Linda Howard - Kiss Me While I Sleep

“There is a virus, an avian influenza virus. Dr. Giordano has altered it so it may be passed from human to human, to create a pandemic and therefore a huge demand for the vaccine he has also developed. People do not have a resistance to this virus; mankind has not encountered it before. To create even greater panic, Dr. Giordano has somehow specifically engineered this virus to cause the greatest harm to children, who do not have immune systems as fully developed as adults. Millions will die, mademoiselle. It will be a pandemic greater than the one in 1918, which is believed to have killed between twenty and fifty million people . “

. . . Cause the greatest harm to children. Zia. Lily felt sick that she had been right, that it was something concerning Zia that had spurred Averill and Tina to the act that had eventually resulted in their deaths. In trying to protect Zia, they had caused her death. She wanted to scream at the unfairness of it, at the ultimate irony. She clenched her fist, fighting for control, fighting to contain the fury and pain that rose into her throat like lava.

“The virus has been perfected. As soon as the vaccine is ready, packages will be delivered worldwide to the largest cities in the world, where human contact is greatest. The influenza will spread rapidly. By the time there is worldwide panic, thousands, perhaps millions, will have died. Then Dr. Giordano will announce that he has developed a vaccine for avian influenza, and the Nervi organization will be able to name its price for it. They will make an enormous fortune.”

Yes, they would. It was classic. Control the supply, then create a demand for it. De Beers did it with diamonds; by carefully limiting the diamonds available on the market, they kept the price artificially high. Diamonds weren’t rare at all, but the supply was controlled. It was roughly the same situation with crude oil and OPEC, except in the case of oil, the world had created its own demand.

“How do you know all this?” she asked angrily. “Why haven’t you told the authorities?”

There was a pause; then the distorted voice said, “Salvatore Nervi had many political connections, people in high positions who owed him many favors. This same laboratory is developing the vaccine against the virus, so the virus’s existence there is explained. There is no proof that would outweigh his influence. That is why I was forced to hire professionals.”

Unfortunately, that was true; there were many influential politicians who had set up housekeeping in Salvatore’s pocket, making him all but untouchable.

It was also true that she had no idea whom she was talking to, if he was on the level, or if Rodrigo had found her cell phone number and was using this as a ruse to draw her out. She would have to be a fool to take everything this man said at face value.

“Will you do it?” he asked.

“How can I say yes when I don’t know who you are? How can I possibly trust you?”

“I understand the difficulty, but I have no solution.”

“I am not the only person you could hire.”

“No, but your motivation is greater, perhaps, and also you are here now. I do not have to waste time looking for someone else.”

“Tina Joubran was an expert with security systems. I am not.”

“You do not need to be. It was I who provided the Joubrans with the details of the security system in place at the laboratory.”

“It would have been changed after the incident in August.”

“Yes, it was. I have acquired that information, also.”

“If you know all of this, you must work at the laboratory. You could destroy the virus yourself.”

“There are reasons why I could not.”

Again she caught some strange difficulty in his speech, and abruptly she wondered if perhaps the speaker was handicapped in some fashion.

“I will pay you one million American dollars to do this.”

Lily rubbed her forehead. That was wrong, the amount was way too much. Her inner alarm bells began ringing.

When she didn’t say anything, the man continued, “There is one other thing. Dr. Giordano must also be killed. If he lives, he will replicate his success with some other virus. Everything must be destroyed: the doctor, his research papers, computer files, the virus. Everything. That is a mistake I made the first time, not being thorough.”

Abruptly one million dollars didn’t seem so far out of line. Everything he had said so far was reasonable and answered many of the questions she’d had, but innate caution held her back. There had to be some way she could safeguard herself in case this was a trap, but this entire conversation had taken her unawares and she hadn’t been able to properly marshal her thoughts. She needed to think everything out before she made a decision.

“I can’t give you an answer now,” she said. “I have several things to consider.”

“I understand. This could be a trap. You are wise to consider all possibilities, and yet time is a factor. I believe the job I have offered you is a goal you have in any case, one that you have a greater chance of attaining with my help. The longer you wait, the greater the odds that Rodrigo Nervi will locate you. He is intelligent and ruthless, and money is no object. He has people all over Paris, all over Europe, in shops and police departments. Given enough time, he will find you. With the money I will pay you, you will have the means to effectively disappear.”

He was right. A million dollars would improve her situation beyond all measure. Yet she still couldn’t jump at the offer, couldn’t ignore the possibility that the bait might blind her to the trap.

“Consider these things. I will call you again tomorrow. I must have your answer then, or pursue other avenues.”

The connection was broken. Automatically Lily checked her incoming call log for the number, but she wasn’t surprised to see that the information had been blocked; a man who had a million dollars available to hire a saboteur would also be able to afford layers of security.

But would someone that wealthy work at the laboratory? Not likely. So how did he have this information? How could he get the schematics of the security system?

Who he was, and how he got his information, was all-important. He could be a partner in Salvatore’s scheme who got cold feet when he thought about all the innocents who would die—though in Lily’s experience, people like the Nervis and their ilk simply didn’t care who or how many died, so long as they achieved their aim.

Or had the caller been Rodrigo Nervi himself, telling her the truth about what was going on in order to draw her into a trap? He was intelligent enough, bold enough, to conceive and enact such a plot, to make it realistic down to the last detail, such as telling her he wanted her to kill Dr. Giordano.

Rodrigo Nervi also had the means to acquire her cell phone number, which for the sake of privacy she had not had listed in the Pages Blanches.

Her fingers were trembling as she punched in Swain’s number.

On the third ring she heard his sleepy, “Good morning, sexy.”

“Something has happened,” she said in a tense voice, ignoring his greeting. “I need to see you.”

“Do you want me to pick you up, or do you want to come here?” He sounded instantly alert.

“Pick me up,” she said; her caller’s warning about Rodrigo having people everywhere had made her nervous. She had known that, had felt safe riding the trains by covering her hair and wearing sunglasses, yet having been tracked down so easily by someone who evidently knew everything made her nervous. Most Parisians used the train service, because traffic was such a nightmare. Having people watch the trains for someone of her description was a no-brainer.