had a potentially huge effect on the way other infectious diseases are treated.'
Hood felt his anger ignite, something bright and violent but controlled. Father Joe Leftwich with a little bat in his hands. Sean Ozburn. Seliah.
'I'll put Wisconsin and CDC on alert,' said Brennan. 'They can get the serum antibody test done faster than I can. Other tests will be necessary to confirm the virus. If she's symptomatic with rabies, then she only has a short time to live. I mean days. Maybe a week.'
'How is Seliah doing since you admitted her?'
A silence and a sigh. 'She checked herself out about two hours after you left. We've called her cell and home and left messages. No return calls. Before I do anything else I'm going to call the Health Department. They'll get the Sheriffs to bring her in if she's not cooperative.'
Hood remembered Seliah's surprising strength, her erratic and erotic aggression, her derangement. 'If she's not cooperative, look out.'
'I've read about their strength,' said Brennan. 'And the aggression. Rabid dogs get violent, too. Foxes, bats, all of them.'
Hood punched off and called Soriana, told him the facts. Told him they needed to round up Seliah Ozburn and get her to Milwaukee yesterday.
'I'll have people to her place in less than an hour.'
'Frank, if she's got this thing, she's very dangerous.'
'I understand that. We'll subdue her.'
'What's the word on Sean?'
Soriana said nothing for a long moment. Hood looked through the dining room and saw Itixa padding her way to the bar.
'About two o'clock today Sean wasted two young men in our San Ysidro house. Came up back side again, walked right by the exterior camera and smiled up at us. Didn't bother to take out the surveillence system this time. He just barged right in and shot them. No shotgun anymore. He used a couple of those Love Thirty-twos you guys came up with. One in each hand. Eighty shots fired in probably about five seconds. Carnage. We got the whole thing. It's his death sentence.'
'One of them.'
'We could use you here, Charlie.'
He was out on the nine twenty to L.A. the next morning. Seven hours later Hood, Bly, Morris and Velasquez were in the Ozburn home in San Clemente. Seliah's car was not in the garage; the laptop was gone; there were a few clothes on hangers left strewn on the unmade bed. Hood and Bly poked around in the closet but couldn't find the red slip-on sneaks or the Angels cap she'd worn to the restaurant a few evenings before. Or the cobalt blue robe for that matter. The mirrors were still covered or turned to the walls.
'What's with the mirrors?' asked Morris.
'We've all been wondering that,' said Bly.
'Creepy, man.'
Morris and Velasquez tried to coax something useful from an older desktop computer in the spare room, without luck.
Hood had already been told what to expect here, but he wanted to see it for himself. He'd also learned that Seliah had changed the password for her laptop computer. No surprise there. He looked around the living room again, the curtains closed tight over the sun blinds and the house dark but uncharacteristically warm. Hood checked the thermostat and it was turned off. Seliah was gone as gone could be.
His phone buzzed. 'Deputy Hood, Dr. Brennan. We couriered the blood sample up to L.A. yesterday evening. Seliah is positive for the rabies antibody. They'll run other tests to confirm, but she almost certainly has the rabies virus in her, too. We have to assume she does.'
'Have you talked to the Medical College of Wisconsin?'
'UCI Medical Center can do the protocol right here in Orange County. Rodney Willoughby is willing to personally consult. In fact, he insists on it. But UCI can't do the protocol without the patient.'
'We're working on it.'
'She might have just a few days to live.'
Hood rang off and gave the other agents the news. Not one of them spoke. They stood looking down or at the thin line of sunlight coming through the window.
'I'm going to try again,' he said. He dialed Seliah's cell number and got the recording so he left another message about what he had discovered in Costa Rica, and what Brennan was testing for. Then he sent her an e- mail, his third in the last two hours. Dear Seliah, The test came back positive for the antibody. They can do the Milwaukee Protocol up in Orange County. But it has to happen fast. As in right now. Please call me. Please answer this. Please come back from wherever you've gone, and bring Sean, and we'll get you both to the hospital and treatment. You can win this, Seliah. You and Sean don't have to suffer. Love, Charlie A minute later she wrote back from her new e-mail address. 'She's back,' said Hood. 'She's back!' From: Seliah [[email protected]] Sent: Monday, October 24, 2011 3:24 p.m. To: Hood, Charlie Subject: this situation Dear Charlie, I can't believe what has happened. I'm not sure I do believe it. But I'm not coming back for treatment without Sean. I'm going to work on him because if what you say is true then his infection is two or three weeks ahead of mine. Apologies for my quirky behavior last Wednesday. I didn't appreciate you committing me to the hospital until now and I retract anything ugly I may have said. If rabies is what I have, I can tell you it brings some wicked evil thoughts into a brain. They are like nothing I've ever had. Stand by. Seliah
26
Bradley was led into Narcotics Bureau Commander Miranda Dez's office in the LASD headquarters. A sergeant held open the door for him, then closed it when Bradley had stepped inside. Bradley wore his uniform and no sling, although he was not scheduled back to work for two more days. He carried a trim briefcase that Erin had given him one Christmas, with his initials embossed on the smooth black leather.
Commander Dez came around her desk and shook Bradley's hand. She looked as good as a woman could in such a uniform. Her hand was warm and firm. 'Have a seat. Must be nice to have that sling off.'
'Yes, it is.' Bradley sat and set the briefcase on the floor. 'The wound is healing up pretty well. Back to work in a couple of days.'
'We've never met, have we?'
'No. I've seen you in the cafeteria, and once at the court-house.'
She smiled. 'I should have personally congratulated you on the Stevie Carrasco rescue.'
'I don't feel like I did anything special. The whole thing felt like I was on autopilot.'
'I was involved in a shooting once. Afterward I couldn't remember specifics. Couldn't remember how many shots were fired, how many people were there. I couldn't even remember the knife that was pulled on me. So, good job, Deputy Jones. You made us all proud.'
Miranda Dez was pretty and firmly built and when she smiled Bradley was reminded of his mother. When she didn't smile he was reminded of her also. And when she spoke, walked, sat, talked. It was uncanny. It wasn't so much that they looked alike. Similar, he thought, not alike. But the first time he saw her, in the HQ cafeteria, tray in hand, talking to one of her captains, Bradley had to watch her.
'Are you enjoying your work here?'
'Yes, I am. The best thing about it is the people I work with. I feel like I fit in.'
She smiled. 'I know that feeling. Kind of like a big family. I know that's been said before, but it's true.'
Bradley nodded and looked at her. His mother had had a lovely face. Commander Dez's face was lovely in the same way-slender, serious, eyes dark, ghosts contained. Then the smile, subtle and promising as a break of dawn. She drove a red Corvette and his mother had always loved red Corvettes, although she'd never owned one.
'What about you?' he asked.
'Me?'
'Are you enjoying your work here?'
