Chapter 29
29
“Okay, something’s changed today.”
Logan looked up from his computer to Vivan’s scrunched face as she fiddled with the camera angle on her laptop. “What’s happening?”
“Up until now, they’ve been cautious in the lab, but I’d determined that what they had was not highly contagious. They wore masks, but only after they had walked into the room without them. They put on their gloves in there as well. From the chemicals I’ve seen, my guess is they’ve been working with growing bacteria, but nothing airborne and certainly not lethal. Maybe they've been practicing. Maybe they're looking for the best solution to increase growth productivity.”
“And today?”
“Overnight, someone sealed the outside of the closed doorway with plastic. The three donned gloves, booties, lab suits, and masks before entering. They worked for about thirty minutes, then left again. See?”
She turned the laptop toward Logan and he observed Malik, Rashad, and Nafisa pulling off their protective lab garb and equipment and placing it in a plastic bag. Sealing the plastic covering around the door again, Malik took the bag and walked down the hall toward Akram, handing it off to him.
“Fuck,” Vivian breathed. “I wish I could get ahold of that bag.”
“Let me see what I can do,” Logan said. He quickly stepped out the front door and moved to Vivian’s car sitting in the driveway. Popping the hood, he puttered around inside for a few minutes. Soon, Akram walked outside carrying the garbage bag, and Logan waved before turning his attention back to Vivian’s car. Planning on following Akram, he growled as he watched the man place it in a metal drum and toss a match onto the contents. Fuckin’ hell!
Slamming the hood down, he turned as Vivian walked out onto the small porch. He was pissed about not being able to get to the bag, but seeing her put a smile on his face. He stalked over, stopping at the bottom step as she moved to the top.
Placing her hands on his shoulders, she gave a little hop, wrapping her legs around his waist. Heedless of anything else going on, he kissed her hard and wet. His tongue dove in, tangling with hers as their noses bumped.
She pulled away, giggling, as she encircled his neck with her arms. “I was going to come tell you I saw something else, but you looked like a man who needed a kiss.”
“You got that right,” he replied. “As long as I’m the only one you kiss like that.”
Shrugging, she said glibly, “Well, I don’t know about anyone else. I guess we’ll have to see who else I’m with on my next crazy assignment?—”
With a growl, he kissed her again as his hand smacked her ass. Climbing the steps, he carried her back through the house. Before he could get too far, she reached up and placed her hand over his lips as they moved in for another kiss.
“Hate to interrupt this, but I need to tell you what I saw when Akram went outside with the bag.”
“Right,” he agreed, setting her feet on the floor, steadying her as she regained her balance. He followed her to the table again, where he sat next to her, looking at where she pointed on the screen.
“Look there. They take off their compromised lab suits and give them to Akram. Now watch.”
He stared at the screen as Malik, Rashad, and Nafisa went into the kitchen. Taking two bottles out of one of the kitchen cabinets, Malik shook out several pills. Handing them to Rashad and Nafisa, he took two and then placed the bottle back into the kitchen cabinet. Farrah was standing to the side, pouring glasses of water for each of them. All three swallowed the pills before handing the glasses back to Farrah.
Hearing a car door slam, he and Vivian shared a look before he checked the outside camera, seeing the three climb back into their cars and drive down the road.
Shifting his gaze back to her, he said, “Viv, you’ve gotta break this down for me. What’s happening?”
“I can’t see what’s in those bottles, but my guess is that they’re some kind of antibiotic taken as a prophylaxis—as a preventive. If they were dealing with a virus, there would be no need. So my guess, at this time, is they are working with bacteria. Now, which one, I have no clue.”
“If you knew what antibiotic they were taking, would that narrow it down?”
Scrunching her face, she nodded slowly. “Yeah, but you’ve got to understand that it won’t tell me what it is, just maybe tell me what it isn’t.”
“Tomorrow, they don’t work since it’s Friday. But today, Akram and Farrah usually go to the grocery store. I can get in and find out for you.”
“Logan,” she said, her eyes wide with fear. “You can’t go in that sealed room. Not now?—”
“No, no,” he assured, “I mean, find out what pills they are taking.”
She nodded slowly. “Okay,” she said, dragging out the word.
“What is it, Viv?”
She let out a long breath. “Up till now, it’s been playacting—watching a computer screen or out the window—pretending to be something we’re not—even setting up my lab in the shed. But this”—she pointed at Zaman’s house—"you going in, hoping you don’t get caught—actually going into the bad guys’ lair.” She swallowed audibly. “Now this seems real. And scary.”
Turning toward her, he placed his hands on her face, his warmth surrounding her cold cheeks. “Babe, I got this. This is nothing compared to what I used to do. This is easy, and honest to God, I promise nothing will happen to you.”
“I’m not worried about me,” she whispered, her dark eyes still wide as they stayed pinned on his.
“Then you got nothing to worry about,” he promised, pulling her in for a kiss.
Cakewalk. A fuckin’ cakewalk.
Logan slipped into the back door of the Zamans’ house ten minutes after they left. The grocery was only a few minutes away, so if they had forgotten anything, they would have already returned. With Vivian casually hanging out on the front porch as the lookout, he knew she would call if needed. She had insisted on taking a cup of tea out on the porch and sitting in the dilapidated chair with her e-reader in her lap, keeping watch with her phone in her hand.
He wasted no time as he entered the kitchen, going directly to the cabinet. Opening it, he found two bottles and cataloged the location of them in his mind before turning them to face the front. Snapping pictures, he then opened each one and photographed the pills, knowing a different drug could be contained in the prescription bottle.
Replacing them exactly the way he found them, he made a cursory check through the bathrooms and bedrooms. He had cameras in every room— fuck privacy when dealing with terrorists.
Seeing nothing else untoward, he moved back through the kitchen and out the back door. Rounding the corner, he observed Vivian on the porch, her eyes never leaving the driveway. Sunglasses covered them, but he knew they would be filled with worry. It struck him how he already knew so much about her—not just the facts they’d shared but also her moods, emotions, and expressions. He jogged over, making it to the porch, and she let out a long sigh of relief.
Leaning over her chair, with his hands on the arms of the wobbly, wooden structure, he kissed her faster than he wanted. “Jesus, babe, is this thing strong enough to hold up?”
“Barely for me, and I’m not sure with your weight on it.”
He grinned long and slow, loving the blush that danced across her cheeks.
With his face still so close, she whispered, “Did you get anything?”
“Yeah.”
“I was scared.”
“I know. But I’m fine. Gonna stay fine. Come on, let’s go see what I have.” He stood and offered her hand, loving that she didn’t hesitate to allow him to pull her from the chair. Once inside the house, they moved to the laptops, where he uploaded the pictures he’d taken. Soon, she studied the bottle labels and matched them to the pills inside.
“Okay, they match the labels. We’ve got doxycycline and ciprofloxacin. Both are antibiotics, but I’ll have to do some research to see how they are possibly being used.”
“Right. I’m going to keep working here this afternoon, as well. Let me know what you find, and then we’ll get ready for tomorrow’s trip.”
When the trip was mentioned, her gaze jumped back to his. “Do you think we know enough about each other to pull off our cover with Iggie and Sally?”
“First of all, I think they’ll be so excited about their mini-vacation they won’t give a fuck what we know about each other. Second, for newlyweds, all we have to do is keep kissing, and our cover is complete.”
“You are such a man,” she quipped, rolling her eyes.
“You know it, Viv.” Lifting her chin with his fingers, he kissed her, moving his mouth over hers, reveling in her sweet taste.
He then stalked into the kitchen to grab a leftover slice of pizza, and when he turned to offer Vivian a slice, she was ogling his ass. Catching her, he grinned, and as her gaze jumped to his face, she smiled in return. He carried the pizza and beer over to the table where they worked as they ate.
An hour later, she stretched her arms above her head, her neck and back aching from her inactivity.
“You got something, babe?”
Nodding, she waited until he leaned over before she began her dissertation. “Okay, doxycycline is an antibiotic that fights bacteria in the body. It belongs to the class of tetracyclinedrugs. It’s common and is often used to treat many different bacterial infections, such as acne,urinary tract infections, and even venereal diseases. Dentists use it to treat gum disease. Since it was in Farrah’s name, I have a feeling it was used for a minor infection. How she’s managed to get so much…I have no idea.”
“Go on,” Logan said, focusing on her discoveries, knowing there was little a terrorist could not get their hands on.
“Doxycycline is also used as a prophylaxis and can be used by researchers working with tularemia, among other bacteria. I even used it when doing some of my studies. It’s FDA approved and safe. Now, ciprofloxacin is completely different. It is also an antibiotic, but it is used to treat people exposed to anthrax or even certain types of plague.”
“Fuckin’ hell,” he growled.
“It’s a fluoroquinolone. It can have serious side effects and should only be used for infections that can’t be treated with a safer antibiotic. And it’s not FDA approved as a prophylaxis for tularemia, but if someone can’t take doxycycline...”
“Then they might have to take the harsher drug.”
“Exactly.”
“Can you tell who is taking what from the earlier video?”
“It's funny you should ask that. I went back and reviewed it. Malik and Rashad both took the doxycycline. Nafisa took the ciprofloxacin.”
“Any ideas?”
Shaking her head, she scrunched her nose in thought. “Not really. We know that antibiotics can lose their effectiveness if taken over time. Could be she used doxycycline a lot as a teen for something like acne. There’s no way of knowing, but for some reason, she’s determined that it’s safer for her to use the harsher drug.”
Sitting silently for a moment, her curiosity finally spilled over, and she asked, “So where are we in all this?”
He studied her face for a moment, recognizing her worried expression. “You’re doing great, Viv. You’re figuring out that they are quite possibly working with bacteria, and you’re narrowing down the possibilities by using nothing more than visual clues. My people will monitor them tomorrow so we can take our trip with Iggie and Sadie and have a nice break at a hot springs resort.”
“You think it will be our last break, don’t you?”
Nodding slowly, he replied, “Yeah. I think things are heating up, and I’ll be able to get in there soon with your assistance. Once I do that, you’ll be busy figuring out what they have while I keep working on their plan.”
“How?”
“My people are patched into all their computers and phones.”
“And then you can arrest them?—”
“I’m not law enforcement, babe.”
“Oh, I know. I meant you can turn them over to the FBI or whoever as soon as we get the evidence as to what they’re up to?”
“I’ll take care of it all.”
Smiling, she leaned back in her chair. “Good. Then we can get on with our lives.”