Ben stood and dropped his mother’s hand. “What do you mean? This wasn’t an accident.”
Tears began to form around the woman’s eyes. She pressed her lips together and shook her head, slowly.
Ben felt his cheeks flush. His eyes narrowed. “Mom. Who was it?” The words were clipped, on edge.
She shook her head again. “I don’t know. I didn’t recognize him. He walked into my office and emptied your sample in the lab sink, then… then…” Her eyelids fluttered. She took another sharp breath and tried to continue. Ben suddenly noticed how red her face was. He examined her neck and arms and found that they were covered in the same shiny, bubbling rash he’d seen back at Yellowstone.
“He threw something at my feet. Another test tube, full of some liquid. After what you’d told me about the sample you sent, I assumed this one was the same thing, but a much more lethal dose.” She took a breath again. “Listen, Harvey, I don’t have much time.”
“Stop.”
“No, listen. You know this by now, but listen anyway. There’s more to it than just a freak virus out there. The explosion, this man who says he’s from the CDC, and the strange properties that sample was exhibiting.”
“Mom, we’re going to —”
“Harvey, knock it off.” The words were more intense than they had been, and Ben fell silent again. “I don’t care about any of that. I can’t. I’ve got hours to live. You listen to me, okay?”
He nodded.
“Harvey, I love you. It’s been over ten years since I’ve even heard from you, and you need to know that I love you.”
A single tear fell down his right cheek. He couldn’t bear to let Julie see him cry, so he kept his eyes glued to the bed and didn’t wipe the tear away.
“I love you, and I never stopped loving you. After your — your father…”
“Stop it, Mom.” He felt his voice shaking. Was it noticeable? He whispered. “I love you too, okay? I do. I’m sorry.”
His mother’s eyes were closed now, and she was trying to breathe peacefully.
“I’m sorry for everything.”
He stood up from the bed and left the room.
Julie caught up to him in the hallway and followed him into the dining room, where he collapsed on an old leather sofa.
“Hey, are you okay?” she asked. “I–I’m so… I can’t believe…” she stammered, not finding the right words.
“You don’t have to do that,” Ben said. “I’m fine.”
He stared blankly toward the flat-screen television that sat on a stand in the corner of the room. “I’ll stay here today, and maybe —”
“Ben,” Julie said. She waited for him to look at her. “Ben, I know how this feels, okay? But the longer we stay here —”
“I’m staying here.”
“Ben, if we stay here, we’re going to die.”
“I’m staying here,” he said again.
“Ben! Listen to me. You know what’s about to happen. If you’re not infected yet, you will be. And then I will be. It’s only a matter of hours, Ben. You don’t have hours to wait.”
Ben knew she was right, but he didn’t move from the sofa.
Julie finally came around the couch and sat next to him. “Do you need anything?” she asked.
He shook his head.
Julie sighed and retreated into the depths of the couch. “Ben, let’s at least get somewhere we can talk, okay? Somewhere we can figure this out together?”
This time, he nodded. She reached over and placed her hand on his.
Chapter Twenty-Six
“Anything else?” the frazzled woman gazed down at the couple in the booth before her.
Juliette Richardson shook her head. “We’re good, thanks.” The woman was gone before she could finish.
“I thought diners were supposed to have great service,” Julie said to Ben over two plates of waffles and cups of coffee.
He shrugged, taking a huge bite of syrup-covered waffle.
The diner was just outside of town, on the state highway they’d taken into Twin Falls. It was called The Family Diner, and Ben and Julie — the only two guests — weren’t sure yet whether the play on words was meant to be taken seriously or not. So far they assumed it was meant as satire. There wasn’t a “family” — or even another person, besides their waitress — in sight.
“At least the food’s good,” Julie said, cramming almost half a waffle into her mouth. She guzzled coffee to wash it down, and only then noticed Ben staring at her. “What?”
He grinned. “As hard as this is…” he stopped.
“Yeah?”
“No, just… as hard as this is… I’m glad you’re here.”
Julie swallowed. “Me too. I mean, I can’t imagine… I’m sorry, Ben.” She took another bite of waffle, and this time added a forkful of sausage to it. “By the way, what’s up with ‘Harvey?’”
“That’s my name,” Ben said.
“Well, yeah, I picked up on that,” she said. “But you don’t go by that anymore. Why?”
He shrugged again. “I don’t know. Dropped it after high school. Seemed like sort of a nerdy name, I guess. Ben’s easier.”
Julie considered this. “I like Harvey.”
Ben stared blankly at her.
“I like Ben too,” she added.
He looked down again at his plate, comparing his plate to Julie’s. She can really put it away, he thought. He was almost embarrassed by how little he’d eaten.
“Hey, I have another question. Did Diana — I mean, your mom — did she have any assistants or anything? Anyone we could contact?”
“Always working, huh?” Ben’s response was blunt.
“Oh my God, no, Ben… I’m sorry —”
He shook his head. “It’s fine. Really. I’m shaken up, but this is good. Let’s keep moving; figure out what’s next.” He thought for a moment, using the lull in the conversation to take a deep sip of jet-black coffee. He winced.
“Too hot?” she asked.
“Too crappy.” He swallowed, feigning choking. “Where’d you find this place, anyway?”
“Google Maps. Never steered me wrong so far.”
“‘Bout time to start using something else. Anyway, uh, I have no idea about her work. I’ve been in the park for over a decade. Man, it’s been a long time.”
A solemn look came over his eyes.
“Ben, it’s okay. If you need —”
“No, I’m fine. Yeah, I can’t think of anything. Hell, I don’t even really know what she does. I remember she worked for a chemical company when I was a kid, but she took this job not too long ago.”
“You spoke with her?”
“No, she’d email me quite a bit. I never responded more than once or twice, I think. I kept the email account open, though. Is there any way to figure out who she was working with?”
“I tried looking it up in the company directory, but they’re pretty good about keeping their work and employees protected. I might be able to get some help from my tech guy, though.” She took a sip of coffee, this time not using it to wash down her meal. From the expression on her face, she could clearly taste it better this time around. “Wow, you weren’t kidding. This is rough.”
Ben smiled, and he caught her gaze. He could almost feel her examining him, exploring the leathery-brown contours of a face that had rarely gone a day without being exposed to the sun and elements.
“Hey,” she said quickly. “I have a question.”
“Shoot.”
“Why’d you leave?”
She didn’t need to explain it; he knew what she meant. It was a fair question, but also the forbidden one, and she didn’t dance around it or build it up.
He took a deep breath. No one asks me that, he thought. It had been years since he could even remember talking about it.