She spotted the Naval Observatory on her right and knew she was getting close.
The cab turned left off Wisconsin and soon she was leaning forward, scanning the street for any sign of a black Mercedes. She couldn't imagine how Duncan could have beaten them here after turning off on Connecticut, but she'd learned the hard way never to take anything for granted where that man was concerned. No Mercedes in sight. She paid the cabby and hurried up the walk. She rang the bell, dreading to see who'd answer. Her life seemed to have turned into a Hitchcock movie. She'd be only mildly surprised if it turned out to be Duncan.
"Gin? " Oliver said as he opened the door. "What on earth are you doing here? " He pushed open the screen door for her. "Come in, come in. i "I hope I'm not interrupting anything, " Gin said, her eyes quickly searching the cluttered living room and what she could see of the dining room beyond. "You don't have company, do you? " He smiled and shut the door behind her. He wore a Vnecked sweater over his usual white shirt, and ankle-high slippers on his feet.
"No. Although I probably should have. I'm too excited about tomorrow to sleep. I'm glad you came. ' "You may not be when I'm finished. " His smile faded. "Is something wrong? " "Yes, " she said, pulling the vial from her pocket and pressing it into his hand. "This." He stared at it. "An implant? " "Yes. I dug it out of my leg this morning. ' Oliver stared at her uncomprehendingly. "What? How . . .
? " Gin decided to hit him with everything at once. She watched his expression carefully. If for even an instant he looked as if he weren't shocked, or was faking surprise, she'd be running for the door.
"Duncan jammed it into my leg last night while I was out cold. He's been after me all day trying to dissolve it with ultrasound." A tentative smile flickered across his lips. "This is a joke, right?
You and Duncan, " "It's no joke, Oliver. That thing's filled with TPD.
" "TPD? " he said, still smiling. "What's, ? " And then the smile faded.
"TPD? How could you know about TPD? " "Triptolinic diethylamide.
Duncan keeps a vial of it in his office."
"Impossible. That's a defunct compound."
"I know. Tested and discarded by GEM Pharma, your old company."
"Right. I have the last sample." -"Really? Where?
" "In my basement. I'll show you." He led her through the dining room to the kitchen, and from there down a flight of steps.
"This is my private little lab, " he said as he turned on the overhead fluorescents. "For years I spent every night of the week and every spare moment on weekends here." Gin looked around the largely unfinished basement at the benches, retorts, ovens, centrifuges, and rows of other equipment she didn't recognize, all dusty with disuse.
"Is this where . . . ? " "Uh-huh. I developed the implant membrane here. And over there . . .
" He flicked on another set of lights. "I call it my rogues' gallery.
All the useless or discontinued compounds I worked on during my years with GEM. I kept a sample of each one." Gin was startled by the array of bottles lining an entire wall. There had to be hundreds there, perhaps even a thousand.
"So many. How would you ever find a particular one? " "Easy. They're in alphabetical order." He gave her a sheepish look. "I can't help it. That's the way I am." He stooped and ran a finger along one of the rows. "R . . . . . . T . . . " He squinted at a few bottles, grunted a few nes, then straightened and turned to Gin. "The, um, TPD . . . it's missing."
"I know, she said. She pointed to the pill bottle he still clutched in his left hand. "Some of it's in there.
Duncan has the rest." He stared down at the bottle, then at her.
"You've got to be mistaken.
Duncan wouldn't do something like that. What reason would he have? " "Because I know about the others."
"Others? " "Let's go upstairs and I'll explain everything." They sat in the kitchen, Gin sipping a can of Pepsi, the the containing the implant sitting between them in the center of the table, and Oliver leaning forward, listening intently, a look of growing horror on his face as Gin explained what she suspected about the deaths and mishaps nvolving Senators Vincent and Schulz and Congressmen llard and Lane.
She shivered with a sudden chill. Was it the Pepsi or was she starting a fever? Her strength seemed to be fading.
"Are you okay? " Oliver said.
"My incision might be getting infected."
"What incision? " Since showing was better than telling, she stood, unzipped her jeans, and turned sideways as she slid them down to her , nees. "Gin! " Oliver said, averting his face at first, then staring as the Ace bandage was revealed.
Gin unwrapped the Ace, then peeled the gauze halfway back to reveal the incision. An angry red had invaded the edges.
Oliver sucked in a breath. "Oh, dear Lord. You did that? To yourself? " Gin let him get a good look, then she smoothed the gauze back into place and began rewrapping the Ace.
H Ise was I going to get it out, Oh He said nothing, simply sat and stared at her, wonder in his eyes. "Do you have any antibiotics in the house?
pulled her jeans up.
"I've got some amoxicillin. Not his first choice but it would do for now few?
Of course." He hurried away and returned a minute later with an amber plastic bottle. Gin washed down four of the capsules with water and pocketed it for later.
Oliver was staring at the vial with the implant, shaking his head and speaking to himself as much as to Gina n't believe Duncan would do such a thing.
Well maybe to the committee members . . . I could see that . . . I mean, after Lisa died he went a little crazy, made all sorts of threats . . . but you . . . he thinks the world of you . . . he'd never .
.
. " - Poor Oliver, she thought. His heroic image of his older brother is coming undone.
"He knows I'm on to him, " Gin said softly. "And he knows I'll be in the way tomorrow Qliver's head snapped up. "Tomorrow? Oh, no! You don't think, he wouldn t!
"Yes, he would. That's why he did this to me. To give him a clear shot at the president." He got to his feet. "I've got to go see him stop him. I can talk to him. He'll listen to me.
"Will he? I wouldn't count on it."
"He'll have to. Now two people know. And soon more will. He grabbed a jacket that had been hanging over the back of a chair. "He's beaten. But still I've got to see him." Anger flashed in his eyes. "Using my implants for something like this! I've a good mind to . . . " He didn't finish the thought.
Instead, he pointed to the bottle on the table.
"Can I take that with me? " Gin grabbed it and held it tight in her fist.
"No. Sorry. This is the only proof I've got that I didn't make all this up. I'm not letting it out of my sight. And you realize, don't you, that as soon as you confront him he'll know how you found out and he'll know where I am. And since I have the only hard proof against him, I think maybe I'll disappear for a while."
"Good idea. Don't even tell me where you're going, just in case, '' He shook his head to clear it. "Who'd ever believe I'd be thinking this way about my brother? " "I know how you feel. Can you call me a cab?
" Another shiver rattled her teeth as Oliver was phoning the cab company.
She was definitely getting a fever. She hoped whatever was infecting her wasn't penicillin resistant.
'"They'll have one here in about ten minutes, " Oliver said. "I'm going to call Duncan. ' '"No! " "Just to see if he's home. No sense in going over there if he's not in." He dialed, waited, then said, "Duncan. It's me. We need to talk. No, in person. I'll explain when I get there. See you in a few minutes. ' He hung up and bustled toward the door. "Wish me luck, " he said. "And lock the door as you leave. ' Gin shivered again as the front door closed behind Oliver.