Page 31

She woke up when the Learjet bumped onto the runway in Orange County.

No surprise, a black SUV was waiting for them on the ramp when they stepped off the Learjet.

In under fifteen minutes, they stood at the theme park’s main entrance.

A guy in dress slacks, white business shirt, and cartoon tie met them as they exited the vehicle.

“Hi, I’m Nick. Park Security and company liaison to the FBI. If you’d come with me…”

They followed him through a decorative wrought iron gate to one side of the customer turnstiles and into another world.

Backstage, as it were. Workers in all kinds of costumes and colorful uniforms hustled along a paved, utilitarian path.

Nick loaded the two of them into a golf cart and whisked them off in a wide circle around the park proper toward the far side of the complex.

“Your target and his daughter got in line to ride the giant carrousel about five minutes ago, but I have no report of them having gotten off the ride, yet. Moving backstage like this is the fastest way to get to the other side of the park. That, and we don’t like to disturb our guests with foot chases or racing vehicles that might signal a problem. ”

In about three minutes, the security man led them through another gate and into the crowded theme park. He spoke briefly into a cell phone and took off at a brisk walk. “This way.”

A lean man who, at a glance, looked like Yusef Abahdi, rode round and round on a huge carrousel beside a little girl who did, indeed, look a lot like Salima Abahdi.

“You’re pretty visible out here, Nick. If you could fade into the background a bit, we’ll take it from here,” Ian murmured. “Thanks for your help with this.”

“Yeah, sure. Just got a text--the FBI’s positioning vehicles at every exit from the parking lots as we speak.

Here’s the team’s cell phone number—” He shared the contact information with each of their phones.

“—and here’s my cell phone number if you need to talk directly to me.

Our people will keep eyes on you and your guy via the security cams.”

Ian and Piper nodded and looked down at their phones for a few seconds—both of them were trained at quickly and flawlessly memorizing sequences like phone numbers.

The security man moved away, and Ian glanced around. He surprised Piper by grabbing her hand and dragging her toward a vendor pushing a refrigerated cart. He bought them each ice cream sandwiches and dragged her over to a park bench facing the carrousel.

“Smile, Piper. We’re on vacation.”

“That’s us. The happy honeymooners.” She tore the wrapper off her treat and took a big bite of her ice cream sandwich. Oh, God. Brain freeze. Crap . She suffered in silence as the merry-go-round started to slow down.

She muttered, “Carrousel exit is to our left. Still planning to follow them out of the park and back to their lodgings?”

“Gotta get close first and make the ID. If it’s him, then we’ll follow him home. That’s our best chance of finding the samples if he’s still got them.”

“You can tell this is a celebration for him and Salima just by looking at their body language. No way would he bring her here with the virus nearby.”

Ian studied their targets for a minute. “I concur. Still. Let’s stick to the plan. No need to traumatize the other kids.”

Memory of him tickling his niece flashed through her mind. He seemed at ease with little kids. Would he be as good a dad as she thought? It was definitely not in her future to find out.

They walked right up behind Yusef and his daughter.

Close enough to hear the guy talking to her in Arabic.

Close enough to hear the Palestinian accent in his vowels, even.

She glanced sidelong at Ian, who had a better view of their quarry’s face, and he nodded back at her just once.

Confirmation that this was, indeed, the Scientist.

Following Abahdi and his daughter was ridiculously easy. As long as she and Ian were holding hands and smiling, they blended in with the vacationing crowd. Abahdi was tall enough that Ian had no trouble keeping an eye on the guy’s baseball cap in the press of tourists.

“For a guy who’s just delivered the instrument of death for thousands, he seems pretty relaxed,” Piper commented low.

“He’s not looking for tails, that’s for sure.”

“Is he resigned to being caught or just that confident?”

“Don’t know. Let’s find out.” Ian sped up, closing the gap between them as a park exit loomed.

Abahdi and his daughter left the park and boarded a shuttle that would take them to their car.

Ian and Piper ran for the same shuttle, laughing, and caught the shuttle just as it pulled away from the curb.

A quick cell phone call to the nearest FBI vehicle arranged for them to be picked up near the other end of the shuttle run.

“You got eyes on our FBI wheels?” Ian muttered as he leaned over to hug her and disguise peering over her shoulder.

“About a hundred feet back, next row over” she whispered just before she bit Ian’s ear.

“Vixen,” he muttered. “Be warned: I don’t get mad. I get even.”

She laughed low. “Big words, Mister.”

Abahdi and his daughter got off the shuttle and walked to a nondescript rental car. Piper texted the license plate to the FBI team, then followed Ian over a row of cars to where a white SUV waited for them.

Ian jumped in the passenger seat and Piper piled into the back.

The FBI agent pulled into the outbound flow of park traffic smoothly.

They traded a few desultory comments about how much space to give Abahdi while they all kept their stares glued on his car.

This had to go right. They had to nail Abahdi.

Get him to tell them where the virus was going to be released.

It took nearly an hour for Abahdi to turn into a mid-range chain hotel parking lot.

The FBI guy drove past the hotel then turned around at the next cross-street while Piper watched in silent panic out the rearview window to make sure their quarry didn’t slip away from them.

Not that the Scientist had shown even the slightest hint of evasion or concern about tails in his behavior so far.

Their SUV finally pulled into the hotel parking lot.

“Set up a perimeter,” Ian told the guy. “Very, very quiet. Keep it out of sight. But at all costs, don’t let this guy out of the building without us.”

The agent nodded crisply. He spoke briefly into a cell phone and then reported, “Cordon’s in place.”

Wow. That was fast. The FBI must have had a bunch of vehicles running parallel to them this whole time. She hadn’t spotted any of them. Nice.

“Okay, kid. We’re up,” Ian said as he climbed out of the vehicle.

She followed him into the lobby. Ian waved the front desk attendance to silence as he moved around the front desk and into the office behind it. Piper followed, smiling reassuringly, her hands held out to indicate she was harmless.

Ian flashed his military ID quickly and explained in low tones to the guy, who turned out to be the manager on duty, that he needed to know the room number of the man in the ball cap who had just come in with his daughter.

“You mean Mr. Tariq?” the manager asked.

Ian showed the guy a picture of Salima Abahdi. “This is his daughter.”

“Yes, yes. That’s Salima Tariq. Sweet little girl. Nice man. Is he in trouble?”

“Not at all,” Ian replied. “We need his help with a sensitive government investigation, and it needs to be kept low-key. For his safety, we don’t want to draw any attention to Mr. Tariq.

If you’ll just give me his room number and a master key, we’ll have a small chat with him and be out of your hair. ”

“I can’t give you a key, Mr. McCloud.”

“I’ve got a dozen FBI agents ringing this building. Do you need me to have them storm the place and freak out your other guests?”

“No, but a warrant would be nice.”

“No time. This is a national security matter. I am, in fact, authorized to take a key by force, but I’d much rather have your cooperation?—“

Piper interjected. Getting into a pissing match with this guy wouldn’t do anyone any good.

“I’m a scientist. Mr. Tariq is the leading expert in the world in genetically engineered retro-virus recombination.

It’s my fault we’re here. I have to talk to him right away, and these nice men from the FBI have been ordered to make the conversation happen.

Because of the sensitive nature of our work, people like Mr. Tariq and I can be a little, umm, paranoid. ”

She leaned closer to the manager and smiled a little. “I wouldn’t answer my door if a stranger knocked on it. I might even flee the room. Thing is, I’ve got to talk to him right away. There’s a…problem. A virus has gotten away from us. I desperately need Mr. Tariq’s help regaining control of it.”

The manager looked like his resolve to demand a warrant was starting to waver.

She pressed her advantage. “Left to their own devices, these FBI guys would storm the room and scare Salima to death. She’s already had enough bad shocks in her life.

I don’t want to traumatize a child. Please help me protect that little girl.

” She rested a beseeching hand on the guy’s sleeve and poured on the helplessness and charm.

“I see. Well in that case…” The manager moved over to a machine on a counter to one side of the space. “Let me get you a card for his room. Number 316.” He swiped a plastic card through a magnetizer. “Here you go.”

Ian got on his cell phone and muttered into it while she gifted the manager with her best smile and gushed, “Thanks so much. I owe you huge. Now if you’ll excuse us, time really is of the essence.”

“Of course.”

Piper was surprised when their FBI driver strode into the lobby. He engaged the manager in conversation, thanking the guy for his help and writing down his name for some sort of commendation.

The elevator door closed behind her and Ian. “What’s up with our FBI escort?”