CHAPTER 57
Nick, Ronnie and Selena were in Lamont's hospital room. It was eight in the morning. The remains of a mediocre institutional breakfast curdled on a tray near his bedside.
"Nick, you guys gotta get me some decent food. This stuff can make you sick."
"If it does, you're in the right place," Ronnie said.
"Yeah, right."
"Next time we come, we'll bring you a pizza," Nick said.
"How's your leg, Shadow?" Selena asked.
"The doc said it's going to take a few months to heal. The bone was busted up pretty bad. He said I'll have a permanent limp. It could've been worse. They almost had to amputate."
No one said anything for a moment.
"I've been thinking," Lamont said.
"There you go again with that thinking stuff," Ronnie said. "You have to stop doing that. It only confuses you."
"No, seriously. I'm tired of spending time in places like this and I'm getting too damn old to take any more hits like this one. It's time for me to quit."
They all started talking at once.
"Lamont…"
"What do you mean…"
"We need you…"
"Hey," Lamont said. "My mind's made up. I'm getting too beat up to keep doing this. It's going to take months for the strength to come back in my leg and even when it does, I won't be able to move like I used to. I'd be a liability. Besides, I'm tired of getting shot at."
"You sound certain," Nick said.
"I am."
Their pagers went off. Nick looked at the display. "Harker just sent a 911," he said to Lamont. "We have to go. We'll talk about this the next time we see you."
"Sure. Just remember to bring that pizza."
Lamont watched his friends go. A sudden wave of pain shot up his leg. He pressed the call button for the nurse.
Going down in the elevator, Nick said, "I knew this had to happen sooner or later. I just didn't know who would be first."
"Maybe he'll change his mind," Selena said.
"I don't think so," Nick said. "He has a point about the leg. If he can't cut it physically he'd put himself and us at risk. He might not worry much about himself but he'd never do something to jeopardize us."
"How are we going to replace him?" Ronnie asked.
"I don't know."
"I wonder what Harker wants?" Selena said.
"We'll find out soon enough."
When they got to headquarters, Elizabeth and Stephanie were waiting for them.
"About time," Elizabeth said.
"We were visiting Lamont," Nick said. "What's up, Director?"
"Senator Randolph Mitchell was assassinated last night."
"Who killed him?"
Elizabeth cast a sideways glance at Stephanie. "The Russians. It was Valentina Antipov. Videos from the security cameras at the restaurant caught her dropping something in his drink."
Oh, oh, Nick thought.
Selena's face closed down. "You're certain? There can't be a mistake?"
"No. There's no doubt at all."
"I can't believe this," she said.
"We're monitoring terminals out of the city but she's probably already gone."
Stephanie said, "We weren't sure Mitchell was part of AEON. Now we are."
Elizabeth said, "It was the Russians who hit Krivi as well. I spoke with the deputy director of India's intelligence agency earlier. The people who killed him were using AK's, which doesn't tell us anything. But they found Spetsnaz tattoos on two of the bodies."
"Do the Indians know we're the ones who took them out?"
"I didn't think they needed to know that. They're still upset about what happened when you were there before. There's more."
"I can't wait to hear it," Ronnie said.
Harker gave him one of her hard looks.
"Krivi's chief research scientist landed at Kennedy this morning. He's traveling with a false passport under the name of Kurtz."
"Schmidt?" Nick said. "The guy we followed in Zürich?"
"The same."
"What's he doing here?"
"That's the question isn't it?" Elizabeth fiddled with her pen. "I'm sending you to New York to find out."
"How do we find one man in the middle of New York City?"
"He checked into a midtown hotel, one of those boutique places that compete with the big names. You can start there."
"What do you want us to do when we find him?"
"Take him someplace where you won't be bothered and ask him a few questions. Find out why he's here. Be careful. Remember, he's the one who plays with plague. I'm sure he's protected against it, but you aren't. Find out if there are any supplies of vaccine that weren't in Krivi's factory."
"What's happening in Brazil?" Selena asked.
"The plague is spreading. The Brazilian government quarantined the infected area but some carriers slipped through the roadblocks. The first cases have appeared in two cities along the northern coast. If we don't find a way to stop it soon, it's going to kill a lot of people."
"Is there any progress on a cure?"
"CDC is working around the clock. So is the World Health Organization. The best medical researchers in the world are trying to find a way to stop it. The White House is putting pressure on the North Koreans for information but no one's holding their breath waiting for an answer. Pyongyang's official line is that they don't know anything about it and anyone who says differently is part of a vicious attack by the warmongering, capitalistic West."
"Yeah, right," Ronnie said.
"Hood sent a team to Zürich. They're raiding Krivi's corporate headquarters tonight. There's bound to be something there about the vaccine. They'll find it and bring it back."
"If the Russians hadn't decided to interfere, that bug would still be locked up somewhere in the mountains of North Korea," Selena said.
"Vysotsky has a lot to answer for," Elizabeth said. "In the meantime, go find Schmidt."
CHAPTER 58
The clerk at the hotel desk seemed mesmerized by Selena's breasts.
"Mister Kurtz? Yes, he checked in yesterday. But he's not here at the moment."
"Oh?" Selena resisted the urge to slap him. "Do you know when he'll be back?"
"He's gone to the Metropolitan Museum. The hotel provides tickets for guests as part of our current promotion. Would you like to leave a message?"
"No. No message."
Nick and Ronnie waited for her outside the lobby entrance.
"The desk clerk is a creep," Selena said. "Kurtz isn't there. He's gone to the Met."
"The museum?" Nick asked.
"Is there another Met in New York?"
"The opera."
"Mets. Baseball team," Ronnie said.
Selena ignored him. "I don't think Kurtz is here to go sightseeing."
Nick stepped into the street and waved for a cab. Three ignored them before one stopped. They climbed in. The driver wore a full, bushy beard and a wool watch cap in rainbow colors. The car smelled of spicy takeout food and sweat. Nick rolled down his window.
"The Met."
The driver grunted, started the meter and turned out into traffic. They were on Lexington Avenue at forty-ninth. The museum was blocks away at seventy-fifth, across from Central Park on Fifth Avenue.
Shocks in the taxi were a thing of the distant past. The car crawled through the Manhattan traffic, jolting Nick's spine with every pothole.
"What's the plan?" Ronnie asked.
"Find Schmidt and get him somewhere private."
"The museum is a big place and it's going to be crowded," Selena said. "He could be anywhere."
"That's what worries me," Nick said. "The Koreans were working on an aerosol delivery system for the plague. What if Schmidt is here to release it? All he has to do is find a crowded room and spray it into the air. Everyone would be infected. In a few weeks half the city would be down with it."