The Liger Plague (Book 1) (6 page)

“I’m begging you to tell me what kind of agent we’re dealing with!”

“Begging does not become a man of your stature, Colonel. All the same, I’ll give you and your family a little head start just to make things interesting, and because you’ve been such a good sport,” he said. “Listen closely. Take your wife and daughter back to the house immediately, and make sure that they don’t leave until the liger burns himself out.”

“They’ve no doubt already inhaled the infectious agent. You released it into the room.”

“Actually, your wife and daughter released it, but that’s neither here nor there. Trust me on this, and get them back to the house,” he said. “By the way, Colonel, I love the tony island get-up you’ve changed into for this event. Pick that wardrobe up at L.L. Bean? Very fashionable. Much better than that drab army uniform you had on at the conference.”

“Please tell me what we can expect.”

“You can expect to kill millions of innocent civilians if the authorities make it onto that island before I give permission. You better use all of your powers of persuasion to keep them away.”

“I’m not following you. How will I kill millions of civilians?”

“I’ll release this agent in a major city, maybe two cities, if I wake up on the wrong side of the bed and see those FBI hazmat pigs roaming around over there and trying to mess with my pussycat,” the voice said. “It’s not just me. There’s a lot more of us out there. In fact, I’m part of a larger movement that will swell significantly with time and the proper education.”

The line clicked dead.

The caller was
on the island
! Tag looked around the room to see if he could identify anyone, but there were too many people to study all of them. What could he do? By his estimation there must be well over six thousand people on Cooke’s this weekend. There were so many things to do that he didn’t know where to start. All he could think about now was getting Monica and Taylor home safely.

He sprinted over to his wife’s booth, pushing his way through the crowd.

“Monica, we need to get out of here and head back to the house,” he whispered urgently.

“I can’t leave now, Tag. I’m right in the middle of displaying my sculptures. How would it look if the guest of honor wasn’t present at the opening ceremonies tonight?”

“Please trust me on this.”

“Dad, you need to chill out,” Taylor said, laughing. “Why don’t you go over to the Bay Inn and have a few cold beers and some fried clams until we’re finished.”

He started to move behind the table when the community center started to rumble beneath their feet. A loud explosion sounded just outside the center. Everyone looked up in fear, wondering where the explosion had come from. His wife’s blown-glass sculptures rattled on their shelves. One fell to the floor, shattering into many colorful pieces.

What the hell was that?
Tag thought, bracing for the worst.

Chapter 5

Everyone inside the community center stood quiet, registering the shock of the explosion that had occurred outside. In a matter of seconds, however, people began to push and shove their way out the front door. Tag gripped Monica and Taylor by their hands and guided them away from the stampede. He led them past the panicked throng, all of whom were struggling to make it to the front entrance. Once he reached the rear of the facility, the three of them ran out of the building.

“The golf cart is parked on Spring Street around the corner. One of you take the BMW and the other the cart. I want you two to go directly home, lock all the doors, and stay put. I left two loaded Glocks on the kitchen table in case either of you have to use them. Taylor is not afraid to fire a weapon after all the time I spent with her at the range.”

“Isn’t that a little overkill?” Monica said.

“Trust me on this.”

“Mind telling me what’s going on here, Tag?” Monica asked.

“I’ll tell you everything I know once we get back to the house. Now do as I’m telling you and get back home.”

“Does it have to do with the glass liger the gallery sent me?”

“What do you think, babe? And I doubt your gallery sent that to you. Now hurry up and get moving.”

He went back inside the center and saw people pushing and shoving in their haste to get out. Some of the older folks had fallen to the floor and were being trampled by the panicked mob. He helped those who had fallen back to their feet, directing many of the others to exit out the back. Standing on a table, he ordered the mob into two single lines, one in front and one heading to the rear exit, making sure that no one else got trampled. Many of the kids and mothers cried, and some of the men with families pushed their way past. Tag pulled out his .45 and walked up to one of the men doing the most pushing, holding it up for him to see.

“You’re not going to want to do that, pal. Now stop being an asshole and calmly make your way out that door like everyone else in line,” he said.

“What the hell is going on here?” the man said, fear in his eyes. His frightened wife and three small kids stood behind him.

“Stop pushing and do as you’re told and everything will be cool.”

“Look, mister, we’re from Wisconsin and here visiting my wife’s family in Maine. The ferries are all out of service, and we’re stranded with no place to stay for the night. All we want to do is get the hell off this island and head back home.”

“There are no ferries leaving this island tonight as far as I can tell, so you better be prepared to stay overnight. In fact the ferries won’t be back up and running in the foreseeable future. If any of you have family on the island, then I suggest you return there and stay until further notice.”

“We came over to the island for a day trip. My brother lives in Cape Elizabeth and is expecting us to arrive back tonight for a family reunion.”

“If you have nowhere to stay, then I suggest you head down to Krane’s Beach for the time being or until we can find you and your family some housing for the night. It should be safe down there until we can figure something out.”

Two lines formed at the front and the back. In a matter of minutes he had everyone safely out the doors and onto the street. Tag made his way out of the building, careful to lock both doors so that no one else could enter this virus-compromised facility. Groups of people wandered around Main Street, confused, not sure of what to do or where to go. He looked around to see where the explosion had come from but couldn’t see any smoke. Just then a Portland police patrol car appeared down the opposite end of the street, its lights flashing and siren blaring. It cruised slowly down the yellow median strip, clearing the pedestrians off the street and onto the sidewalks. Everywhere he looked, Tag could see people jabbering nervously on their cell phones, and all he could visualize were the targeted cells in the brain being activated and starting to mutate. The sight of so many people potentially becoming infected by it sent a cold chill down his spine.

Tag ran out into the street and over to the car’s driver’s side window.

“Step away from the vehicle, sir,” the cop said over the loudspeaker.

He banged on the window, realizing to his dismay that he still had his gun in hand. The cop riding in the passenger seat, a pretty young blonde, jumped out of the car and squatted behind the hood, pointing her service revolver at his head.

“Put down the weapon, sir, and get down on the ground. Then put your hands over your head.”

“Listen closely to me, officers. We have an emergency on our hands. There’s no time for this right now.”

“You better do as you’re told, or I swear I’ll shoot. Now put the gun
down
!”

“Okay, take it easy. I’m a colonel in the United States Army.”

Realizing that he had no other choice, he made a show of placing his gun gently on the hood of the patrol car. Then he dropped to his knees and lay sprawled on the pavement, his hands interlocked behind his head. The two cops immediately secured his wrists behind his back. Taking his gun from the hood, the two cops lifted him to his feet and bent him over the trunk. The male officer proceeded to pat him down.

“You’re in a world of hurt, pal. You just threatened the lives of two police officers.”

“Are you two cops for real? There’s been a major explosion on the island, and people here are going into panic mode, and you’re arresting
me
?”

“Yeah, we heard the explosion. The old Methodist church on Main blew a gasket. Probably a gas leak or something. We’ll need to get this crowd under control before we can fully process your arrest,” the female officer said.

“The volunteer firefighters will take care of the fire,” the older cop said. His badge said Mueller.

“Officers, the situation on the island is far worse than just a church explosion. The ferries have been shut down for an indefinite amount of time, and for all intents and purposes, we’re stuck on this island for who knows how long.”

“Who the hell are you again?” the old cop asked, turning him around.

“My name is Colonel Taggert Winters of the United States Army. I head up a group of scientists that study ways to prevent lethal viruses from spreading. I have good reason to believe that an infectious agent has been released on this island.”

“You got an ID on you, pal?”

“Not on me. My wallet’s at my summer home over on Sandy Lane,” he said, kicking himself for not taking his wallet with him. “We don’t have time to waste worrying about my ID. We need to act fast and take control of this situation before it gets out of hand.”

The two cops stared at each other, not sure what to make of him.

“Look, buddy, I don’t know you from jack squat. I want to see some legitimate form of identification before we listen to another word out of your mouth.”

“Then get on your goddamn radio and call your dispatcher. He’ll confirm my ID.”

The driver moved into the car, shut the door, and got on the radio. He waited a minute in silence before the cop came back out and said he knew nothing about the individual. Tag cussed under his breath before realizing that this might work in his favor. Had his name gotten out on the mainland, every reporter in the country would be flocking to Portland to cover this potential threat to the nation’s security. Somehow he had to sweet-talk his way out of these restraints so he could get back to his family.

“Funny how no one’s ever heard of you,” the female cop said, chewing a wad of gum.

“We might possibly be looking at a biologically engineered weapon capable of producing mass death and destruction. They haven’t released my name yet because if they did there’d be widespread panic.”

“Come on, buddy, you expect us to believe that farfetched story? Get off your high horse,” the cop said in a raspy voice.

“Get the police chief on the line. I spoke to him just before I came over to check on this situation.”

“I’ll do that,” the older cop said.

He radioed the station and asked to speak with the chief. The dispatcher explained that the chief was in a meeting but that he’d leave a brief message for him.

“He’ll get to us as soon as he can, but for now we’re going to take you home and check out your alibi.”

“Look, officers, we don’t have time for this bullshit. The longer we wait and do nothing, the worse things are going to get on the island.”

“Maybe he’s telling the truth,” the female officer said, looking over at her partner.

“We got a gas explosion, a ferry shutdown and a crazy guy waving a gun at us, Silva. You want to take a chance letting this guy go free so he can threaten someone else? They’ll take away our badges if we do that. Best to check him out first, and then we’ll go from there.”

Resigned to his fate, Tag stared back through the rear window. People staggered aimlessly on the street with nowhere to go. The fortunate ones who lived on the island would be able to return to their homes. But where would all the tourists end up? He’d told that family inside the Community Center to head down to the beach, but without anyone to organize the people down there, he doubted whether law and order could be maintained. He knew that these two cops should have been on the street, providing guidance and direction, rather than wasting their precious time checking him out. Then again maybe being arrested had an upside. If he could get these two cops back to his house, then maybe he could outfit them with hazmat face masks and therefore prevent a further spread of the infectious agent.

The cop drove down one of the side streets and cut over to Atlantic View Road. The road, high on the cliff and overlooking the beaches and coves along the southern tip of the island, also looked out over Portland and the rugged Atlantic. Tag could see the small headlight standing sentry at the entrance to the harbor. At night its beam swept across the choppy surface of the water, helping errant boats find their way back to port.

Far down below he saw a powerboat pulling out of one of the coves. He knew instantly that the vessel belonged to one of his neighbors, Harry Cameron, a powerful criminal attorney at one of the big law firms in town. Cameron lived three houses over on Sandy Hill Lane and owned all the land rights on that section of the cove. The sight of the attorney’s thirty-seven-foot SeaRay Sundancer heading out into open water scared the shit out of him, and for a moment he pictured the virus jumping to the mainland and spreading like wildfire. The boat turned and began to speed back to the city. It had not gone a hundred yards before a Portland P.D. patrol boat cut it off and flashed its powerful headlight on Cameron’s expensive vessel.

“Stop the car, Mikey,” Silva said, pointing down toward the water.

“What the hell’s going on out there?” Mueller said, staring out his driver’s side window.

“Don’t you see, officers? The island’s gone into a full-on quarantine. They’re shutting off the island from the rest of the mainland and letting no one on or off.”

“Shut the hell up!” Mueller said, exiting the car to better see the situation unfolding in the bay. “What the hell is a Portland P.D. boat doing out there?”

“Are you that stupid?” Tag asked angrily. “We’ll all be infected with the virus the longer we sit here talking about it and failing to act. If this contagion spreads to the mainland, then the multiplier effect will be devastating.”