Chronic fear

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

“I was worried,” Alexis said to Mark, who was peeking through the curtains.

His sudden appearance had made her feel she’d done something wrong, that she was sneaking around behind his back. Of course, she was, but probably not in the way he thought.

“You ought to be worried,” he said. “With your old pal Wallace Forsyth involved, it’s hitting close to home. But I can’t figure out what he wants. I mean, why would he have me kidnapped when he could have just killed me?”

Alexis was uneasy because Mark not only was carrying his pistol in his hand as he paced from window to window, but he slung the assault rifle over his shoulder. Luckily, he hadn’t prowled through her backpack or she might have had to explain the bottles of “water.”

“They obviously want something,” she said. “First they raid my lab and steal my assistant’s laptop, and now this. They won’t kill us until they get it.”

“So, tell me some good news,” Mark said.

“Anita’s dead.”

“Anita? Your Anita?”

“It’s been ruled a suicide, but it sounds suspicious. Especially with the timing.”

“You don’t seem too upset about it.”

“Damn it, Mark, I’m numb. I’ve got so much to worry about…” She let her voice trail to a whisper. “I’m worried about you.”

He spun, wild-eyed, one side of his lips twisted into a sneer as he waved the gun wildly in the air. “Me? I think I’m the only normal one left.”

“Honey, you haven’t been yourself lately. I think Seethe…I think what happened in the Monkey House…is still working on you.”

“Is that so? Well, I happen to think it’s the other way around. You’ve changed.”

What a fool I’ve been. He’s so far gone even Halcyon can’t save him.

But she couldn’t give up yet. She’d trained all her life, and she’d dedicated so much of the past year to finding a cure. But she had to rely on people like Darrell Silver to do the dirty work. The real frustration was that she couldn’t do it alone. “Maybe if we-”

“Stop it.” His face relaxed, and now he looked forlorn. “I can’t take another of your lies.”

“What are you talking about?”

“What you’ve been doing to me. The Seethe. Somehow, you smuggled a sample out of the Monkey House. Hell, for all I know, you were in with Briggs the whole time. He might have been your fall guy, while you kept right on cranking out the shit.”

The words were like icicles driven into her heart. “Oh my God, Mark.”

“Cute little story, about those guys raiding your lab. You knew Burchfield wouldn’t leave it alone. If you make me think you weren’t working on Seethe, then you can keep me as your guinea pig.”

He stood as still as a statue, and that was more unnerving than his previous pacing. She leaned forward on the sofa, the backpack resting against her legs. She thought of Wendy’s address scribbled on the back of the photograph. Their mountain cabin might as well be another planet.

“I never worked on Seethe,” she said. “In the original trials, I didn’t even know what it was. Sebastian Briggs tricked me just like he did the others. We didn’t know we’d been exposed to it.”

He wiped his chin with his Glock. He’d carried the gun for so long it had become just another appendage, a part of him.

“The worst part is that I can’t kill you,” he said. “I still need you.”

“Don’t you see? You’d never say something like that if you weren’t Seething.” She was talking fast, looking for a way out, but all the lies had chased her into a corner of the labyrinth she’d built.

He pointed the gun at her. “Where are you hiding it?”

“I don’t have it,” she said. She considered telling him about the Halcyon in the water bottles, but that would just prove she was a liar. If only she could remember all that had happened in the Monkey House, especially at the last, when she was collecting the pills. Had she somehow gotten Seethe from Briggs and didn’t remember it?

And couldn’t Seethe have worked inside her like a possessive demon, driving her to propagate it and spread it across the world? Didn’t Seethe want to live, just like any organism? And wouldn’t it do whatever it took to survive?

No. It’s just a molecular compound. It’s not alive in any real sense.

His gun hand was steadier than she’d seen it in days. “You hid the Halcyon after I thought it was all destroyed. I can’t see you passing up your chance to change the world. You and Briggs had that in common.”

“I swear,” she whispered.

Then her cell rang and she flinched against the sudden noise, expecting Mark to pull the trigger. It rang four times, neither of them moving. Mark finally waved to her purse with the pistol.

“Get it,” he said. “Might be one of your friends.” He said the last word with a sneer.

Alexis dug into her purse and came out with the phone. The caller ID was blocked. “Hello?”

“Dr. Morgan.”

No. It couldn’t be. Darrell Silver’s in…

Darrell Silver was in federal custody. That meant the U.S. government. And the government meant all bets were off.

“Mr. Silver,” she said, trying to keep it on a formal footing. Maybe she could fool Mark into thinking it was a business call.

“I’ve got something for you.”

Mark approached her, obviously wanting to listen in. She was tempted to terminate the call, but she had to find out. Silver had hinted he’d been refining the Halcyon, and if he’d synthesized a better version before being arrested, she needed to know. It might save Mark.

“I’m a little busy at the moment,” she said, feigning calm. “Can we talk tomorrow? Maybe call me at my office?”

Mark was at the phone now, and she rushed out, “Okay, then. Fine. Bye,” before clicking off.

“Who is ‘Mr. Silver’?” Mark asked. “One of your secret government friends?”

“He’s a former student who is doing some graduate research. We worked on some brain imaging together.”

The phone rang again. Their eyes met. Mark smiled. He didn’t even have to issue the command.

“Hu-hello?” Alexis said.

Mark put his ear near the phone. Alexis tried to pull away but he grabbed her by the hair and held her in place.

“Dr. Morgan,” Darrell Silver said. “I have something for you.”

“Tomorrow, like I said,” Alexis said, but she couldn’t keep her composure. The charade didn’t sell, because Mark mouthed, “What?”

“You need to come pick up your groceries,” Silver said, using the code name they’d developed for phone conversations to avoid mentioning Halcyon.

Mark jabbed the gun into her ribs. A small yelp burst from her lips before she could suppress it.

“What was that, Dr. Morgan?” Silver said.

“Is it…is it what we talked about last month?”

“Yes. The groceries have been delivered. Tonight.”

Mark’s lips pursed and curled as if he had all the proof he needed of her duplicity. He cupped a hand around the phone and whispered in her ear. “Tell him we’ll be there right away.”

He twisted the barrel of the gun deeper into her flesh as a motivator.

“Are you in the same place?” she asked after Mark removed his hand.

A bitter laugh came from the speaker. She couldn’t tell if he was stoned, but knowing Silver, it was likely. “Home sweet home,” he said. “Home on the range.”

“What’s that?” she said.

“Nothing. Some guy I met used to sing that all the time. Gets in your head, know what I mean?”

“I’ll be there in half an hour,” she said.

“Come alone, like usual.”

She nodded. “Okay.”

“‘Like usual’?” Mark said after she hung up. “So, this is a habit.”

She looked at the gun, which he’d forgotten to keep pointing. He smelled metallic, as if the corrosion in his brain had leaked out through his pores. Mark’s grin made the scar on his lip stretch.

“I did it all for you,” she said.

“That’s what they all say.” He motioned her to the door with the gun. “Let’s roll.”

She reached for the backpack, but he snatched it away from her and slung it over his shoulder with the assault rifle. He looked through her purse, evidently finding nothing suspicious.

He gave her the car keys and then the purse. “I’m in no condition to drive.”

She didn’t argue.