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Chapters (36)
  1. VECTOR
  2. Copyright page
  3. Dedication
  4. AKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  5. Epigraph
  6. PROLOGUE
  7. ONE
  8. TWO
  9. THREE
  10. FOUR
  11. FIVE
  12. SIX
  13. SEVEN
  14. EIGHT
  15. NINE
  16. TEN
  17. ELEVEN
  18. TWELVE
  19. THIRTEEN
  20. FOURTEEN
  21. FIFTEEN
  22. SIXTEEN
  23. SEVENTEEN
  24. EIGHTEEN
  25. NINETEEN
  26. TWENTY
  27. TWENTY-ONE
  28. TWENTY-TWO
  29. TWENTY-THREE
  30. TWENTY-FOUR
  31. TWENTY-FIVE
  32. TWENTY-SIX
  33. EPILOGUE
  34. AUTHOR’S NOTE
  35. SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
  36. GLOSSARY

Jack straightened some of the piles of uncompleted case folders that stood on his desk. He hung up his jacket behind the door, then sat down to work. Having been out of the office the last two afternoons, he was more behind than usual.

FOURTEEN

__________

FOURTEEN

Tuesday, October 19

6:30 P.M.

Curt turned onto Oceanview Lane. Although it wasn’t quite dark yet, he switched on his headlights because of the deep shadows within the confines of the narrow roadway. Just like the night before, there were multiple trash cans littering the pavement’s periphery. He pulled up alongside Yuri’s garage and cut both the lights and the engine.

“I’m happy with everything we’ve decided except the idea of giving this Commie a gun,” Steve said. “I have to tell you, I don’t like it.”

“What the hell choice do we have?” Curt complained. “I told you, he’s terrified of his brother-in-law. The guy threatened to kill him.”

“I know what you told me,” Steve said. “But as weird as Yuri’s been acting and the crazy stuff he’s been saying, like all that bullshit about this being a rootless culture, I tell you, I don’t like him having a gun. Especially not one of ours. What if he turns it on us?”

“He’s not going to turn it on us,” Curt said irritably. “For crissake, we’re the only friends he’s got. Besides, he probably couldn’t hit a barn from inside. And you’ve got your gun, right?”

“Of course,” Steve said.

“Well, I’ve got mine, too,” Curt said. “There’s no way you and I couldn’t handle one tubby little Russian. Come on! Let’s get this over with!”

The two men got out of the truck. They met at the front and started for Yuri’s door. Curt was carrying a brown paper bag.

“The main thing is we have to keep him working in the lab,” Curt said. “If it takes giving him a gun, so be it. We’re so close. We can’t let Operation Wolverine die on the vine because Yuri’s scared of his nigger brother-in-law.”

“But if he’s got a gun, he might be harder for the troops to handle,” Steve said.

Curt pulled his partner to a stop. “You think one Glock automatic is going to make a difference against a half-dozen Kalashnikovs? Come on! Be serious!”

“I guess not,” Steve said.

“Of course not,” Curt said. “Right after we take possession of our part of the anthrax powder and get it safely back to the White Pride, we’ll send in the troops. Glock or no Glock, the mission will be over in five seconds. Hell, we’ll tell ‘em to burn this freaking place down in the process.”