Dead Man Running (42 page)

"Correct," said Jan as Kelly passed her the bundle.

"I have flagged where you need to sign," he said.

Kelly watched her sign for a minute then spoke again.  "The property has a built
in
staff of four.  Would you like to retain their services?"

Jan paused her signing, thought a moment.  "Yes," she replied.  She quickly signed, initialed and dated the page. 

"Shall I provide my counterparts with the account information from which you're paying for the property?"

Jan nodded, her hand flying over the pages now.  She had to get back to the conference – this was taking too long.  She doubted that paying a handful of peasants would dent the millions she had siphoned off of Wiley's
super
PAC contributions.

After several more minutes she was done.  She passed the stack to Kelly and waited as he checked that all was in order.

"This looks great," he said finally.  She stood but Kelly remained seated.  "I have something else for you," he said.

Jan, remembering, took her seat.  This was as important as
acquiring the property.

"The Costa Rican government has confirmed your ancestry and the fact that you were born to a Costa Rican mother on Costa Rican soil."  He smiled in the face of the mocha colored African American woman as he passed a manila envelope across the circular table.  "
This contains
the papers confirming your dual citizenship.  Also there is a copy of your official birth certificate."

Jan took the envelope.  She quickly examined the papers then placed them back in the envelope and stuffed the envelope in her small purse.  She stood and this time Kelly followed suit.

"Thank you, Mr. Kelly."  They shook hands.

"I appreciate your business, Mrs. Wiley.  Please consider I-RES for any of your future needs," Kelly said.

Jan thanked him again and left. 

There won't be any future needs
, she thought. 
My son and I have our home, our sanctuary from this mean old world.

Jan reversed her Metro journey and found herself back at the convention in time for the luncheon.  She took her seat, commiserated with her tablemates – suddenly interested in her once she identified herself as Ben Wiley's wife – and choked down as much of the braised duck as she could.

She split her attention between the men and women who were determined to discuss the
'
real Ben Wiley
'
and the VIP's who sat on the dais, including her old boss Elias Turnbull.  She couldn't allow him to leave without speaking to him.

Finally the lunch was over and the attendees slowly migrated back to their seminars and working sessions focused on solving the problems of the three and a half billion women on the planet.  Jan Sugerfoot Wiley was focused on the problem
s
of one woman – herself.  She made a beeline for Elias as the man struggled to escape
some unwanted attention
.  As she got close they made eye
contact.  A
hearty grin
spread across Elias' face.

"If the president is re-elected next year, he needs to focus on human rights," an elderly man said to Elias.  "He needs to stop being such a wimp on the world stage."  He waged a finger in Elias' face.

"Yes, Mr. President," Elias responded.

"And tell him to stop letting those Republicans push him around."

"Yes, sir," Elias said.  He wondered why he was getting this lecture.  Couldn't Jimmy Carter deliver this message to Obama in person?

Jan pushed by the former president – who she failed to recognize – and greeted Elias with a kiss on the cheek.

Elias gave Carter a
n apologetic
look and the old war horse
drifted
off.

Elias took Jan's arm and the pair found a quieter corner.  "You wanted to see me?" he
asked
.  Jan nodded, looked around.  There were still people within earshot. 

"I need to talk to you in private."  She looked around again.  "There are too many eyes here, human and otherwise."

Elias didn't know if she meant human and zombie or human and electronic but he felt the same. 
This was not t
he
time to raise Wiley's suspicions by conducting
a
high profile conversation with his wife.

"Are you able to leave the conference?" he asked.

"No," she said.  She was not going to attempt another flight from the
facility
.

Elias thought for a few moments.  "The organizers had made available a series of private suites to be used
by VIP's
for breakout sessions and
high level
negotiat
ions
.  I had told them that I didn't need one.  I'll tell them I had a change of plans and text you with the room number.  We'll meet in a half hour?"

"That's fine.  It'll give me a few minutes to make myself as visible as possible." 

Thirty-three minutes later Jan swept into Elias' suite
on the conference center's upper floor.  Elias remained seated as she entered.  He noticed, as she sat opposite him, a definite 'baby bump'.  Either that or married life has been very bad for her waistline.  He decided to get right to it.

"You're pregnant?" he asked.

She nodded, looked down at how motherhood was destroying her figure.  "That's why I had to speak to you.  How secure is this room?"

Elias removed a piece of electronics from his suit jacket.  "The room is clean of all surveillance," he said.

"Since when do you carry that thing?" Jan asked.

"Since I started to have concerns about certain parties monitoring my conversations," he replied.  He smiled and put the device back into his pocket.
 
"Is that all you wanted, to tell me that you're pregnant?"

"Aren't you curious about how a dead man can get a woman pregnant?"

Elias shrugged.  He didn't know where this conversation was going or how much he could say.  It was a good sign that she appeared to be acting on her own, outside of Wiley's control, but that didn't mean that she would condone his activities to murder her beloved.

"I stopped wondering about anything when
Hamid
raised Ben off that bed," he said.  "What do you want from me, Jan?"

"I need your help.
  I had my doctor examine the fetus.  Everything appears to be okay.  He appears human."

"You know the sex?"

"Yes, I'm going to have Ben's son."

"You plan to go through with the pregnancy?"

"I'm not going to kill my baby," she said.

We'll have to do it for you then
, Elias thought.

"Ben has frozen me out, Elias.  I'm just a baby machine for him. 
I'm a captive in my own house."

"I can talk to Ben," he offered.  He still played it neutral.  It was not above Ben Wiley to use his wife to smoke him out as a traitor.

Jan stood, tears suddenly appearing in her eyes.  "I don't want you to talk to Ben.  I want Ben dead!"

"He is dead."

"You know what I fucking mean," she said as she loomed over him.

"Sit down Jan," he ordered.  He decided to go all in.  Ben Wiley's wife
would
be a goldmine of intelligence and a tremendous asset in the
effort to destroy
Wiley.

"How do we stop them?  I don't want to be a zombie. 
I don't want my son to be a zombie. 
I think we've created a monster."

"No shit," replied Elias.  He
still
doesn't know how much to trust her.
He had to hear her say the words out loud. 
"Are you willing to
help
kill Wiley?"

After a thoughtful moment, she nodded.  "Yes, I don't want to be part of a world led by zombies."

"Why come to me?"

"I sensed maybe you would have second thoughts about this whole thing."

"After it became apparent that Wiley didn't just want political power but wanted to destroy humanity?"

"Yes, after that," Jan replied.

"I have," he said and he told her – without naming names – that he was working to destroy her husband and end this plot of genocide.

"What can I do to help?" Jan asked.  Her tears were gone.  Gone also was the tight kno
t
in her chest – she felt for the first time that she and her child would survive this.

"I'll let you know.  For now, keep your eyes open.  Get yourself a couple disposable phones and messenger me a note with the numbers.  I'll call you and we can discuss this further."

Jan let out a deep breath.  "I'm glad that you and I are on the same side Elias." She stood.

Elias got to his feet.  He took her small hands in his.  They were warm – definitely human.  "We'll end this nightmare," he replied.

He ushered her out of the suite after checking that the hallway was clear.  He heard the elevator sou
nd and she was on her way
back down to the convention.

He would wait a day or two then reach out to
Manchester
.  They now had a huge asset to use against Ben Wiley. 

The helicopter landed on the helipad at
Fort
Detrick
in
Maryland
. 
Mira
Hidar
exited the aircraft and was greeted by an Army Major.  The two shook hands as they cleared the slowing blades of the copter.  His name was Pritchett and he was human.  He told
Mira
that he would escort her to where her grandfather was being kept.

She didn't ask Wiley why he had
Hamid
moved to
Fort
Detrick
, home of USAMRIID – the United States Army Medical
Research Institute for Infectious Diseases. 
Was
he somehow
able to have
Hamid
classified as a medical security risk?
 

She didn't know – she was just glad that he had finally agreed to let her see her grandfather.

Wiley had been shown a prototype of the atomic zombie bomb and was pleased with their progress.  Her reward was this visit.  Her co-workers, well, their reward was too gruesome to imagine.

Major Pritchett, who seemed very nice for a soldier, explain
ed to her that her grandfather wa
s getting the best of care in a secure section of the base hospital.   Fours nurses provided constant care and oversight, his every need met.

"Do you know why my grandfather is being held here?"
Mira
asked.

The major rolled his large shoulders and shook his head.  "Above my
pay grade
, ma'am."

"You're not curious as to why a
US
citizen – an elderly man – is held in
America
's most secure military base outside of
Fort
Knox
?"

"S
ame answer,"
he said and all of a sudden the nice major was not so nice.

They walked in silence until they reached the closed off section of the hospital – they had dedicated an entire floor to
Mira
's grandfather.

They reached a room, which
Mira
presumed to be
Hamid
's.

"I've been ordered to give you thirty minutes with your grandfather.  If you attempt to remove your grandfather from this facility I have been ordered to shoot to kill.  Do you understand that?"

She nodded.

"I'm sorry, Ms.
Hidar
, I need your verbal acknowledgement of what I just said."

She met his clear blue eyes. 
"I understand that I have thirty minutes to visit him and that you will kill me if I attempt to take him away from here."

Pritchett nodded and used a massive arm to open the door for
Mira
.

Mira
walked in.  The first thing she noticed was how small
Hamid
seemed in the hospital bed.  He was hooked up to a variety of monitors and tubes, minimally one to feed him and one to evacuate his waste.
 

The others?
These were likely for the medication
s
that would assure he, and Wiley, a very long life.

She stepped to the bed, found his hand and squeezed it.  She had promised herself that she would not cry but the white sheets
soon were
sprinkled with her salty tears.