Chapter 14
“Wake up, Dr. Hale,” a voice called from the end of what felt like a long tunnel filled with rumbling engines. “Wake up. We’re almost there.”
Marta forced her eyelids open, only to stare into unfamiliar gray eyes.
“Oh, good, the drug is wearing off. Just in time to go to work.” The man gave her a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “I hope you had a good rest. You have a lot to accomplish in a short time.”
She tried to move her hands and couldn’t. Her legs were equally immobile. The haze was slowly clearing as she took in her surroundings. “Where am I?” Her words came out in a guttural croak.
“You’re in my plane.” He glanced around. “Only the best for the world’s best virologist. The seats recline for sleeping on long trips like this one. You should be well rested by the time we get there.”
“Get where?” As the drug-induced haze lifted, Marta tried again to move her arms and legs but couldn’t. She lifted her head to stare at the duct tape binding her wrists and ankles. “Who the hell are you, and where are you taking me?” At least this time, her voice sounded more like her own.
“Oh, my dear, you’re very important to the project we’ve been working on for the past five years,” the man said, his eyes brightening as he spoke.
“We have everything in place to scale up. All we needed was a highly skilled virologist to make it perfect.” He rubbed his hands together like a child about to get a favorite candy.
“Now we have you, your knowledge of the virus you’ve been working with, and the lab to create the perfect version of the virus. ”
Marta snorted. “I’m not doing anything for you or anyone else who thinks they can hold me hostage to get what they want.”
“You will,” he said confidently. “You’ll see that what we are doing will ultimately save our planet and the human race. What could be better than knowing you’re responsible for helping our species and our planet overcome the scourge of overpopulation?”
“How do you plan to do that?”
“By helping to thin out areas of the uneducated rabble who only know how to reproduce like rabbits and live in densely populated areas where they are already struggling to find enough food to feed their offspring.”
Marta blinked up at the man with the gray eyes. The man was insane. And she’d thought Vasquez was crazy enough. This guy took it to a whole new level. “Let me get this straight. You want me to help you kill entire populations?”
His eyebrows dipped. “Not all at once. That’s where I need you.
You’ve done such profound work manipulating viral DNA that I’m sure you can make a deadly virus spread more slowly and less noticeably, so it flies under the radar of worthless organizations like the WHO.
The virus must be so well-regulated that people die over a longer period of time, thus not raising unwanted concerns.
It needs to have the chance to purge the earth of the excessive amounts of humans who are more of a drain on the planet than a benefit. ”
A myriad of scenarios raced through her head as she lay bound in a leather recliner tens of thousands of feet in the air, flying to wherever this lunatic was taking her. She couldn’t escape at the moment. She’d have to play along until her feet were firmly on the ground.
This man who’d kidnapped her was crazy and apparently believed in his plan to murder people using bioterrorism. Knowledge was power. If she hoped to get out of this situation, she needed more information.
“Overpopulation is a challenge,” she said, feeling her way around the man’s ego and firmly planted beliefs. “Wouldn’t providing contraceptives be a little less aggressive?”
The man sat back in his seat across from hers and waved a hand.
“You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.
The same goes for humans. You can provide contraceptives, but you can’t make them use them.
So we lead them to the water they can drink.
” He smiled. “So much less complicated.”
So, what had happened in Paraguay, Bangladesh and Uganda hadn’t been an accidental contamination of a supply chain delivering clean water solutions to poor, isolated communities.
“Mr. Teuling, do you really think you can get away with poisoning water supplies without anyone noticing?”
The man’s gray eyes narrowed. “How do you know my name?”
“It took me a minute, but I recognize you from your photographs in the news,” Marta lied. “Your non-profit has been helping people access clean water they’d otherwise have no access to. You’re quite the compelling speaker.”
The man’s back straightened at her praise. “I believe in helping the planet.”
“But not the people?” she said.
“Don’t you see?” He leaned forward, his eyes brightening again with manic enthusiasm. “By thinning the population, I am helping both the planet and the people.”
The guy truly believed he was helping, which made him scarier than Vasquez and his thugs. There was no reasoning with crazy. She just had to go along with him until she could find a way to escape or until Crusher and his team came to her rescue.
Her heart ached at the thought of the man she’d fallen in love with so quickly. He’d seen them dump Marsh out of the van. He’d know she was in trouble. The man would feel responsible and come after her because that’s what he did. He was a protector. And she was the asset.
He’d said so as she’d walked away with Marsh.
Asset delivered.
Those words had nearly broken her heart. She hadn’t had time to dwell on it when the driver slowed, the van door opened, and Marsh was pistol-whipped and shoved out of the van.
When she’d tried to dive out after Marsh, the men on either side of her had grabbed her arms, holding her back as another man closed the door. She’d screamed for Crusher, but he’d been on foot. He hadn’t been able to catch up with them.
Then one of the men pulled out a syringe.
Marta had fought, kicked and bucked, to no avail. The needle had gone in, and she’d blacked out. She couldn’t let that happen again.
“I understand you want to use science to help save the planet.” She tried not to grimace at the harsh reality of his plan. “It’s a noble cause.”
“Yes,” he said. “Noble. Long overdue.”
Demented, better described his plan, but she wasn’t in a position to argue. “I don’t suppose you could remove the tape from my arms and legs so that I can use the toilet?”
His eyes narrowed.
Marta cocked an eyebrow. “Don’t worry. I can’t escape at this altitude. Plus, it’s hard to have an intelligent conversation while I’m bound in a prone position.”
For a long moment, Teuling stared at her. Finally, he motioned to someone else behind her in the cabin.
One of the men who’d helped take her from Marsh pulled out a wicked-looking knife, brandished it, and made a slicing motion across his throat.
He bent over her ankles and sliced through the tape holding them together.
Then he grabbed one of the cut ends and ripped the tape off, taking a layer of her skin with it.
“Bunson burners!” Marta cried out, her ankles stinging where the tape had ripped her skin.
Teuling chuckled. “Wilhelm is a bit on the dramatic side, don’t you think?”
Wilhelm touched the tip of the knife against the tape holding her arm to the armrest.
“Do be careful of the upholstery, Willie,” Teuling said.
The man’s thick brows descended as he eased the blade between her arm and the white leather armrest.
She winced when the tip of the blade nicked her arm.
“And, bitte, no blood. You know I dislike the sight of blood.” He patted Marta’s leg.
Having eased the knife through the tape binding her arm to the armrest, Wilhelm gripped the end of the tape.
“Wilhelm, we must take extra good care of our guest. She will need her hands and arms to work with. Be a little gentler.”
Wilhelm’s brows dipped deeper as he eased the tape from around her arms and wrist, pulling away the scabs that had formed from her last confinement.
Marta bit down hard on her bottom lip to keep from crying out.
Blood oozed from the torn scabs.
“Get something before it stains the leather!” Teuling shouted.
Wilhelm ducked behind Marta.
“The man is a bumbling fool,” the crazy billionaire said. “But a big bumbling fool can be of use if trained properly.”
Back with a towel, Wilhelm handed it to her and worked on the tape holding her other arm. By the time she was free, she had to hold both wrists in the towel to keep from bleeding onto the white leather seat. “Where’s the toilet?” she asked, gasping.
Teuling lifted his chin toward the rear of the cabin. “Wilhelm will escort you.”
Marta pushed herself to her feet and stood for a moment, fighting the residual dizziness from the drugs. She’d need to stay alert and be ready to run as soon as they landed. If Teuling was like Vasquez, there would be few opportunities to escape and plenty of minions to catch her if she tried.
After using the restroom, she splashed water on her face and rinsed the blood from her wrists, praying the water on the plane wasn’t contaminated. When she returned to the seat where she’d been bound, it was upright, facing the crazy billionaire.
“Please, have a seat and buckle your seatbelt.” Teuling waved a hand toward the seat. “We’ll be landing soon.”
At that moment, the aircraft hit some turbulence.
Marta dropped into the seat and secured her belt across her lap.
For the next few minutes, she watched out the window as the plane came in for a landing and taxied to a stop near a small building.
As soon as the engines died down, a van pulled up to the plane.
If she was going to make her escape, it had to be now, or never.
Marta unbuckled her seatbelt and stood.
One of the men opened the door, extended the stairs and descended to the ground.
Teuling was next out the door.
Marta followed.
Before Teuling took the last step down, Marta shoved him hard, sending him sprawling across the tarmac.
The man behind her reached out to grab her, but she jumped to the ground, dodged Teuling and his other goon and ran toward the terminal screaming, “Help!”