Some Gave All (20 page)

“It’s all right. I know about Dr. Keller,” Mazursky said.

Shocked silence met his declaration. Cat remained locked and loaded, although her arm muscles were beginning to tire.

Then Vincent growled more menacingly than before. Cat said, “It’s okay, Vincent. Please stay calm.” To Mazursky, “We’re going into the hall.”

Mazursky cocked his head. “You’re going to hold a gun on me in the hall?”

“Turn around, put your hands on the wall, and spread your legs,” Cat ordered him. He paused and she pointed her gun at his face. “If you know anything about me, you know that I’ll use this if I have to.”

He complied, putting himself in the deliberately awkward pose. Cat searched him and took his weapon, a Glock 27. She kept patting him down and found his cell phone, keys, and a second gun—a Sig Sauer 9mm. While he was vulnerable, Catherine took off her muffler and draped it over her own weapon, effectively concealing it.

“Okay, let’s go,” she ordered Mazursky.

As they left the room, Vincent growled again. He was being protective, worrying about her, but he had to be quiet or the other people in the building would think there was a wild animal on campus and call security. She wondered if J.T. had the tranq gun in his office.

She strode forward and Mazursky preceded her, his hands half-up. Raised too high, and it would be suspicious to onlookers. But too low, and he could grab something to hit her with and deck her in seconds.

She shut the door behind herself and tried to kick the doorstop into place with her heel. “Talk,” she said.

“I need to speak to Dr. Keller,” he said.

“He’ll hear you just fine.”

He arched a brow, impressed. “All right, simply put: We’ve been on parallel tracks with you three. We believe the first six murders were committed because the victims were working for an outside organization that has successfully created… something new. That this new thing emits a pheromone that elicits a chemical response in its victims, incapacitating them with fear.”

Cat maintained a poker face. “You can say you’re FBI, but truthfully? I have no idea who you are.”

“I can show you my badge.” When she looked at him blankly, he smiled wryly. “Which I could have bought off the rack at FAO Schwarz.” That was the world-famous toy store on Fifth Avenue in midtown Manhattan.

“The Bureau and I have a complicated history,” Cat said. “FBI badges do nothing to reassure me. You mentioned six murders. What about Indira Patel?”

He grimaced. “We think Patel is the first time this new weapon has been deployed. The first six… we have no indicators that any sort of cross-species activity was present.”

That jibed with their own findings. But that still was no reason to trust him. “So did you take out the first six?”

“Why would we do that?” he replied. “We wanted them alive so we could learn about this new… development.”

New beast. Monster. Weapon.

“If you’ll recall, your father went to extraordinary efforts to shut down the prototype project. We’re committed to continuing his work.”

“His work included murdering innocent people.”

He clenched his jaw as red crept across his cheeks. The mention of her father’s heinous acts clearly angered him. Maybe he was one of the good guys after all.

Still, she did not lower her gun.

“As we both know, innocent people are being experimented on while we’re standing here,” he said. “And not by the Bureau.”

“The soldiers of Delta Company were innocent people,” Cat shot back.

“They volunteered for the experiment. They had already sworn to give their lives in service to their country.”

“Some gave all,” Cat said harshly, thinking of Mr. Riley and the portrait of Lafferty that hung above his mantel.

“
You’ve
sworn to protect and serve,” he said. “Does your oath come with strings attached?”

“Unknowingly becoming a weaponized beast is not a string, it’s a lie,” she said. “Orchestrating the deaths of some people so that others may live is wrong.”

“There’s collateral damage in any war,” he observed.

“I’m a police officer, not a soldier.”

“The only difference I see is semantics. You
are
a soldier. A warrior. What our world has become… we can’t afford these fine divisions anymore. People like us—committed and honorable—we must take on this greater evil. Everywhere these people go, everyone they touch—they’re our jurisdiction, our business.”

She opened her mouth to argue, but he went on. “You’ve worked outside the law for three years, Detective Chandler. You’ve used your badge and your gun contrary to the rules and regulations you swore to uphold.”

“I don’t have to explain myself to you. And I won’t.”

“So what then? Are you going to kill me?” He raised his chin, betraying his wariness. Then he said, “I’m willing to die, for the same reason that Major Howison gave his life to save Dr. Forbes: to find and stop the people who made this beast, and to destroy that beast.”

She still didn’t give ground. Years—a lifetime—of betrayal had solidified her resolve. “Are you talking about FFNY?”

“The people we’re targeting created FFNY as a cover for their operations. The FFNY’s mission was to locate and capture the beast and to find the serum that enabled it to secrete a complicated set of pheromones that evokes a fear response in anyone within a fifty feet radius.

“The organization in control of FFNY is called the Thornton Foundation. They’ve been attempting to extend the field of influence. For obvious reasons, of course. Let one of these things loose on a field of engagement and you can not only force your enemy to retreat, but to also keep a healthy distance from you in the first place. Like a force field.”

“Why kidnap Dr. Forbes?”

“You mean, do they know that he’s shielding Dr. Keller?” He lowered his voice. “We think they suspect, but we don’t think they know. Dr. Forbes was mentioned prominently in some correspondence that remained intact when Muirfield was destroyed. I believe he was pretending to cooperate with your former medical examiner, Evan Marks. Who
did
give his life in service of the greater good.”

“What kind of correspondence?” she asked sharply. “And why do you know about it?”

“Emailed discussions of their research, a set of notes about Dr. Marks’s findings and Dr. Forbes’s opinions, and about Dr. Marks’s plans to present his findings at a symposium. And his secret deal to ally himself with Muirfield, which, as you know, he recanted.”

Though she retained her stone face, she took a moment to grieve Evan’s death. Flirtatious and brilliant, he had been a bright spot in some dark days. Until he had decided to destroy Vincent to “protect” her. More than one man had gone down that route… and died because of it.

“And of course, it’s no secret that Dr. Keller was in Delta Company and served in Afghanistan during the time period that Muirfield was engaging in testing. That he disappeared for a decade, and only recently resurfaced. Excellent grounds for conjecture that Dr. Forbes is… privy to the inner workings of a clandestine project no longer acknowledged by anyone who participated in it.” He smiled as if to indicate that she knew exactly what he was getting at.

“To sum it up, Dr. Forbes is on the front lines, Detective. And so are you. And so is Dr. Keller.”

She was aware that he hadn’t mentioned Tess. That was good.

The door opened and Vincent appeared on the threshold, utterly human, his dark eyes boring into the FBI agent’s face. His broad shoulders were squared and he stood poised as if to strike. Beast and man, Vincent was a protector first and foremost. J.T. appeared behind him, clearly not loving the situation.

“J.T.’s office wasn’t ransacked by anyone we’re acquainted with,” Vincent announced. Cat translated: not Heidi Schwann, Howison, or… this guy.

“How did you ever get a cover as a Ph.D. at a university?” Cat asked Mazursky.

“With tenure?” J.T. added.

Mazursky smiled. “In my case, it was the opposite way around. I was recruited after I got my Ph.D.” He smiled at J.T. “But before tenure. By the way? Sara misses you. I think if you tried, you could win her back.”

J.T. blinked. “
I
don’t think you and I should talk about Sara.” He hesitated. “Unless she
knows
.”

“About all this?” He gestured with his still-raised arms at the four of them, himself included. “She doesn’t. And honestly? The situation has escalated to the point where I’m going to have to make some changes in my cover. Such as leaving the university.”

“Escalated,” Vincent said.

Mazursky looked at the three of them. “I’ve been compromised. Before he was killed, Major Howison got word to me that someone in the Thornton Foundation suspected I was undercover, too. He didn’t know if they had proof, but my handler wants me to get out of here.”

“Gee, that’s too bad,” J.T. muttered. “What about your career?”

“J.T., are you kidding? He’s in the FBI now. He’ll have lots of opportunities for research in biotech,” Cat said harshly.

“Your tax dollars at work,” Mazursky replied.

Cat’s phone buzzed. She said to Mazursky, “You can put your hands down.” He did, and she checked her phone. It was Tess.
OMG. HURRY! WORK ON FOOTAGE. SKY’S ABOUT TO CALL THE BANK.
She held up the phone so that Vincent and J.T. could see the message… but Mazursky couldn’t.

“I have to get home,” J.T. said.

“I’ll make sure you get there,” Vincent said, but Cat could hear his hesitation. There was a lot to discuss with Agent Mazursky.

“Houston, we have an elephant in the room,” J.T. said.

“The problem is,” Mazursky ventured, “we don’t have a lot of time to get to know each other. To figure out if we can trust each other. That thing is out there somewhere. Killing people. Even if you decide I’m a bad guy, I’m one hundred percent human. Easily contained. That thing? Not so much.”

“He’s right, Catherine,” Vincent said.

Cat said, “Agreed. But we move slowly. You give us cause to regret trusting you… and I won’t consider you an innocent anymore.”

“And neither will I,” Vincent said.

Fear flared in the man’s eyes. Then he nodded. “Both of us have some puzzle pieces but so far, I don’t think either side knows what the picture on the box is supposed to look like.”

Cat tried to imagine what this new beast could look like. Aliyah Patel had seen it. It was time to make that visit to the little girl a priority.

“Okay, question,” she said. “Is Sky Wilson one of your operatives?”

“Who’s she?” he asked, and Vincent grunted appreciatively.

Just because he acts ignorant doesn’t mean he is
, Cat reminded herself.

* * *

“Okay, so get off my case. Literally,” Tess said into the phone, just as Sky leaned his head in the door and gave the jamb a jaunty rap. She hung the phone up. “Yeah?”

“It may be true that all things come to he who waits,” he began, “but I’ve been waiting a long time for that ATM footage.”

Not by New York standards
, she thought. But she couldn’t risk having him call the bank to complain. “I’ll call the bank myself.” She picked up the handset. “How’s the forensic accounting coming?”

“Well, I told you about the abuse issues with Aliyah Patel,” he said. “I thought maybe her social worker had been bribed by her aunt to leave it alone, but I don’t see any unusual deposits in her checking or savings.”

“I doubt she was even paying attention,” Tess said sourly. “Or maybe Indira promised to do better and Hogan let that suffice.”

He frowned. “I know social workers are overworked and their caseloads are unreasonable, but how do you ignore a stack of evidence like that?”

She pursed her lips. “I guess that’s what the public’s saying about the one-twenty-fifth. Seven murder victims, and we’re guessing you’ve found an eighth. What do you think, some crazy gangbangers on PCP?”

“Aliyah Patel could tell you about that,” he ventured.

“I called the hospital. She’s still catatonic. They won’t clear us to talk to her right now. Not even if we bring crayons or hand puppets,” she muttered. She was lying. She didn’t want Sky Wilson anywhere near a witness to a beast attack.

“Please don’t judge me too harshly,” he said pleasantly, “but what about bringing in a shaman? I know a couple.”

“Don’t even.” Tess glared at him. “That’s all I need. The clear sign that Captain Vargas is unfit for command.” She held up a hand. “I’m not fishing for reassurance. Just, let’s leave the woo-woo stuff for Malibu, all right?”

He smiled and bowed his head. “Yes, ma’am. About the first six vics. I assume this citywide homicide task force has filed detailed reports?”

“Yes.” But not in the context of beast-makers and beasts. Of course she couldn’t tell him that.

“Do you mind if I read them over? I’d have a fresh perspective. Detective Chandler’s taking personal time so I’m without my Yoda.” He smiled at her again, this time as if she really should smile back. She didn’t. “Or… I did notice a large stack of files on her desk, speaking of an overwhelming caseload…”

“I’ll leave it up to you,” she said. “Either way, you’re earning your paycheck.”

“Okay.” He turned to go, then turned back. “I know it would be inappropriate for me to give you a neck massage—”

“Goodbye,” Tess snapped.

He shut the door and she sighed and picked up her phone to make yet another call. Because life, you know? Just never complicated enough.

* * *

Vincent and J.T. returned to the gentlemen’s club while Cat and Agent Mazursky decided to pay a visit to a very frightened witness—Aliyah Patel. Cat was glad. It was past time. Plus she wanted Mazursky to see first hand the toll this was taking on innocent people. It was all well and good to frame the situation in terms of the rich and powerful versus cops, soldiers, and government agents. But as with the first wave of Muirfield experiments—poor orphaned children whom no one would miss—Aliyah Patel was being given a raw deal. Maybe Mazursky and the Bureau were all about finding the serum and investigating the monster, but her priority was protecting the citizens of New York. The rest of the world, yes, if possible. But New York was her home, and these were her neighbors.