Vector

Chapter 21

Wednesday, October 20

10:30 p.m.

Yuri straightened up and stretched his back. He’d been busy reattaching the hopper to the Power Row Crop Duster out in the garage after having meticulously filled it with the anthrax powder. The whole procedure had taken almost two hours, including the time he’d had to spend in the lab inside the class A hazmat suit. But now it was done and the pest control truck was ready for its rendezvous with fate in the morning.

Yuri glanced at his watch and allowed himself to relax for the first time all evening. Ever since he’d managed to escape from crazy Curt and the others involved in the hair-raising pursuit of Jack Stapleton, Yuri had been in a minor panic. He’d been worried that he would not be able to complete everything he had to do by the eleven o’clock deadline he’d promised. But the worrying had been for naught. He was ready by ten-thirty, a half hour ahead of time. On the kitchen table were five one-pound plastic sausages stuffed with the light tan powder, waiting to be handed over to Curt and Steve. On top of them was the sealed envelope that Curt had requested. A heavy bath towel to pack them in was on the countertop.

After giving the side of the truck an appreciative pat for the role it was soon to play, Yuri glanced into the cab to make sure the keys were where he’d left them, hanging from the driver’s side visor. He wanted no stupid mistakes in the morning like forgetting where the keys were. He planned to leave for Manhattan at eight o’clock sharp with his suitcase, fake passport, and airline ticket.

Yuri walked over to the side door. After one more admiring look at the truck, he flipped off the light. Before he opened the door, he stuck his right hand in his jacket pocket to grip the Glock pistol. He was still afraid Flash Thomas might show up, although at that time of night he considered the chances slim. At least he didn’t have Jack Stapleton to worry about anymore.

As Yuri opened the door, he marveled that he’d not realized how truly crazy Curt was. Steve was weird, too, but not the way Curt was. Yuri knew he was no psychologist, but he imagined something terribly abnormal must have happened to Curt during his childhood to explain his personality. Yuri understood that Americans were covetous and violent and had little self-awareness, but Curt carried the traits to ridiculous extremes: his and only his view of the world was correct. But what really irritated Yuri was Curt’s anti-Slavic bias, which had become progressively more apparent as time had gone on.

Holding his key at the kitchen door, Yuri hesitated. Musing about Curt’s personality raised a worry that Yuri had not contemplated before. Considering Curt’s selfishness, what was going to keep him from making arrangements so that his People’s Aryan Army would get the credit for the whole bioweapon event even if Curt and the others had nothing to do with the Central Park laydown?

“Chert,” Yuri murmured when he realized the validity of this new worry. Up until that moment the idea had not entered his mind.

“Mr. Davydov?” a feminine voice called out.

Shocked to hear his name, Yuri looked toward the alleyway. Despite the proximity of the houses in the area, Yuri had always made it a point to avoid socializing with his neighbors. His hand tightened around the automatic.

“Excuse me! Are you Mr. Davydov?”

Yuri had to squint in the darkness. With his carriage light off and no streetlights, all he could make out were two figures in the alley beyond his chain-link fence. He relaxed when he could tell they were both white. At least it wasn’t Flash Thomas.

“Who wants to know?” Yuri asked.

“My name is Dr. Laurie Montgomery. If you are Mr. Davydov it is urgent I speak with you for just a few moments.”

Yuri shrugged. Holding onto the pistol and being sure it was free if he wanted to pull it out, he advanced toward his fence. He could see that the second individual was male.

“Sorry to bother you so late,” Laurie said. “I’m a medical examiner from Manhattan. Do you know what a medical examiner is?”

Yuri tried to speak but no words came out. Despite the darkness he recognized the other figure. It was Jack Stapleton!

Laurie took the silence for a negative response and went ahead and explained what medical examiners did.

Yuri swallowed with difficulty. He couldn’t believe he was looking at Jack Stapleton. What possibly could have happened? Why hadn’t he been informed? But then he remembered his phone was off the hook.

“And the reason we are here,” Laurie continued, “is because your late wife, Connie, apparently died of botulinum poisoning. Do you know what that is?”

Yuri nodded. He could hear his heart beating and was afraid the two people he was confronting could hear it as well. He was at a loss as to what to do. Should he try to get rid of them? Should he try to get them inside and wait for Curt? He had no idea.

“We’re very concerned that the source might still be in your home,” Laurie said. “Did your wife do any home canning?”

“I don’t know,” Yuri stammered.

“Well, that would be key to review,” Laurie persisted. “There are other possible culprits, like fresh garlic in oil. Frozen pot pies have been a source. By the way, are you Russian?”

“Yes,” Yuri managed.

“I thought perhaps you were from your accent,” Laurie said.

“Where in Russia are you from?” Jack asked, speaking for the first time.

“Ummm,” Yuri voiced with hesitation. Then he said, “Saint Petersburg.”

“I hear that’s a beautiful city,” Laurie said. “Anyway, there’s a kind of whitefish favored by Russian immigrants that have been known to have carried the toxin. Is that something you eat often?”

“Not too often,” Yuri said. He had no idea what Laurie was talking about.

“We’d very much like to come inside and take a look in your kitchen,” Laurie said. “I cannot emphasize enough how potentially serious this could be.”

“Well, I...” Yuri began.

“It will not take long,” Laurie said. “We promise. You see, we’ve come all the way out here from Manhattan. Of course, we could call the Department of Health. Now, they would insist about coming in and would have legal authority to do so.”

“I suppose it would be all right if it didn’t take too long,” Yuri said. He was beginning to recover from his initial shock. He certainly didn’t want any public health authorities coming out during the night armed with a warrant. Besides, he was beginning to think of a way of turning this surprise visit to his favor.

“Thank you,” Laurie said. She and Jack came through the gate.

Yuri preceded them back to the kitchen door. He opened it and stepped inside. Laurie and Jack followed.

Laurie’s eyes swept the cramped L-shaped room. “This is...” she began. She hesitated trying to think of a word until finally saying: “Cute.”

Jack nodded, but he was more interested in looking at Yuri. “That’s quite a rash you have there.”

Yuri touched his face with evident embarrassment. His other hand was still in his pocket, holding onto the Glock. “It’s some kind of allergic reaction.”

Jack tilted his head to the side and looked at Yuri with narrowed eyes. “Have I met you someplace?”

“Surely not,” Yuri said. He pointed to the kitchen. “All the food is right here.”

Laurie immediately went to the refrigerator and pulled the door open. She bent over and looked at the contents. There was very little.

Jack followed but was curious about the objects on the table. “What are these?” he questioned while poking one of the clear plastic sausages with his finger.

Yuri leaped forward. “Careful!” he cried. He then calmed when Jack pulled his hand away. “I don’t want those to break.”

“Sorry,” Jack said. “I didn’t touch it very hard. Is this some kind-of Russian delicacy?”

“In a way,” Yuri said vaguely.

“Wait a second,” Jack said suddenly. “I remember you. But aren’t you from Sverdlovsk?”

“No, I’m from Saint Petersburg,” Yuri said.

“Didn’t I meet you in the Corinthian Rug Company office?” Jack asked. “I mean your neighbor, Yegor, told me you drove a taxi. Didn’t you come to the rug company to pick up Mr. Papparis?”

“It must have been someone else,” Yuri said uneasily.

“You’re the spitting image of this guy,” Jack said.

Laurie opened the freezer compartment of the refrigerator. All that was in it was a bottle of vodka and a tray of ice cubes.

“You don’t have much food in here,” Laurie commented.

“My wife ate fast food,” Yuri said. “I ate on the road.”

Laurie nodded. She opened the kitchen cabinets. Not finding anything suspicious, she stepped back and surveyed the tiny kitchen. “I don’t see any home-canning implements.”

“That’s all downstairs,” Yuri said.

Laurie turned to stare at the Russian. “So your wife did do some home food processing after all?”

“She used to,” Yuri said. “Now that I think about it.”

“Is there any of the food left?”

“I don’t know,” Yuri said. “I haven’t looked for a long time. She used to go down there often.”

“Could we see?” Laurie asked. She glanced at Jack, who made an expression of puzzled surprise.

“Why not?” Yuri said. He opened the door and descended.

Laurie and Jack exchanged confused glances and followed. By the time they got to the basement level, Yuri had the padlocked combination steel and heavy plywood door to the entry chamber open. He was inside unlocking the similarly stout door to the supply room.

Laurie and Jack stepped into the entry chamber. Their eyes took in the hazmat suit, the showerhead, and the plastic bottles of bleach. They smelled the distinct odor of chlorine in the air as well as the more subtle odor of fermentation. They heard the sound of the exhaust fan. They looked at each other in bewilderment.

Yuri was standing next to the door to the supply room. He pointed inside. “I think this is what you are looking for.”

Laurie and Jack stepped over to peer gingerly into the supply room. As they did so Yuri slipped behind them. They saw the petri dishes, the agar, the jars of nutrients, and the spare HEPA filters.

“How about stepping inside,” Yuri said.

Laurie and Jack turned to look at the Russian and gasped. Yuri had trained a gun on them.

“Please,” Yuri said in an even voice. “Step inside!”

“We’ve seen as much as we’d like to see,” Jack said airily, trying to sound unconcerned about the sudden appearance of the gun. He took a step forward, ahead of Laurie. “It’s time for us to be on our way.”

Yuri raised the gun and fired without hesitation. Upstairs, he’d been afraid to discharge the pistol for fear of disturbing the neighbors. But in the basement with the circulating fan going, he had no concern. Still, the noise had been deafening in the enclosed space. The bullet thudded into one of the floor joists. Dust rained down from the ancient floorboards above. Laurie screamed.

“The next time I aim,” Yuri said.

“No need to shoot again,” Jack said with a voice that had lost all pretense of buoyancy. Raising his hands to chest height, he backed up, forcing Laurie, who was between him and Yuri, into the storeroom. Jack stepped in as well.

“Move back from the door,” Yuri commanded.

Jack and Laurie did as they were told and pressed against the concrete wall. The blood had drained from both their faces, and they appeared as pale as the whitewash covering the cement.

Yuri came forward and closed the door. He fastened the hasp and locked the padlock, then stepped back and looked at the door. He’d designed it to keep people out, but he guessed it would work just as well to keep people in.

“Shouldn’t we discuss this?” Jack called through the door.

“Absolutely,” Yuri said. “Otherwise you couldn’t help me.”

“You’ll have to explain,” Jack said. “But we’re much better listeners and far more helpful when we don’t have to yell through a door.”

“You’re not coming out, probably for several days,” Yuri said. “So make yourself comfortable. There’s distilled water on the shelf, and I apologize for the lack of a toilet.”

“We appreciate your concern,” Jack said. “But I can assure you, we’d be far happier upstairs. We promise to behave ourselves.”

“Be quiet and listen!” Yuri said. He looked at his watch. It was ten to eleven. “The first thing I want to say is that in a few minutes the People’s Aryan Army is going to be here. Does that name mean anything to you?”

“Indeed,” Jack said.

“Then I assume you know they want you dead,” Yuri said. “In fact, I’m surprised you are not dead, since I know they set out to kill you this afternoon. If they find out you are here, they will come down and shoot you for certain. I would prefer you stay alive.”

“Well, at least we agree on something,” Jack said.

“They are very crazy and selfish people,” Yuri said.

“I got that impression,” Jack said.

“And they have a lot of guns and they like to use them.”

“That was apparent as well.”

“So my advice when you hear them is to be silent,” Yuri said. “Does that make sense to you?”

“I suppose,” Jack said. “But what was this talk about helping you?”

“Tomorrow morning the People’s Aryan Army and myself are scheduled to release bioweapons in Manhattan,” Yuri said. “This is not an idle threat. I have produced many pounds of potent, weaponized anthrax right here in this laboratory. I assume you doctors guessed that this was a laboratory.”

“We had a sneaking suspicion,” Jack admitted. “Especially since this looks like we’re in a microbiological storeroom at the moment.”

“That’s exactly what it is,” Yuri said. “Now, what I want you two to do to help is merely to make sure I get the credit for what’s going to happen tomorrow.”

Yuri waited for a response. Instead he heard Jack and Laurie whispering.

“Did you hear me?” Yuri asked.

“We were wondering if you produced botulinum toxin as well as anthrax?” Jack asked.

“I tried to,” Yuri admitted. “But the culture grew too slowly to make enough toxin quickly enough for a bioweapon.”

“What happened to the culture?” Jack asked. “Did it just go down the drain?”

“What happened to the clostridial culture is not important,” Yuri said. “What is going to happen with the anthrax tomorrow is.”

“We agree fully,” Jack said. “And we’ll make certain you get all the credit you deserve.”

“Just to be absolutely sure, I want to tell you in detail what is planned for tomorrow,” Yuri said. “That will make you extraordinarily credible witnesses for me.”

“We’re all ears,” Jack said.

“If the People’s Aryan Army arrives I will have to interrupt,” Yuri said.

“We’ll try to deal with the suspense,” Jack said. “Let’s hear it.”

Yuri told Jack and Laurie the details of both laydowns, including the timing and the exact way Curt and Steve planned on getting the powder into the air-conditioning system of the Jacob Javits building. He told them how the firemen intended to shut down the annunciator panel for the entire building after they’d planted the material so that the powder would not set off the smoke detectors. He then went on to tell about how he was going to drive around Central Park at the same time in the stolen pest control truck. He finished by giving an estimate of the casualties from his plan, which he thought would be a million dead, give or take a couple hundred thousand. He said he expected the anthrax to spread out in an expanding arc at least fifty miles over Long Island. The only thing he didn’t explain was his plans after the laydown.

“Where did you get this expertise?” Jack asked after a moment of awed silence.

“Are you really interested?” Yuri asked. He was flattered.

“As I said, we’re all ears,” Jack commented.