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“That I’m a Company woman.”
Bill gave an embarrassed grin. “Not long ago. I practically had to beat it out of him. But you have to understand, Kevin and I had no secrets from each other. And he was so proud of you.”
“He told you, even though I swore him to secrecy?”
Not that it really mattered now, but I was disturbed about this. Kevin and I had had a long, serious talk about keeping that part of my life between us, and he’d sworn to never say a word. We joked a lot with each other, but not about this.
I’m sure Bill could read my unease. “Look,” he said. “Kev and I may have gone our separate ways in business, but he was, and will always be, my closest friend. And I know he’d want you to focus on getting better. On healing.”
“That’s funny.”
“What did I say that was funny?”
“Didn’t they tell you? I’m not going to heal. This is about as healthy as I’ll ever be.”
The shock on Bill’s face was real. No attempts to hide it now, because he had no idea what I was talking about. “What do you mean?”
“The same chemical agent that killed Kevin is slowly doing the same thing to me. I have a couple of days left, at the most. Hell of a way to spend the rest of my honeymoon.”
“That is not going to happen, Samantha,” Bill tried to rally. “I’m going to find help, and you’re going to beat this thing.”
I ignored his platitudes. “Thereissomething you can do, actually. Which is why I called.”
I reached over to my bedside table and picked up the note I’d been working on before he arrived.
CHAPTER 15
“ARE YOU SERIOUS? You want me to saythis?”
I had written a script using all of the hot-button words guaranteed to cause a panic. I knew they would, because these were some of the words I’d been trained to look for when intercepting communiqués from hostile powers.
“Yes. Word for word. On a prepaid phone. Then break the phone in half, wipe the pieces down, and toss them into separate waste baskets. Burn the script I gave you. Then watch the news, if you want, to see that it worked.”
Bill looked as if I’d asked him to go streaking in front of the Brandenburg Gate. But I’d given this much thought. A phoned-in threat was the only thing that would work—if you knew the right buttons to push. Clearly, I couldn’t make the call myself. So the task fell to this complete stranger, the closest thing I had to family here.
“And what are you going to do?”
“Break out of this place.”
“Are yousurethere’s no other way?”
“Believe me, Bill… if there were, I’d be doingthatinstead.”
“I have a feeling Kevin would kick my ass if he knew I was leaving you to fend for yourself. Let me see what I can do about getting you transferred to another hospital. Therehasto be some kind of treatment.”
“And what if there’s not? Then I waste the little time I have left on this planet just… dying? No. Kevin would kickmyass if he knew I was just giving up.”
“You’re a CIA superspy,” Bill said. “Pretty sure you could take Kev.”
It was meant as a moment of levity in all of this serious, end-of-the-world talk. But the joke landed wrong for both of us. Yes, of course I would love to take Kevin. Take him away from all of this madness. But that was impossible, because he was far beyond my reach. There was nothing I could do to help him. I could only avenge him.
“Promise me you’ll do this, Bill.”
Bill squeezed my hand. His touch was warm, just like Kevin’s.
“This is absolutely crazy, and I’m probably going to end up in jail for this… but I’ll try my best,” he said. He lingered for a moment, looking like he was wondering what to say next. Because whether this plan worked or not, this would probably be the last time we’d ever see each other.
“The sooner you call,” I said, “the sooner this will be over.”
