Jeff Buick - Lethal Dose

He nodded. “We’ve been monitoring that, Jennifer. Some of the accounting practices from years back are still in place, and we’re trying to phase them out. It was common practice to shift some expenses into the R amp;D sector so the company could lever the maximum tax credits legally allowed. The remainder of unusable expense money is shifted back over from R amp;D once the limit is reached. It’s entirely legal, but as you say, in the aftermath of Enron, it’s better to be conservative.”

He accepted the check from the waiter and slipped a Visa card in the leather folder without looking at the amount. “Veritas is a very important part of my life. Frezin and Marcon were instrumental in getting me to where I am, but they never had a part of my soul. Veritas does. I’ve given my entire being to make the company successful. And that’s not something you give up easily.”

“No, I suppose not,” Jennifer agreed, wondering where this was going.

“Do you think it’s important to stand up for what you think is right, Jennifer?”

“Yes, of course.”

“I think so too.” He leaned back in his chair, an easy smile on his face. “Veritas is the crown jewel in my working life. I can’t imagine what my life would be like without it. I go home at night and life is good, but everything is intrinsically linked back to the office. I don’t think I’d be happy, even living with wealth, if I didn’t have Veritas. Do you know what I mean?”

She shrugged. “Not really. I like my job and I think it’s important, but I’ve already lived through one failed marriage. I don’t need another one.”

“You’re getting married?” he asked.

“No, I’m not. I just meant I’m not willing to sacrifice the rest of my life for the good of the company.”

The smile was gone. “I am,” he said. There was a cold edge to his voice.

She glanced at her watch. “I’ve got to get back. I’m due at White Oak in twenty minutes.”

He pocketed the receipt for lunch and stood up. “You’ve been spending a bit of time at White Oak lately,” he said.

“Half my research team is there,” she replied, matter-of-factly. “I like to stay in touch with them.”

“Right. Half your research team.”

She gave him a questioning look. “You structured it that way, Bruce.”

“Yes, I did. You’re right. Sorry. Not thinking.”

They walked out of the hotel into the September sunshine. A few popcorn clouds floated peacefully above the city, and the air was still. The valet brought her car around, and she tipped him generously.“Thanks again for lunch,” she said, then pulled away, leaving Andrews waiting for his vehicle. She reached into her bag and turned on her cell phone. She set it on the seat beside her as she navigated through the afternoon traffic toward the distant lab. Ten minutes into the drive, her phone rang. She checked the caller ID and heaved a sigh. It was Gordon.

“Hi,” she said cheerfully. “How are things in Montana?”

“Okay. I was in with my lawyer when you called. She was in Vancouver all day Monday. Today was the first chance I had to see her.” Gordon paused for a second. “I’ve been trying you every ten minutes for the last hour. Everything okay?”

“I think so. I’m not sure. I just had lunch with Bruce Andrews. He kind of creeped me out.” “Why? What did he say?”

“Just stuff about Veritas being everything to him, that he couldn’t imagine living without it. It was weird.”

“I didn’t know you had a lunch date set with him.”

“I didn’t. He showed up this morning and basically told me we were going to lunch.”

“The timing is a little coincidental, don’t you think? We get the goods on Triaxcion and the next thing you know he’s asking you out to lunch. I don’t like it.”

“Neither do I. By the way, did you get the disk to your lawyer?”

“Yes. She’s making copies and keeping one in the corporate safe. And she’s bringing in some science expert to untangle the mess of numbers on the disk. It’s Greek to both her and me.”

“The evidence is there, Gordon. I’m positive of that.”

“Okay,” he said. “You going to be all right?”

“Honestly, Gordon, I don’t know. This whole lunch thing has me pretty upset. I’m scared.” She pulled into the parking lot at White Oak, found a spot, and killed the engine.

“I can head down to Richmond if you want.”

“What about the mill? You should be there to run it.”

He laughed. “I’ve got a great staff here, Jennifer. They can run this place without me. I’m highly expendable.”

“If you don’t mind, I’d feel better if you were here. Maybe just for a few days, until this feeling I have disappears.”

“What feeling?” he asked.

“That I’m next on the list. That I’m going to die,” she said quietly.

“I’m on my way to Richmond,” he said. “Be at home tonight. I’ll be there as quickly as possible.”

She gripped the phone tightly. “Thanks, Gordon.”

The four agency representatives were joined by Annette Jordan, a biologist from the Centers for Disease Control out of Atlanta, Georgia. An information dossier on the situation had been forwarded to Atlanta, and she was up to speed on the viral threat when she arrived for the Tuesday-afternoon meeting in Rothery’s office at DHS. Rothery made the introductions and turned first to Jim Allenby.

“How’s the situation in Boston?” he asked.

“Ugly,” the FBI man said. “We moved one hundred and eighty-five agents into the Boston area within twelve hours of our last meeting. They’ve been swamped by the sheer number of people the infected victims were in contact with. They’ve implemented a limited quarantine, where the low-risk segment of the population is under self-monitored house arrest. The vast majority of people have been extremely cooperative. They’re asking a lot of questions and we’re being vague, but so far the lid is still on the can of worms.”

“How many confirmed cases?” Rothery asked.

“Nine,” Allenby responded. “And it looks like we’ve got the threat contained. This outbreak, at least.”

“Nine people are either dead or going to die,” Rothery said disgustedly. “Craig, any word since Saturday on the fate of the Mossad team in Cairo?”

“We got confirmation about 0900 this morning. There were six team members, all killed in action.”

“Christ, the White House is going to be in a frenzy over that one,” Rothery said. “What kind of spin can you put on Israeli troops attacking an Egyptian target at the request of the American CIA? It doesn’t get much uglier.” He turned to Tony Warner. “How are things going with the pharmaceutical companies?”

The NSA man glanced down at a sheet in front of him. “To date, we’ve got sixteen medium-to-large research companies onside. I’ve personally spoken with a number of their CEOs, and they all told me it’ll take some time for them to assemble teams with the expertise and tools to work on our problem.”

“How much time?” Rothery asked.

“Three to four days. I spoke to most of them yesterday or today, so they should be up to speed by Friday or Saturday. Miss Jordan is going to put together a package for each company.”

“What’s in the package, Annette?” Rothery asked.

“Everything that the autopsy specialists in Fort Detrick have on the virus will be included, as will the case files from Austin, San Diego, Miami, and Boston. The physical properties of the virus, its molecular structure, and everything we have on its external membrane will be in there as well. Given that amount of information, these private-sector scientists should be able to hit the ground with their feet moving.”