Everyone’s head bobbed north and south. Even Si had a smile at the prospect of another mission. I explained that I wanted them to head back over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and make a real plan—or at least one a little more sensible than the gibberish I’d conceived in my sleep-deprived brain.
“What about you?” Oliver chided me. “You need some rest, daddy-o.”
“I want to be here when Meg wakes up. I’ll meet you in Easton after that.Capisce?”
I walked everyone out to the lobby and was waving good-bye when my phone rang.
Rowan Anderson. What a nice surprise.
CHAPTER 101
Columbia, Maryland
The simple message—Jane Doe, Shock Trauma, 2345, ICU—was all the information he needed.
No reason to rush. He could be in downtown Baltimore in about forty-five minutes. His experience taught him to wait for the right moment, when guards and nurses were less inclined to wander and certainly less interested in examining his bona fides too closely.
“Dr. Curtis Lee, attending physician” had graduated from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine but never practiced. Still, he had credentials for almost every major hospital from Philly to Richmond.
Medicine was his niche in the Ministry of State Security. Virtually anyone in the medical system—diplomats, politicians, entertainers, and especially enemies of the state—was his to observe.
Or, as in this case, exterminate.
Dr. Lee had been recruited as a young student in Beijing. He then began his cycle of intimidation among the thousands of Chinese medical students in the mid-Atlantic region.
All he had to do was mention the wordsstate security,or offer someone the choice between keeping their badge or having immeasurable pain inflicted on a loved one, and he was in business. He had access to the world’s best forgers and counterfeiters, any one of whom could deliver a brand-new access badge with his legitimate photo overnight.
Dr. Lee gathered his props for the drive to Baltimore, making certain that the small glass vial was securely packaged in its crushproof box. The toxic contents of the vial could stop the heart even through mere dermal contact. Once he had injected Jane Doe with the venom from the Inland Taipan—the world’s deadliest snake—a cure would be impossible.
It would not take long for Dr. Lee to find his target.
CHAPTER 102
Washington, DC
“Nat, we’ve got to plan a long weekend together,” Rowan Anderson said over the phone, sprinkling in some sexual undercurrent just to keep him dreamy. “There’s an amazing place outside Charlottesville. It’s got huge soaking tubs, and four-poster beds so big you have to climb into them.”
“Oh, yeah? That sounds pretty great right about now, Rowan. I’d love to see you.”
She believed him, carrying on the heavy flirting that would help her gauge whether he was in love, or at least in lust, maybe even just crushing on her.
Despite Anderson’s many debriefings, the CSTC business remained a mystery to her. It was also clearly one that had spooked Ming Yu enough that he wanted Nat dead.
“How about a late-night cocktail—tonight? We can get bombed and watch the sunrise.”
“I am so sorry, Rowan, but I can’t. I’m in the middle of something, and then I might have to head out of town again. Won’t know ’til later.”
Rowan detected a little pain in his voice as he sighed.
“I hope you’re okay, Nat,” she said truthfully. “You sound beat.”
Nat was enough of a pro that he definitely wasn’t sharing his current whereabouts, nor the status of his trip south, but she decided to lob a long shot. Any information he provided might help her box his location.
Then Rowan Anderson got the break she’d been waiting for: the sound of a hospital loudspeaker blaring. The message—something about a delay in the shuttle to the parking garage—was beside the point. Now that she knew Nat was at a hospital, maybe she could persuade him to tell her which one. Even better if she could discover why he was there.
“Are you in the hospital, Nat? Buddy, what’s going on? I’m worried about you. Where the hell are you?” Rowan said rapid-fire, giving it as much fake concern as she could muster.
“Yeah, I’m at Shock Trauma in Baltimore. We were in a little scrape last night, and Meg got banged up.”
