Platt, Bix, and Baldwin found a bench a few feet away from the monument, out of tour guides’ path as they led their groups. And hopefully out of earshot.
“The meat-processing plant you visited is notorious for contaminated beef,” Baldwin explained. “And yet the Department of Agriculture keeps giving them chance after chance to clean up their act.”
“Aren’t they supposed to close them down after so many offenses?”
“Oh, they have. For a day or two. They clean everything. Get it all spotless and sterile. But in case you didn’t notice, processing beef is a messy business. I’m always surprised that there aren’t more contaminations.”
“And some of this plant’s contaminated beef ended up in the National School Lunch Program.”
“Three orders were purchased in late August by the USDA. I thought it was ridiculous to continue to buy from this vendor with their track record, but I’m the new kid.”
“Can you track those orders and see what schools received them?” Platt asked but he already knew it couldn’t be that easy or they wouldn’t be here.
“Once they get sent to state warehouses it’s almost impossible to track where they go. I’ve discovered the NSLP is a complex maze of illogical proportions.”
“So a recall?”
Baldwin bristled, her back straightening. She let out a sigh, more frustration than relief. “I realized the day after the Norfolk, Virginia, outbreak that I wouldn’t be able to do anything from inside.”
“Wait a minute,” Bix said. “You knew about the outbreak the day after?”
“Yes. How do you suppose it came about that you finally were called in?”
Bix crossed his arms over his chest and Platt saw that his right foot had started tapping out his anger.
“Did you know immediately that it was an unusual strain of salmonella?” Platt asked.
“Yes.”
“And still there weren’t any notices sent to schools?” Now Platt was having a difficult time tamping down his anger.
“That’s the part you don’t understand.” Another long intake of breath. She rubbed at the back of her neck. In the faint light from the monument Platt could see the lines at her eyes and mouth. She wasn’t wearing any makeup. “They want to contain this one quietly. They want it to go away unnoted and chalk it up as just another contamination. When they came to me last week they said they had it under control.”
“You didn’t believe them,” Bix said. “So you made sure I was on the case.”
“I knew immediately when I heard about the elementary school in the District that it had to be related. And that there would be others.”
“How did you know already that it was an unusual strain of salmonella?” Platt asked.
“Because they told me the exact strain they had created and put in.”
CHAPTER 63
NEBRASKA
The first ten feet were the worst. A sharp drop straight down sent Maggie falling into a black abyss. A ledge caught her, pine needles breaking the impact. Somehow she had managed to not cry out though she landed on her right shoulder again. If Griffin had heard the scuffle it would only be seconds, maybe a minute if she was lucky, before he realized where she had gone.
She forced her eyes to adjust to the darkness. Even the parking lights didn’t add a glow of illumination. She knew the ridge continued down, she just didn’t know how far. She pushed up to her knees and tested the small ledge she had landed on. Then she turned around, started scooting down on her butt, feetfirst, testing and feeling. It wasn’t quite as steep.
She glanced up. Still no flashlight aimed down to find her. She allowed herself to slide, bracing her hands in front of her. She wouldn’t be able to grab onto much but she could protect her face and head from slamming into a tree.
The sand gave way and she began to skid. She lost her balance. Her body twisted and she was sliding on her side.
Too fast, way too fast.
Branches lashed out, stabbing and scraping her skin. She needed to slow down, but she couldn’t get a grip. Couldn’t stop. Her bound wrists kept her from grabbing a rock or branch. Her hands became fists trying to protect and getting battered. Her body became a toboggan rolling over anything in its way, her hip bumping a tree trunk and sending her up against another. Branches snapped and cracked, stinging her arms, whipping at her face, catching her hair.
Then suddenly she landed a second time. On her back.
She stared up at the pine trees. In the complete darkness the patches of sky were bright with twinkling stars. She saw the top of the ridge above her. Dear God, it had to be at least sixty feet, more than six stories tall.
In the silence she heard an owl and the constant hum of cicadas. She lay perfectly still, knocked out of breath, certain that if she lifted her head she’d feel the dizziness at full force.