Jeff Jacobson - Sleep Tight

SLEEP TIGHT

JEFF JACOBSON

PINNACLE BOOKS

Kensington Publishing Corp.

www.kensingtonbooks.com

All copyrighted material within is Attributor Protected.

Table of Contents

Title Page

Dedication

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Table C-1 : Summary of WHO Global Pandemic Phases (WHO Global Influenza Preparedness Plan, 2005)

PHASE 1

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 11

CHAPTER 12

PHASE 2

CHAPTER 13

CHAPTER 14

CHAPTER 15

CHAPTER 16

CHAPTER 17

CHAPTER 18

CHAPTER 19

PHASE 3

CHAPTER 20

CHAPTER 21

CHAPTER 22

CHAPTER 23

CHAPTER 24

CHAPTER 25

CHAPTER 26

CHAPTER 27

CHAPTER 28

CHAPTER 29

CHAPTER 30

CHAPTER 31

CHAPTER 32

CHAPTER 33

PHASE 4

CHAPTER 34

CHAPTER 35

CHAPTER 36

CHAPTER 37

CHAPTER 38

CHAPTER 39

CHAPTER 40

CHAPTER 41

CHAPTER 42

CHAPTER 43

CHAPTER 44

CHAPTER 45

CHAPTER 46

CHAPTER 47

CHAPTER 48

CHAPTER 49

PHASE 5

CHAPTER 50

CHAPTER 51

CHAPTER 52

CHAPTER 53

CHAPTER 54

CHAPTER 55

CHAPTER 56

CHAPTER 57

CHAPTER 58

CHAPTER 59

CHAPTER 60

CHAPTER 61

CHAPTER 62

CHAPTER 63

CHAPTER 64

CHAPTER 65

PHASE 6

CHAPTER 66

CHAPTER 67

CHAPTER 68

CHAPTER 69

CHAPTER 70

CHAPTER 71

CHAPTER 72

CHAPTER 73

CHAPTER 74

CHAPTER 75

CHAPTER 76

CHAPTER 77

Copyright Page

Notes

For Mads, Saw, and Deb—my everything

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The author would like to thank

Gus and Jennifer Alagna, David and Joyce Boyd,

Jen and House Domonkos, all good pals,

the amazing faculty, students, and staff at

the Fiction Department at CCC,

Gary Goldstein, ’cause this book wouldn’t exist

without him, the wisdom and guidance of Doug Grad,

the man, the myth, the legend, “Hell” Owen LaMay,

Mom and Dad,

Karrie and John O’Donnell,

Lou and Sandra Phillips—always and forever,

Mary Reid, my guide to the south side,

Jon and Laura Wojtalik, for the babysitting and sanity,

Arlene Wojtalik, the best mother-in-law in the whole world,

and the best five-string banjo player in his height, weight,

and age group,

the one and only Mort Castle.

Table C-1: Summary of WHO Global Pandemic Phases (WHO Global Influenza Preparedness Plan, 2005) 1

Interpandemic Period

Phase 1.No new influenza virus subtypes have been detected in humans. An influenza virus subtype that has caused human infection may be present in animals. If present in animals, the risk of human infection or disease is considered to be low.

Phase 2.No new influenza virus subtypes have been detected in humans. However, a circulating animal influenza virus subtype poses a substantial risk of human disease.

Pandemic Alert Period

Phase 3.Human infection(s) with a new subtype but no human-to-human spread or at most rare instances of spread to a close contact.

Phase 4.Small cluster(s) with limited human-to-human transmission but spread is highly localized, suggesting that the virus is not well adapted to humans.

Phase 5.Larger cluster(s) but human-to-human spread is still localized, suggesting that the virus is becoming increasingly better adapted to humans but may not yet be fully transmissible (substantial pandemic risk).

Pandemic Period

Phase 6.Pandemic phase: increased and sustained transmission in the general population.

PHASE 1

CHAPTER 1

7:13 PM

December 27

The change in cabin pressure squeezed Viktor’s skull mercilessly, yanking him out of a dreamless void and thrusting him into cold, hard reality as his international flight out of the Koltsovo Airport in Yekaterinburg descended into Chicago. He blinked; the rows of seats ahead of him floated, drifting from side to side in his blurred vision. His heart raced. Saliva filled his mouth and his stomach threatened to erupt. He didn’t think he had eaten anything since a rushed breakfast before the flight.

If that was true, he hadn’t eaten in over eighteen hours. Had he been asleep the entire flight?

Not sleep , his body insisted. Something worse.

Viktor swallowed. Carefully. Something was very, very wrong. Under everything, even beneath the shakily controlled panic, there was something else.

He itched.

The sensation was insidious. Awful. Excruciating. He froze. He couldn’t put his finger on where he could scratch. It seemed to appear all over and nowhere at once, as if the horrible sensation slithered throughout his body with the speed of thought, stretching out its jagged fingernails to caress just under the skin of his armpit, his face, the center of his back, his scrotum. He reached a trembling hand out and took hold of his water bottle.

The thought of the tepid liquid triggered an eruption of nausea and he let go.

Across the aisle, a middle-aged man in a rumpled suit tucked a paper cross into a Bible and gathered his belongings. Viktor slowly turned to the right. It felt like the bones at the base of his skull were grinding glass between them as he moved his head. The seat next to him was empty, and in the seat nearest the window, an older woman studied her crash-landing instructions, working hard to avoid his stare.

The captain’s voice clicked over the whispered hum of air rushing past the fuselage. He spoke for a while in a southern Russian accent. After the announcement, one of the flight attendants translated his announcement into German and then still another gave her best shot at an English version. “This is Captain speaking. Continuation of final approach is fast approaching. If everyone please can sit still, putting seating belt on, remaining calm, we will be landing in Chicago in few short minutes. Home of Cubs footballs and Blackhawk hockey. Ha. Ha. Ha. Also Al Capone.”