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“See, you’re still looking at it the wrong way. Drexel was going to bring everything down! And as you know, he was a very smart guy. If he saw me coming, he’d know something was up. Devander had to do it. Only, he was supposed to do it discreetly. And boy did he screw that up.”
And at that point Quentin looked down at Bill’s body. “It’s not mace, you idiot. You were supposed to release a tiny amount in his drink, not dose him like you were spraying for weeds!”
“Why would you give a civilian an experimental chemical agent?”
“Devander insisted on it. He wanted something quick and painless for his best friend.”
“How would he evenknowabout it?”
Quentin stared at me. “What did you think the cutout company was secretly funding? We weren’t wasting our time developing aerosol technology, I’ll tell you that. The money paid for the development of this weapon. We can’t let the Russians haveallof the fun.”
Which confirmed my suspicion: Quentin happened to have the antidote on hand because he’dcreated the damned thing.Oleg and the Russians had had almost everything right—the experimental labs, the cutout company, the funding. They just had the wrong motive. It wasn’t a demonstration. It was a cover-up.
“Did Kevin know?”
“Not until very late in the game.”
“Now your story finally makes sense. I know why you killed him.”
“Itoldyou why Drexel had to die,” Quentin shot back. “He would have compromised the entire operation.”
“That’s not why. You killed my husband because you were afraid he was going to tellme.”
CHAPTER 39
“LISTEN—YOU WERE RIGHT earlier, when you said there isn’t much time. Which brings us to the point of our conversation. Come back to work for me, and I’ll give you the antidote.”
“And if I don’t?”
“You’ll retire for good, quite suddenly. In about two hours, I suspect. But listen… Iknowyou, Bell. You’re a survivor. Look how far you’ve come in the past three days, pushing yourself to extremes, calling on reserves of strength you didn’t even know you had. When Devander told me you wanted his help escaping the hospital, I was impressed.”
I stayed silent. I closed my eyes.
“Look… I have the antidote right here. I’ll be honest, I wish it hadn’t come to this. Nobody was meant to encounter this stuff and survive. You’re going to need monthly booster shots of the antidote for the rest of your life.”
Thereby guaranteeing my indentured servitude to the Agency. And to Quentin. Literally until the day I died.
“Shall we? You’ve suffered enough, I think.”
I didn’t answer him, because I was too busy convulsing and foaming at the mouth.
CHAPTER 40
“NO!”
Quentin ran across the room. He pulled a syringe from his jacket pocket, then uncapped it and flicked the side to make sure there were no air bubbles.
“You’re not going to die on me, Bell. Not today! I’ve put too much love and care into you. No no no…”
Quentin had to kneel on my hand and grab my upper arm to make it stable enough to inject me.
“You’re the girl who can survive anything. I knew it the moment I met you. And I knew we were meant to be together. Forever.”
With those words, I finally understood why my husband had been targeted for death. Maybe Quentin really had been afraid Kevin and I would expose his highly illegal and revolting weapons program. That was motive enough. But the real reason? Quentin couldn’t stand to see me with anyone else. For the past eight years, his interest in me had not been about fatherly affection. It had beenobsession.
“You wake up now and let me take you home.”
His dream was about to come true. I would be his forever.
