Silent Night (Sam Archer 4) (29 page)

‘Do we need to suit up?’

She shook her head. ‘Don’t worry. I took the vial out this morning, but locked it in a Class III cabinet. No one can get to it other than me. It’s secure.’

She tapped in a quick six digit code and the glass door buzzed, sliding open.

Archer followed her inside. They were forced to stop as the first door closed, the two of them standing close together in the shower cubicle. Then the second one opened and they walked into the lab. The door slid shut behind them.

The laboratory was rectangular. There were white worktops lining the walls, all sorts of equipment placed incrementally along them. Although the main lights were turned off, the lab was illuminated by a faint glow from some LED lights and the UV lighting in the decontamination shower. Straight ahead against the far wall there was a rectangular shaped freezer with a glass door. It was big, about the size of two refrigerators stacked side by side. Archer saw racks of test tubes and beakers inside containing different coloured fluids.

And just to the left of the freezer, he saw what had to be the virus.

He walked forward slowly beside Maddy and looked into a thick containment cabinet. It was octagonal, glass panels separated by thick strips of metal. There were several holes with long black rubber gloves leading into the glass case to allow the doctors to work on the materials inside.

Towards the back of the airtight case was a rack with six slots.

Five of them were empty.

In the centre of the rack rested the last remaining vial.

‘Bleeker stole every one he could see,’ she said. ‘The only reason he missed this one was because I’d stored it in the freezer.’

Archer stared at the vial, like a moth drawn to a flame. It was about the size of a large shot glass. The liquid inside was muddy yellow, resting on the bottom of the glass like river silt giving off its own little caramel glow. It looked so inconsequential. However, Archer thought back to the store by Pier 17, standing amongst the fifty nine infected dead, blood and pieces of lung tissue around them.

Looks could be deceiving.

‘Tomorrow, I’ll come in and destroy it for once and for all.’

Archer nodded, but cocked his head. ‘What’s with the receiver?’

‘What receiver?’

He pointed. ‘Behind the vial. Look.’

She turned and looked closer. There was a little electrical bug clipped to the back of the cabinet. It was about the size of a small pencil sharpener.

She frowned. ‘That shouldn’t be there.’

Archer’s eyes widened.

He grabbed Maddy’s shoulder.

‘Step back,’ he said, sharply.

Confused by his change in tone, she moved away from the cabinet. Archer stared at the bug. It looked like a receiver.
But for what?
He examined the cabinet, then lowered his gaze to the cupboard under the worktop. He dropped to his knees, facing the drawers.

He took the handles and pulled them open.

There was a timer inside, red numbers this time.

They were counting down.

0:54.

0:53.

‘What the hell?’
Maddy said.

Archer rose, moving back. ‘Is this room secure?’

She nodded quickly, staring at the timer. ‘Yes, it’s airtight.’

‘We need to get out of here right now and lock it down.’

Maddy didn’t need to be told. She was already making for the door. Archer turned and followed her. She pushed in her code on her keypad.

But a red light buzzed above it.

It wouldn’t open.

‘What? This should work!’ she said, incredulous, frantically trying again.

Buzz.

Red light.

‘Someone’s locked us in,’ Archer said. He turned, and saw a camera mounted in the corner of the room. ‘Try and get the guard’s attention on the camera.’

As she ran over and waved her hands frantically, mouthing
Help
, Archer looked back at the timer.

0:42.

0:41.

‘Wait!’
Maddy said. ‘There are bio-suits in here. We’ll be safe.’ She turned from the camera and ran across the room, pulling open a locker.

But there was nothing there.

The rail was empty.

‘Someone’s taken them!’
she shouted. ‘They should be right here!’

Together, they looked back at the clock-face.

‘Oh my God!’

0:37.

0:36.

0:35.

‘Archer, what are we going to do?’

He didn’t reply, looking around the lab.

Think, man. Think.

He moved back over towards the device, examining it. It was at
00:29.

‘Quick, defuse it!’ she said.

‘I’m not a bomb tech,’ he said. ‘I can’t touch it. It might go off.’ He turned and grabbed a chair, running over to the glass wall. ‘We’ll have to smash our way out and run for it.’

He hammered the chair into the glass, but it just bounced off. He kept trying, but the glass was reinforced. There was no way he was breaking it. Dropping the chair, he pulled his pistol and fired three times. But all it did was leave three white dented splodges on the glass.

It wasn’t breaking.

‘Shit!’

He turned and looked around as Maddy ran back to the timer.

‘Twenty seconds!’ she screamed. ‘Oh my God, we’re going to die!’

Across the room, Archer looked around frantically.

Think!

Think!

‘Archer, what do we do?’

Scanning the room, his heart racing, he looked for a solution.

And suddenly, he had an idea.

He ran forward to the cryogenics freezer, ripping the doors open. He started pulling all the beakers and racks of test tubes off the shelves, placing them quickly on the desk top. He didn’t know if the gases inside were flammable or toxic, but took them out as quickly and carefully as he could.

‘Ten seconds!’
she screamed.

He ripped out all three shelves, throwing them out of the way.

They clattered to the floor across the room.

‘Five seconds!’
she screamed, unable to tear her eyes off the countdown.
‘We’re going to die!’

Archer ran to his left and grabbed her. He tore open the door to the freezer and dragged her inside with him, then pulled the door shut.

It closed and the plastic seal formed.

Then the bomb detonated.

Archer and Maddy saw the vial and cabinet shatter from the bug clipped to the back. The destroyed glass showered to the worktop and floor and the yellow virus started to seep out. It slowly drifted out into the room, giving the air a toxic golden tinge. Panting, Archer and Maddy stared at it, protected behind the glass and watching the evil miasma spread into the lab.

The sealed door had saved them from the virus but now they were trapped. Inside the freezer, it was unbelievably cold. It was designed to hold and preserve chemical liquids, not living human bodies. The adrenaline was starting to pass, their heartbeats slowing and both Archer and Maddy’s bodies were starting to react to the freezing temperature. They were shivering hard. They’d pulled their collars up, folded their arms and closed their fists, trying to preserve any warmth their bodies created and protect their fingers from frostbite. But the cold was unremitting. It made the temperature out on the street seem almost tropical.

Archer had pulled his cell phone, taking utmost care not to nudge the door and break the seal, the only thing protecting them from the virus. Beside him, Maddy looked out of the glass door into the lab.

‘Anything?’ she asked.

He cursed. ‘Nothing. There’s no signal.’ He moved the phone around the freezer as much as he could, taking care not to hit the door and keeping his eyes on the display. No bars. No service.
‘Shit.’

He tucked the phone back into his pocket and wrapped himself up, trying to retain his body heat.

‘So what now?’ Maddy asked.

‘We wait until someone finds us.’

‘How long could that take?’

Archer didn’t respond. He was looking through the glass at the toxic yellow air.

‘Someone set this up.’

‘How did they know we’d be in here?’

‘The receiver was a bug. I’ve seen them before. When you entered the code on the keypad to get in, it set off the countdown. When it ended, the bug shattered the glass.’

‘Who would do something like that?’

‘I don’t know. But they wanted to kill whoever came in here next. That’s why they took the suits.’

He looked at her beside him.

‘All the documents are gone. The computer’s been wiped. Your father and Dr Tibbs are dead. Dr Glover is missing. They were about to kill Dr Kruger before we showed up.’

‘They’re killing anyone who knew about the virus,’ Maddy finished.

Archer nodded. ‘It must have been one of Rourke and Sway’s people. They knew only you and Kruger have access to the lab. They figured both or either one of you would be the next people to come in here.’

Maddy didn’t reply.

Shivering, Archer lifted his arm carefully over her.

He felt her tense.

‘Relax. I’m not making a move. We need body heat.’

He felt her stay rigid for a moment. Then she slowly relaxed and leaned into him, the two of them shivering together.

Waiting.

Downtown, the rest of the detail was still gathered outside Tonic East. The CSU had been able to work out from the trajectory of the bullet that the shot had come from a newly opened apartment building south and west of the bar on
Lexington Avenue
. They were over there now, trying to find the exact window from where the shot had been fired, but the rifleman had thought of everything. He hadn’t left any evidence behind, certainly not a cartridge or a rifle, and nobody inside the building had seen anyone suspicious. There was a chance that he was still hiding out somewhere inside so ESU were working their way up each floor, clearing each apartment which was slow, painstaking and disruptive work.

Sway had been released, much to Shepherd’s annoyance. He’d wanted to keep him in custody but Faison was calling the shots and told Shepherd that he needed to let him go. He’d said that Sway could lead them to Rourke but Shepherd wasn’t convinced. The man now knew for a fact that the NYPD had been tailing him. Catching him with the virus now was going to take some work. Furious, Shepherd had watched Sway walking away, his handcuffs taken off and a smirk on his face. He’d willed him to hail a cab in front of him so he could catch the plates but Sway had walked around the corner and disappeared out of sight.

Standing with Jorgensen and Josh, Shepherd shook his head at the memory. Things were not going well. Marquez approached the three men, tucking her cell phone back into her pocket.

‘The three boys who jumped Archer are on their way to the station.’

‘Are they saying anything?’ Josh asked.

‘Not a word. But at least that’s three of them off the street tonight.’

‘Peterson’s back under at the camp,’ Shepherd told them. ‘Hendricks and Faison are in place. We’re heading over there to join them.’

‘What about the shooter?’ Jorgensen asked, nodding at the apartment building where the shot had come from.

‘The virus is our concern. CSU and ESU will handle this.’ Shepherd paused, then looked around. ‘Wait a minute. Where the hell is Archer?’

‘He went back up to Flood Microbiology, sir,’ Josh said. ‘He wanted to take a quick look around.’

Shepherd checked his watch. ‘We’re going to the campsite now. That’s our next best lead. Marquez and Jorgensen, you’ll ride with me.
Josh, go pick him up, then follow us.’

The team nodded, separating, and Josh pulled his cell phone. He dialled Archer’s number.

But he couldn’t get through.

At that moment Sway was crossing the Hudson River in a taxi, headed for
Kearny Medical
in
New Jersey
where Bobby would be packing up the canisters. They needed to get out of the State. The pigs had been onto him in a flash and although they couldn’t pin the shooting on him, they weren’t as dumb as they looked.

It was only a matter of time before one of them caught on and realised what had happened.

*

Inside the freezer, Archer and Maddy had slumped down in the cabinet. He had his arm around her, her head in his shoulder, both of them trembling hard from the cold as icy air continued to blast relentlessly into the cabinet. It was well below freezing and it was starting to take its toll.

‘I’m so cold,’
she whispered slowly, shaking. Archer rubbed her arm slowly with his right hand, trying to generate some warmth as best he could.