Finding Dani (Once a Marine, Always a Marine Book 3) (10 page)

“Zach and Jess will find out.”

“I’m still working on Claire Belgarde and Martin Graham. And as for Anuma Abenaa, you’re on your own for the moment. I can’t find anything on him, but that’s not exactly unusual for a man born in Sierra Leone. Abenaa literally means Tuesday, and from my research it’s not unusual to name an African child after the day they were born. So there are going to be a lot of Abenaas to check. I’ve got a call in with a friend at the embassy there, so hopefully I’ll know more soon.”

“Thanks, Mike. And make sure to let the guys know how much I appreciate them.”

“You got it.”

Damon disconnected the call. How in the world had Hailey managed to get a job with the CDC with a checkered background? And what was Travis up to? He’d focus on those two while further information was being gathered about the others.

And then he saw what he’d been watching for. Hailey. She was coming out of the motor pool and headed toward the center of camp.

***
 

Zach Steele rarely worried. The one exception was his wife—and she was safe in the hotel, probably cuddled up in bed with their five year old son, waiting for him to get back. Which he was always eager to do.

No, this worry was about his friend Damon. When Mike Hansen called and told them a bit of what was going on, Jesse and he decided to head out and get the intel needed. Damon could handle himself better than most, but training and weapons couldn’t stop a virus.

“Well, look at what I have here,” Jesse Calhoun said.

He was sitting at the computer of one Dr. Martin Graham and the triumphant smile on his face raised Zach’s eyebrow. “What?”

He was meticulously going through all the books on the bookshelf, looking for anything. Why folks tended to hide things in books, he’d never know, because it was always one of the first places that got checked.

“Dr. Graham has a secret numbered bank account and he’s getting regular payments.”

“How much?”

“Irregular amounts, but nothing over ten grand. But it’s been going on for the last year, and the account has about five hundred thousand dollars in it.”

Zach paused and looked at Jesse. “Sounds like a payoff of some kind.”

“Enough to kill a village?”

“Who knows?” Zach looked around. The house was small but nice. The furniture was expensive but older, the paintings were prints but of well-known artists, therefore expensive. Everything was stylish and tasteful, but not luxurious. “Maybe he just wants to up his standard of living.”

“Guy is anal retentive, for sure, but to kill a large amount of people for this amount of money doesn’t track. If it was a million or more, I could see it, but this is small potatoes comparatively.”

Zach shrugged and moved to the next bookcase. The doc had almost as many books as Zach’s wife did, but his reading taste was vastly different. Live and let live. He was quick and thorough and left the computer snooping to Jesse, who was much better and faster at it. And they’d been illegally inside the house for only twenty minutes when Jesse scored big.

“I know what his secret is. You gotta see this shit.”

Zach rounded the desk and bent over slightly to see over Jesse’s shoulder. “What the hell?”

***
 

By the time Damon got back down the hill, Hailey had disappeared. He checked her tent, but it was empty. He stopped a few of the soldiers passing to see if they could point the way, but she’d apparently slipped by them as well. Not that they’d been looking for her.

He ended up close by Travis’s tent and stuck his head inside. He was after Hailey, but it wouldn’t hurt to find Travis as well. He was about to leave when he heard the crying. Stepping into the dark interior, he left the door ajar. It was hot inside, as none of the flaps for the windows were down to admit the almost nonexistent breeze.

“Hailey?”

Now the noise had moved to sobbing. He found her wedged in between the cot/bed and a footlocker. She was curled up in the fetal position on her side, one hand covering her face and the other clutching a long thin metal case.

“It’s Hailey, right?” he asked, as he squatted down to get a better look at her. “I haven’t had a chance to get to know you yet.”

“I’m sorry,” she whispered through the sobs.

“Sorry for what?”

When he moved forward, she jerked back from him. His eyes had adjusted to the poor light, but only her bright blond hair gleamed in the dimness. That and the metal box in her hands. She continued crying.

“Hailey, what’s wrong?”

“I didn’t know,” she wailed. “Why won’t he talk to me?” Then she pulled her knees further into her chest and the wail quieted to an agonizing moan. “I think I’m sick.”

Damon reached out to move the hair off her face and could feel the heat coming off her skin. She was burning up. “We need to get you to sick bay.”

“No,” she whimpered. “I need Travis…to say sorry.”

“We’ll find him and tell him, okay?” He shoved the footlocker to the side and reached for Hailey. She was small and he lifted her easily from the ground and into his arms. She curled into his body, still crying softly. Her frame was slender, almost fragile.

He carried her out of the tent and started toward the infirmary. “What’s in the box, Hailey?”

“What?” She’d stopped crying, but still had her eyes closed.

“The box in your hand, what’s inside?” He didn’t care, but he wanted to keep her conscious and talking until he could turn her over to Dani and Dr. Nelson.

“I don’t remember. It’s so hot. Don’t feel good…” her voice trailed off. Then she went completely limp in his arms.

He picked up his pace now that she was dead weight and he didn’t have to be as careful. He cleared the infirmary door and was immediately surrounded by bio-hazard-suited nurses. One of which was Claire.

“Oh, my God,” she said through the mask. “Bring her over here.” She led Damon to an empty bed and he gently placed Hailey there. He turned to survey the tent. It was fully quarantined now. No one but himself and the possible Ebola victims were without masks and suits.

He saw that the two soldiers from B Company were there, and they didn’t look good. Both were prone on cots, IVs hooked up to their arms and oxygen masks on.
Damn
. Damon had hoped they wouldn’t get ill, but it was spreading fast.

“This isn’t normal,” Claire said, unknowingly echoing Damon’s thoughts. “What’s happening? And how are you not sick? Dani said you carried in that private and you haven’t used any protection.”

“I’m not sure, but you need to be prepared for more infected. It’s spreading fast.” He turned to leave, and caught a glimpse of Dani. She was busy with the African man that was originally brought in. She was using a towel to wipe him down. Damon could see blood soaked bandages. There was no way that poor man was going to make it. There was just too much blood.

He felt Claire’s hand on his arm and turned slightly. “You’ve been exposed.”

Damon shrugged. “Dani already drew some blood because I’m the one that brought in Jenson over there,” he nodded toward the cot that held the private first class. He was pale and clearly restless, his legs were moving under the light sheet that was covering him. He wondered if he’d ever regained consciousness. “I don’t have any symptoms.”

“I can’t let you leave, Damon. You might be infected.”

Claire had an unexpectedly strong grip, so he turned and looked at her. “I’ll be fine. But right now, I need to check on Gunner.”

“But you could spread the infection.”

Damon gently pulled his arm away. “Take care of the girl. Since no one really knows how Ebola is spread or who will be infected, everyone in this camp has been potentially exposed. I’ve had close contact with two of the sick, but until their blood tests come back, we don’t even know for sure if it’s Ebola or not.”

He could tell she wanted to argue more, so he turned her attention. “Hailey has some kind of gold case in her hands. You might want to check it out because she had a death grip on it, even when she passed out.”

They all knew it was Ebola, but his distraction worked. The doctor in her wanted everyone in a contained area for treatment, but he could see that she was curious about the case and he needed to be free to move around, so he slipped out the moment her head turned. Damon needed to know what was going on and who was behind this, before anyone died. And he was worried. Because as tough as he was, and as tough as all these Marines were, nothing could fight against a virus that killed fast and indiscriminately.

But he didn’t feel sick. At all.

It didn’t mean it couldn’t strike at any time, but he trusted Gunner, because Gunner was a genius and because the man was determined to come up with a cure. If anyone could, Damon believed it would be his friend.

He’d check on Gunner and make sure his blood was clear. And then he needed to have a talk with the commanding officer. At this point, he would be aware of the potential risk, but Damon needed to let him know about the pet virus and the possibility of a killer in the camp. The CO was a reasonable man, but this was bound to cause a stir.

And he needed the base to be on alert for unusual activity from inside and out. And locked down. At least until he found the one responsible. Because he would, eventually.

He had a bad feeling about those rebels and that fact that Anuma was still missing. Not to mention that he’d already searched everyone’s tents and belongings and had found nothing. Not one clue who was doing this or even how.

Chapter 11

“How is she?” Claire asked, staring down at her teammate.

Hailey was finally resting, if not comfortably, then at least not fitfully like she’d been when Damon first brought her in. Dani was sitting in a chair next to the bed, holding Hailey’s pale hand with her gloved one.

“Her fever is high, but not as high as some of the others. I’m hoping that’s a good sign.”

Claire was tired, but when she looked at Dani, she could feel the exhaustion coming off the other woman. And she hated to bring it up, but Dani was team leader and the only person she really trusted…the only one that went out of her way to make sure they were safe.

“I found something.” Her tone must have alerted Dani, even though she’d tried to keep it even.

“What did you find?”

“This,” she said and handed over the long metallic box that she’d found clutched in Hailey’s hand.

“What is this?”

Claire matched Dani’s frown. “When Damon brought her in, she was holding it. Wouldn’t let it go until she finally went to sleep.” She paused. “Look inside.”

She watched Dani open the latch on the case. There were two empty syringes and a clear vial with a generic label. No way to tell what was inside. But there was a very small amount left in the very bottom. And there was a spot for a third needle that was empty. That was concerning.

“What do you think that is?”

Dani shrugged and snapped the case closed. “I don’t know, but Gunner will be able to find out. Have you seen her with this case before?”

“No, but Martin has one just like it.” Claire had seen him on more than one occasion with the case. “He told me that he takes vitamin B12 shots to keep his energy level up before we get deployed.”

“He never said anything to me about it.”

Claire doubted he would ever tell Dani about anything that might be perceived as a weakness. His ego wouldn’t let him. Dani was younger and smarter than Martin and he knew it. They all knew it, which was why they chose to be on her team every time.

But all she said was, “I’ve never seen him with anything like that out in the field. But he had it with him in Atlanta.”

She didn’t know what the look on Dani’s face meant, especially since her eyes were distorted behind the protective glasses. But she got up and headed toward the decontamination area, still holding the case.

Claire looked back at Hailey, who’d begun mumbling softly, twisting her legs back and forth. Even through the gloves, Claire could feel the heat coming off of her “Damn it, Hailey, what did you do?”

But the younger woman couldn’t answer. And it was possible that she wouldn’t ever answer again.

***

It took about ten minutes to fully decontaminate and strip out of the biohazard suit. Dani had on khaki shorts and a tank top underneath the suit, but she was still soaked with sweat. The humidity of the area combined with the suit made working for long periods of time almost unbearable.

But bear it she would. Because she had to do her best to save as many lives as she could. She hadn’t doubted her findings in the village, not really. But now she was certain. Someone on her team had turned loose a virus that was faster and more destructive than its predecessor. It was the only thing that was consistent with the data.

The question was why? None of it made any sense.

She headed for Gunner’s makeshift lab with Hailey’s blood for testing and the box with the vial and syringes. The tent had two sentries posted. Dani expected them to be bored with the assignment, but they looked deadly serious. Automatic machine guns were poised and ready, and they were acting vigilant.