“It is,” she told Pierce. “It means we’ll be able to eradicate the infestation with fire. No risk of spreading the vines any further. In fact, the vines will be drawn to the heat, hastening the process. I’ll still need to do some more research, once that equipment you’re sending gets here. I’d like to unpack the plant’s DNA, maybe figure out what the parent organisms were.”
“That may not be necessary,” Pierce replied holding up his phone. “I thought you might want to hear this.” He placed the phone on the table. “Go ahead, Cintia.”
“Yes. As I was saying, I located Nils Van Der Hausen’s lab in Stockholm. The police are raiding it as we speak.”
“What about Van Der Hausen himself?” Carter asked.
“He flew to Monrovia last week. There’s no record of his return.”
“I think that passport you found may be all that’s left of him,” Pierce added. “It looks like he got a taste of his own medicine.”
“Good,” Carter said. “Though it’s too bad that we’ll never know why he did it.”
“Well...” Dourado said. “Van Der Hausen was definitely being bankrolled by Cerberus, and they left a trail.”
Carter threw a questioning glance at Pierce. “You mentioned Cerberus earlier. I take it they’re some kind of criminal organization?”
Dourado answered first. “More like semi-criminal. A lot of the stuff they’re involved in isn’t illegal, but it would be if anyone knew they were doing it. They’re extremely secretive. The first rule of the Cerberus Group is: You do not talk about Cerberus Group. The second rule—”
“We get it Cintia,” Pierce said.
There was a faint grumble from the phone, then Dourado resumed speaking. “It was a tough nut to crack. Took almost two hours.”
Carter wondered if that was Dourado’s idea of a joke, but the woman sounded serious. “So the same people you’re after are responsible for the plant infestation. That’s convenient.”
“Cerberus may have been the watchdog of the Underworld in Greek mythology,” Dourado said. “But the Cerberus Group is more like the bird dog of the criminal underworld. They’re everywhere, and whatever you want or need, they can get it for you. I am not talking about lightweight stuff—guns, drugs and so forth. Cerberus specializes in getting things that no one else can, like rare biological samples and priceless art treasures.”
“We were already investigating Cerberus,” Pierce explained. “We know they’re moving into research and development, specifically genetic engineering. Van Der Hausen was on their payroll, though from the looks of it, his research didn’t pan out.”
Carter was not entirely sure she agreed with that assessment. The plant infestation had wiped out an entire village, which made it a useful, if somewhat unconventional, biological weapon. It could be used against targets in undeveloped nations and would be much easier to control than microbial bio-weapons.
“We know they’re working to procure a substance that can facilitate the creation of genetic chimeras,” Pierce continued. “That’s actually why I came to find you. I was hoping to bring you on as a consultant.”
Carter shook her head. “I already told you—”
“I’m going with them,” Lazarus said in his customary low rumble.
She gaped at him. The uncharacteristic interruption was almost as astonishing as the declaration itself. “You…ah…” She blinked, surprised to find moisture beading along the edges of her eyelids. “Are you sure that’s what you want?”
“They have Fiona,” he said. His tone was quiet, as it always was, and yet she could hear a hint of the old anger bubbling up. “She’s just a kid.”
In all their months together, he had never once expressed even a hint of a desire to leave her side. She had always known that he might someday feel the urge to return to his former life, and on an intellectual level she had thought she had come to terms with that, but now that she was actually confronted with it, she felt blindsided.
He’s choosing them over me.
As the thought screamed through her head, it left a trail of guilt.
In all their months together, he had never once thought of anything but her happiness. He had stayed with her, supported her, traveled from one end of the continent to the other because it was what she wanted, and he never once complained. Never once had he demanded anything for himself.
Until now.
Yet, even that wasn’t quite the truth. He was not abandoning her to pursue some personal desire. Someone needed his help.
His motives were no more selfish than her own.
There was a faint hiss from the vent hood as the blackened tips of the vine shoots, dried out after several minutes of close proximity to the burner’s flame, finally ignited. She watched them burn for a moment before turning back to Pierce. “Why did Van Der Hausen turn this thing loose here? Was that Cerberus’s idea?”
“This is just a guess, but I’d say it was meant as a test. Proof of concept.”
“And if a few villagers die in the bush? It’s Africa. Who cares?” She took a breath, trying to forge her anger into something useful. “Somebody needs to answer for this.” She turned to Lazarus. “All right. Count me in.”
26
Cerberus Headquarters