As he spoke, there was a shift in the tension surrounding us. Something was happening out there in the shadows that hugged the century-old trees. Jackson must have felt it, too, because his inner fires flared brighter, and flames were now flickering across his torso and hands. It was tempting to reach out and help him, to dampen his heat and, at the same time, refuel my own, but I resisted. There was really only one way he would find true control, and that was through practice.

“A message we’ve got,” I said, my voice sharp. “So what else does he want?”

Because it was hardly likely he’d dragged us into the city merely to emphasize his desire for the satchel notes.

“What he needs,” Frederick said, “is for you to go into Brooklyn and retrieve some information left there.”

“What sort of information?” Jackson asked.

“Research matter, of course.”

If there was research in Brooklyn, it could have only one source—the two missing scientists. And I really, really, hoped that Rinaldo wasn’t now in control of the pair of them. “Even if we can retrieve the material, what good will it do you? I’m betting neither you nor Rinaldo will be able to understand it.”

“We have no need to when we control the two men who have been working on finding a cure—or at least a vaccine—for this virus from the beginning.”

So much for hope. And while I had no idea why Luke had wanted Baltimore and Wilson, given he’d been intent on infecting the world rather than providing a cure, when it came to Rinaldo . . . I shivered. His intentions were undoubtedly very similar, but he was a far bigger threat than Luke would ever have been. Rinaldo was a calm, cool killer—the type who acted only after plenty of planning and forethought. Luke had a habit of lashing out when angry, and that, in many ways, had led to his downfall. We would not have that sort of break with Rinaldo.

“If you have the scientists, you don’t need anything else,” Jackson said, then silently added, And I don’t believe the bastard has them. I think it’s a bluff.

Possibly, but it’s not a bluff we can call, I said. If he has got them, how did he get them out of Brooklyn? The army and PIT were monitoring all the exits, both before and after the dry moat was created around it.

Meaning maybe the research matter he wants isn’t the notes, but the scientists themselves.

I doubt it. Even if they are there, Rinaldo knows PIT is monitoring our movements. He wouldn’t risk the scientists being taken from us.