Deadly Desire. Katherine Garbera
quirked one eyebrow at her. Oops, caught staring. “Do you have any problems with sensitivity?”
“To a beautiful woman staring at me? No.”
She shook her head. “Not that. I meant to the light. Your eyes are so pale…”
“Some, but not much. The glasses help, and unless I have prolonged exposure without some sort of shield, then I’m fine.”
He signaled the cocktail waitress and ordered a local beer for himself. “You want anything?”
“I’ll have the same,” Jane said, adjusting the frame of her glasses.
Once the waitress left an awkward silence fell between them. Jane marshaled her thoughts. She was the lead scientist here. She needed to brief him and then get some space. Something about Mac Coleman disturbed her on a very basic level that had nothing to do with virology.
Maybe the heat was to blame for her reaction. Or just being in Peru. This place always brought out all those instincts she tried to hide away with a veneer of sophistication.
“Did you have a chance to read the material I sent via e-mail?”
“Not really. I just got finished working in Belize and caught a late flight. Brief me.”
“I received some blood samples from a virologist—”
“Who?” he interrupted. He rubbed the back of his neck and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.
Jane wasn’t going to hide or apologize for her dad anymore. She didn’t know what had happened years ago—what had motivated her dad to behave the way he had. And was a little ashamed that she’d never asked him about it. But the Yura virus he’d sent her was a real threat and she wasn’t going to leave him out of it. If Mac had a problem with her dad, better to find out now before they left Lima. “My dad—Dr. Rob Miller.”
Mac leaned back in his chair and then nodded. “I’ve never met the man, but some of his work was legendary. Until a few years ago.”
Jane was relieved that was all Mac said. He was the first person not to ask if she’d double-checked all her research. She didn’t want to talk about her father’s “find” or the fact that he’d sent the U. S. into a tailspin of frantic hand-washing to stop the spread of a germ that had in the end turned out to be nothing more serious than the common cold.
“Anyway, the Yura are infected with a virus strain that produces symptoms similar to Lassa fever. After weeks in the lab I developed a treatment as well as a vaccine to protect those not already infected.”
“Did you already make it?” he asked.
She’d debated with Tom the benefits of carrying and preserving the treatment versus replicating it once she got to her father. But in the end the quickest way to save lives was to bring it with them.
“Yes, I’m carrying enough of both to take care of everyone in the tribe my father’s living with.”
“How is it packed?” he asked. There was an intensity in those pale eyes that let her know he was analyzing every fact she gave him. And though she knew little of his reputation aside from the incident in Southeast Asia, she was impressed with what she saw in him as a scientist.
“Dry ice and Styrofoam. I have a couple of large backpacks that we should be able to get everything into. I also have some lab equipment, but that breaks down pretty small.”
“When do we leave?” he asked. The waitress brought their drinks and Mac took a long draw on his, draining half the bottle in one gulp. “Bring me another.”
The waitress nodded and left. Jane took a sip of hers, savoring the coolness as the beverage slid down her throat. “I’d like to leave first thing in the morning. The batch I brought with me is only good for seven days. So we have to move quickly.”
“No problem. Where’s the jumping-off point?”
“Puerto Maldonado. I scheduled a charter flight to leave here at 6:00 a.m.,” she said.
“Amazon basin makes sense. Are we going in by river or trekking?” he asked.
Jane couldn’t get a read on him. He watched her assessingly, which made her uncomfortable. The last thing she wanted to do was have another person she couldn’t trust at her side. Yet he’d been living in South America and working there for the last few years. He had information on the geography that she didn’t. Perhaps Meredith’s attitude was affecting her perception of Mac.
“Are you familiar with the area? I’m not sure which way would be faster.”
“If we could get a motorboat, that might be quicker. Do you know where the Yura are?”
“On the Cashpajali River. It’s a tributary of the Madre de Dios. I have a general area, but nothing exact,” Jane said. She had satellite maps and her GPS unit, but Jane didn’t want to reveal the exact location of the Yura camp to anyone. She wasn’t sure who to trust and didn’t want to endanger her father and the Yura by trusting the wrong person.
“Why did you contact R.V.?” he asked.
Now for the fun part. But he had to have guessed that there was some trouble in her office if she’d contacted them. People from the CDC and WHO usually didn’t have to ask independent contractors for help in their work. The CDC had teams in place worldwide and they mobilized quickly when there was a problem. Jane resented that Meredith hadn’t trusted her enough to outweigh any doubts about her father. “We’re short-staffed. There has been some backlash from the local government. They’re refusing to believe there is any outbreak in the Amazon.”
“Why?”
“I have no idea, but my boss doesn’t want to ruffle feathers and since the initial samples and work came from my father, she can’t really go public. She agreed to let me come here, but I only have a week.”
“That pisses me off. I remember when saving lives mattered more than reputations. That’s why I formed Rebel Virology.”
“I thought it was because…” Damn, she hadn’t meant to bring up the incident.
He arched one eyebrow at her. “I don’t talk about that—ever, understood?”
She nodded.
“Good. I’ll meet you in the lobby at five tomorrow morning.”
He finished off his beer and took the second one from the arriving waitress, then stood and left.
Well, he wasn’t exactly what she’d expected. That didn’t matter, though, she needed another expert with her. She just hoped the man knew his stuff.
There was something about him that made her instincts itchy. She’d keep her eye on him.
Chapter 3
Jane got off the elevator on her floor. She wished they’d been able to leave tonight but it was a two-hour flight over the Andes to the Amazon basin and Bob Jones, the military pilot who Angie had arranged to fly them, had refused to do it this late in the day. Bob was actually a friend of Jane’s father. Another face from the past. She looked forward to seeing him.
A man was in the hallway apparently having trouble figuring out the key-card system. Jane fixed a small smile on her face, prepared to do her good deed and help him out.
“Hola.”
The man looked up and Jane realized he was at her door. Which explained why his key wasn’t working.
“Excuse me, that’s my room,” she said in Spanish.
“I know,” he said, moving slightly away from the door.
She saw he had a gun. Panic raced through her and she screamed, which made the man wince. Her gut instinct said to run the hell away from him but inside that room was the only weapon she had to save her father’s life and many others’. She couldn’t