Now O’Donnell’s heart really began to beat hard and his stomach did a nervous flip. He’d been suspicious of Colonel Blackman for some time. He had always felt the man was a devious bastard who would do anything to advance his career, including putting the State of Maryland at risk if necessary. Though only a congressional freshman and low man on the totem pole of the House National Security Committee, Military Research and Development Subcommittee, O’Donnell was a rarity in Washington circles. He was still naive enough to be both patriotic and not afraid to risk his career if he thought the country was in danger.
Some months back he’d tasked Jimmy with keeping a close eye on USAMRIID in general and Colonel Blackman in particular. Now it seemed his suspicions were about to bear fruit.
He sighed. “What have you found out, Jimmy?”
Still speaking in a low voice, Jimmy said, “You know I’ve been kinda dating that secretary to the army member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff?”
O’Donnell nodded. Jimmy’s dating habits were both profuse and something of a legend around the capitol.
“Well, she let slip last night over dinner that there’d been a Code Red lockdown at USAMRIID a couple of days ago. Said her boss had got his knickers in a knot over it and had looked like he was going to have a stroke when he found out.”
“Did she say what had caused the Code Red?”
“No, and in fact when I seemed more than a little interested in it, she backed off and mumbled something about it was probably just a drill and then she changed the subject abruptly, as if she knew she’d said too much.”
Damn! O’Donnell thought. I knew that bastard was going to unleash something terrible on my state, and I’ll bet it has something to do with the plague that’s ravaging the country.
“You did good, Jimmy. Best not rock the boat by asking any more questions of your girlfriend — we don’t want her carrying tales back to her boss.”
“What are you going to do, Chief?”
“I’ll work it from my end. There are some men on the subcommittee I still trust, so I’ll make some calls and see what I can find out.”
At that very moment, the army representative on the Joint Chiefs of Staff, four-star General Mac McGuire, was on the phone with Colonel Blackman.
“Goddamn it, Blackie, I told you to be careful with those samples of the plague!”
Blackman sighed. He knew he’d stepped in the shit and now he was going to have to crawl a little bit or he’d lose his most valuable ally on Capitol Hill. McGuire had covered his ass on several occasions, getting him men and equipment when it meant going through back channels so no one else would know what he was working on.
“I know, Mac, but how was I to know one of my couriers would get careless and contaminate the whole damned laboratory?”
“Hell, Blackie, I told you it was risky using those damned Mexicans for transporting dangerous samples.”
Blackman sighed. “Well, Mac, who do you think I should’ve used — a chink or a black? The man had to go into Mexico for Christ’s sake, so him being a Mexican was kinda necessary, don’t you think?”
“Don’t make excuses, Blackie,” McGuire growled. “It’s a sign of weakness. Just get this shit cleaned up and do it pronto. My secretary tells me O’Donnell’s man, Palmer, is already sniffing around about the Code Red.”
This information scared the shit out of Blackman. He had most of the members of the Military Research and Development Subcommittee in his pocket, but O’Donnell was a wildcard who couldn’t be reasoned with. He was a naive little do-gooder who just didn’t understand the way the world worked and knew even less about the things men of vision needed to do to protect the country.
“Uh, you want me to have one of the boys talk some sense into Palmer?” he asked. “Maybe teach him not to stick his nose where it doesn’t belong?”
“For Christ’s sake, no, you asshole!” the general exploded. “We’re talking about a sitting member of Congress, not some nobody we can muscle without consequences. O’Donnell may be a junior member but the New York ‘Slimes’ loves the liberal bastard. Just get the lab cleaned up and see if you can put a security blanket on the deaths that occurred. Maybe you can use the outbreak of the plague in other parts of the country as an excuse for the blackout of information.”
“I’ll handle it, General,” Blackman said, though he had no idea how at the moment.
“You’d better, Blackie, or I might just have to have a couple of my boys have a talk with you.”
In spite of his many years in combat, Blackman felt his testicles shrivel at the tone in the old man’s voice. He’s seen some men who’d had a talk with the general’s boys and it wasn’t a sight he wanted to remember. They’d ended up looking like they’d been through a meat grinder.
He hung the phone up and turned to his Rolodex. He flipped the pages until he came to the name Bear. He called the number and when it was answered, he said, “Get your A-team together and meet me at the safe house as soon as possible.”
The man hung up without answering, having an aversion to having his voice heard over any electronic instruments.
Blackman kept an apartment not far from his office at Fort Detrick for just such secret meetings. The lease was under an old friend’s name and the bill was paid in cash for six months at a time. He wanted no trail leading back to him on this assignment.
He entered the apartment and found six men sitting around the room, talking quietly and drinking beers they’d gotten from his refrigerator. They were all hard-looking men, and they were all ex — special forces who’d been dishonorably discharged from their various branches of the armed forces.
The man Blackman knew only as Bear held up a small black box and pointed it at the colonel. It hummed for a moment and then a green light appeared, showing Blackman wasn’t wired or transmitting any electronic signals. Bear was a very careful man.
Even the colonel didn’t know his real identity. His full name was Robert Eddleman, but he’d gotten the nickname Bear while in the Navy SEALs because he had a habit of roaring in a loud voice while on the attack in combat and because he was the approximate size and shape of a grizzly bear and had the same nasty temper when crossed.
“Hello, Colonel,” Bear said, holding his hand out.
Blackman knew the drill and handed Bear his cell phone. Bear opened the back of the phone and removed the battery so the GPS tracking of the phone was disabled and then he handed both back to Blackman.
He sat down, picked up a beer, and took a deep swig and then he asked, “What’ve you got for us this time?”
Of all the men present, the only one whose name Blackman knew was Bear, and he was sure it was a pseudonym. Back in the day when General McGuire had introduced the two, Blackman had asked what the rest of his name was and Bear had just smiled and had not answered. Blackman had gotten the hint and had felt a frisson of fear at the soulless black eyes that stared back at him.
He handed a sealed manila envelope to Bear.
“The details are in there, along with photos of the relevant players. I have a plane waiting for you in the usual place and speed is of the essence. You’re to fly below radar to an airfield in Mexico — the coordinates, along with your instructions, are in the envelope,” he said, knowing Bear was an accomplished pilot.
“Mexico, huh?” Bear asked. “That’s where the plague started, right?”
Blackman frowned and nodded. “Yes, but you’ll be flying to the safest place in the country. The people you’ll be dealing with are immune to the plague, so you won’t be exposed, especially if you’re careful and wear millipore masks and gloves.”