Page 199 of Johnny

“What’s your name?” I ask. This she did not tell him and she hesitates now. “OK. I’ll go first. I’m

Johnny Boston. I run the bank up north. And Megan Machette is my partner. Logan isn’t one of us. But

I am Way. And I’m trying to help you.”

She draws in a deep breath of air and says, “I’m going to tell you the same thing I told Logan and

that’s all I’m going to tell you. Everything that was going on at that lab was just one giant failure. But

that disease they were cultivating? We needed that. So they sent me in to grab a sample.”

She holds up the silver canister.

The infectious fucking canister that I had forgotten all about after she put the cap on it. My stomach

does something I have never felt before in my life and might not ever feel again. I can’t even describe

the gut-clenching feeling inside me right now. The sick realization that I’ve been played and the whole

world is about to pay for my mistakes.

“My team is very worried about me right now so I would appreciate you taking this information in

the spirit it was intended and letting me go.”

Her team.

Who the fuck does she work for?

I collect myself. Push that sick feeling down. And calmly ask, “Where are you gonna go?”

“Home.”

“Look, I understand if you believe… certain things about your life, and your family, whatever’s left

of it, and—”

“Don’t fucking patronize me, Johnny Boston.” And now she’s on her feet, pointing her finger in my

face. I almost take a step back, she’s that fierce. “I know who you are. I know what you do. I know a

lot more about what’s really going on than you ever will. So do not. Patronize. Me.”

I hold up both hands in surrender and back up towards the door to give her space. “OK. So…

you’re just gonna hand that sample over to whoever and then what? Infect the world with it?”

“What are you? Stupid? They’re trying to infect the world with it. We’re trying to stop it!”

“Who is your team?”

“I’m not telling you that. You can ask me that question a thousand more times. You can torture me

all you want. I’ll never tell.”

“I’m not going to torture you,” I huff. “I’m just trying to figure out what’s happening. OK? That’s it.

Are they making a vaccine? Was that why they needed those pregnant women?”