“They’ve been waiting for you, Mr. Adams,” Scott whispered as he ushered Jeremiah through a doorway and into the main corridor. “Follow my lead and there won’t be any questions.”

As soon as they walked through the door, Scott with a hand lightly on Jeremiah’s elbow, there was a rush of activity. Jeremiah thought it looked like a movie set. It was surreal to see ViMed’s hallways so chaotic. Camera and sound technicians were taping wires down along the walls, several people rushed back and forth hurrying papers and cell phones from one person to another, and a skinny blonde woman, whom Jeremiah instantly recognized as a prime-time news anchor for CNN, was noisily testing her microphone in a corner. She looked much smaller in real life than she did on TV. A lunchroom had been transformed into a makeup area and, as they passed the doorway, Jeremiah caught a glimpse of a long-limbed young man in a bright blue smock bent over someone, applying powder with an artist’s brush.

“I’ve found him,” Scott announced loudly to no one in particular. “He was hiding out in the back hallway. I think he has a case of the jitters.”

“Get him in here!” The lanky makeup artist was patting an empty seat with one hand and waving to Scott with the other.

Jeremiah went in and took a seat next to Natalie Young, who looked at him demurely and held out her hand.

“I’m Dr. Natalie Young,” she said. “I’ll be taking the Meld with you tonight. It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Adams.”

Jeremiah shook her hand and said nothing. So much for telepathic messaging, he thought. But of more immediate concern to him was the question of what she would detect under the Meld. She was almost certain to discover his suspicions and his plan to warn Diana. He had to nip that in the bud.

Leaning in close to her, speaking just above a whisper, he told her bluntly about his wife’s affair.

“I know,” she told him. “I read the report. We’ll discuss it later.”

“I just thought you should know before the Meld,” he said. “You know, in case you pick up on anything strange. I thought you should understand I’m sort of upset about everything. There’s bound to be something.”

She nodded. “Noted,” she said. “I’ll look past it.”

Jeremiah leaned back in his chair and tried to clear his mind of anything incriminating, focusing instead on the fact that someone was applying color to his cheeks.

Chapter 28

The eighth-floor conference room had been emptied of its furnishings, except for several chairs, which were arranged in a semicircle. Facing those were of a bank of cameras and bright lights mounted on metal stands. Jeremiah took his place in the center chair. Dr. Young took the seat on his left, Charles Scott, to his right and an FDA agent who introduced himself as Nathan Christopher sat next to Scott. Jeremiah didn’t recognize him, but that, he knew, meant nothing. For all he knew, the man might have been privy to the entire experiment. Three network news anchors sat on the other side of Dr. Young. There was no audience to witness the event, but a small number of ViMed executives and scientists stood in a quiet huddle in a far corner of the room, out of the camera shot. To his dismay, Jeremiah also saw two older men standing off to the other side of the room, both in what appeared to be full-dress army regalia. From the number of medals on them, they looked to be fairly high-ranking. He swallowed hard. They weren’t here to provide security, he knew. They were here to make sure no threats would need neutralizing.