“How could she know this so many years later?”
“It obviously made a hell of an impression on her when she saw it the first time.”
“If they can ship the body up here, I’ll take a look at it myself.”
“Not gonna happen.”
“I’ll talk to Logan about it.”
“Someone set the place on fire tonight. Everything went up in flames.”
He was quiet again, then said, “I didn’t know. Maggie, I didn’t know.”
She stopped herself from sharing her suspicions about Logan. Then realized it was because she no longer trusted Ben. She had been waiting all evening to talk to him about all this, hoping he had answers or at least a better explanation for why he had kept such vital information from her.
“Look, Maggie, maybe I can talk to this Dr. Gunther. If she can explain what she observed, I might be able to help narrow down what happened to this man.”
At that moment she realized that even Ben was being kept out of the loop.
“Unfortunately she can’t do that, Ben. She’s dead. The same person who started the fire cut Dr. Gunther’s throat.”
More silence.
Then he said, “I’m coming down there first thing in the morning.”
It didn’t matter. O’Dell didn’t bother to tell him she would already be gone by the time he arrived.
64.
Dr. Avelyn had given Creed another dose of pain meds to help him sleep, but they weren’t working. Instead he dozed in and out of consciousness. Twice he noticed Maggie’s cot was empty except for Grace curled up on the pillow. Around midnight he’d crawled out of his bed, fighting the exhaustion but needing to make sure she was okay.
“Which way did Maggie go?” he asked Grace.
She looked over her shoulder toward the back exit. Sure enough, Creed saw her pacing up and down the sidewalk with her cell phone pressed to the side of her face.
He went back to his bed and pulled the covers up, waiting for her to return. He must have dozed off again. When he opened his eyes she was curled next to Grace, but in the dim light of the gymnasium he could see her watching him. He pulled himself up on one elbow to meet her eyes.
“Why is this so important to you?” he asked.
She seemed to be thinking about it.
“A few years ago my boss and I were exposed to Ebola.” She pulled herself up on one elbow, too, and Grace tucked herself even closer.
“Grace goes home with me, no matter what,” Creed said, and he saw Maggie smile at the little dog. “Go on. How did you get exposed?”
“A note led us to a house where we thought there might be a hostage being held. The note was actually delivered to the Behavioral Science Unit—not an easy feat to accomplish. Assistant Director Cunningham took it seriously enough that he insisted on being part of the response team.”
She swatted at a strand of hair and stared over Creed’s shoulder like she was searching for the rest of the story.
“When we got there this little girl answered the door and let us in. We were still thinking hostage situation. The girl was dressed in soiled clothes. Her hair was tangled. Dirty dishes were everywhere. It looked like she had been abandoned and was living on her own. But that was only partly correct. Her mother was in one of the bedrooms. Very sick. At the time we didn’t realize that she was already crashing with Ebola.”
“So you were both exposed?”
She nodded.
“And the little girl?”
“She survived. Her mother, of course, did not. Cunningham and I were immediately put in Fort Detrick’s Slammer. That’s what they call their isolation unit. Dr. Benjamin Platt took care of us.”
Creed didn’t think he flinched but she looked at him as if he had and added, “It’s not what you think. It wasn’t a case of patient falling in love with the doctor who saved her. I had to trust him with my life. I suppose there’s a bond that naturally develops. It’s not necessarily a bad thing. We became friends. And ultimately, he did save my life.”
“What about Cunningham?”
Her eyes left his, strayed back over his shoulder again to the shadows.
“He didn’t make it.”
Creed could feel the emotion in that brief sentence. Maybe it was simply survivor’s guilt. He knew that all too well, but he suspected Cunningham held meaning in her life. He didn’t ask.
“Bottom line,” she said, “I know how dangerous these samples are. It’s not just a matter of recovering them so that they don’t fall into the wrong hands. They’re still receiving a signal from the box. But if it’s not found, who knows what could happen?”
“Why not leave it to the experts to retrieve it?”
“The experts already screwed it up, didn’t they? I talked to Ross and now he says that he doesn’t even know where Logan is. I’m afraid Logan is more determined to burn and bury this mess out of existence than he is with doing the right thing.”
Creed groaned.
“What?”