“Well, damn,” Marta said.
“Is he...all right?” Cate asked, her tone tense.
Marta shook her head, though the other woman couldn’t see her. “I don’t know. He was there for the handoff. He got into the van with me and his security detail, and the next thing I knew, they shoved him out and took off with me. I don’t know if he’s okay.”
Something that sounded like a sob filtered through the wall. “I told him not to do it. He should never have tried to trade someone else for me. It’s just that we’re all each other has. Him and me against the world.”
“I’m sorry I can’t tell you what happened with him. I’m sure the man who rescued me from Colombia would’ve found him and gotten him the help he might’ve needed.”
“I hope so.” Another sob sounded from the other side of the wall. “Please, don’t hate my father for trying to save me. He’s a good man and did the best he could after my mother died.”
Though she was worried about the looming Vasquez timeline, she could do nothing about it while locked in a cell. Meanwhile, Marta’s heart ached for the girl, who had lost her own parents. “What happened to your mother?”
“Cancer,” Cate said. “Fuck cancer.”
“How long ago?”
“Ten years,” Cate answered softly, her voice barely carrying through the wall. “She didn’t get to see me graduate from high school or college. But my father was there, even though he was suffering from broken heart syndrome. The man has been there for me no matter what.”
“He must love you very much.”
“He does. I never doubted it.” Cate’s breath hitched. “He was there when I fell in love for the first time and when my heart was broken.”
“How did they capture you?” Marta asked.
“I was in London, looking for a friend who had gone missing. I took the underground late in the evening to the neighborhood where his cell phone was last located. A man walked up to me and asked if I was Cate Marsh.” A bark of laughter sounded, then silence. “I didn’t answer but turned away and ran. I didn’t get far before he tackled me, picked me up, and threw me in the trunk of a car. He must have drugged me because I woke up in this cell. They let me talk to my dad long enough to prove they had me. I heard them say they wanted him to get Marta Hale out of Colombia to trade for me.” She snorted. “I told him not to do what they wanted. He doesn’t always listen to me. You’re here because of me.”
Marta leaned her forehead against the wall. “And you’re here because of me.”
“So, what kind of doctor are you? Heart surgeon, internal medicine, family practice?” Cate asked.
“None of the above,” Marta responded. “I’m a virologist.”
“Someone who studies viruses?”
“Exactly.”
“Why were they so desperate to bring a virologist here?”
“Do you actually know where here is?”
Cate laughed. “I’ve been here a week and barely know anything. Most of the guards speak a little English, but it’s not their native language. It’s kind of like German and French. My best guess is Swiss.”
“All I know is that Pieter Teuling, the man who had me brought here, is a German billionaire who wants to save the world by spreading a virus to thin the population.”
Cate whistled. “You’re kidding, right?”
“I wish I were,” Marta said. “And then there’s the cartel kingpin who’d kidnapped me and held me in Colombia for six weeks. He wanted me to weaponize the virus to use on a world summit meeting.”
Cate laughed. “And I thought I had it bad being stuck in this cell for a week. You win.”
“Nobody wins if I don’t get to a lab, develop an antiviral for the cartel guy’s virus, and let the cat out of the bag about Teuling planning a pandemic for population control.”
“If I can help, let me know. Though how I can help from in this cell is the challenge.”
“We’ll think of something.” And there’s always the guy who rescued her from Colombia—if he hadn’t assumed his job had ended in Miami and that she was no longer his responsibility. She could live with being only an asset to him, as long as he came to her rescue in time to keep Vasquez from releasing the virus at the Summit.
After she stopped the virus, she could finally ruminate on her feelings. She didn’t have time to be emotional when there was work to be done. If Teuling wanted her to cook up a slow-burn virus, he’d have to provide a lab for her to work in. On the sly, she could engineer the antiviral she’d use to stop Vasquez. Once she had the antiviral, she’d find a way to escape and take Cate with her.
