Page 77 of The Presidents Shadow

“He works hard,” Belinda says. “He has to—”

“He had a second phone,” Maddy goes on. “One we didn’t know about. And here’s the other thing—Lamont only received our first message. None of the others got through to him.”

“What?” Belinda asks. “What are you talking about?”

“Think about it,” Maddy continues. “Abdul miraculously crossed paths with us in the massive city of Dubai. He offered to let us use his phone in order to gain our trust, but when I saw that the keyboard was Arabic, I couldn’t send the message—just as he planned. I gave him Lamont’s number, and hehadto send that first message, because I was watching him. But I never knew what he typed.”

“But he did sent it,” Belinda says.

“He did, but it was vague, at best,” Maddy says. “All it said was that I was in a large city. It was Burbank’s ability to trace the signal that made it possible for Lamont to narrow it down to Dubai so quickly. My grandma Jessica’s grasp of Arabic helped, though it would have taken longer for them to find us with only Abdul’s message.”

“But he sent the other messages in English! You watched him!” Belinda insists.

“And none of those messages went through,” Maddy says. “It was a dummy phone that looked exactly like his real one. Whenever I tried to use it to dial Lamont’s phone,the signal was lost. I chalked it up to trying to make an international call, but after I spotted Abdul’s second phone, I figured out what really happened.

“Once Lamont was spotted in the city, Abdul knew he didn’t have much time—we’d be found eventually. So he plotted to have the waitress drop that note in the restaurant. That way he could look like our hero and not a villain.”

Belinda sags, her head hanging as tears brim. “I can’t trust anybody,” she says.

“That’s not true,” Maddy says, coming to her side. “You can trust me.”

CHAPTER 99

I USE MY fifteen-minute waiting time to reconnect with Dr. DaSilva over video-conference.

“Sorry about hanging up on you,” I say.

She responds, “Did Townsend have any useful information?”

“No,” I say. “Just the usual. Lies. Arrogance. Stupidity. Narcissism.”

Anna shakes her head. “I manage to have a positive working relationship with him, Lamont. I don’t understand why you can’t.”

“Because I don’t want to be on the same team as that—” I stop short. I cannot find a word strong enough without resorting to schoolyard vulgarity.

“Let me ask you something, Lamont,” Dr. DaSilva continues. “Did Townsend bring you up to date on the Newbola situation?”

“No, not at all,” I say. “We had a different issue to discuss. I was going to tell you before, Margo, Maddy, her friendBelinda, myself, everyone on my team tested negative for the virus.”

“Listen to me, Lamont. The tests that you took are no longer valid. The virus has mutated. Do you know what that means?”

I immediately become annoyed. She is speaking to me as if I were a child, or an untutored bystander. My knowledge of medicinal research is as strong as my knowledge of science and general humanity.

I wrestle with my anger. I try to get it under control. I need a meeting withmyself. Damnit, Lamont. Calm down. Erase your ego. Be part of the team, part of the solution. Listen to Dr. DaSilva. Ask the right questions.

“You said the virus has mutated?” I ask.

Dr. DaSilva nods. “Everyone who works here with me is now calling the new strain Newbola Strong. We have calculated it to be almost 200 percent more deadly than its original form.”

CHAPTER 100

I INHALE DEEPLY.Stay calm. Don’t be foolish, Lamont,I think.Get informed. Get to work.

Dr. DaSilva says that she is now sending me all the information she and her staff have accumulated on Newbola Strong. “We’ve been working around the clock,” she adds.

They have identified and relocated two hundred patients who have tested positive for Newbola Strong to a secure, guarded army barracks outside Sacramento. Three hematologists from three different medical universities are working 24-7 to isolate the chemical structure of the new virus.

As for me, I am working hard to remain focused on this new and awful information. I listen as Dr. DaSilva explains the chemical discovery routes that she and her team are pursuing. I try to think how I can aid and abet their progress. Intruding on my thinking, however, are my suspicions regarding Townsend.

---