Page 101 of The Presidents Shadow

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.

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.

“Are you getting all this, Lamont?” Dr. DaSilva asks. Her own voice is filled with anxiety.

“Yes, I’m getting it,” I say.

“The material I’ve just sent you will clarify a great deal,” she says. Then she adds, “Prepare yourself for the descriptions of the symptoms. The effects of this mutated virus are horrible beyond anything we’ve seen.”

We wind down our conversation. Before I accuse Townsend, before I download the info from Dr. DaSilva, before anything else, I must share this awful news with my team.

The fifteen-minute wait is up.

The small, smart, brave group assembles in front of me. I’m about to start talking when I realize that not everyone is present.

“Where’s Maddy?” I ask. “Where’s Burbank?”

Margo speaks first. “Maddy called. Belinda’s apartment was broken into. The girl doesn’t want to intrude on our family anymore, so Maddy’s taking her to a hotel for the night.”

“And Burbank is lying down,” Hawkeye supplies.

“ Lying down? ” I repeat, shocked that my teammate would take a nap with so much at stake.

“Yes,” Margo says, clearly worried. “He said he has a really terrible sore throat.”