Chapter 42

Othneal finally decided to show me his weapon. Angela was safely ensconced in the big room, while the two of us went past the sleeping quarters and came to a stairway I didn't know existed. Up the stairs was a crude lab full of test tubes, beakers, and various other pieces of chemistry equipment.

Four people worked among the beakers wearing elbow-length rubber gloves. Their concoction seemed to be unstable. Without even a slight understanding of chemistry, I had no idea what they were doing, however, each time they moved it from over the Bunsen Burner to a cooling rack, they all seemed to hold their breath, and you could cut the tension with a knife.

Othneal showed me the process, explaining it in detail, proud of his invention and how it would save the planet. As he spoke, I tried to follow the technical jargon, but had to satisfy myself that The Judge and his people would know what to do when they heard the details.

"We heat the mixture and then cool it for storage. The liquid is then transferred to a set of small vials that fit into a roll of paper towels and vanish in the holder. Most places use one of three different towel holders, and we have twelve sets keys for all three kinds."

Othneal was acting the part of the perfect professor, explaining chemistry to a group of students so they could do their first experiment. "On the day we go live, everyone will have a schedule of places to hide the vial and set the timers. The fluid will atomize the instant it hits the air, and the timer is preset with enough time to make sure we all get to Grossingers and are safe before it blows out the germ gently into whatever space we hid it.

"The mist is colorless, odorless, and for all practical purposes, undetectable. We will release it in the international travel areas of all three airports, JFK, LaGuardia, and Newark, just before the TSA lines, so people leaving the country and just coming in will be infected and carry it to infect people all over the world."

Othneal rubbed his hands together in the cool air. He looked like he was about to pop from pride in his brainchild. He really was all the way around the bend, and I guessed he was only a day or two from carrying out his plan. Hopefully The Judge was all over this, and things would be resolved very soon.

"Joe, you and Angela will be placing the devices in restrooms at the Statue of Liberty and Rockefeller Center. I will take the upper West Side, and the others all have their assignments. The vials are nearly ready, and I want to get this done as the Christmas tourist season gets underway over Thanksgiving week.

"You two have the easiest assignment, because I want us to be the first ones to arrive up at Grossingers. If one of our team gets arrested and starts talking, I have a fall back plan for us to hide out. They don't know it, but Grossingers is not the real hideaway. It's just a place to meet up without inviting attention. The place is closed up, and I've got a set of keys.

"We'll make sure everybody gets out of the city, then move the whole group at once to our real destination." Joe was so excited about the nearness of his grand plan that he nearly collided with one of the workers, which would have exposed us and ended up killing us all.

Angela stayed glued to her iPad, oblivious to the conversation, which was just as I wanted it. Joe still thought of her as a fourteen-year-old child, which kept her from being under suspicion. It might be all that saved her if things went sideways, so I was very interested in keeping status quo.

What followed was a very long, incredibly tiring practice session, with all of us assembling the pieces, connecting the tiny battery, and practicing placement of the vial, and atomizer unit. When we finally quit for the day, I could complete the process in the dark, in under thirty-five seconds, and be gone in under a minute. If those times held together for the others, over two-hundred devices could be placed in under three hours. That was a lot of exposure, and lot of people carrying the germ to just about everywhere.

Angela and I showered together so we could talk, and ended up deciding to have The Judge pick her up using the backstory that her parents tracked us down and wanted their daughter back. I would stay and see the thing through, hopefully getting a shot at Othneal before the roof came in.

That decided, she used the iPad to make our need known, and almost before we got our clothes on, the tenement doors flew open and people dressed like SWAT team members came in demanding to see Amy.

When we arrived to see what all the shouting was about, Othneal motioned for us to come over by him. "These overdressed gentlemen were sent her by your parents to take Amy home," he said it in a voice dripping with sarcasm.

I looked around thinking about how best to sell our cover story, grabbed Angela's hand, and took off for the doors, trying to get there before anyone could intercept us. Just as I intended, we didn't make it even out into the hall, before she was scooped up and taken away, while several of the heavily armed "officers" kept me in their sights. I struggled with them, cursing and fighting like I meant it. Finally one of them put me in a choke hold and that was that.

Mission accomplished. Angela was safe.

That done, I turned my make believe wrath against the government and went off on a rant about how badly they were all going to regret taking her away. Midway through my rant, I stopped and looked for all the world like I was stunned out of my mind. "I have to go get her back. She can't be exposed to the germ. I can't let that happen..."

Othneal saw my distress and suggested I follow at a discreet distance and snatch her back when no one was looking, hide her away at Grossingers, before coming back to the city, and finish our task. That solved everyone's problem, and I said, "You need to move the lab by tomorrow. Surely you have a backup bolt hole, right?"

Not right.

Othneal never considered having their location blown and had no alternative plan, so I gave him one. "The Polish store where I work has an empty loft on the third floor that looks like it's been empty for years. We'll move it all there. Then I'll go spring Amy and meet you back for the grand finale."

I sure hoped The Judge got that all, because everyone worked through the night moving everything to the third floor above the store. By morning I was getting ready to leave, supposedly on my way to kidnap Angela back.

Before I could do anything, I had to have some rest, and before I made it into bed, Carmen was there wanting to have sex. She was as repulsive as every other time I saw her, but there was a pathetic aura surrounding her this time. "I know you're hurting, and I know you are really – for real – in love, but I want you to know my offer still stands. I want to have sex with you so bad ... So Bad ... Just say the word and I'll do you right now, right here." In a little girl's voice she said,