“What is going on, girlfriend? I haven’t heard from you in like three weeks, and then you’re all of a sudden, like ‘call me in one minute’ and-”
“I might be in trouble.”
“What?”
“Hang on.” Tessa peered around the corner and saw Officer Muncey standing with her hands on her hips.
“You don’t have books in here, do you?” said Officer Muncey. “I’m on the phone,” Tessa snapped.
Then Officer Muncey unclasped Tessa’s knapsack and dumped Tessa’s clothes onto the table. “Tessa,” she said. “Hang up the phone.”
“Stop those servers!” I told Williamson. “And call the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Tell them to get a team in here now. And, Ms. Prescott, we need to shut down the hotel, quarantine these people. We have to. No one leaves.”
She pursed her lips but only for a moment-probably calculating the losses in tens of millions-and then nodded briskly. “I’ll do it.” This was a woman who wasn’t afraid to make a decision.
“We have to control this,” I said. “Shut it down.”
“We don’t even know what the contagion is,” said Lien-hua.
“I say we take Kincaid out,” said Ralph, drawing his gun. “Fast and clean.”
“Wait, everyone. Wait!” said Lien-hua. “Remember Waco? Jones-town? When these cult leaders get scared a lot of innocent people die. These guys are paranoid, delusional. The more you raise the threat level, the less likely they are to back down. I think we need to negotiate.”
Ralph cracked his knuckles. “Ready to negotiate.”
“Hang on,” I said. “We need Kincaid. He’s the only one who can stop this. Wait a minute. His main target is Sebastian Taylor.” I turned to Ms. Prescott. “Where’s Governor Taylor now?”
“Probably in the presidential suite. He checked in this morning. Room 611.” She pointed. “The elevators are down the hall.”
I took off for the door. “Focus on containing this meal,” I called back. “I’m going after Kincaid.”
Aaron Jeffrey Kincaid knocked exactly four times on the door to Suite 613, and Anita Banner opened the door. “There you are,” she said. “Do you have the rest of my-”
He handed her an envelope of cash. “You’re sure I can get to his balcony from yours?”
She nodded, flipping through the bills. “Positive. I checked it out myself.”
He headed for the balcony. “Be sure to join us for lunch downstairs,” he called back to her. “The roast is to die for.”
“Sit down, Tessa,” said Officer Muncey. “You and I are going to wait right here for your father. He shouldn’t be very long.”
77
“Governor Taylor!” I pounded on the door. “It’s urgent. Open the door.”
The governor swung the door open, eyed me. “Agent Bowers,” he said, “how’s the fishing been?”
“No time for all that.” I rushed past him to search the room. “Has anyone been in here, Governor? The kid remembers. The kid from Jonestown. Aaron Jeffrey Kincaid. We have to stop him-”
“That’s far enough,” said a voice, but it wasn’t the governor’s. Wait a minute, I knew that voice. Whiny. Repulsive. Annoying. I turned and saw Reginald Trembley aiming a. 40 caliber Glock at my face.
Tessa snatched her knapsack from Officer Muncey. “All right, I’ll wait. Whatever! But keep your hands off my stuff!” She began to jam her clothes back into her bag when she heard the front door open.
“Jason,” called Officer Muncey. “Tessa was planning on leaving us.”
Footsteps from the hall leading to the living room.
Tessa glanced out the window. Something wasn’t right.
“Wait a minute,” she whispered. “No car.”
“What?” said Officer Muncey.
Tessa pointed outside. “He left in a car. It’s not here. Besides, we would have heard the engine, the car door slam.” Officer Muncey looked at her curiously. Tessa shook her head. “It’s not him.” She began backing down the hallway toward her bedroom. All she could think of was that treadmill. Those legs.
Footsteps.
“That’s not Officer Stilton,” she whispered.
“What’s going on?” Officer Patricia Muncey had a bewildered look on her face. It was the last expression she would ever have.
“Listen to me,” I said to Governor Taylor and Reginald Trembley. “Both of you. We need to search this suite. Governor, there’s someone who wants to kill you.”
“I know,” he said.
“You do?”
“Oh yes,” said the governor smoothly. He closed the door and slammed the deadbolt into place. “I’ve been doing a little trolling myself.”
I noticed a tray of half-eaten hors d’oeuvres. “Did you eat those? Governor, please. Listen to me-”
“Shut up,” Trembley sneered. “How does it feel to have a gun pointed at you this time, Mr. Federal-Agent- With-The-Bad-Day-And-The-Wicked-Gun?”
“Gun, huh?” said the governor. He reached into my holster and retrieved my SIG. “Hmm. Very nice.”
OK. This was not playing out exactly like I’d envisioned it.
I needed to forget about Kincaid for a minute and just keep from being shot.
Keep them talking. You have to keep them talking.
So that’s what it’s come down to: die or give a briefing.
Wonderful.
“So, you were playing both sides, weren’t you, Trembley?” I was stalling, of course, trying to think of a plan. “Started off investigating Kincaid for Bethanie’s parents, but then Kincaid found out, didn’t he? He offered you a better deal if only you’d find out some information for him about the crimes. How am I doing?”
He smiled a wet, slimy grin.
“Enough,” said Governor Taylor.
“Kincaid needed details, though, right?” I continued quickly. “In order to stage the murders. So that was you? You used your contacts at the police department to get access to the ME reports and crime scene photos. It all makes sense now.”
“Jason Stilton has always been a good friend,” he said smugly. “Do anything for a buck.”
What? Stilton?
“What did you say?” I asked.
Stilton’s name was one of the sixty-two. He had access to the case files.
“Enough!” repeated the governor.
OK, deal with Stilton later. Right now, stay alive.
I pointed at Sebastian Taylor but kept talking to Trembley. “Then you found Sebastian too, didn’t you? Through Kincaid, maybe? Did you threaten to expose the governor’s role in Jonestown unless he-”
“Let’s just say that Mr. Trembley and I have reached an agreement.” Governor Taylor turned to Trembley. “Haven’t we?”
Grinning that moist grin. “Oh yeah.”
“Blackmail,” I said.
“A business transaction,” said the governor. “Now, Dr. Bowers, it’s time for you to die.”
Tessa’s back found the wall as Officer Muncey turned to look down the hallway to the front door.
And what happened next happened so fast it seemed like it was all one action and that all the movements were connected through space and time by a deadly, invisible cord.
The sound of a gunshot ripped through the house. Officer Muncey jerked backward, glanced down at her
