The World Beneath

Chapter 47

Joe looked up at the ceiling. It wouldn’t take long to cut through the cables.

“Please put that away, Miss Torres.” He pointed to her gun. “I think I have another solution.”

She holstered the weapon, but scowled while doing it. Clearly, she didn’t like being trapped here helplessly any more than he did.

His right arm hurt like hell, but he kept typing. “Danny, please put Mr. Connelly on the line.”

“Mr. Tesla,” said a deep voice a second later. “You’re in a world of trouble right now.”

Joe checked the upload bar. The pictures of the research papers were off to an online leak site. All but one of them. “I’d say that you’re in more trouble than I am.”

“Doesn’t feel like it. Let’s talk about what you need to do—”

“Let’s talk about what you need to do,” Joe interrupted. “You might not be aware that your agency is tied to a dangerous rogue.”

“If you mean that man who died in the tunnel a few minutes ago, you—”

“Ozan Saddiq is not the man I mean.” He typed in an encryption code with his left-hand. “Dr. Dubois is.”

A slight hesitation, then Connelly spoke again. “Who?”

“I have information linking your Dr. Dubois to a hundred murders in Cuba.” Not exactly true, but he kept going. “And a medical experiment that’s scheduled to infect thousands of soldiers tomorrow.”

“I’m not sure where you get your information, but—”

“I have uploaded all of it to a site similar to WikiLeaks. Journalists are even now being notified.” Joe tapped Send on an email, the one that might save their lives.

The elevator lurched to the side.

“Mr. Connelly,” Joe said. “But one page that I uploaded is encrypted so they won’t be able to read it right away.”

“Let’s talk about this up here.” Connelly was losing his bluster.

“I’ve given a friend the encryption code,” Joe said. “He’ll release it to journalists unless he hears otherwise from me personally.”

“Your life is in no danger, Mr. Tesla. There’s no need to be so dramatic.”

“Aren’t you curious about this last sheet of paper?” Joe asked. “It links the toxoplasmosis program to your agency and makes it impossible for you to disavow the actions of Dr. Dubois.”

Another pause. “A clever theory. I’d be very interested to discuss it. Up here.”

The elevator trembled. “Tell your men working on the cables to desist. Tell your men at my house to stand down. We can discuss your proposal in my home.”

“I think that would be an excellent way to de-escalate the situation,” Connelly said.

Diplomatic to the last.

A minute later, Connelly said, “I’ve stopped the men on the cables, can’t reach the men in the tunnels by your house. Are they all right?”

Joe pressed the mute button and looked at Vivian.

“They’ll be out for at least an hour,” she said. “I injected them with a sedative.”

He made a mental note to ask her why she’d been carrying two syringes of knockout juice around. Instead, he pressed the mute button again.

“They’re just napping,” he said. “See you soon!”

Joe packed up the case with the serum and the battered briefcase with its damning papers.

“What now?” Vivian asked.

“We go down.” Joe reached for the lever. “At the bottom, hold the doors open. I don’t want Connelly coming down here until I’m ready for him.”

He had one more thing that he needed to do.

Vivian helped to lift the backpack onto his back, threading it carefully over his wounded arm. It hurt with each heartbeat. He hurried to his front door, glancing at the two agents stretched out in the tunnel. Vivian had guided them down to lie on their backs, then rolled them onto their sides so that they wouldn’t choke. Thoughtful of her.

He entered his house, breathing in the familiar smells, and went into the parlor. He gritted his teeth against the pain and set up his laptop and phone, careful to make them both untraceable. Then he went to the iPhone database he’d used earlier and found phones in Times Square. He’d be sending more than a seagull this time. He turned his phone’s camera on his face. Vivian’s phone he set on the edge of his lap. He expected it to ring soon.

“I’m Joe Tesla,” he said. “And I have something to tell you.”