The Serpent's Kiss

53

Derek’s call to Secretary Johnston was answered by his personal secretary, Roslyn German. She was a brusque woman with a nasal Brooklyn accent and Derek really didn’t know her very well. She was a recent addition to the staff.

“Secretary Johnston is not available, Dr. Stillwater,” she said. “He’s in a meeting with the President.”

“I asked him to track down some information for me,” Derek said, desperation seizing him once again. What to do if they dead-ended?

“Yes, I have a note about that. He has a message for you. First, he says the FBI is stalling on the Jillian Church request.”

“Screw that, it’s not important.”

“Sure, but you did ask for it.”

“It’s irrelevant now. Forget about it.”

“I’m just saying—”

”What’s next?!”

“I’ve heard about you, Dr. Stillwater. This is exactly what I was warned about.”

“Then don’t act so fucking surprised. What else does the General have for me?”

“I’ll be discussing your attitude with the General, you know.”

“Knock yourself out. The sooner you cut through the shit and tell me what I need, the sooner I’ll be out of your hair.”

“Fine. Secondly,” German said, “there has been a problem with Dr. Bernard Schultz at Stanford. Let me check this. I’ll read it to you. Are you still there?”

Derek controlled his desire to reach through the phone and pull Roslyn German’s lip over her head. “I’m still here.”

“First, Dr. Stillwater, there’s a three-hour time difference between us and California.”

“I know.”

“So, the first point Secretary Johnston wanted to make sure you understood was that it was 5:00 A.M. for Dr. Schultz when the first attack in Detroit occurred.”

“Get to the fucking point!”

“There’s no reason to use that tone of voice or that type of language with me, Dr. Stillwater.”

“Like hell there isn’t.” He clamped the phone to his ear, willing himself to be calm. “People are dying here.”

She ignored that and continued on in her implacable way. “Secondly, Secretary Johnston wants you to note that it was only 9:00 A.M. in California at the time of the second attack.”

“What does this have to do with anything?” Derek clenched his hands into fists, glaring at Jill, who watched him without emotion. The wind shifted and blew a cloud of oily black smoke their way. Derek shut his eyes, trying not to cough.

“Quite a bit, Dr. Stillwater, if you would be patient.”

“I’m trying to be patient.”

“You’re not very good at it, then, are you?”

Derek didn’t comment. He waited. He watched a firefighter run through the front door with a hose, determined to put out the fire for good.

“Dr. Stillwater, are you still there?”

“Yes,” he said through clenched teeth. “Still here.”

“Yes. Well, it seems, then, that Dr. Schultz did not hear about any of the sarin gas attacks until nearly 9:45 A.M. Pacific Standard Time. He apparently just arrived in his office at Stanford University when he was told about it.”

“Fine. Does he have the—”

”Dr. Stillwater, Dr. Schultz suffered a massive heart attack this morning, shortly after 9:45 A.M.”

Derek was speechless. He sat there in Jill’s car, his stomach churning.

Jill must have sensed something was wrong. “What?”

He shook his head.

“Dr. Stillwater. Are you still there?”

“Yes, I’m still here. I can’t believe this. That’s a hell of a coincidence.”

“Secretary Johnston has underlined, strong history of heart disease, here in his notes. Apparently Dr. Schultz has had several heart attacks before, is quite overweight and had very high blood pressure. At least, that’s according to the field agent we’ve got there in San Francisco.”

“Who’s that?”

“Janice Beckwith. She’s at the hospital.”

“Hospital?”

“Yes, Dr. Schultz was admitted to the Stanford University Medical Center.”

“He’s alive?!”

“Yes, though unable to—”

”I need Janice Beckwith’s number.”

“That’s—”

”Now!”

“Dr. Stillwater, I really—”

”Now!”

Roslyn German was quiet for a moment, then rattled off an Iridium phone number. “Now, Dr. Stillwater, I really think you owe me an—”

Derek didn’t hear the last think Roslyn German wanted, which was apparently an apology. Instead, he was punching Agent Janice Beckwith’s number into his phone.