Black Rose (21 page)

CHAPTER 56

Johannes Gutenberg listened to the report of Krivi's death and resisted the urge to hurl his phone across the room. Instead, he forced himself to place it gently on his desk.

Someone was killing the leadership of AEON. First Kamarov had disappeared. Then de Guillame had been strangled and Thorvaldson had a convenient heart attack. Now, Krivi. It was down to Mitchell, Halifax and himself and it didn't take a genius to see the pattern. He needed to create a problem bigger than himself for whoever was behind the attacks.

Gutenberg depressed a button on his intercom.

"Yes, sir." The voice of his personal assistant came through the speaker.

"Get hold of Schmidt. I want to see him now."

"Yes sir. I think he's in the billiards room."

"Just get him in here." Gutenberg turned off the intercom.

Some minutes later Schmidt came into the study, his face flushed from hurrying.

"I was outside," he said. "Your secretary said it was urgent."

"We have a problem," Gutenberg said. "Krivi's dead."

"How?"

"He was ambushed on the highway as he was going to his office. They also torched his factory. Our stockpiles of vaccine were inside."

"Do you have any idea who's behind these attacks?"

"No. It could be the Americans. Maybe the Russians. At the moment, I don't really care. It's time to initiate the next phase."

"China?"

"No. I want to release the plague on the East Coast of America. We'll start with local exposure. New York should get things rolling nicely."

"Is that wise? With Krivi gone, it will take time to build up our supplies of vaccine again. It could get over here before we're ready."

"How long will it take to replenish our stockpiles?"

"Two months. Perhaps three."

"Have all of our essential personnel been vaccinated?"

"Of course."

"Then I'm not going to worry about it."

"Have you told Mitchell what you plan?"

"He can find out like everybody else, by watching the news."

*****

At that moment, Senator Randolph Mitchell wasn't watching the news. He was watching a seductive young woman sitting down at the bar in one of his favorite restaurants. It was possible she was one of the high-end hookers who trolled the power spots of Washington but there was something about her that made him think otherwise. He signaled the waiter over.

"Senator."

"Have you noticed that young lady at the bar?"

"It would be hard not to, sir."

"Have you seen her before?"

"No, Senator."

"Please ask her if she would like to join me for a cocktail."

As the waiter crossed the room toward the bar, Mitchell contemplated what she was going to be like when he got her into bed. That she would be there before midnight, he had no doubt. The combination of power, immense wealth and good looks that Mitchell possessed made him nearly irresistible. He had long ago cultivated an easy charm that smoothed the way for his conquests. He was adept at telling women what they wanted to hear and handsome enough to make it easy to listen.

She looked over at him as the waiter indicated Mitchell's table. She had intense, blue eyes and full, red lips. Mitchell smiled at her.

Valentina came over to his table. Mitchell stood.

"Thank you for joining me," he said. "Please, sit down." He indicated the chair next to his.

"Are you really a senator?" she said as she sat. Her voice was deep, soft. She had a faint accent he couldn't quite place, something European.

Wonderful,
he thought.
She really doesn't know who I am.

"Guilty," he said. "Randolph Mitchell."

"Jacqueline DuMons," Valentina said.

Mitchell sat and signaled the waiter. "Where are you from, Jacqueline?"

"It is that obvious? That I am not from here?"

"Not at all, but I thought I heard a trace of an accent. Are you French, perhaps?"

"Now it is my turn to say guilty," she said. "Yes, I live in Paris. I have a flat in Montmarte."

The waiter arrived at the table.

"What are you having?" Mitchell said.

"Whatever you are."

"Two martinis, Joseph, very dry."

"Very good, Senator."

"This is a very nice restaurant," Valentina/Jacqueline said, looking around.

"The food is excellent. Would you care to join me for dinner? I think food is always better when it's shared, don't you? Like many things."

Valentina looked at him and smiled. "Are you making a proposition at me, Senator?"

Mitchell laughed. "In America, we would say making a pass, not a proposition. Why don't we see how the evening progresses?"

You didn't answer my question, you lecher,
Valentina thought.
But then, I already know the answer.

The waiter brought their drinks.

Mitchell raised his glass toward her. "To new acquaintances."

He drank. She sipped and set her glass down next to his.

A man in his 40s in an expensive suit approached the table.

"Senator, I need a word."

Mitchell turned to look at him.

Valentina wore a ring in the shape of a rose. When Mitchell turned she reached for her purse and passed her hand over his glass, touching the top of the ring. A clear drop of liquid fell from the ring into his drink. The poison was one of the products of SVR's laboratories. It caused total paralysis of the vocal cords and respiratory system. The victim could neither speak nor breathe. The poison would take effect almost instantly.

It was an extremely unpleasant way to die.

"Not now, Maury," Mitchell said to the man in the suit. "Call my secretary tomorrow and make an appointment. Tell her I said ten minutes."

"Senator..."

"Tomorrow, Maury." There was an edge in Mitchell's voice. He turned back toward Valentina. "I apologize for the interruption."

"No need to apologize," Valentina said. "A powerful man has many distractions."

Mitchell picked up his martini and drained half the glass.

"Shall we order?"

Mitchell started to raise his arm to signal the waiter. His face contorted in agony. He clutched his chest, eyes bulging. His mouth gaped open and closed as his body spasmed. Mitchell struggled to his feet and fell sideways, grabbing the tablecloth and pulling glasses and silverware down on top of him.

Valentina let out a scream and stood, backing away from the table with her hands to her mouth. In the rush to Mitchell's side, all eyes were on the stricken man. Valentina melted away into the crowd. By the time anyone thought to look for the beautiful young woman who had been having a drink with the senator, she was blocks away.

CHAPTER 57

Nick, Ronnie and Selena were in Lamont's hospital room. It was eight in the morning. The remains of a mediocre institutional breakfast curdled on a tray near his bedside.

"Nick, you guys gotta get me some decent food. This stuff can make you sick."

"If it does, you're in the right place," Ronnie said.

"Yeah, right."

"Next time we come, we'll bring you a pizza," Nick said.

"How's your leg, Shadow?" Selena asked.

"The doc said it's going to take a few months to heal. The bone was busted up pretty bad. He said I'll have a permanent limp. It could've been worse. They almost had to amputate."

No one said anything for a moment.

"I've been thinking," Lamont said.

"There you go again with that thinking stuff," Ronnie said. "You have to stop doing that. It only confuses you."

"No, seriously. I'm tired of spending time in places like this and I'm getting too damn old to take any more hits like this one. It's time for me to quit."

They all started talking at once.

"Lamont..."

"What do you mean..."

"We need you..."

"Hey," Lamont said. "My mind's made up. I'm getting too beat up to keep doing this. It's going to take months for the strength to come back in my leg and even when it does, I won't be able to move like I used to. I'd be a liability. Besides, I'm tired of getting shot at."

"You sound certain," Nick said.

"I am."

Their pagers went off. Nick looked at the display. "Harker just sent a 911," he said to Lamont. "We have to go. We'll talk about this the next time we see you."

"Sure. Just remember to bring that pizza."

Lamont watched his friends go. A sudden wave of pain shot up his leg. He pressed the call button for the nurse.

Going down in the elevator, Nick said, "I knew this had to happen sooner or later. I just didn't know who would be first."

"Maybe he'll change his mind," Selena said.

"I don't think so," Nick said. "He has a point about the leg. If he can't cut it physically he'd put himself and us at risk. He might not worry much about himself but he'd never do something to jeopardize us."

"How are we going to replace him?" Ronnie asked.

"I don't know."

"I wonder what Harker wants?" Selena said.

"We'll find out soon enough."

When they got to headquarters, Elizabeth and Stephanie were waiting for them.

"About time," Elizabeth said.

"We were visiting Lamont," Nick said. "What's up, Director?"

"Senator Randolph Mitchell was assassinated last night."

"Who killed him?"

Elizabeth cast a sideways glance at Stephanie. "The Russians. It was Valentina Antipov. Videos from the security cameras at the restaurant caught her dropping something in his drink."

Oh, oh,
Nick thought.

Selena's face closed down. "You're certain? There can't be a mistake?"

"No. There's no doubt at all."

"I can't believe this," she said.

"We're monitoring terminals out of the city but she's probably already gone."

Stephanie said, "We weren't sure Mitchell was part of AEON. Now we are."

Elizabeth said, "It was the Russians who hit Krivi as well. I spoke with the deputy director of India's intelligence agency earlier. The people who killed him were using AK's, which doesn't tell us anything. But they found Spetsnaz tattoos on two of the bodies."

"Do the Indians know we're the ones who took them out?"

"I didn't think they needed to know that. They're still upset about what happened when you were there before. There's more."

"I can't wait to hear it," Ronnie said.

Harker gave him one of her hard looks.

"Krivi's chief research scientist landed at Kennedy this morning. He's traveling with a false passport under the name of Kurtz."

"Schmidt?" Nick said. "The guy we followed in Zürich?"

"The same."

"What's he doing here?"

"That's the question isn't it?" Elizabeth fiddled with her pen. "I'm sending you to New York to find out."

"How do we find one man in the middle of New York City?"

"He checked into a midtown hotel, one of those boutique places that compete with the big names. You can start there."

"What do you want us to do when we find him?"

"Take him someplace where you won't be bothered and ask him a few questions. Find out why he's here. Be careful. Remember, he's the one who plays with plague. I'm sure he's protected against it, but you aren't. Find out if there are any supplies of vaccine that weren't in Krivi's factory."

"What's happening in Brazil?" Selena asked.

"The plague is spreading. The Brazilian government quarantined the infected area but some carriers slipped through the roadblocks. The first cases have appeared in two cities along the northern coast. If we don't find a way to stop it soon, it's going to kill a lot of people."

"Is there any progress on a cure?"

"CDC is working around the clock. So is the World Health Organization. The best medical researchers in the world are trying to find a way to stop it. The White House is putting pressure on the North Koreans for information but no one's holding their breath waiting for an answer. Pyongyang's official line is that they don't know anything about it and anyone who says differently is part of a vicious attack by the warmongering, capitalistic West."

"Yeah, right," Ronnie said.

"Hood sent a team to Zürich. They're raiding Krivi's corporate headquarters tonight. There's bound to be something there about the vaccine. They'll find it and bring it back."

"If the Russians hadn't decided to interfere, that bug would still be locked up somewhere in the mountains of North Korea," Selena said.

"Vysotsky has a lot to answer for," Elizabeth said. "In the meantime, go find Schmidt."