“And then you killed Lusetti.”
She nodded. “He untied me for a bathroom break right after the call with his boss. I knew I had the upper hand in any struggle. I knew he couldn’t risk killing me before he had the fountain of youth. I was able to hit him with a marble bookend while he was trying to incapacitate me. I didn’t want to kill him,” she insisted, her voice distraught. “It just happened that way.”
Desh’s eyes narrowed. “So you rushed to Lusetti’s apartment, hoping you could learn who was pulling his strings,” he said.
“That’s right. I took his laptop and a file I found with my name on it and went straight to the airport. I took the first flight to Cincinnati, using one of the false identities I already had in place. I studied the file and laptop on the plane, but neither contained Moriarty’s identity.”
Kira gathered herself. “I’m sure you’ve guessed the rest by now,” she said. “The plane landed and I raced to my brother’s house. I was determined to do whatever it took to save his life.”
“But you were too late,” said Desh solemnly.
A tortured expression came over Kira’s face and eyes. “I was too late,” she repeated softly, shuddering. She picked up a napkin and wiped away several tears that had begun to roll their way slowly down her face. “I had a special relationship with my brother Alan. He was five years older and always looked out for me. When other kids taunted me because I was different, or because I had skipped a few grades, he defended me. And then when my parents died—”
Her voice broke. She paused and fought to get her emotions under control. “Alan was in college then,” she said finally, her voice regaining strength. “At Ohio State. He took a year off to stay with me to make sure I would be okay. I pleaded with him not to put his own life on hold for me, but he wouldn’t hear of it. He didn’t go back to finish his degree until I left for college myself.”
Desh nodded sympathetically and waited for her to continue, but her expression indicated she was emotionally spent and couldn’t bear to talk about her brother any further.
“So once you realized you were too late to save him,” said Desh solemnly, “you knew you had to vanish from the grid.”
She nodded.
“I am truly sorry,” he said softly.
Silence hung over them like a rain cloud for several long seconds.
“You killed Lusetti,” said Desh finally. “But this was clearly in self defense. If what you say is true than you really haven’t committed any crimes.”
She sighed. “If you don’t count illegal human experimentation and misappropriation of corporate resources.”
“I don’t,” said Desh without hesitation.
Kira tried to force a smile but couldn’t quite manage it. “Moriarty has been hunting me ever since. He was probably already wealthy and powerful when he got into the game, not to mention ruthless. But it wouldn’t take twenty-three hours of superhuman intelligence to create immense wealth and power. I started with very little and created a fortune in no time. Think about what he’s been able to do in the last several years.”
Desh did and it wasn’t a pretty picture. “Any ideas who he might be?”
“None,” she said, beginning to recover her emotional equilibrium. “Whoever it is will be very subtle about his wealth and power. You won’t find him on the cover of business magazines. The truly powerful don’t advertise, they just pull strings from off stage.”
Desh thought about this and decided she was almost certainly correct.
“Whoever he is, he didn’t waste any time framing me for the murders of Lusetti and my brother. But that wasn’t enough to suit him. He decided to pin the Ebola plot on me as well so he could galvanize the entire US military against me. I don’t know if he has any other plans with terrorists, but the evidence you’ve seen is due to his involvement, not mine.”
“What does he gain by working with terrorists?” asked Desh.
“I don’t know. But there has to be more to it than we’re seeing. Because I’m convinced he won’t be able to perfect a genetically engineered cold virus capable of delivering Ebola genes.”
“Why not?”
“Too complex a project.”
“Even with enhanced intelligence?”
“Yes. When my mind is transformed, I have thousands and thousands of hours of the study of molecular biology in my memory for my intellect to draw upon. He almost certainly doesn’t. Without this, no matter how great his intelligence, he doesn’t have the knowledge base to succeed.”
Desh frowned. The more he learned, the more confused he became. He decided to move on. “So why does he want you now? He already knows he can’t force the secret of longevity from you.”
“I don’t know,” she said with a shrug. “But he’s taking great pains to capture me alive, even knowing I’m his biggest threat and won’t rest until I’ve stopped him. It’s obvious he hasn’t given up on the fountain of youth.”
They sat in silence for several seconds. Finally, Desh glanced at his watch and sighed. “We’d better go,” he said. “We have a bus to catch.”
Desh paid for the sundaes and they cautiously returned to the main mall. He scanned their surroundings for several minutes but didn’t detect anything out of place.
Desh gave Kira a questioning look as they made their way across the mall. “So why me, Kira?” he asked simply.
She sighed. “I already told you. You’re a good man. And when the chips are down, you’ll do the right thing. You’re an expert at finding people. You have Special Forces training. You’re smart and well read. I’ve been trying to find Moriarty and stop him, but I’ve gotten nowhere.”
Kira reached out and placed her hand in front of Desh, signaling him to stop walking. When he did she looked deeply into his eyes and he sensed she was deciding if she wanted to say more. Finally she lowered her eyes. “And I was lonely,” she said softly. “I’ve been on the run for a very long time. Not trusting anyone. Suspicious of everything.” She paused. “But I can’t stop Moriarty alone. As I studied your history, I realized I needed the help of someone like you; someone I could trust.”
So she had risked kidnapping him, even though he couldn’t have been more biased against her, to convince him to become her ally. Just as she had told him at the motel. And she had taken an even greater risk by putting herself under his control at the clearing. He still had a few nagging suspicions but he would put them to rest—for now.
Kira gazed into his eyes hopefully. “Will you help me, David?” she asked.
Desh held her stare for several seconds and then nodded, almost imperceptibly. “Yes,” he said finally. “I will.”
Kira let out the breath she had been holding. “Thank you,” she whispered earnestly. “And I really am sorry for bringing you into all of this. It was selfish of me.”
“No it wasn’t,” said Desh firmly. The corners of his mouth turned up into a slight smile. “And you didn’t bring me into anything. I was hired by Colonel Jim Connelly to find and stop a psychopathic killer who was off the grid, and that’s still what I’m doing.”
Kira’s features hardened. “I’m going to stop this bastard if it’s the last thing I do,” she vowed through clenched teeth, her face now a mask of hatred. “I swear on my brother’s soul that I’ll get him. A tragic accident took my parents from me, but Moriarty murdered the only other person I really ever loved; my only remaining family.”
A deadly gleam came to her eye. “And someday—soon—he’s going to pay for that.”
They exited the bus in downtown Richmond and took a cab to a used car lot. There they paid cash for a aging pick-up truck.