Hybrid (30 page)

They continued their private conversation while Heller listened, slack-jawed.

“No way they could act this fast,” said Patton. “I think you’re right, they’ve got another source. Michael said that people far above his pay grade had started asking about Reisch.” He stood, nervous energy coursing through him.

“Who the fuck is Reisch?” Heller practically screamed.

“Sorry, Don,” Greg said.

Patton started to pace, amazed that Greg had the patience to tolerate fools like Heller.
Maybe that’s the reason for his
success—people skills
, he thought.

“Klaus Reich is a German,” said Flynn and turned towards Patton to confirm that he had pronounced the last name correctly. Rodney nodded. “We think that Reisch is purposely infecting people with a virus that damages the brain and causes people to become violent. It seems likely that this is a terrorist attack, and that someone in the government knows something about it. That’s why they ordered a quarantine.”

“Okay,” Heller said, regaining some of his composure. “Fill me in. How do you know this?”

“That’s not important,” Rodney said brusquely. “You need to tell your people in Washington that Reisch is here, or at least was this afternoon, and that he’s on the run. One of my officers may have wounded him, so I doubt he’s gotten far.”

Patton had positioned himself directly in front of Heller and was using his more-than-four hundred-pound frame to intimidate the much smaller man into action.

“Is this related to the officer-involved shooting at the hotel?” Heller asked, staring up at Patton.

“Yes, and we have a pretty good eyewitness description. We’ve passed it on to the media.”

“Excellent, excellent,” the FBI agent said. “I’ll pass this on. There is one more thing, and it involves you, Greg.”

“Me?” Greg’s heart skipped a beat. There was only one reason the FBI would have an interest in him.

“I need you to come with me and convince Amanda to turn herself in.” Heller’s tone had become almost sympathetic. “Don’t misunderstand me. I’m not using this situation as an excuse to close an open case. Privately, we all know what happened seven years ago. That’s not what this is about.”

“Amanda is not spreading this virus,” Greg said, his anger rising to the surface.

“Honestly, I didn’t know anything about a virus until I walked in here. What I do know is that more than a hundred agents have been flown into a quarantine area to find her. We know she’s here, and we will find her. I don’t want anyone hurt, and that includes Amanda.”

“Why the sudden concern for her welfare?” Greg saw no point in arguing that he didn’t know where she was.

“Because I have been ordered by the President of the United States to bring her in alive, and if possible, unharmed. We will find her, even if it takes a hundred more agents, or even a thousand more. We both know what happened the last time someone tried to bring her in, and I don’t want a repeat of that.” Patton saw a new side of Heller; the man genuinely did not want Amanda hurt.

“You said that Amanda was the only person to survive the original virus, Greg,” Patton said, unexpectedly aligning himself with Heller. “It stands to reason that if there is an outbreak of one of this virus’s babies, she could be very helpful.”

“I know that, and I don’t want to see anyone hurt either, but this is my daughter in law, my son’s wife, and the mother of my grandson.” He stared into Patton’s dark eyes and nearly jumped out of his chair when Heller’s cell phone went off.

“Jesus Christ, turn that thing down,” Patton said as Heller answered the phone.

The call lasted less than ten seconds. “I see. Keep me posted,” said Heller, and hung up. Then he announced, “Amanda is driving a Jeep Cherokee, Colorado license GNM 529. It is currently parked at an office complex about three miles from here. There is a white female inside that fits the description of Amanda Flynn.” He spoke without emotion. “What do I do, Greg?”

Greg struggled with himself. It wasn’t a question of right or wrong. That was easy. Amanda could save countless lives, and because of that, he knew that in the end he would do what was right. It was a question of betrayal, and losing his adopted daughter, and with her, the connection he had with his dead son and grandson. That alone would be tragic, but he knew that if the bond that held Amanda to Greg and Lisa was broken, she would be lost to the evil that had almost consumed her six years ago.

“Tell your people to stand down, now,” Greg said.

“You know I can’t do that, Greg,” Heller said gently.

“If you don’t, she will kill them all,” Greg said, his voice rising. “Every one of them.”

“That’s not possible Greg, we—”

“Tell them to back off now! If they can see her, then she knows where they are. If you back her into a corner, people are going to die.” Greg’s face was turning red.

Patton finally connected the dots between Reisch and Amanda. “Do it, Heller. Do it now! We already have one man down, we don’t need others.”

“Not until someone tells me what’s really going on here. How can she kill people she can’t see?”

“With a single goddamn thought, you arrogant son of a bitch!” Greg screamed and yanked the cell phone from the FBI agent’s hand. He punched a few buttons while Patton blocked Heller’s attempts to retrieve his phone. “This is Detective Greg Flynn. I’m with Special Agent Heller. Do not under any circumstances approach that Jeep. Terminate all surveillance now!” He repeated the message, but no one responded.

The on-again, off-again flurries were back on again, but it wasn’t snowing hard enough to obscure their view of her, even with dusk approaching. There were five of them now, and more on the way. She had sensed the lone FBI agent as soon as she had left Oliver and the church. He followed her Jeep discreetly while calling for backup, and Amanda drove aimlessly through a residential neighborhood just to make his job a little more difficult. He was reasonably competent, and only twice did she glimpse his gray Ford. She led him to a small office complex just outside of downtown and then parked. He pulled into an adjacent supermarket and watched her, waiting for backup. He had enough experience to put his ego in check and do things correctly, which disappointed Amanda. She had half hoped that he would see her as an unaware 130-pound woman who would offer no resistance to his sudden appearance, badge and weapon drawn. But no, he wasn’t going to confront her until everyone was in place. Five minutes after he had parked, four more agents arrived and quickly fanned out to cover any possible escape routes. Then, everyone just sat and waited for orders.

She searched the mind of the nearest agent and found nothing of interest. He had no idea who or what Amanda was beyond being a fugitive. She hopped from mind to mind until one of their phones rang, and Greg’s face suddenly filled her mind. He was irate and full of fear, his emotions pulling her across dozens of city blocks. “With a single goddamn thought—” she heard him say, and understanding blossomed in the minds of the two men that stood next to her father-in-law. Greg had finally told someone what she had become. Her secret was out. She was surprised that it didn’t much matter to her; maybe it was because there were others now. Reisch and Oliver would certainly be less circumspect with their abilities, and there were probably going to be many more soon. There really was no secret left to protect.

The agents were becoming antsy; worried that she would leave the trap they were ready to spring. Escaping them would be child’s play. With only five minds to control, she could quite easily walk over to the supermarket, find a car she liked, and simply drive away as they continued to watch her empty Jeep. Or, with even less effort, she could kill them all, right where they sat. Mittens got a small thrill from that thought, but it was short-lived. She wasn’t going to kill anyone today, except maybe Reisch, and Mittens knew it. She felt for the German, but he was still lost in the mist of a hundred thousand other minds.

The agents were ordered to move in closer, giving Amanda only a few minutes before they swarmed her Jeep. She needed to disable them, not kill them, and make it absolutely clear that she was beyond their reach. A tiny thrill made her heart beat a little faster. Cruelty had never been part of her before the Change, but it certainly was afterwards. It was a powerful and wonderfully self-indulgent emotion, which pulled at her relentlessly.

The sedan behind her was feeding live images to a Command Center in Denver. She tried to follow the feed back to the other end but couldn’t quite reach without a discrete human consciousness directing her. It didn’t matter; whoever was at the other end would be suitably shocked as she calmly went to each of the fallen agents and relieved them of their weapons and identification. It would be a clear message to leave her alone.

Amanda heard and felt someone give the command to take her. Three agents sprung from their hiding positions and started sprinting towards her. Two more gunned their cars to block her Jeep. She hesitated only a moment and then hit them all with a concentrated blast of mental energy. It was only a tiny fraction of what she was capable of, but it was more than enough to knock them unconscious. She left the video feed running. She had an agent to her left, one to her right, and in one behind her; all three had landed where she hit them. Both of the drivers had managed to slam their sedans into parked cars, and aside from being unconscious, were otherwise okay. Amanda turned to gather her things and then said good-bye to her loyal and reliable Jeep. She slowly and deliberately climbed out into the snow. She turned towards the camera so that they could plainly see her and then walked to each of the three agents and took their handguns and IDs. Unclipping the radio from the last man’s belt, she hit the transmit button.

“They’re not dead,” she said. “But they very well could have been.” She waited for a reply.

It took half a minute for a voice to answer. “What do you want, Amanda?” the voice asked without introduction.

“First, don’t put me in a position where I have to hurt people again.” Her mind searched for the voice and found its owner in a Denver high-rise. It was quite a stretch, but she could just see him as well as a dozen other agents listening and watching her image on a monitor. “You’re an assistant director, aren’t you, Mr. Benedict?”

“Would you like to tell me how you know that, Amanda?” His voice was calm, but all around him people were scrambling, trying to coordinate the movements of other agents.

“No, I don’t think I will. But I will tell you that if I feel another FBI agent within five miles of me, you may not get them back in one piece.” Mittens was on his feet and pacing through her mind. She watched as Benedict waved his arms, stopping the efforts to trap her. “Thank you, Ron. Now, I want you to leave the Flynns and me alone. My patience has worn thin. If I sense anyone following me, Greg, or Lisa, I will punish them, and I will hold you responsible. Am I clear?”

“I’m not in a position to do that,” Benedict said. This was true. The order to take Amanda into custody had come directly from the White House.

“Mr. Benedict, I suggest you put yourself in that position. Tell the director, so he can tell the president what happened here tonight. Let them know what could have happened here as well, because next time it will.”

The agent beneath her began to stir, and she restrained him. She wondered for a moment if a more dramatic demonstration of her ability was in order. She decided against it, for the time being. “I have no desire to hurt anyone, or be taken into custody.”

“This has nothing to do with what happened six years ago. We need your help.” Benedict alone knew why they had to take Amanda, and he had been ordered to keep that secret.

“You don’t need my help,” Amanda had to restrain the minds of two more agents; it was time to be going.

“People are dying, Amanda,” Benedict said gently.

“I’m not responsible for that.” Amanda could tell that he knew that; the name Klaus Reisch floated through his consciousness. “You’re too late; everyone here either is or will soon be infected. I can’t help them anymore; pass that on to Martin.” The realization that all these people were going to die suddenly struck her, and for the first time in seven years, she felt a stab of guilt. “Back off, and I will take care of this. After it’s done, we can talk about what I can do for Nathan Martin.”

“We can take care of the German. Come in and help us now.” Benedict had to try to get her to surrender, even though he knew she wouldn’t.

She shook her head. “You have no idea what he’s capable of. He will kill you all if it suits his need or his fancy, and you have a better chance of stopping me than him.”

The video camera exploded as Amanda dropped the radio receiver and walked away.