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“I think he believes he’s a demon—the Destroyer called to carry out the destruction I mentioned. Obviously, he’s delusional. No one has that kind of power.”
Jeff’s face went blank, and he was silent for several seconds before he picked up his phone. “Get Agent Suter in here. Now.”
Monty started to say something, but Jeff held up his hand, signaling him to be quiet. The silence in the room was thick with apprehension. What was going on? Jeff was never at a loss for words.
A few minutes later, they heard a knock on the door.
“Come in,” Jeff called out.
The door was pushed open, and Moreen Suter, a BAU agent, walked in. Logan admired her. Smart, insightful, and bold, she had helped to bring quite a few initially unknown subjects, referred to as UNSUBs, to justice.
“Yes, Boss?” she said.
“Repeat what you reported to me earlier.”
Moreen stared at him for a moment, then said, “We heard from a research lab in Kansas City. They think they may have a problem with a shipment of viruses from Ethiopia. They’re not sure yet, though. It’s just an alert for now.”
“What kind of problem?” Logan asked.
“Before anyone gets too concerned, remember there may not be anything amiss. Sometimes things get misplaced—”
“Deadly pathogens get misplaced?” Alex said. “What kind of Mickey Mouse lab is this?”
“Unfortunately, not all overseas labs have the safety protocols they should,” Jeff said. “This has been an ongoing problem for a while now. The CDC is trying to correct the situation.”
“What might be missing?” Logan asked.
“Six inactive samples were sent from Addis Ababa to Kansas City for testing. Scientists are trying to develop effective treatments for patients already infected with certain viruses.”
“You’re talking about a vaccine?” Monty asked.
“Yes, we have preventive vaccines for this particular strain but nothing to combat the virus in patients who are already sick. This is an attempt at a cure.”
“Wait a minute,” Alex said. “You said these samples were inactive. So they’re not contagious?”
Moreen nodded. “Researchers can work successfully with inactive samples. Obviously, it’s safer.” She took a deep breath. “But after the six samples were received and logged into the lab in Kansas City, the next day they could find only five. Not long after that discovery, they received a call from the lab in Addis Ababa. They’re missing an active sample of the virus. Right now both labs are checking carefully, trying to figure out what happened. It could be a simple mistake. Or...”
“A dangerous, active virus was shipped to the Kansas City lab and is now missing,” Jeff finished.
“Yes. And this morning the research assistant who received the samples from Ethiopia didn’t show up for work. The lab called the KCPD, who found he’d moved out of his apartment.” Moreen sighed. “According to the head of the lab in Addis Ababa, the chemist who prepared the samples is missing as well, and they have reason to worry about some of his recent actions. Coworkers said he talked a lot about the ability to mutate certain viruses. Turn them into superbugs.”
“Would something like that be more dangerous than COVID-19?” Monty asked.
“Yes.”
The room fell completely silent. Logan was certain everyone was thinking the same thing he was.
“What virus are we talking about?” he finally asked.
Moreen swallowed hard. “It’s the Zaire Ebola virus. Already extremely lethal. Incredibly deadly. If it were altered in some way, it could be the most devastating virus we’ve ever seen. We could be talking about an easily spread pathogen with a ninety percent mortality rate.”
“That’s it,” Alex said, her voice so soft Logan could barely hear her. “Our train killer has the virus, and he’s going to unleash it. That’s how he intends to carry out the prophecy.”
