“I can’t believe I’m caving in on this,” Vaill said. “Okay, listen, we’ve got a new system, the I.D.W., for Information Data Warehouse, where we log in all the evidence and leads we collect on a case. It’s supposed to help improve efficiency with our taskforces. Physical evidence stored in evidence rooms gets logged in so we know where it is. We even take pictures of it, so we can look at it remotely. Any electronic evidence—photographs, videos, that sort of thing, is uploaded to the I.D.W. as well.”

“And you have the codes and passwords to access that warehouse?”

“Of course, doc. That’s the idea.”

“Sorry. Between Cap and you, I’m a little rattled.”

“Okay, I’ll check what McCall and I have entered into the warehouse.”

“Burn as much as you can onto a CD and we can go over it together.”

“What are you going to do in the meantime?”

“I’ll take your advice and go back to my hotel room and reread Humphrey’s notes. Then I can start making calls to my ID contacts in Washington. If we can’t find Humphrey, maybe I can locate another microbiologist who could help put his theories into action.”

“We need to just stay away from any government scientists for a couple of days until I figure out where the leak could be coming from. If I don’t find it in two days, you’re the boss. This is all on us, doc.”

“And you’re feeling all right?”

“A few patches of fog still hanging around, but I’m okay. You just protect that book.”

“Check.”

“We’re going to bust this thing, Lou.”

Where there had been confusion and pain in Vaill’s eyes, now there was only fury—a hunger for vengeance.

“You got it,” Lou said. “I’ll stay in the hotel long enough to change out of these clothes, shower, call Emily, pack, and try to understand as much of Humphrey’s research as possible. You go check out that warehouse, make a CD, and maybe find us a place that’s safe away from McCall and anyone like my former clients and family who might know where I’m staying.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Vaill said. “Two hours?”

“Make it three and be extra careful picking a place for us.”

The new allies shook hands, climbed into the sedan, and drove off.

If, when they first arrived at the parking lot, they had glanced toward the hillside three hundred yards behind them, one of them well might have seen sunlight glinting off the lenses of a powerful pair of 30-160x70 Sunagor mega-zoom field glasses.

Now, had they looked, they would find the hillside empty.

Chapter 42

CHAPTER 42

A civilization is viable so long as there is trust between the people and the government.

—LANCASTER R. HILL, A Secret Worth Keeping, SAWYER RIVER BOOKS, 1941, P. II