Page 87 of Airborne
Now as a nap crept closer to Heather, she decided many reasons could have caused Thomas to overreact to a coffee order mistake... or Bischoff could be on to substantial evidence. She filed the incident under “process later.”
She’d drifted off when a call came in from Mitchell.
“Are you alone?” he said.
“I can be. Hold on while I walk outside.”
“Are you cleared to be up?”
“Yes. Moving is good for me.” She grabbed her sunglasses and inched her way to the door and hallway. “I’m a turtle. Slow but steady.”
“Take your time. The turtle won the race.”
“Right.” She blinked back a little dizziness and grabbed the wall. Her secret.
They talked about unimportant things while she walked into a hot, sun-filled day, a reminder of home. Cotton-candy clouds as her mother called them. “Go ahead. I’m beyond ears and seated on a bench.”
“Parker Karey has filed a ten-million-dollar suit against Lawrence Laboratories for damages incurred during loss of time from his job and the danger of contagion. Wanted you to have the information.”
“Sounds like he jumped the gun without evidence of Chad’s guilt. I’m sure the media is all over it.”
“True. As if they needed more wood for the fire.”
She’d check the latest after the call and before her nap. “Karey will make sure I find out about it. Do you have a few minutes for a series of what-ifs? I’ve had plenty of time to weigh what we’ve learned.”
“Go ahead.”
“Decker Anslow has reason to lie, and due to his Taliban loyalties, he won’t offer info without special interrogation.”
Mitchell chuckled. “There are those trained in persuasive tactics.”
“Right. So why didn’t the person who spread the virus pocket the pieces instead of flushing them into a business class toilet? That makes more sense. A plan of this nature required how to destroy evidence long before the flight.”
“What happened?” Mitchell said. “Panic? The bad guy needed to use the bathroom? Risk of being caught with evidence on him? Fear of an arrest and prosecution? Or did the chain of events happen just as designed?”
“If the culprit is Karey, he might have gotten nervous,” she said. “He leans toward the spontaneous side.”
“I’m curious. How many people do you think are involved?”
“Minimum of three who carried out the development and distribution. Who is on your radar besides Chad, the Kareys, Taversty, Anslow, and Powell?”
“Dr. Andy Sheehan has the same skills as Chad,” Mitchell said.
“If he is involved, I’ve really messed up reading people. Terrorists work to establish fear and ensue mass casualties—that’sTaversty and Anslow, and the virus accomplished both. In the meantime, we keep searching. Other than Andy working with Chad, the Kareys are after money, and Thomas Powell is a stretch.” Heather spanned the area to ensure no one overheard her. “The virus supply is stored somewhere—a reality and our biggest problem. Where are the vials now, and what’s their destination? I’m not alone in feeling like we’re dealing with a ticking bomb.”
“A judge declined our request to search every passenger and crew’s luggage. Violated so many privacy laws, and he wasn’t ready to sign off on a criminal search warrant to give us the legal authority to confiscate personal items, even if the virus release was termed terrorism. He cited just because a person was on the plane doesn’t mean he or she had a criminal role.”
She looked across the water to the shoreline. “Does the enemy term the virus release as successful?”
“Either way, we’re afraid for the population until the guilty people are in cuffs and the virus remains are confiscated. The compromise of Chad’s email and the phone threat don’t add up. Agents Javier Rivera and Laura Tobias are working all angles. You know Chad best.”
“I’ll need to resign if I’ve made a huge mistake.” She recalled his trip to New York. “My heart says he’s being used. My training says he has the skills and knowledge. Do we ever know those who surprise us with bizarre crimes?”
“You understand the workings of the mind better than most.”
“Doesn’t mean I’m infallible. I saw on the FBI site Chad was scheduled to meet this morning with New York’s FBI to identify the man who’d attacked him.”
“It didn’t go well.” Mitchell relayed what happened.
