Sometime later, the percussive beat of helicopters hovering above filled the air before they slid off to land on the nearby boardwalk at the beach. A half hour after that, a group of men appeared in more serious-looking biological containment suits wielding HHAs, or hand-held assay instruments. This group split, with half going into the garage and the other half coming into the house. Several of those going into the garage were bomb experts checking to make sure there was no triggering device in the pest control truck.

Those that had come into the house briefly introduced themselves before spreading out to the various rooms and going down to the basement laboratory. They ignored Yuri’s body. Ten minutes later the leader of the house group met in Yuri’s kitchen with his counterpart from the garage. They conferred briefly before the leader of the house group used a hand-held radio device to communicate with a distant command post, presumably in Manhattan.

“We’ve got two hot areas,” the man said. “The agent in the pest control truck is definitely weapon-grade anthrax. That is confirmed. There is no triggering device. The lab has two active fermenters with anthrax cultures. There’s a jury-rigged pulverizer contaminated with anthrax powder. There’s also a hood similarly contaminated. There’s an active negative pressure ventilation system with HEPA filters in place. There’s no contamination in the rest of the house. Over.”

Jack and the others couldn’t hear the response because the man held the radio up to his ear. They saw him nod a few times, then verbally agree before signing off with the typical “over and out.”

He came directly over to the group. His face was mostly hidden by the glare of the clear plastic face mask.

“All of you are to leave the house,” he said. “In the alleyway, turn to the left. Pass under the caution tape. That divides this hot area from the warm area beyond. Where the alley joins Oceanview Avenue you will see a decon tent. It’s red; you can’t miss it. They will be waiting for you.”

The group got to their feet and started toward the front door.

“Thank you,” Laurie said to the man, but he didn’t respond. He was already on his way back through the kitchen on his way to the basement.

“Man, they are serious,” Warren commented as they walked down the front walk.

“For good reason,” Jack said. “This is the real thing. New York could be seeing casualties in the tens of thousands, if not more.”

“Shit, man,” Flash complained. “I told you guys this Yuri was a bad mother. You should have let me come out here and taken care of him.”

“He had a gun,” Jack said. “And he didn’t seem too reluctant to use it.”

“Yeah, well, I wouldn’t have come out here empty-handed neither.”