“Okay, thank you so much for catching this problem.”

“Hey, that’s my job. Thank you for being a big help and taking time out of your schedule to correct it. You’d be surprised how many people get upset when you ask them to do some simple security things like this.”

“It’s not a problem for me. But I don’t know much more than Microsoft Word and Facebook. So it’s almost exciting.” She laughed to herself.

“I hear you. And that’s all you need as long as you have guys like me looking out for you. You have a great day, darling, and tell Isaac that I said ‘congratulations’.”

“Will do, and same to you.”

Burke ended the call and sent a spoofed email that appeared to come from an internal CIA address. Within a few moments, he would have backdoor access to Marjorie’s computer, bypassing the firewalls, and coupled with her username and password, he should be able to learn a great deal about their friend, Agent Yoshida. If they needed highly sensitive and classified files, that would take a lot more work and pose more risk of detection, but Marjorie’s access and some educated guesswork should fill in a lot of the puzzle pieces.

He turned to Carter. The older man’s brow was furrowed, and his lips tight, showing off age lines in both. Analyzing Carter’s nonverbal communication, Burke could tell that Carter was upset or worried about something. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Nothing, kid. Sometimes, you just scare the crap out of me.”

Burke considered that and couldn’t decide if it was meant to be a compliment or a derogatory statement, and he was too afraid to ask for clarification.

Chapter 79

By the time they reached the shopping center and had parked near the entrance to the makeshift quarantine area, Burke had learned the basics about Agent Yoshida. As Carter shut off the engine, Burke said, “Yoshida isn’t a field agent. He supervises several projects for the CIA’s Directorate of Science and Technology.”

“That makes sense. He was probably in charge of whatever those scientists were cooking up,” Carter said. “Anything else that can help us?”

“Not really. Most of his files are classified to the point that I can’t get at them without a lot more work and risking detection of the intrusion. I just got the basics. Engineering degree from UC Berkeley. Recruited by the CIA at age twenty-four. His home address is in Virginia. He’s divorced with two kids, thirteen and seventeen.”

“That’s not much. Definitely not worth the illegal actions it took to acquire,” Carter said, judgment in his eyes.

Burke kept his mouth shut, and they made their way into the makeshift triage unit, which had become a lot more sophisticated since last they saw it. It appeared that personnel from the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases had arrived and taken control of the victims and their care. The Walmart garden center had now become a mass of interconnected bubbles, air locks, and medical equipment. Workers were walking in and out of the isolation chambers wearing yellow protective suits complete with their own oxygen supplies, the suits covering every inch of skin in order to avoid any contamination. It was a scary scene, the kind that brought to mind global pandemics and science fiction movies where the dead didn’t stay dead.