“Don’t. They’re not going to let us just walk around there, and if something did happen, we’re not helping ourselves by showing up on the doorstep.”
Ben knew she was right.
“Besides, the police aren’t going to give us anything until they’ve figured it out. Especially if there was a crime. Let’s head back into town and see if anyone knows what’s going on.”
Ben sped up again and grabbed the atlas. “This road intersects with another farm road that runs parallel to the main highway. Should take us back toward Mud Lake.”
They found their road in another minute, and ten minutes after that, they were on the outskirts of town.
Town, however, was too strong a word.
“Good night! This place barely counts as a city,” Julie said. “What’s the population here? Four?”
Mud Lake, Idaho, seemed like not much more than a rest stop on the way to something bigger. A few stoplights, a general store with a few gas pumps, and a large industrial facility of some sort was all the small town’s main street offered.
Ben pulled the F450 into the small lot in front of the general store and parked.
“Is it open?” Julie asked.
“No idea. Let’s see.” They got out and walked to the front door. Ben grabbed the handle and was surprised to see it give easily, letting out a series of dings from a group of bells that hung on a string attached to the door.
“One minute!” a voice called out from somewhere in the back of the store. They waited at the counter for a few more seconds until a short, rotund man with reddened cheeks and wispy white hair appeared from around a corner. He shuffled along, appearing almost weightless as his upper body hardly moved. He wore an impressive smile, aided by his large, jolly eyes, and his overall impression told the couple they’d found the right place to ask for help.
“How may I help you?” the man asked. His voice matched his appearance in every way. Crisp, light, and nuanced in a way that only an older man with years of communication experience could portray.
Julie smiled back, and Ben also immediately felt at ease. “We’re looking for some information. About someone that lives here.”
The man nodded slowly, eyeing each of them for a brief moment. “It’s a small town, as you’ve no doubt gathered,” he said. “We do tend to know one another quite well.”
Ben sensed a bit of hesitation in the man. Maybe this was a bad idea…
“His name’s Charlie Furmann,” Julie said. “I think he lives here with his parents, just outside of town—”
The man held up a hand, halting Julie. Ben watched as the man’s expression and stature changed almost instantaneously, going from a peaceful, inviting shop owner to a ruffled, bothered old man. “Get out. Now.” He pointed to the door. “Please leave.”
“Sir — we’re just—”
“No. Out.”
Ben clenched his teeth and tried to interpret what had just happened. The man clearly knew Charlie, or knew of him. Maybe he knows his parents?
“Sir, we’re sorry to intrude. Really. But we’re with the CDC… the Centers for Disease Control.” The man’s face softened slightly, but he still looked about three seconds away from grabbing a broom handle and shooing them out of the store. Ben continued. “There’s been an outbreak of something, and we’re trying to figure out what it is. We think Charlie might know something about it—”
“It doesn’t matter what he knew,” the shopkeeper said.
“Wait,” Julie said. “What do you mean? Is Charlie…”
The man nodded.
“My God,” she said. “We’re so sorry. We drove by his parents’ farm and saw the police cars… where… how?”
The man sighed, realizing that he wasn’t going to get rid of these patrons as easily as he once thought. “He was found in his apartment, in Twin Falls. Had that rash on him — the one that’s been going around east of here.”
Julie nodded, taking it all in.
“His parents are devastated, obviously. Terrible thing. And that bomb… You guys know anything about that rash?”
Ben shook his head. “Not yet. Killed a lot of people already who were around the blast, so we think it’s related.”
“I sure hope not, son. Seems like this country’s already gone to hell in a handbasket. Kid hadn’t been home in something like five years, too. All focused on his work in the city. Mr. and Mrs. Furmann are beside themselves.”
Ben thanked the man and turned to leave, Julie following behind. They walked in silence to the parking lot and the truck, and Ben slid into the driver’s seat.
Julie waited until the truck was on the main road through town before she spoke. “Twin Falls is outside the blast radius by hundreds of miles, Ben. And the virus is not technically an outbreak yet — it’s not contained, but it hasn’t been spreading outside of Wyoming.”
“I know,” Ben said. “My mom wasn’t anywhere near it either. Whoever got to her also must have paid Charlie a visit…”
They both let that information sink in. What it meant, what it might mean, was even more terrifying.
Chapter Thirty-Three
After their encounter with the shopkeeper in Mud Lake, Julie decided it would be best to check in with her office and see if they had anything new. As they drove in silence, she checked her phone again to see if she had service.
“Anything?” Ben asked.
“Not yet,” she answered, “but I remember there being a few bars outside of Twin Falls. Once we get back to the major highway, I’m sure it’ll work.”
“We’re only a few miles out. Keep checking.”
In a few minutes Julie saw her cellphone light up with a single bar of service, and a minute later, a quick vibration told her she had a waiting voicemail from Randall Brown. She played it over the phone’s speaker so Ben could listen in.
“Hey Julie, it’s Randy again. I checked SecuNet for anything strange. Everything’s working properly, but I did find something odd. Livingston put a mail forward on Stephens’ email account — anything he’s sent in the past forty-eight hours went straight to him. That’s probably why you haven’t heard anything.”
Julie looked up at Ben, shocked.
“Anyway, I didn’t delete the forward. Livingston would know that I was in there right away if he stopped getting Stephens’ updates. Still, if he decides to log in to SecuNet again, he’ll see my timestamp there. I’m kinda between a rock and a hard place on this one, Julie, so let me know what you want me to do.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Julie said.
“Do you think Livingston’s paranoid about something?” Ben asked.
“Think? I know he is. Livingston is the epitome of paranoia, but still — interfering with a government investigation like this? This is crossing the line.”
“He is your boss, though, right?”
“Yeah, he obviously has the power and oversight to be able to ‘listen in’ on field communication, but he can’t totally prevent the flow of information like this.” Julie shook her head, staring down at the phone.
“Well, what do you think he’s up to?” Ben asked.
“Nothing. I mean, I don’t think it’s like that,” Julie answered. “I think he’s just trying to reign me in. Seems like he’s always had a problem with me. I’m, uh, not really one to check in every ten minutes, you know?”
Ben smiled. “Yeah, I picked up on that. So, you think he’s just playing it safe? Trying to make sure he’s got all the cards?”
“I guess, but it still makes it a little pointless to be driving around out here, trying to figure stuff out, if he’s just going to block us at every step of the way.”