Page 25 of Dead Drift

“It’s not that simple. It was far better to track the shipment, to see where it was headed. To try and physically tie it to Ebeid.”

“Wow,” she said, shaking her head in disappointment. “They’ve really changed you.”

“Excuse me?” How had the little he shared resulted in that pronouncement? If that upset her, how would she respond to some of the other orders he’d heeded?

She linked her arms across her chest. “The Luke I knew would never have let that shipment leave port.”

He swallowed. Perhaps she was right. The Luke she knew had been young and naïve. The world, unfortunately, worked far differently than he’d expected.

“Sorry to interrupt this fun exchange,” Declan said, “but can we get back to the parts you mentioned?”

“I don’t know for certain, but I believe Bedan is using those parts—whatever they are—to create a dispersal method for the stolen anthrax.”

Declan’s brows shot up. “Dispersal method?”

Luke rubbed his forehead. “I suppose it’s best to start from the beginning.” He moved to take a seat on the sofa. “Anthrax is a gram-positive, rod-shaped bacterium that infects people when the spores get inside the body. Anthrax is a Tier 1 bioterrorism threat because it produces the greatest risk with significant potential for mass causalities, which affects the economy and public confidence. It attacks on multiple levels and infects in one of three ways—via contact with skin, ingestion, or inhalation. It makes such a strong bioweapon because it can be released without anyone knowing—if done right, of course.”

“Which would be how?” Declan frowned. “Other than putting the powder form in letters like back in 2001, or dumping it off a building like Bedan apparently so inelegantly attempted in Munich?”

“We know anthrax spores can’t survive long in water, and I highly doubt they’d attempt to repeat the powder-in-the-mail scenario, as we have so many more precautions in place. I believe it far more likely that Ebeid and Bedan will attempt to contaminate the food supply.”

“But I thought cattle and crops couldn’t survive long after being injected with anthrax?” Tanner said.

“You’re correct, which means we’re looking at fresh food at the packing stage. Food that must be consumed rather quickly following purchase. For example, they could infiltrate a meat packaging plant and contaminate the hamburger before it’s packaged and loaded onto trucks headed for grocery stores.”

“So the parts you referred to would be installed at a packaging plant?”

“Yeah. If they went that route.”

“You also mentioned inhalation,” Declan said.

“Correct. Anthrax is the most deadly when it is inhaled. If not identified and treated almost immediately, the results are lethal.”

“How do you recommend we proceed?” Declan asked.

“You continue working to bust Ebeid.” Though he doubted a man like Ebeid would ever be brought down through traditional legal means. “The NSA and Langley are scouring the country for Bedan, but I expect he’s quite near.”

“Why?”

“Because Ebeid likes to keep his team close, and if that’s not possible, at least tightly knit together and overseen by only a select few worldwide.”

“Bedan nearby is a terrifying thought,” Tanner said.

Especially if it meant they were at ground zero for Bedan’s impending attack. But surely Ebeid wouldn’t have anthrax dispersed so close to where he was currently calling home. Although the man likely had no true concept of home.

To Luke, home had become far more than a physical dwelling. To him a home was where his heart resided, and she was sitting three inches to his right.

Even after all the years of attempting to suppress his feelings for her, one nanosecond back in Kate’s presence and his pent-up feelings had come thundering back like a wave crashing over him.

“Where do we even begin the search for possible food contamination, especially without inciting mass panic?” Declan asked, thinking logistically.

Which is how Luke needed to be thinking. Not about Kate and how she made him feel. Rather, he needed to work the case as he’d been trained to do—with intense focus. “Send out a warning to fresh-food packaging plants to report any new illnesses or any suspicious activity,” he suggested.

“That’s a shot in the dark, don’t you think?” Declan said, clearly wanting something far more concrete and actionable.

“I’m afraid that’s the best we’ve got right now.” Luke stood.

Kate frowned, tilting her head. “Where are you going?”