Robin Cook - Contagion

Richard backed up to the gun cabinet without taking his eyes off Jack. He groped for keys in his pocket and then tried to get the gun cabinet open without looking at what he was doing.

“Can I give you a hand?” Jack asked.

“Shut up!” Richard yelled. Even his hand with the key was shaking. When he got the glazed door open, he reached in and pulled out a pair of handcuffs.

“Now, that’s a handy item to have around,” Jack said.

Handcuffs in hand, Richard started back toward Jack, keeping the gun pointed at his face.

“I tell you what,” Jack said. “Why don’t we call the police. I’ll confess, and they can take me away. Then I’ll be out of your hair.”

“Shut up,” Richard ordered. He then motioned for Jack to get to his feet.

Jack complied and lifted his hands again.

“Move!” Richard said, motioning toward the main part of the lab.

Jack backed up. He was afraid to take his eyes off the gun. Richard kept coming toward him, the handcuffs dangling from his left hand.

“Over by the column,” Richard snapped.

Jack did as he was instructed. He stood against the column. It was about fifteen inches in diameter.

“Face it,” Richard commanded.

Jack turned around.

“Reach around it with your hands and grasp them together,” Richard said.

When he did what Richard had insisted, Jack felt the handcuffs snap over each wrist. He was now locked to the column.

“Mind if I sit down?” Jack asked.

Richard didn’t bother to answer. He hurried back into the living area. Jack lowered himself to the floor. The most comfortable position was embracing the column with his legs wrapped around it as well as his arms.

Jack could hear Richard dialing a telephone. Jack considered yelling for help when Richard started his conversation, but quickly scrapped the idea as suicidal, considering how nervous Richard was acting. Besides, whomever Richard was calling probably wouldn’t care about Jack’s plight.

“Jack Stapleton is here!” Richard blurted without preamble. “I caught him in my goddamn bathroom. He knows about Frazer Labs and he’s been snooping around in here. I’m sure of it. Just like Beth Holderness at the lab.”

The hairs on the back of Jack’s neck rose up when he heard Richard mention Beth’s name.

“Don’t tell me to calm down!” Richard shouted. “This is an emergency. I shouldn’t have gotten myself involved in this. You’d better get over here fast. This is your problem as well as it is mine.”

Jack heard Richard slam down the telephone. The man sounded even more agitated. A few minutes later Richard reappeared without his gun.

He came over to Jack and looked down at him. Richard’s lips were quivering. “How did you find out about Frazer Labs?” he demanded. “I know you sent the phony package, so there’s no use lying.”

Jack looked up into the man’s face. Richard’s pupils were widely dilated. He looked half crazy.

Without warning, Richard slapped Jack with an open palm. The blow split Jack’s lower lip. A trickle of blood appeared at the corner of his mouth.

“You’d better start talking.” Richard snarled.

Jack gingerly felt the damaged part of his lip with his tongue. It was numb. He tasted the saltiness of his blood.

“Maybe we should wait for your colleague,” Jack said, to say something. His intuition told him he soon would be seeing Martin Cheveau or Kelley or possibly even Zimmerman.

The slap must have hurt Richard as well as Jack because he opened and closed his hand a few times and then disappeared back into the living area. Jack heard what he thought was the refrigerator being opened, then an ice tray being dumped.

A few minutes later Richard reappeared to glare at Jack. He had a dish towel wrapped around his hand. He commenced pacing, pausing every now and again to glance at his watch.

Time dragged by. Jack would have liked to have been able to take one of his throat lozenges, but it was impossible. He also noticed that his cough was increasing and that he now felt just plain sick. He guessed he had a fever.

The distant, high-pitched sound of the elevator brought Jack’s head up from where it had slumped against the column. Jack considered the fact that the buzzer hadn’t sounded. That meant that whoever was on their way up had a key.

Richard heard the elevator motor as well. He went to the door and opened it to wait in the hall.

Jack heard the elevator arrive with a thump. The motor switched off and the elevator door clanged open.

“Where is he?” an angry voice demanded.

Jack was facing away from the door when he heard Richard and his visitor come into the loft. He heard the door close and be locked.

“He’s over there,” Richard said with equal venom. “Handcuffed to the column.”

Jack took a breath and turned his head as he heard footsteps close in on him. When he caught sight of who it was, he gasped.

“You bastard!” Terese snapped. “Why couldn’t you let sleeping dogs lie. You and your stubbornness! You’re screwing everything up, just when things are finally starting to go right.”

Jack was dumbstruck. He looked up into her blue eyes, which he had only recently seen as soft. Now they looked as hard as pale sapphires. Her mouth was no longer sensuous. Her bloodless lips formed a grim line.

“Terese!” Richard yelled. “Don’t waste time trying to talk with him. We got to figure out what we’re going to do. What if someone knows he is here?”

Terese broke off from glaring at Jack to look at Richard. “Are those stupid cultures of yours in this lab?” she demanded.

“Of course they’re here,” Richard said.

“Then get rid of them,” Terese said. “Flush them down the toilet.”

“But, Terese!” Richard cried.

“Don’t ‘but, Terese’ me. Get rid of them. Now!”

“Even the influenza?” Richard questioned.

“Especially the influenza!” Terese snapped.

Morosely Richard went over to the freezer, unlocked it, and began rummaging through its contents.

“What am I going to do with you?” Terese asked, redirecting her attention to Jack. She was thinking out loud.

“For starters you could take off these handcuffs,” Jack said. “Then we could all go for a quiet dinner at Positano, and you can let your friends know we are there.”

“Shut up!” Terese exclaimed. “I’ve had it with your repartee.”

Abruptly Terese left Jack and moved over next to Richard. She watched him gathering a handful of frozen vials. “All of it, now!” she warned. “There cannot be any evidence here, you understand?”

“It was the worst decision of my life to help you,” Richard complained. When he had all the vials he disappeared into the bathroom.

“How are you involved in all this?” Jack asked Terese.

Terese didn’t answer. Instead she walked around the partition into the living room. Behind him Jack heard the toilet flush, and he hated to think what had just been sent into the city’s sewers to infect the sewer rats.

Richard reappeared and followed Terese into the living area. Jack couldn’t see them, but given the high, unadorned ceiling he could hear them as if they were right next to him.

“We’ve got to get him out of here immediately,” Terese said.

“And do what?” Richard asked moodily. “Dump him in the East River?”

“No, I think he should just disappear,” Terese said. “What about Mom and Dad’s farmhouse up in the Catskills?”

“I never thought of that,” Richard said. His voice brightened. “But, yeah, that’s a good idea.”

“How will we get him up there?” Terese asked.