56. Chapter Fifty-Six
Chapter fifty-six
Noble put the phone to his ear while stretched in a useless attempt to work some of the knots from his back. His eyes slip closed. He answered with, “Can this wait. I’m sort of in the middle of something.”
“Bullets flying?” Burke asked. “Because I’ve got Sam on a party line. It’s important.”
“Hi, Goodman,” Sam said, using his cover identity.
Noble’s brows went up. His eyes opened. Just hearing her voice made little butterflies dance inside his belly.
Sam and Burke on the same line, talking to him, while he was supposed to be working anonymously, was a bad sign.
Something had come up. Something big. “I can always make time for pretty ladies. What’s up? ”
Sam said, “Six days ago, a terror organization tested a biological weapon in a small village a few kilometers north of Belgrade. The whole village was wiped out in less than twenty-four hours.”
Noble whistled and turned back to face the Albanian in the tires. Could this guy and his crew be responsible for a bioweapon? A cold kernel of fear took shape in the pit of his belly. “That’s concerning, to say the least.”
Sam agreed, “We have reason to believe the group is lead by a doctor named Kadare. Arben Kadare. He might be working with a former Albanian captain named—.”
“Zeqiri,” Noble provided.
“I see you’re already familiar,” Sam said.
“We crossed paths.”
“Should I be worried?”
“No more than usual,” Noble assured her, and tried to inject some confidence in his voice. No sense telling her that just yesterday Zeqiri and his goons had put him into a car crusher and nearly turned him into pudding. “Who’s calling the shots on this?”
“For the moment, I’ve got the ball.”
“Nice to know somebody competent is running the show,” Jake said. “What’s the play?”
“Needless to say, the President is very concerned,” Sam told him. “He wants the group brought to justice as soon as possible, in any way possible, but there’s a catch.”
“The virus?” Noble guessed.
“CDC has samples of the virus. They can identify it, but they don’t know how to cure it. Given enough time, they could work out an antitoxin, but that could be months. There’s no telling how much damage this group will do in that amount of time.”
“I may have the solution to our problems right here,” Noble said. “I recently arranged a meeting with Zeqiri. I won’t bore you with the details. Long story short, I’ve got one of his men right here.”
“You’re in possession of one of captain Zeqiri’s soldiers?” Sam asked, “Have you searched him?”
“If he had the virus and he was going to use it, he’d have done it already.”
Sam let out a breath. “Jake, we need to know how that virus was made. We need Doctor Kadare’s research, and if possible, the doctor himself.”
“Understood. Why don’t you give me a few minutes to have a chat with our friend here. He seems ready to cooperate. I should be able to get some answers for you.”
“That is the best news I’ve had all day,” Sam said and Jake could hear the relief in her voice. She seemed on the verge of tears. “Listen, whatever happens, just be careful okay. We’ve uh… We’ve already got another star on the wall.”
Noble passed a hand over his face. “A Company employee? How did that happen?”
“We had someone at the village. We thought it was safe. He somehow came into contact with the virus.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Noble said.
“Just be careful,” Sam warned.
“I will.”
“Call me back as soon as you have anything actionable.”
Noble turned to the Albanian. Storm clouds gathered on his forehead. He said, “You’ll be hearing from me shortly.”
Sam hung up. Noble stalked back to the Albanian, yanked the soldier into a sitting position and rammed him against the tower of crushed automobiles hard. The sound echoed around the junkyard. “You bastard,” Noble said. “You killed an entire village.”