The Espionage Effect(93)
“Ah.”
Alec adjusted his mic. “Roger that, Echo Sierra. Much obliged. Over and out.”
Then he leaned forward and tapped a switch down. After a click, the static in our headsets disappeared.
In the silence that followed, Alec kept his focus trained forward. Occasionally, his gaze would sweep over the instrument panel, then stretch outward again over open water.
Our close proximity in the cockpit taunted me. Enraged by the betrayal of my family and best friend, uncertain of the role he played in it, yet knowing the few minutes we had in this cockpit together wouldn’t come close to covering my vent-time, let alone any explanations, I did my best to swallow down the bitterness threatening to overcome me.
It wasn’t easy. Deep breaths and heavy swallows kept the rising bile down. For every minute that ticked by, another question crept forth. But I added it to the list, then forced the lid closed on the overflowing compartmentalized box that had begun to resemble Pandora’s.
Still, even with the minimal time we had, one tiny question kept surfacing, breaking free of the tenuous hold I had on my emotions.
“Did you know?” Uncontainable, my question came out on a whisper.
A pregnant pause followed as signs of civilization shimmered into view. At first, tiny dim lights appeared, then clusters along shorelines, as the islands of The Keys blurred by.
“It’s complicated,” he finally replied.
“Simplify it.”
“I didn’t know about them.”
Them. My family.
“Anna?” I asked.
He shook his head. “No.”
Okay. Good. At least he hadn’t been involved in the greatest betrayals. “What’s so complicated, then?”
He sighed, then dropped a heavy stare at me. So much flickered over his expression in a split second before he reined back, regaining control. “I knew enough.”
Before I had a chance to process what Alec had eluded to—his involvement in the betrayal of all betrayals—the tip of Florida’s mainland peninsula glittered into view. Minutes later, we hovered along the southern Florida coastline, an occasional light glimmering amid a long dark stretch of land before the glowing exterior lights of condo high rises began to appear.
Regina’s voice returned through our headsets. “Your navigation system will guide you to an available landing pad.” As she spoke, a screen in the middle of the instrument panel activated, glowing green lines outlining the geographical landscape on a black background. A white dot pulsing from a pinprick to the size of a pencil eraser marked our current location.
“They won’t be expecting you,” Regina added.
Alec gave a barely perceptible nod. “Wouldn’t want it any other way. What’s the story this time?”
“A local media outlet needed an emergency landing.”
He coughed out a laugh. “So, now we’re paparazzi?”
“Is it so farfetched?” she asked, humor edging her tone.
“Mystery billionaire would be better. We look nothing like media.”
“We’ve positioned you close to the docks,” Regina continued, ignoring him. “You’ll land on the unoccupied top level of a five-story parking garage to hide in plain sight. Helps with the paparazzi cover. The Phoenician Sun will dock in the slip nearest your position.”
And yet, was paparazzi so farfetched? Not so different from spying. Both stalked, lay in wait, spied on unsuspecting clientele, used zoom lenses and predictable patterns to glean private information. My gut churned at the parallel of events. How had my parents and Anna ever thought spying into my life would be acceptable?
Alec leaned forward and depressed a button on the corner edge of the navigation screen. The view shifted into an actual satellite image superimposed with data fed from a camera that had to be positioned somewhere on the aircraft’s nose, because the image shifted with our movements.
“Are you there, Devin?” Regina addressed me directly for the first time.
“I am,” I confirmed, wondering how she knew my name. Might as well have smacked my own forehead an instant later. EtherSphere knew all about me.
“We were able to determine by the DNA and virion diagrams, coupled with fast research on our end and the aid of an agent in the CDC, that it would be possible to hybridize Ebola with the common cold. They’re calling it a weaponized supervirus. Alec, based on Escobar’s past MO, he’ll be sneaking these kids back into the states right under everyone’s noses.”
“Not on my watch.” His tone held no emotion, only the weight of fact.
“Good. What support do you need?”
“Call in a bio-team, but have their vehicles lined up outside the facility grounds. They are only to move on our command. If Escobar has any moles within the port itself, they’ll know we’re here. We can’t afford to force him underground.” Alec zeroed in on the makeshift helipad highlighted by the navigation system.
“Done,” Regina replied. The sounds of rapid keyboard typing followed. “Anything else?”
Alec glanced at me right as our rotating motion slowed and we hovered over the helipad, seconds from touching down. His gaze pinned mine, fierce as his eyes narrowed for a split second. “Wish us luck.”
Us. Regardless of what had transpired, no matter what he’d known or hadn’t been privy to, at the moment, we were a team, attempting to save the lives of two dozen kidnapped college students and one captured agent. And in the bigger picture, if we could stop the weaponized supervirus from getting into the general population—saving the world.