcohol started to wane. There had been many times when she’d witnessed Halliwell exercise charm to control people, but now he was showing he was equally at home with violence. Simone shuddered. A psychopath, running for the highest office in the United States.
Halliwell left the curtain open. ‘You should watch this,’ he said, as he moved back to the other trolley.
He ran his hand slowly up the inside of Kate’s thigh.
Kate spat at him as he caressed her crotch. ‘You filthy deranged bastard. Get your hands off me.’
‘You’re going to regret that,’ Halliwell said coldly, as he wiped his face and went in search of some tape.
Rob Bauer screeched to a halt at the Halliwell guardhouse. The sirens of the two Atlanta Police Department patrol cars died as they stopped behind.
‘FBI. Open the gate,’ Bauer said, flashing his badge.
The guard hesitated and turned towards his supervisor, who was trying to reach Halliwell on the phone. The supervisor shook his head as Halliwell’s phone rang out. The man’s orders were explicit, no one got in without authority and he would need to hold the police until he could get in touch with the boss. Curtis could see Halliwell’s red McLaren sports car parked in front of the Tower entrance.
‘He’s here and he was in a hurry,’ Curtis said calmly as the senior security guard came over to the window.
‘You can’t-’
For as long as Curtis cared to remember, Special Agent Rob Bauer had shared his own preference for the Ruger. 44 Magnum as his weapon of choice. ‘Open the gate or you’ll spend the next fifteen years of your life in a penitentiary protecting your butt from some very nasty inmates.’
Curtis forced himself to focus on what he had to do and detached himself from his feelings for Kate as the lift shot up to the reception area on the thirty-seventh floor. Finding the combination locked, Curtis drew his revolver and blasted it off the door. Seconds later they were in Halliwell’s office. A mobile was ringing on the desk where Halliwell had left it. The guardhouse was still frantically trying to reach him.
‘A couple of your guys might like to check the floor below,’ Curtis said to Bauer. ‘Dr Braithwaite’s office is at the far end, but I’ve got a feeling she won’t be there,’ he added and he strode over to the walnut-panelled lift doors on the far side of Halliwell’s big office. Simone had not been the only one to leave the key in place and deep below the lift doors closed silently.
Kate spat at Halliwell again and he slapped her face.
‘Mustn’t do that,’ Halliwell said, slowly and deliberately. ‘Naughty girls get injected with Ebolapox and you’re being very, very naughty.’
Despite her bravado, fear filled Kate’s gut with ice. Halliwell’s grey eyes were devoid of emotion and she came to the same conclusion as Simone. Not for the first time in history had a dangerous psychopath, driven by a lust for power, got close to obtaining leadership of his country. Richard Halliwell was just a few primaries away from winning the Republican nomination for the White House. Kate winced as he stretched the thick industrial tape over her mouth.
‘Perhaps this is best done to Beethoven’s Fifth?’ Halliwell said, switching on the stereo. ‘Such majestic music. Da da da dah… Da da da dah…’ he sang along with the opening stanzas.
‘Very nice,’ Halliwell leered, his erection growing. His hands wandered inside Kate’s bra then slid down inside her pants. Kate willed herself to remain calm so that she didn’t choke on the bile rising in her throat.
CHAPTER 94
‘B usiness or pleasure, Mr Ferraro?’ the young Chinese immigration officer asked, her English greatly improved. The Chinese government had introduced an English program for everyone likely to be involved with international visitors almost as soon as they’d won the Games. Nothing was going to stand in the way of the Beijing Olympics being ‘the best games ever’. The Games were China’s passport into the twenty-first century.
‘Business,’ Ferraro replied politely.
She smiled again as she checked his face against the photo in his American passport. ‘Enjoy your stay.’
The Beijing arrivals hall was packed with thousands of people coming in for the Opening Ceremony of the Games, due in just six days time. al-Falid headed straight for the car park at Terminal 2 where one of Khalid Kadeer’s men was waiting for him.
‘Everything is in place?’ al-Falid asked, taking the bag containing the Walther P38.
His driver nodded. ‘All of our people have been briefed and all of them have access to the airconditioning systems. We picked up the vaccines from the docks at Qingdao and they are being distributed to those who need
