“How did the Jack Stapleton chase end up?” Yuri asked loudly. “I can tell you, the first part was exciting.”

Curt and Steve exchanged glances. “Not so good,” Curt admitted. “We lost him in the park. So it’s a good thing that we’ve decided to move the operation up to tomorrow.”

“You are all prepared?” Yuri asked.

“We’re ready,” Steve said. “We expect the false alarm to sound at about nine-twenty-five. That would mean we’d be going in on the target at just about nine-thirty.”

“I’ll be ready to start at nine-thirty as well,” Yuri said. “Let’s have another toast.”

They touched glasses and drank again.

Curt wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “We had a thought on the way over here,” he said. “Maybe it would be best if we used all the anthrax for the federal building and just forget the park.”

Yuri shook his head. “No, I want to do the park.”

“What if we insisted,” Curt said. He took a sip of his drink and eyed the Russian.

Yuri looked back and forth between the two firemen. “It would be too late to insist,” he said. “The pest control truck is already loaded with the other five pounds.”

“What about unloading it?” Curt asked.

“I can’t do that,” Yuri said. “The anthrax is loose in the hopper. I had to take the hopper off and load it down in the laboratory in the hazmat suit.”

“It’s not in plastic like ours?” Curt asked.

“No,” Yuri said. “The agitator action wouldn’t be strong enough to break the plastic.”

Curt nodded. “Well, it was just an idea.” He put his unfinished glass down on the coffee table. “Let’s load up so we can be on our way. Tomorrow’s going to be a big day.”

The three men walked into the kitchen. While Yuri went over to the countertop to get the towel, Curt and Steve bent over the plastic sausages. Neither dared to touch them, knowing what was inside.

“You’re sure these things are safe?” Curt questioned.

“As long as you don’t break the seal,” Yuri said. He reached over and picked one of them up.

Curt and Steve reflexively stepped back.

“The outside has been thoroughly decontaminated,” Yuri assured them. “And it’s been heat-sealed to be completely airtight.” He extended the sausage toward Curt, but Curt pointed to Steve to take it.

Steve put out his hand. It was trembling slightly. Yuri laid the plastic sausage on his palm so that the ends hung down. It was about ten inches long.

“How many people could this amount of anthrax kill?” Steve asked. He hefted the object to appreciate its weight.

“A couple hundred thousand,” Yuri said, “provided it was dispersed properly.”