Page 2 of The Echelon (Spy Girl 7)
“There were very few children allowed at the Sphere,” Ares replies. “The scientist you are referring to worked for the top-secret bioweapons arm of Dupree’s pharmaceutical company. Dr. Nels. Full name: Dr. Nelson Hansen Andersen.”
“Was that the name of the guy PureGen suggested stole the virus?” Intrepid asks.
“No. That man’s name was Stephan Johansen.” He sits down at his computer and starts typing away.
A few moments later, he says, “Upon further research, it appears that, while Dr. Johansen’s work résumé shows him being employed by PureGen for the last twelve years, when I cross-referenced his name to the TerraSphere’s manifest, he’s listed under bioweapons research—meaning, at some point, he would have actually worked alongside Dr. Nels.” He shakes his head. “I should have caught that.”
“All that matters now is that we find Dr. Nels. I need to talk to him,” I say. “I really think I’m on to something here.”
Ares bangs away on his keyboard while I watch more seconds tick off my watch.
Finally, he lets out a sigh. “I’m sorry to say that Dr. Nels is dead.”
He pulls a newspaper article up on the big screen for us to read.
Prominent Danish scientist dies in fiery London crash.
“More than likely murdered, so he wouldn’t talk,” Intrepid says. “You just might be on to something, Huntley.”
I don’t read the article further because my mind is back at the church, and I’m thinking about Lorenzo the Magnificent.
His Arcadia.
And how The Echelon played into it.
He’d created The Echelon and The Society because of his paranoia. Because he was worried about being attacked.
That is the same reason he built tunnels in the palace. He needed the ability to move freely and even escape if necessary.
“The villa where Terrance and everyone else has been working, where is it exactly?” I ask.
“Up north, near the border,” Intrepid replies.
“And, by chance, did Lorenzo let you use that villa because he owns it?”
“As a matter of fact, yes,” Intrepid says, looking curiously at me. “It’s one of their summer homes. Of course, we’re not actually in the home. Lorenzo allowed us to set up in a small and very old hunting lodge at the edge of the property.”
“Very old,” I mutter, a plan coming together in my mind. “I need to go there. Now.”
“Why?” Ares asks.
“Because, if it’s anything like the palace, there will be a secret way out. Why else would they put a royal residence so close to the border?”
“So you can escape attack?” Ares asks.
“Exactly. How long will it take me to get there?”
“About thirty minutes,” Intrepid replies.
“All right. You two stay here and find me an address for Dr. Nelson’s daughter, Sophie. If her dad’s dead, then she’s our only hope. And see if the royal family owns any property on the other side of the border. I suspect that’s where I’ll need to be picked up.”
“Are you giving the orders now?” Ares teases.
“Remember the shirt hanging in my mother’s closet? It was a clue. When she bought it, she said to me, Cause they’re The Cure.”
“I’m not following,” Intrepid states.
But Ares is nodding his head. “It’s not the cause; it’s the cure. The vaccine is what will reduce the population.”
“Exactly. And I know I’m right because there was one clue on my mother’s list that we didn’t understand that finally makes sense. The vaccine is the Trojan horse.”
“We’re opening the door and allowing the enemy in,” Ares says in understanding.
I nod and smile at him, and then I turn around and sprint up the stairs.
T-MINUS:19:31:46
After grabbing my backpack from my room, I run to the garage, stopping for a moment to consider my best vehicle option.
While Ari’s armored SUV would probably be a smarter choice if I’m wrong about the tunnels and I need to muscle my way through the border, my eyes land on a sparkling silvery-white car that looks like millions of diamonds when the sunlight hits it.
“Wow, now, that’s a car,” the king said. “Tell me about it.”
“Koenigsegg aluminum V8, double overhead camshafts. Zero to one hundred kilometers per hour in two-point-nine seconds. Top speed of over four hundred ten. The fuel tanks are integrated for optimal weight distribution and safety, and it even has a detachable hardtop.”
I hit a button to open the garage door and grab the key fob from a shelf on the wall. Then, I hop in the car, rev the engine, and peel out of the drive.
Once I get through town, I drop the hammer, using the paddle shifters to switch gears as I fly through the windy hills, focusing only on the road and not the cliffs at its edges.
But, even with my focus, I remember the day Lorenzo and Daniel crashed my party and how Lorenzo offered me a private palace tour.
“You aren’t sending your driver. If you wanna hang out with me, you can come get me yourself. Or I’ll drive.”
“You did mention that you have a new car here. Care to drive me home?”
“Sure. Why not?” I smiled as I escorted him down to the garage.
He whistled at the car I’d been dying to get behind the wheel of and said, “This isn’t a street car; it’s a track car.”
I didn’t know who had been in charge of acquiring this car, but they got two big thumbs-up from me. “I’m pretty sure it’s street legal. Besides, I’m with the prince of Montrovia, so I should be able to drive whatever I want, don’t you think?”
“This car is amazing. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“That’s because there were only two made. They had planned to make three, but the white carbon fiber proved to be difficult, so they only made two. It’s a Koenigsegg CCXR Trevita. Badass, right?”
“I’ll say. How did you get it?”
“I recently came into some money.”
He raised his eyebrow at me and then looked at the car again.
“Well,” I clarified, “it was quite a lot of money.”
“Roulette?” He laughed.
I lowered my eyes and my voice. “My father passed away.”
He gently touched my hand. “My own father is gravely ill. It’s only a matter of time.”
“Are you spending a lot of time with him?”
“Not as much as I’d like.”
“You should make the time. Even if it’s hard. My dad died suddenly. Massive heart attack.”
“But he didn’t suffer. It’s hard to watch your father, the king, a man who has always been larger than life, wither away.”
“I suppose, but trust me, you should be with him. Every day.”
“Will you come with me?” he asked with such emotion that I had no other possible answer.
“Yes.”
“Maybe it will help you heal, too, no?”
“Maybe. I didn’t know my father. My parents passed away when I was younger, and I recently got a call from an attorney, asking me to come for the reading of a will. There, I discovered who my real father was and that I also had a brother. We are taking some time off to travel together. See the world. Get to know each other. Ari lost his parents, too, so we’re the only family each other has.”
I was surprised when he wrapped me in a hug.
“So much tragedy for someone so young.”
I allowed him to console me. It was really sweet.
“So, are you ready to go for a ride?”
“Oh, I think so.”
We got buckled up and pulled out of the drive. I took it easy through the city streets, giving people plenty of time to gawk at the car and take photos.
Ten minutes later, we were winding up the hill to the castle and pulling through the gates. I took in my surroundings like I had been trained to do.
“You have an airstrip up here.”
“Yes, for landing smaller planes
.”
“Anyone planning on using it in the next few minutes?”
“I don’t believe so. Why are you asking?”
I threw the car in neutral, revved the motor, and raised my eyebrows at him. “What do you say? I would love to see what she can do, and everything in Montrovia is really cliffy.”
“Cliffy?” He laughed. “Does that mean what I think?”
“What do you think it means?”
He gave me a smirk, shrugged his shoulders, and turned his hands sideways, gesturing down at his pants.
“Cliffy? As in your hard dick?” I asked, stifling a laugh.
