Andres balanced a bowl of popcorn on his knee. He had plugged his iPad into Joe’s speaker system and Estonian Christmas carols played softly in the background. At least Joe thought that they were Christmas carols — they could have been lullabies or funeral marches, for all he knew.
Andres had insisted that they create garlands of popcorn and cranberries. Joe had tried until he’d poked himself under the thumbnail with a needle for the third time. Vivian claimed she hadn’t heard that much swearing since she’d left the Army.
Joe’s cell phone blared Jingle Bells, and he hurried to silence it, but not before Celeste gave him a mocking look for having a holiday ring tone.
He’d barely answered before the man on the other end launched into a complicated question.
“Hang on.” Joe glanced around the room. “I have to take this, but it won’t take long. It’s work.”
Taking the stairs two at a time, he went to his upstairs office to get his laptop. He’d gone back to work the last time that Pellucid had asked him. It felt good to be using his brain again, solving problems, setting up systems to catch bad guys.
Making a difference.
It didn’t take him long to answer the programmer’s questions, but he hesitated for a moment, thinking back to a conversation he’d had with Vivian when she’d first arrived at the party. He hadn’t seen her since the night that she’d knocked out the agents and held the elevator for him.
He’d put a mug of warm mulled wine in her hand and taken a sip of his own.
“Why didn’t you release the encrypted page?” she’d asked. “The one that you said linked the doctor to the CIA? They got off scot-free.”
“I know,” Joe said. “And I would have released it, damn the consequences, except for one thing.”
Her voice sounded skeptical. “What was that?”
“The encrypted page was blank.”
Her eyes widened. “It was a bluff?”
“It kept them from shooting us when the elevator got to the top floor,” he said. “And it’s still keeping them cautious.”
She’d grinned and clinked her cup against his. “Well played, sir.”
Joe smiled, remembering, and turned to return to the party, but before he could go back downstairs, his phone rang again.
“I’m sorry to disturb you so late.” Joe recognized the voice. Dr. Samuels.
His heart skipped a beat. “Yes?”
“The test results are in.”
“And?” Joe asked.
“We’ve definitely established that you do not have toxoplasmosis.”
Joe could tell that more news was coming. “That’s good.”
“Some of the results seem to indicate that you might have been dosed with certain experimental substances that may have triggered your agoraphobia.”
“You mean, someone did this to me on purpose?”
“We don’t know.”
When Joe ended the connection a minute later, he stood in his darkened office, staring at the drapery covering a window that opened to nowhere.
Who would poison him?
He had to know.
Acknowledgments
Putting down Joe Tesla’s adventures took a lot of help. Thanks goes first to my wonderful writing group who, as always, helped make the story shine: Kathryn Wadsworth, Judith Heath, David Deardorff, Karen Hollinger, and Ben Haggard. You guys are so talented at writing and editing. I’m proud to know you.
Thanks also to my writer friends, who provided advice and sanity checks — Andrew Peterson, James Rollins, Sean Black, Kelli Stanley, and CJ Lyons. Writing can be a lonely journey, and I’m grateful for the way stations you guys provide.
The book would not be what it is without the care of my agents, Mary Alice Kier and Anna Cottle, and my copy editor, Joyce Lamb; plus a shout-out to Kit Foster for the great cover. I received advice about the workings of the subway itself from Joseph Brennan. I’m sure I’ve managed to sneak some errors in despite his help, but that’s not his fault.
And last, and most important of all, thank you to my husband and son for being kind, supportive, and thoughtful while I slipped away to my underground world. I’ll be topside again for a while, but then I have this idea…
About the Author
Thank you for reading “The World Beneath.” I hope that you enjoyed the story!
I’m REBECCA CANTRELL, the award-winning and New York Times bestselling thriller author of this book. My other novels include the Order of Sanguines series, starting with The Blood Gospel and the award-winning Hannah Vogel mystery series, starting with A Trace of Smoke. My husband, son, and I just left Hawaii's sunny shores for adventures in Berlin, Germany.
If you’d like to find out more about my novels, visit my web site at http://www.rebeccacantrell.com/ I have them all listed there, in order, plus some extra content about researching them and the worlds in which they take place. To purchase them for your Kindle, please go to the next page.
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