Page 22 of Dead Drift

He arched a brow, curious though not surprised. Kate was never one to beat around the bush. She told it straight and expected the same in return. “Why do you say that?”

She tilted her head to the side, her soft blond hair brushing over her left shoulder. “Because I know you, and I can still tell when you are holding back.”

She was right on the holding back part, but could she possibly be right on the knowing him part? Was it even possible—after all the years, after the compromises he’d made and the shell of a man he’d become—for her to still know him? For that part of him to still exist?

“I have theories,” he said, pushing off the wall.

“And?”

“Theories aren’t concrete,” he said, explaining why he’d kept silent on this. “This is the Bureau. They work on facts and evidence, not gut feelings or personal theories.”

He looked at Declan. “Am I right?”

“Yes,” he said slowly, grinning at Tanner. “But there are exceptions.”

Tanner grinned back.

So Declan had changed from the strict, by-the-book idealist he’d been all through college—basically for the entirety of their growing-up years—and had at least some flexibility.

“So you’re saying if I go to Alan with my theory, he’ll listen?” Luke asked, not buying it.

“He’ll listen . . .” Declan hedged.

“But he won’t do anything about it?”

“Not when there are concrete leads to track down,” Declan explained.

“Such as?” Luke asked.

“Such as discovering who Ebeid’s inside snitch is. Is he or she at the CDC or Detrick? Until we find the mole, we’re constantly at risk of another theft like the anthrax—not to mention compromising the confidential nature of the work being done at both installations.”

Kate stood to pace. “You said Abel Bedan was brought to the United States after World War II?”

Luke nodded.

“Which means Isaiah Bedan grew up here?”

Luke nodded again.

“And I’m guessing he attended college . . . and grad school in the States?”

“Yes,” Luke said. “He got his undergrad in biology at Stanford. Masters and Ph.D. through a joint program between UCLA and Cal Tech. Emphasis in microbiology and medical research in virology.”

“And then at some point he left the country for . . . ?”

“Germany, right after he obtained his doctorate,” Luke explained. “Though he grew up here, it seems Bedan never viewed America as his home, only a place to service his needs. Once he believed those needs were met, he went to work as a professor of medical microbiology and director of the Institute of Medical Microbiology and Epidemiology at Hanover Medical School.”

“And his ties to Ebeid?”

“It appears Ebeid had been watching Bedan, admired his work, and soon after the Munich attack, the two met. Bedan needed to work off-grid, and Ebeid hired him to do so—and then smuggled him into the U.S.”

Tanner sighed. “Unbelievable.”

Kate stopped pacing. “But during Bedan’s time in the States, particularly his time working alongside other scientists at Stanford and Cal Tech, perhaps he formed a friendship there. And maybe that friend now works for the CDC in Atlanta.”

“Or here at Detrick,” Luke said. “Smart, Katie.”

She shrugged. “I have my moments.”