Page 3 of Jacob

Determined, she put her head down and pedaled wildly toward the bus station, thankful when she got back onto decent asphalt and didn’t have to avoid rain-filled potholes. She was drenched when she slid off her bike at the bus station. A drumbeat of panic had started in her, as if she were in a race to the death. She let her bike drop to the ground in a clatter and ran to the covered area where buses took off. It smelled of fuel and exhaust fumes. Two buses were boarding and she ran to the lines, looking for Jake. He was distinctive. Very few men were as tall and broad-shouldered as Jake but there was no one even vaguely like him in either line. A nearby bus closed its doors with a hydraulic hiss.

Alex ran to the bus, frantically scanning the windows for his familiar face and oh my God!There he was!

“Jake!” she screamed, pounding on the side of the bus right under his window. “Jake!”

He was looking straight ahead, long black hair hiding a chunk of his face, but she’d know his profile anywhere. He had to hear her. Though his face stayed stubbornly facing forward, she thought she saw his eyes slide to the right, to her.

“Jake, look at me!” Her voice broke as she continued pounding. Why wasn’t he responding? What waswrong?“Look at me!”

Jake’s face was like stone.

Later, much later, years later, when she was able to think of that moment without a sharp stab of pain to the heart, she could look back on herself as she must have seemed to Jake. A drowned rat, dripping water, tears tracking down her face. Mad with grief. Just beginning to understand his betrayal, but refusing to accept it.

She was beating on the bus with the side of her fist as if she could break through the sheet metal. Up high, the passengers were starting to turn their heads to look at her, the crazy girl. The bus started up and she could feel the vibrations of the engine through her fist. She beat harder, crying, screaming. With a tired sigh, the bus rolled forward, going slow as it pulled out of the lot. Alex stayed with it as long as she could, right up to where it stopped at the exit of the depot for a second, in the driving rain, while the driver checked for oncoming traffic. Alex was beating the side of the bus frantically by then, jumping up to reach the window right by Jake when she could. He didn’t even blink.

Another soft exhausted sigh of brakes being released and the bus pulled out. She put her splayed hand on the filthy side of the bus, her last connection with Jake, and felt the steel moving beneath her palm as the bus moved forward onto the main road, gathering speed.

She stood by the side of the road until the bus disappeared from sight, hugging herself, ice filling her. She cried until she had no more tears left, until her voice left her, until her stomach hurt and knees gave out and she sagged to the ground, head bent over her knees so the rain fell on the back of her head. She cried until she could barely breathe, then cried some more.

It felt like she stayed there forever, on her knees in the mud. Finally, finally, she could cry no more. No one had approached her, somehow understanding that her grief and pain could not be relieved. No one helped her, no one spoke to her. When she stood, it had turned dark. She biked slowly back to her home, which was no longer her home, and where no one waited for her.

ChapterTwo

ATLANTA, GEORGIA—EIGHTEEN YEARS LATER

Dr. Alexandra Hethering stopped at the two-story entrance to the black cube of a building on manicured grounds like an alien artefact, and looked at the black marble slab to the side of the sliding doors. It was plain, with only four words etched in gold.Black Inc. Security. Worldwide.

Yes, this was the place, no question. She’d heard that though the building was black on the outside, inside it was filled with light. Some groundbreaking technology that was almost magic. But walking through the huge glass doors was more than taking a step inside a building. It would cut her life in two. It could ruin her career. It could ruin a colleague’s career. It could save millions of lives.

There was no way to know which it would be and only one way to go—forward.

She put out a hand but the right-hand glass pane slid automatically to one side and she walked through… into bright light. Alex looked around at the immense lobby. It was true. Who knew how it worked, but the impenetrable black glass covering the cube did indeed let light through, exactly as if the panes were transparent.

She’d been told that Black Inc. was super high tech. Well, yes. Two seconds into the building and she was already impressed and she worked in cutting edge science. This was good because if she was right in her fears, if what was terrifying her was actually true, she was going to need all the high-tech smarts the company could bring to bear.

She’d marshalled all her facts so she shouldn’t be nervous, but she was. There was something so imposing about this space—immense, pristine, orderly and powerful. Everyone walked with purpose. Of course, she herself worked for an organization that was immense, pristine, orderly and very powerful. And where everyone walked with purpose. The Centers for Disease Control. The world’s foremost public health institute and she was an integral, respected part of it. But at the CDC she knew exactly what she was doing. Here, she was going to detail data points that might or might not have anything to do with each other and, in the mix, there was a missing man who might not be missing and the potential for vast devastation on an unprecedented scale.

Or not.

Alex hated not knowing things. Her scientific reports were perfect, each fact proven over and over again. That was how science worked. Here she was on such murky ground and she felt it shake beneath her feet.

But—her colleague Elias Field was missing. And Elias was working on something that, in the wrong hands, could be a powerful bioterror weapon.

If she was wrong, though, she’d blow her career up and smear a good man’s name.

She stood just past the huge, impressive glass doors and took in a deep, calming breath. Black Inc. even smelled good—clean and fresh with hints of lemon and mint. She checked her watch. The appointment was in ten minutes’ time and she didn’t want to be late.

There were five receptionists behind a Perspex and black marble horseshoe counter that looked like a free form sculpture, three women and two men. Attractive, well-dressed, efficient-looking. She approached the first free receptionist. One of the men. He looked up and smiled. The smile actually looked genuine, which surprised her.

In her job, she’d been to plenty of important companies and the bigger the company, in her experience, the snootier the receptionists. Black Inc. was one of the most successful security companies in the world, so she should be looking at the top of the guy’s head as he continued working at his computer, but no. His head shot up and he smiled at her.

“May I help you?”

Alex nodded. “Yes. Dr. Alexandra Hethering for Mr. Dylan Gardner. I have a ten o’clock appointment.” She’d only made the appointment half an hour ago and had been surprised that someone from BI could see her so soon.

The receptionist briefly checked his computer screen and smiled again. “Yes indeed, Dr. Hethering. Mr. Gardner is expecting you. Here, put this on your jacket, it will get you through security. Just walk through the gates, take one of the elevators and go up to the 8thfloor. There the badge will guide you.”

He handed her a credit card sized badge with her photograph—taken as she walked through the door a minute ago—and name written in gold script on the black badge. There was no lanyard. She held it in her hand for a moment, wondering what to do with it. The receptionist smiled. “Just hold it against your jacket.”

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