19

Adam checked several times to see if the police had found the fifth sacrifice. Nothing. He cursed loudly. These fools were so incompetent and slow. Would he have to lead them to it? He was itching to get on with the sixth sacrifice so he could put his next plan into action. Once it was done, he’d get Sally and the kids away from Kansas City. Far away from the destruction that would quickly spread.

He had the perfect plan to multiply the virus, and those fools would never figure it out in time. He was told it would take a while for the symptoms to show up. By the time they did, the virus would have spread all over the area, and others would be sharing it around the world. The results would be much worse than any outbreak mankind had seen.

He went to his desk and pulled on his gloves. He always wore them when he was working. Then he penned a letter to the police in block letters. When he was finished, he put it in an envelope, then sealed it and placed a stamp on it.

Adam left his office and went into the living room. Sally was reading a book, her lovely legs tucked under her as she sat on the couch.

“Going to the post office. Be back soon,” he said.

“Okay, honey.” She smiled. He leaned over and kissed her, then left the house. It would all be over shortly, and then he would have fulfilled his destiny. The Master would reward him, and Adam would live the rest of his life with the knowledge that he was one of the most important people who’d ever lived.

Logan reached over and pulled a large spiral notebook lying on the coffee table toward them, next to the remnants of the Chinese food they’d ordered in. “So what do we know now?” he asked.

Alex had just started to answer him when the fax machine they’d hauled from Quantico began spitting out pages. Logan got up and snatched them.

“They’re from Harrison,” he said. “The information about Walker and Martin Kirabo.” He gathered the papers, waiting until the fax machine fell silent. Then he brought everything over to the couch. He was worried. This virus could be incredibly deadly. Still, it would be almost impossible for it to spread the way the Train Man wanted it to. Especially since they’d had a heads-up. The CDC would have already issued a warning to hospitals and doctors in the area.

Yet Logan felt a strange uneasiness about this guy. He was smart enough to get away with these murders, leaving no evidence behind. Was he on his own? Or was someone helping him? Were the murders of Willow and Nettie connected to him? Or did the Circle really mete out punishment so severe? They didn’t have answers to these questions, but they did know Walker understood deadly viruses. Why did he think he had something so lethal that unleashing it would kill millions of people? Could this really be a mutated form of Ebola?

“We need to know more about these men,” Alex said as Logan sat down next to her. “Something doesn’t add up. Adam Walker and Martin Kirabo worked in labs. They had to know their theft would be discovered.” She slowly shook her head. “Don’t you find that odd?” She’d taken her long hair out of the band that usually held it, and her hair flowed onto her shoulders, just like it had when he’d come to her hotel room the first time. Her gray-blue eyes locked onto his. Logan’s throat constricted, and he had to take a deep breath to get the words in his mind to tumble out of his mouth.

“Yeah . . .” He cleared his throat and tried again. “I was just thinking about that. Ebola is dangerous. Walker had to know the lab would notice the discrepancy.”

“He clearly wasn’t worried about it. He must have been planning this for a long, long time. Already knew when he’d get the sample. Had probably already moved out of his apartment. He may have shifted to where his family is or secured someplace else close to the lab even before the sample arrived. Like I said before, a place where he thought he’d be safe.”

Alex nodded. “This was carefully planned. Down to the last detail.”

Logan realized he was holding his breath and quickly blew it out. “That means . . .”

“That means Martin Kirabo probably had plenty of time to prepare this shipment of his superbug.” Alex turned her head and frowned at him. “They waited until they had the exact virus they wanted. I think this thing may be exactly what Walker says it is. Something powerful enough to kill a lot of people.”

Logan didn’t respond. There was nothing to say. He put his hand on his chest and tried to calm himself. His heart felt as if it would pound right out of his rib cage.

“Let’s look through this information before we start writing up our assessment,” he said. Logan silently handed her the report about Adam Walker, then began to read the information gathered on Martin Kirabo.

He’d barely started when Alex said, “Adam Walker is left-handed.”

“We were certain he was since, based on the writing on the boxcars, the Train Killer is too. But that helps to confirm they’re the same person.”

“Yeah. You know, there’s not a lot here. Like Harrison said, his coworkers don’t have much to say about him. No one ever saw him outside of work. He has a cousin who lives in Michigan, but he told investigators he met Adam only once. When they were kids. This guy is a ghost.”

“Could Kirabo have come here to help Walker with this plan?”

Alex was silent as she considered his question. “I don’t think so. But after you read that report, tell me if you think it’s possible. I’m sure flights from Africa are being checked carefully. If our colleagues find out he came here, they’ll tell us.”

They both went back to reading the paperwork in front of them. After Alex finished hers, she pushed her file toward Logan. Then she got up and went to the kitchen to brew more coffee. When she was done she brought the cups in and put them back on the coffee table. By then Logan had finished reading and had picked up the file on Adam Walker. As she’d said, not much was there.

“Martin Kirabo doesn’t fit the profile of a serial killer,” she said after a few minutes. She pulled his photo from the file and put it down between them. Logan had to agree. He had a nice smile. A friendly face. He was married and had four children. His mother lived with them. How in the world did he get caught up in this? Not just the Circle but this plot?

As soon as Alex finished speaking, the fax machine beeped and more pages began to slide out. Logan grabbed them before they fell on the floor, then returned to the couch and held them out to Alex.

“Pages from The Book,” she said, her voice choked and low.

He was alarmed by the expression on her face as she stared at the papers in his hand.

He recognized that look.

Alex Donovan was afraid.