The Codex

31

Philip was shackled to a tree, his hands manacled behind him. The blackflies were crawling over every square inch of exposed skin on his body, thousands of them, eating his face alive. There was nothing he could do as they crawled into his eyes, up his nose, into his ear canal. He shook his head, he tried to blink and twitch them off, but all efforts failed. His eyes were almost swollen shut already. Hauser was talking to someone in a low voice on his satellite phone. Philip couldn’t hear the words, but he knew well that quiet, bullying tone of voice. He closed his eyes. He really was beyond caring. All he wanted now was for Hauser to end his misery soon — a quick bullet to the brain.

Lewis Skiba sat at his desk, his chair turned toward the window, staring southward over the peaks of the Manhattan skyline. He had not heard from Hauser in four days. Five days ago Hauser had said to sleep on it. Then silence. They had been the worst five days of his life. The stock was down to six; the SEC had delivered subpoenas and seized laptops and hard drives from their corporate headquarters. The bastards had even taken his own computer. The short-selling frenzy continued unabated. The Journal had now made it official that the FDA was set to disapprove Phloxatane. Standard & Poor’s was about to downgrade Lampe’s bonds to junk status, and for the first time there was public speculation of Chapter 11.

That morning he’d had to tell his wife that, under the circumstances, they had to put the Aspen house on the market immediately. It was, after all, their fourth house, and they only used it one week out of the year. But she hadn’t understood. She wept and carried on and ended up sleeping in the guest room. Oh God, was this how it was going to be? What would happen if they had to sell their real home? What would she do if they had to pull their kids out of private school?

And all this time he hadn’t heard from Hauser. What the hell was he doing? Had something happened to him? Had he given up? Skiba felt the sweat breaking out afresh on his brow. He hated the fact that the fate of his company and his own fate were in the hands of a man like that.

The scrambler phone rang, and Skiba literally jumped. It was ten o’clock in the morning. Hauser never called in the morning. But somehow he knew it was him.

“Yes?” He tried not to sound breathless.

“Skiba?”

“Yes, yes.”

“How’s it going?”

“Fine.”

“Slept on it yet?”

Skiba swallowed. That lump was there again, that pig of lead in his gut. He couldn’t quite bring himself to speak, it was blocking his throat. He’d already had his limit, but another sip wouldn’t hurt. Cradling the phone, he slid open the cabinet, poured a glass. He didn’t even bother with the water.

“Lewis, I know this is tough. But the time’s come. Do you want the Codex or not? I can call it quits right now, head back. What do you think?”

Skiba swallowed the hot golden liquid and found his voice, but it came out in a cracked whisper. “I’ve told you again and again, this has nothing to do with me. You’re five thousand miles away. I have no control over you. You do what you want. Just bring me the Codex.”

“I didn’t catch that, with the scrambler and all…”

“Just do what you need to do!” Skiba roared. “Leave me out of it!”

“Oh no, no, no, no, noooo. No. I already explained it to you, Skiba. We’re in this together, pard.”

Skiba’s hand gripped the phone with murderous force. His whole body was shaking. He almost imagined he could throttle Hauser if he squeezed hard enough.

“Do I get rid of them or not?” the jocose voice went on. “If I don’t, even if I get the Codex, they’ll be coming right back out and making a claim against you, and you know what, Lewis? You can’t win that one. They’ll take the Codex away from you. You told me you wanted it clean, no complications, no lawsuits.”

“I’ll pay them royalties. They’ll make millions.”

“They won’t deal with you. They have other plans for the Codex. Didn’t I tell you that? That woman, Sally Colorado, has got plans, big plans.”

“What plans?” Skiba felt shaky all over.

“They don’t involve Lampe, that’s all you need to know. Look, Skiba, that’s the problem with all you business guys. You don’t know how to make the tough decisions.”

“These are human lives you’re talking about.”

“I know. This isn’t easy for me, either. Weigh the good against the bad. A few people disappear in an unknown jungle. That’s on one side. The other side is lifesaving drugs for millions, twenty thousand people who still have work, shareholders who love you instead of crying for your blood, and you the darling of Wall Street for pulling Lampe back from the abyss.”

Another swallow. “Give me another day to think about it.”

“Can’t. Things have reached a head. You remember what I said about stopping them before the mountains? Lewis, just to ease your mind, I’m not even going to do it myself. There are some Honduran soldiers down here, renegades, and I can hardly keep them in check as it is. These guys are crazy, liable to do anything. These things happen all the time down here. Hey, if I were to turn around now these soldiers would kill them anyway. So Lewis, what should I do? Get rid of them and bring you the Codex? Or turn around and forget about it? I’ve got to go. Your answer?”

“Just do it!”

There was a buzz of static.

“Say it, Lewis. Say what it is you want me to do.”

“Do it! Kill them, goddamn you! Kill the Broadbents!”