“I have faith that you will,” Priya said. “You care about her too much to give up now. Love is a powerful motivator.”
“I’m not—” he started.
“I have an incoming call,” Priya interrupted. “It might be my other colleagues from the other locations. Kiss Marta for me when you find her.”
The call ended, leaving Crusher frowning down at the cell phone.
You care about her too much to give up now.
Love is a powerful motivator.
What was Priya talking about?
Sure, he cared about what happened to Marta. He was supposed to protect her.
Love?
No way.
He wasn’t cut out for that kind of commitment.
Rescuing Marta was all part of the work he’d signed up for.
So, when had falling in love become a side effect of the job?
Since he’d met Marta.
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.
