“Yes, Danielson. What do we do?”
“We die, Kelly. Like everybody else. Only quicker.”
CHAPTER 27
“I’m not interested in dying,” I said.
“Who is? Unfortunately, it’s not something that’s up for debate. The pathogen’s going to take its pound of flesh. Then the real fun starts. Washington will go all-out to paint this as a terrorist attack. Put a lid on anything, and anyone, connected to Detrick and the lightbulb angle.”
“That’s you and me?”
“When it comes to something like this, people fall into two categories. Either they can be contained, or they’re killed. I don’t have to tell you which category we fall into.”
“So you just sit around and wait for them to show up?”
“A man always has options. Especially in how he dies.”
“You want to kill yourself, go ahead. Why pull me in?”
“I received some information this morning… ”
“From who?”
“Doesn’t matter. The sting I was running had been compromised.”
“You already knew that.”
“Whoever dropped me the information gave me this as well.”
Danielson pushed a folded piece of paper across the desk. “It’s not much. And I doubt it will help.”
“Why don’t you run it down?”
“I told you. I had my chance. Now people are dead. And someone has to answer.”
I looked at the folded-up slip of paper. “But you think I’ll give it a try?”
Danielson twitched pale fingers in the half-light. Silence twisted itself around us like a shroud. He lifted his gun to my head, before settling on my heart.
“Think of it as a last good act.”
The man from Homeland Security tilted forward and wrapped his lips carefully around the black barrel. Then he leaned back in his chair and stared at me without blinking. Right up until the moment he pulled the trigger.
CHAPTER 28
The bullet did its job. Danielson lay dead at my feet.
I rolled the body over and managed to get the keys for the cuffs out of his pocket. I’d just gotten myself free when my cell phone buzzed. It was Ellen Brazile. And she was whispering.
“You need to get out of there.”
“Where?”
“They know you’re in your apartment.”
I crept to the front windows and peeked through a shade. The sedan was still there, but empty. Down the block were two more government-looking cars, also empty.
“How long?”
“They were going to wait for you to come out, but I think they’re going in. Maybe five minutes. Maybe less. It’s pretty crazy here.”
“How did they find me?”
“I don’t know. Danielson’s dirty.”
“Why do you say that?”
“They found money in an offshore account. He’s probably left the country by now.”
I looked down at the pool of blood widening under the agent’s head. “Probably.”
“They found other things, Michael.”
“What other things?”
“I don’t know. Molly and I don’t believe it, but you’ve got to get out of there.”
“Stay on your cell. I’ll call you later.”
I flipped my phone shut and took another look out the window. The cars were still empty. I sneaked around to the kitchen for a peek out back. There were two more cars and three agents in the alley. Ellen was right. Time to move.
I packed up Danielson’s laptop. Then I crept across the hallway and back into my neighbor’s apartment. I was halfway to the kitchen when Mikey Sanders came out of the bathroom in his boxers.
“Motherfucker.” Mikey swung what looked like a nine iron, missing my head by a good bit and crashing to the floor. I wrestled the club away and slipped a hand across his mouth.
“Mikey, it’s me.” I waited for him to settle. Then I took my hand off his mouth.
“Kelly. I was on the can. Heard a noise in the hall.”
“Were you in here earlier?”
“When?”
“Half an hour ago?”
“I was sleeping. How did you get in?”
“Long story. Listen, you know a little bit about what I do?”
“I know you carry a gun and used to be a cop.”
“Right. I got some bad guys downstairs. Gonna be up here in a few minutes.”
Mikey’s eyes flew down the hall to his front door.
“I don’t think they’ll be coming in here,” I said. “Not without a warrant, anyway.”
“Are they cops?”
“More like the feds.” I waited, knew this was the dicey part.
“Fuck ’em,” Mikey said. “What do you need?”
I smiled. “How would you like to get out of town for a few days?”
My neighbor shrugged. “Love to. No ride.”
I held up the keys to my rental. Then I laid out my plan for getting us both out of the building.
CHAPTER 29
It was another half hour before they moved on my place. I watched through my neighbor’s peephole as three agents crouched in the stairwell. They were dressed in blue FBI jackets with vests underneath. One carried a door ram; the other two, shotguns. I’d left my front door ajar, so they put the ram to one side and crept into the apartment. A minute later, four more agents followed up the stairs. I wasn’t entirely sure if they would try to get into Mikey’s place, but I didn’t think so. If I was black and lived on the South Side, maybe a different story. But I wasn’t. My neighbors knew their rights and could cause problems.
I sat tight by the door for another ten minutes. There was more coming and going and a lot of people talking on radios. Then Mikey Sanders kicked in. I’d given him my cell phone, along with the car keys, and watched him walk out the front door of our building. Feds never gave him a second look. I’d told him to drive at least twenty blocks north and park. He was supposed to call in to voicemail at my office, leave the line open, and toss the cell in the trash somewhere. I was hoping the feds might have put a trace on my phone. I wasn’t disappointed.
Four agents came out of my apartment in single file and clattered down the stairs. I crawled over to the front windows. They piled into three cars and peeled off. I checked the back alley. It, too, was suddenly clean. Best I could tell, there were only two agents left inside my apartment. None outside watching the street. I waited another
