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“So they’re moving virus?”
“They could be moving virus,” Moscowitz said. “They could have virus samples in easily broken glass containers that they could move through airport security without touching off an alarm.”
They dumped the can so Moscowitz could take pieces of the glass for examination. Lucas ripped open the garbage bag and found garbage. He prodded it with his toe, scattering it around the garage floor, and a pen rolled out. He said, “There we go. We got something.”
Moscowitz looked: “What is that? A pen?”
“Not just a pen. An insulin pen,” Lucas said. “You better bag that. They’re traveling with somebody who needs insulin.”
“So they’re gonna need a drugstore?”
“Well…if they’re out of insulin. But some of these last a month,” Lucas said. “But the other thing is, it’s got a prescription code on it.”
“Ah. If it doesn’t belong to one of the people in the bus…”
“Yeah, there’s that.”
Moscowitz: “You should get out of here. I’ll collect the pen and I’ll be another few minutes. I’ve got a bigger air tank than you…”
Lucas moved out, stopping only to look in another closet, which had a couple of pieces of clothing, some shoes, and a vacuum cleaner. To Moscowitz, he said, “There’s an ocean of DNA in here. We could use it to pin down who all was here…”
“Only after you catch them. To tell the truth, I’m not exactly sweating a trial,” Moscowitz said.
“Okay, but we’re talking about burning the place. Before you leave, if you could spend one minute looking in the showers, the bathrooms, for hair…bagging it.”
“I’ll try. Now, you go.”
—
Lucas went outthe front door where Rae, Hawkins and Underwood were waiting at the bottom of the steps. Underwood was holding the sprayer tank and said, “Stop right there.”
Underwood sprayed him with a faintly urine-colored spray that left Lucas soaked from his head down to the soles of the suit’s booties. When every cranny of the suit was soaked with the amber spray, Underwood had him sit on the steps and stick his feet out, and then sprayed the soles of the booties. Underwood looked at his cell phone, where he had a timer running, and said, “You’ve got another six or seven minutes, on the air. Sit right where you are. I’m going to hose you down again in three or four minutes.”
Lucas remained on the steps, dripping the fluid, until Moscowitz shouted, “I’m coming out.”
Lucas moved down onto the house’s driveway, still dripping, andwatched as Moscowitz went through the spray routine. Then Lucas was sprayed again, and they all stood around, and then Moscowitz got the spray a second time. Lucas got a beeping signal that his air had gone on reserve, and Underwood helped him out of the suit. A few minutes after that, Moscowitz was out, and his baggies, which had been soaked when he was, were put in a steel case and locked up.
“Off to the fort, soon as we sample the men on the bus,” Underwood said. “They’ve actually got an F-18 waiting for it in Albuquerque.”
Lucas looked around. “Where’s Letty?”
“The young woman?” Underwood asked. “She’s back down at the bus. She’s talking to Marta on a radio link, and calling what Marta says back to the fort. We’ve got a couple more docs on the way, but they need Marta’s word right now.”
Lucas: “All right. Let’s go figure out what we’re doing…and I need to talk to DHS myself.”
“About shutting down the roads?”
“Exactly. And we need you and Danny to chip in.” Lucas turned to Moscowitz. “Tell David about the glass things…the vials.”
Moscowitz nodded at Underwood. “They’re moving something. We found a broken hundred-milliliter transport tube with a screw-on cap. I collected it. Probably not their only one.”
Underwood chewed on his lower lip for a few seconds, then said, “Shit.”
12
Lionel Scott was sitting in the passenger seat while Catton drove the rental Cadillac fast down the canyon from the ski valley. Foss sat in the back; there wasn’t much talk, but there was tension. Callister was following them in her own Subaru, which, except for the model year, was virtually identical to the one Scott had owned. They were all essentially stuck up a long pipe, the canyon road, and until they got out the bottom, they could be easily jammed up.
Foss looked out the back of the Cadillac and said, “I still don’t see Rose. I hope nothing happened up there.”
