Total pages in book: 153
Estimated words: 140965 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 705(@200wpm)___ 564(@250wpm)___ 470(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 140965 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 705(@200wpm)___ 564(@250wpm)___ 470(@300wpm)
“Wait.” Draden’s eyes flew open and he waited until she half spun around to look at him. “Shylah, there has to be a therapy, antibodies that work against it. They wouldn’t have worked on a virus like this one in what amounts to primitive conditions unless they believed they were immune.”
She frowned and shook her head. “They definitely developed the virus in Whitney’s lab, but they weren’t completely finished or why have a lab here? More, Whitney was convinced they hadn’t come up with a vaccine or antiserum.”
“Could it be this is where they were trying to develop the therapies to counter it? Or the vaccine?”
She stared down into the small cooking pot, seeming mesmerized by stirring the contents. “They’re brilliant men or Whitney never would have recruited them,” she finally said. “Which means you’ve got to be right. They would have come up with a vaccine or some sort of protection before they took a chance of testing the virus or releasing it. I haven’t been inside the lab, but I looked through the windows.”
For some reason that got to him. He didn’t know too many women who would trudge through a forest filled with exotic and rare, but dangerous animals, with terrorists close, hunting three men to assassinate them. His body stirred at the thought of her courage. She took his breath away. It was a cliché, but so damned true he could barely think with wanting her.
“I’m not much of a lab person. I wasn’t schooled to work with viruses, so I stayed out of the hut. I didn’t want to tip them off that I had found them.”
“Can you describe what’s inside?”
“I definitely saw a couple of computers, a Bunsen burner. Microscope. There was a small freezer and fridge. A hood. None of the elaborate safety features that were in the laboratory in the compound.”
“I need to go there. If they have a computer, they definitely are using a satellite.”
“We have it here intermittently.” She turned toward him, spoon in the air. “Why would they feel they had to test it on the village?”
“I can’t imagine wiping out an entire village of people, so I don’t have an answer for you.”
She turned back to her cooking. “I’ve been trying to puzzle that out. Do you have any ideas? Especially that village. At first, I thought it was because it was remote enough to contain the virus, but even the choices of the first two fishermen found dead made no sense … unless—” She broke off completely, paying attention to the mixture in the cooking pot.
“Unless what?” he prompted. He liked that she gave the questions thought. That she actually saw the mysteries and worked at solving them.
“The three of them were furious with Whitney. What is the one thing above all else he holds as his greatest accomplishment?”
He frowned, sitting up straighter. “The GhostWalker program.”
“Exactly. Whitney defied humanity by getting female orphans and conducting experiments on them. He knew if those experiments came to light he would be forever branded among the worst mad scientists of all time, but he did it because he believes that strongly in his Ghost-Walker program. Suppose this is all about revenge. The three of them despise Whitney, but along the way, they must have had personal demons, men or women who wronged them in some way.”
Draden took a deep breath and let it out slowly, turning over and over what she’d said. For once, the pounding in his head receded as he considered that she might be right. “If that’s the case, why use the MSS?”
“Money. Whitney has friends in high places. His first retaliation would be to freeze their bank accounts. They would need money to operate. Sell the virus but have them use it on the village of Orucov’s choice. He probably used it on the individuals himself. If Orucov had ties to Lupa Suku, we’re on the right track. I can use the satellite to get the information from Whitney.”
He didn’t want help from Whitney, not in any way, but this virus was too dangerous to worry about where information came from. “We can’t waste time, Shylah. If this is about vengeance and not money, we’re going to have to move fast. The three are already gone. That means they could be anywhere.”
“We can’t move anywhere, Draden.” Her voice was soothing.
He felt her touch his mind, and instantly there was the flow of information between them. She was looking to see if he intended trying to follow the three into a populated area. If he was she intended to stop him.
She flushed, color creeping up her neck to her face. “I’m sorry.” She ducked her head.
He flashed her a grin. “I told you I was falling in love with you, and I wasn’t far off the mark. You’re extraordinary. Don’t feel bad because you want to protect the population, sweetheart. I was, with regret, thinking the same way.”