Page 51 of Jacob

“Or?”

“Or… making progress,” she finished, miserable. It still hurt to think of her colleague, a man she thought she knew well, helping todesigna dangerous virus instead of working to defeat it. Nature herself was pretty good at creating lethal viruses without the help of scientists creating brand new ones. It went against their grain, against their training, against everything the CDC stood for.

“Yeah.”

“Have you ever had a colleague—I guess you’d call them teammates—who betrayed you?”

Jacob took a moment to wipe his mouth. “No. I’ve had a few teammates make mistakes—I’ve made a few myself—but nothing that would equal betrayal. We have a very long and careful selection process.”

“So do we,” Alex said sadly. “We have years and years of academic training, on the job training, every second of it dedicated to fighting disease. I thought—I thought it would be ingrained to fight disease and not create it.”

“Greed seems to be a powerful motivator,” he said, dark face tight and grim.

“I don’t think it is for you,” Alex said, realizing suddenly that it was the truth. He was immensely rich, but there was nothing of the rich man about him. At the moment he was dressed for work. Everything he had on was suitable for field ops. Good quality but certainly not fashionable. Even the watch he was wearing wasn’t an expensive piece of jewelry, like the watch he’d had on back at headquarters. He could certainly afford an expensive watch if he wanted. It had some extra dials on it and doubtless it doubled as a radiation detector and phone and radio transmitter, and probably could make coffee, but it looked pretty ordinary. Not gold, not silver. Stainless steel.

Everything of his she had seen was top quality, but not ostentatious. And he hadn’t once talked about money, about how much this was costing him, though it was clearly costing him a lot. He seemed genuinely alarmed about the threat, but nothing else.

“No.” He sat back. “I’m not money motivated. As a matter of fact, the money I’m earning astounds me. It’s useful because I can get my guys the best gear on the market, but that’s about it. We do well because… well, because we’re good at what we do. Not because the company squeezes every ounce of profit it can, like some security companies do.”

She sighed. “It’s a truism, but money can’t buy happiness. I know that firsthand. It’s why I can’t understand Elias at all. To endanger people for—for what? A new car? Expensive vacations? Fancy clothes? We earn more than enough for our needs. How could he do this?”

Jacob took her hand, studying it. He linked his hand with hers and as always, at his touch she felt warmth and strength infusing her. “Money definitely can’t buy happiness,” he said softly. “Right now, I’m happier than I’ve ever been and I’ve had money for a long time. There is no way I could buy what I’m feeling now, the happiness you make me feel.”

He was stealing her breath from her. His dark eyes were so intense she felt she was going to fall into him. His words affected her deeply and she knew he felt the same way. There wasn’t any amount of money in the world that could make her feel this intense bond, this connection. When he took her hand, it was as if something slotted into place. Forces aligning, her destiny taking shape. For the first time in her life, she felt like she was exactly where she was supposed to be, with the man she was supposed to be with. She’d stepped into a future that held Jacob and it was meant to be.

Her throat was too tight to say the words. All she could do was look him in the eyes and nod.

Jacob rose, tugging her hand. He bent his head to her, nose nudging her hair away from her face, mouth to ear so that she heard the words but felt them, too.

“Come to bed with me, Alex.”

ChapterEleven

ZALNY

Aglitch.

One of Topolev’s spies at the airport showed him the photos of two men and a woman who had just entered the country. Ilya recognized two of them. Jacob Black, who ran a famous security company, so powerful it was a real threat. The kind of company that was more powerful than many countries.

He did not recognize the other man but he did recognize the woman—Dr. Alexandra Hethering. Elias Field’s colleague at the CDC—and insurance. This might not be a glitch. It might be an opportunity. Perfect. If Dr. Field refused to cooperate then he would have Dr. Hethering hurt and if that didn’t work, he would shoot Field in a place guaranteed to cause maximum pain without killing him and coerce Dr. Hethering into cooperating.

Because time was running short.

The outbreak was scheduled to occur in three months’ time, on May 4th. I-Day. He’d also invested a huge amount of money, shorting airlines and health insurance companies and the tourism industry.

A huge Chinese delegation was scheduled to arrive in Los Angeles for bilateral talks for an historic trade pact. The largest Chinese delegation ever to set foot in the United States, a harbinger of much stronger ties, or so the American newspapers said. At the same time, a Chinese pop group would hold a concert in Lumen Field in Seattle. The concert was sold out. Sixty-eight thousand tickets. Which meant sixty-eight thousand infected in one go. Many more thousands in Los Angeles. When a mutated virus was suspected, the suspicion would fall on the Chinese. The mutated virus would spread like wildfire along the West Coast, spreading inland. When the virulence subsided, Topolev would send in troops to California, Oregon and Washington in the guise of aid and solidarity. Within a year, the entire Western seaboard would be a Russian protectorate.

And the Rodina would rise once again, with a new empire.

* * *

“Honey, I have to go.”

Alex blinked and sat up in bed, feeling groggy. Had she overslept? No, the sky was dark outside, part of the sky a slightly lighter shade of gray. It was still dawn. She felt energized and exhausted, both. But Jacob looked like he always did. Tireless, like he could work all day and all night and never show the effects.

Jacob left and returned almost immediately bearing a small cup of what smelled like excellent coffee. “They have an espresso machine. I left breakfast for you on the table. You can heat up the croissants in the microwave. I’ll probably be gone all day, so order lunch whenever you please. A maid will come in to clean, and I’ll ask you to stay in the foyer with one of the guards and the other will be with the woman at all times. The Queens will give you a situation report around noon our time. They are making progress with the ownership chart of Teknolab, together with the bios of the owners, and they are putting together a complete list of equipment the company has and any patents they have applied for.

“You’ll be safe. There will be two men outside in the foyer at all times. I left a sheet of paper with their names, their shifts and a photocopy of their IDs so you’ll know what they look like. Please don’t leave the suite today. I know that’s asking a lot but we’re stretched very thin and I’d hate to have to ask Nick to provide more manpower because he’s overstretched as it is.”

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