Deadly Desire

“Damn. Are you sure?”

Jane realized she was staking her reputation to her father’s, an action that had proven disastrous in the past for other virologists. “As positive as I can be in the lab.”

“If any other virologist sent it…”

“I know. But the fact that he did send it makes me want to take it seriously.”

“What aren’t you telling me?” Meredith asked.

If anyone else had asked, Jane would have kept her mouth shut. She would have never even mentioned Rob Miller’s name. But Meredith was the one person in the CDC, heck maybe in the world who’d understand the complications that surrounded her and her father. “One of the samples was Dad’s.”

Meredith flushed. “Is he infected?”

Jane clenched her hands in tight fists. Swallowing against her dry mouth, she said, “Yes.”

Meredith sank back down in her chair. She and Rob had been friends and maybe more ten years ago. Then when she’d been promoted, he’d left Atlanta and gone to Belgium to work on the AIDS-HIV project. Jane didn’t know what had happened between them, but watching Meredith now, she suspected there was still some connection.

“What do you want to do?” Meredith asked after a few minutes had passed.

“Call the office in South America and get them to move on this. I can send them my research and then they can…” Jane broke off. Meredith was shaking her head.

“What’s going on?”

“I’ve contacted them. They are sure that there is no danger of a hot-zone outbreak. In fact, they insisted we stop trying to tell them they had one.”

“Just ask them to visit the Yura.”

“A three-man team visited a village near the Yura—Puerto Maldonado—and conducted interviews and obtained samples. No one is infected.”

“The samples are definitely infected.”

“I know that you think they are.”

Jane looked at her boss with new eyes. “What are you saying?”

“That I can’t authorize you going down there.”

“Well, I’m going. Lives are at stake—my dad’s life is at stake. I know you have bosses and they aren’t going to like it, but I’m not sitting on this.”

Meredith closed her eyes and leaned back in her chair. “I can give you a week. But you’ll need to be on a leave of absence.”

Jane had never felt so angry before, but she understood where Meredith was coming from. Discoveries like the one she’d made were worth a lot of money. Both the State Department and the Peruvian government worked very closely with each other. “I need at least ten days. It’s going to take me a few days to get everything in place.”

“Okay.”

“I’ll need equipment to take with me, and some backup.” Jane couldn’t do it on her own. It was stupid to go into the rain forest without someone at her side.

“I can’t give you anyone from the CDC. But I have some contacts in the private sector that might be able to help you.”

Meredith didn’t look happy, and Jane prayed she made it to her dad before her boss pulled the plug. There were times when working for the CDC really chafed.

Jane stood and walked to the door. Already her mind was busy with everything she needed to do. And knowing she’d have to do it alone gave her a new appreciation for her father and the work he’d done. How many times had her old man come up against this kind of corporate maneuvering and come out on the other side the winner?

“Jane?”

She glanced over her shoulder at Meredith. There was something different in her boss and old friend’s eyes. Something Jane wasn’t sure she wanted to recognize.

“Be careful.”

Jane walked out the door. She planned to be more than careful. She planned to come back to Atlanta with a major success behind her.

“I will.”

Chapter 2

Jane sank deeper into her office chair and tried to organize her thoughts. If she was going to survive and save lives she needed a plan.

The images from the slides still flickered through her mind. Along with some nasty images from a death she’d viewed earlier in the year of a man who’d been infected with a similar virus. The man had been on an extreme vacation with his college buddies and had sustained a jagged cut on his hand while mountain climbing. He’d fallen while they’d been trekking down the mountain and wiped his hand on a leaf that had contained the microscopic bug. The bug had entered his bloodstream and seventy-two hours later he’d died.

In her mind’s eye, though, instead of the hiker, she saw her dad’s face. She shivered and forced the image from her head, focusing instead on what she knew. Her dad was infected with a lethal virus. This was her chance to save him. Her chance to do the one thing she’d always vowed she wouldn’t do—go after him.

He’d been leaving her most of her life. He’d left her with her mother when Mary Miller had still been alive. Then he’d left her with her grandparents—his parents—after her mom had died. Mary had died of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. As a ten year old, Jane had blamed the Amazon for her mother’s death. She’d only cried once. When Rob Miller had warned her that crying solved nothing and was the weakest of the female traits, she’d worked hard never to cry again. And she’d vowed that, if he ever needed her, she wouldn’t be there.

Hell, she’d been a kid and a petty one at that. Her heart wouldn’t let her stick to that vow. Her dad needed her, and she was going.

She didn’t want to think about him being sick. He’d always been a big bear of a man. A huge guy who was unstoppable. Even the scandal with the CDC couldn’t keep him down. He’d dropped out of sight for a year, but then he’d shown up in South America, where he’d been living with the Yura tribe.

She rubbed the back of her neck. Peru. Damn. She really hated South America. She didn’t like the heat and it would be damned hot in April, and wet. The humidity would feel like a living blanket. She didn’t like the men, who were macho in the extreme and seemed to think that every woman who walked the street was in need of one of them to watch over her…to protect her.

She knew how to survive in the jungle. Had spent the first ten years of her life living with hunter-gatherer tribes. Her mother had been an anthropologist. And the truth of the matter was she was used to hot, humid weather. She lived in the South.

The real reason she didn’t like South America was it held too many memories of things that weren’t anymore. Things and people who’d left her life. She wasn’t ready to add her father’s name to the list.

For backup this trip, she’d contacted a group of independent virologists—Rebel Virology. Jane had worked with the group before. They were all well-respected but independent virologists who couldn’t stand bureaucracy and now worked for themselves. She opened an e-mail from them and scanned it quickly. Upon arriving in Peru, she should look for either Maria Cortez or Mac Coleman.

She hoped her partner would be Maria, whom she’d worked with years ago at the CDC. Maria was smart and funny and Jane got along well with her.

She hadn’t met Mac Coleman, but he had a reputation for being a maverick. In fact, he’d founded Rebel Virology. He’d worked with the World Health Organization and had been on his way to the top of his career, but had left for bureaucratic reasons. And scientists who were tired of working within the government structure had applauded him. But a few years later, in Southeast Asia, he’d had a fiasco that had led to the deaths of twenty-five people. She’d heard that he’d rushed to treatment and lost lives.

Jane rubbed the back of her neck. There were no details on the incident. She knew mistakes were made by both virologists and governments and she wasn’t judging him.

She checked the laminated maps she’d stopped at Kinkos to make on her way home. The jungle wasn’t kind to paper. She had a compass, a Blackberry phone with GPS unit that would work even in the depths of the jungle and two backups. She had a lethal hunting blade that her grandfather had given her. He’d been a Marine and had reinforced to Jane every summer when she saw him to always be prepared.

She packed rice, rice cakes and her favorite cereal bars. She brought the tea she loved so much in a metal canister that she knew might rust if she stayed too long in the jungle. She had medicine, as well, in a separate pack, treatments for a long list of diseases.

The phone rang. She glanced at the clock. She was waiting for a call from Angie, her assistant, who was making all of the arrangements for the trip. “Dr. Miller.”

“Jane, it’s Raul Veracruz.”

Jane held the phone away from her ear. Had she conjured him up by thinking about her father? “What can I do for you?” she asked. It had been a long time since she’d heard from him. Three years, in fact. The day her father had left the CDC.

“Meredith contacted me about some research you were doing,” he said.

Maybe Raul would be interested in helping her. “I found the information I needed here in the lab while working with the samples.”

“Who sent the samples to you?” he asked.

“A virologist living with the Yura.”

“Your dad?” he asked.

She hesitated. Raul had once been Rob’s assistant and the two men had been friends. For a brief time Jane had been involved with him. But that hadn’t lasted. Like most of her personal relationships, theirs had ended because she hadn’t found him as interesting as the specimens in her lab. “Yes.”

“Jane, I talked to him already. I personally analyzed the samples he had. They were clean. No sign of any virus.”

“The ones I received were infected, Raul.”

“Who are you going to trust?” he asked.

Jane doodled on her blotter and changed the topic. “What are you doing now? You’re not with the CDC anymore.”

“That’s right. I’m working for Thompson-Marks Pharmaceutical.”

“Research and development?”

“Yes. I like it. It’s challenging and it pays well. Why don’t you come and join me in their labs?”

“No, thanks. I like where I am.”

“There’s a lot more freedom to work on the projects that are important.”

“And the CDC doesn’t?”

“You know what I mean,” he said.

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Someone knocked on the door of her lab.

“Please think twice about revealing anything your father may have sent you to others, Jane. You know he’s done some…creative tampering before.”

“I will. Goodbye, Raul.” Jane hung up the phone and went to the door. It was Angie Tanner, her secretary, lab assistant and research guru.

The short, dark-haired woman wouldn’t enter the actual lab even dressed as she was in a full-body space suit. Jane thought it was kind of funny. Angie had spent the last twenty-five years working for the CDC and had in fact been her father’s assistant in the early days. Her smile was friendly and she loved her job. And she was completely paranoid about germs.

“I’ve finalized all the arrangements for you. The area you want to go into is only accessible by air.”

Angie was ultraefficient and a real wizard when it came to bringing together the details of an operation. She was a top-notch researcher and interviewer and Jane trusted her implicitly. “I know. That’s why I asked you to hire a small plane. Why don’t you come in my office and join me for a cup of tea?”

“Because I happen to like being healthy. I tried to get you a flight to La Paz, but they didn’t have anything leaving tomorrow, and Meredith wouldn’t approve using the CDC plane.”

Angie’s phobia about her health was something of a joke amongst those who worked with her. She kept a huge bottle of vitamin C tablets on her desk and popped them like candy throughout the day. “Meredith doesn’t really want me to go,” Jane said. Angie probably was risking her position by helping Jane out.

“She has to answer to her own conscience,” Angie said, handing Jane a plastic wallet portfolio. “Here are the rest of your papers. You’re going to be parachuting into the jungle. I called in a favor from a buddy of mine in the military.”

“Okay,” Jane said. She loved parachuting and had a lot of experience. The jungles of the Amazon basin would be perfect for skydiving. If it weren’t for the fact that her father was in jeopardy she might actually enjoy this trip.

“I told him you know your stuff when it comes to parachuting.”

“Thanks. I’m not so sure about the virologist who’ll be joining me.”

“I only made travel arrangements for you,” Angie said in a surly voice.

“Can you add one to the parachute jump?” Jane asked, knowing that once Angie made her plans or finished her research she didn’t like to have to go back and change it.

“I’ll try.”

“Thanks. Did you get the guide I requested?” Jane asked. Going into the jungle alone was asking for trouble.

“Yes. He’ll meet you at the private airstrip on the morning of your sky dive.”

“Thanks, Angie. Can I ask you to do one more thing for me?” Jane asked.

“What?”

“Will you check into the research the Peruvian government has done on this disease? According to everyone I talked to, it’s not lethal.”

“What do you want to know?” Angie asked.

“Who did the testing and interviews and when they were conducted.”

“Is that it?”

“For now.”

“Be careful, Jane, even virus hunters aren’t immune to death.”

It was almost two in the afternoon by the time Jane arrived in Lima two days later. Tired, hungry and anxious to get to work, she made her way toward her hotel. The air was hot, humid and blanketed the city in the kind of haze that often covered Los Angeles. She closed her eyes and tried to breath. But the air was hot. It burned her lungs.

In a way it was invigorating. The one thing that she liked, though she hated to admit it, about South America was that you still had the feeling of having to fight to survive. That life was brought in on its most simplistic terms. Here it really was survival of the fittest.

But she had no time to enjoy it. She was here on a mission and every second she delayed she risked losing another life.

Now she was here in Lima—the clock was officially starting to tick. Meredith was giving her one week. One measly week after eight years of always doing what she was told. Fear of failure weighed heavily on her. It was an odd feeling and not one she liked to admit she experienced.

The treatment and the vaccine were loaded into a galvanized-steel reinforced trunk with wheels and a handle. She towed it behind her through the hotel lobby. She had a meeting with Rebel Virology in a little over an hour in the lobby of her hotel.

She needed to switch the glass vials and their protective packaging into bags that would make it easier to carry them through the jungle. And she desperately wanted a cool shower.

The lobby was full of artifacts from Macchu Pichu. The site, north of the city, was accessible by a multi-day hike or a train or bus ride. Jane paused in front of a lighted alcove displaying an artist’s rendering of the Temple of the Sun. She felt small in relation to her place in time.

Working in virology and making case studies gave her a link to realizing how short time was. And how little things had changed. Modern developments in science made the epidemics of yesterday obsolete in some parts of the world, but viruses and germs always found a way to mutate in order to survive.

Not on my watch.

“Hola, Jane.”

She tensed and glanced up from the artwork. Raul Veracruz stood behind her. She could see him reflected in the glass. He held a white hat in one hand and a cigar in the other. His dark hair was trimmed close to his head. He had a mustache now and when she turned toward him, he smiled at her.

“I didn’t think to see you so soon,” he said in his accented English. His voice was meant to seduce and despite that knowledge she had to admit she still liked the warm sound of it.

“I’m surprised you’re here. How did you know where I was staying?” she asked. He hadn’t exactly sounded as if he wanted to see her down here. She wasn’t sure what kind of reception she’d get from him.

“It wasn’t that hard to find you. I have friends in government.”

“Why were you looking for me?” she asked, a little unnerved that the government knew where she was. She needed to stop being so freaking jumpy about everything. She gave Raul a bland smile.

“I’m hoping to convince you to change your mind about going to the Amazon basin. Can you join me for a drink?”

She glanced at her watch. She didn’t want to have this conversation but saw no graceful way out of it. “I can give you five minutes.”

“Only five minutes for an old…friend?”

If he was only an old friend and not a former lover she wouldn’t feel so awkward. And she might have given in. But she didn’t know what Raul wanted, and for a man who hadn’t talked to her in years, he was suddenly very interested in her.

“Come to Atlanta, Raul, and I’ll give you all the time you want.” In fact in a week’s time she’d sit down for half the day with him. But not now. Now she wanted to keep moving, not be slowed down with chitchat.

“What’s the hurry?” he asked, putting his hand at her elbow as they walked through the lobby toward the reception desk.

“I need to check the vaccine and treatment.” Though the vials containing the vaccine and treatment were packed in dry ice and then Styrofoam, there was still a chance of breakage. She’d checked it at the airport but wanted to get it open and make sure everything was still in the frozen state.

“Tell me about your find,” he said.

She couldn’t. Meredith would kill her. She probably shouldn’t have mentioned her results to him on the phone, either. She was a little tired from flying for so long. Lima was on Eastern Standard Time so there was no time change to blame.

She shook her head. “Why don’t you tell me what you’re working on.”

“A new product to treat a potential problem on the Brazilian border. Keeping that border open is vital to the economy of Peru and to the village I grew up in.”

“What kind of problem?” she asked. Did the virus she’d looked at have a mutated strain already? Was it related to the one she’d found and isolated? And how was this virus passed?

“A virus that brings on a paralytic reaction,” he said.

“Like polio?” she asked. Actually it could even be polio. Although it had been wiped out in the U.S., it hadn’t been eradicated worldwide.

“Yes.”

“Well, good luck. I’m going to be down that way. If you’d like, when I’m finished with the Yura, I can check out your site. Maybe do some interviews.”

Interviews were vital to virologists. Jane would go into an infected area and talk to locals. She’d observe eating habits, water and sewage conditions—basic daily life. Then samples of blood and saliva would be analyzed. The final report gave her and other virologists an accurate picture of a virus and its environment.

Raul gave her an odd look, and then shook his head. “I’ve got it under control. But thanks for the offer.”

“No problem. I better go check in. It was nice seeing you, Raul.”

“Jane?”

“What?”

“I’m…not sure you should trust your dad.”

The change in subject surprised her. “I’ve seen the blood, and it’s definitely infected. Do you want to see the initial report?”

“No. I’m not saying that there isn’t something out there. Hell, we both know that hot zones pop up all over the place. It’s just going to make everything harder because your dad’s involved.”

“What do you suggest?” she asked.

“That we quarantine your dad and the tribe and then let my team make the first discovery.”

“What do you mean, your team? I thought you worked for a pharmaceutical company.”

“I do. And we’re interested in helping the people of Peru,” Raul said. “I only made the suggestion because putting Dr. Miller on any finding is bound to raise some questions.”

“My reputation is a solid one. And putting my name on any report isn’t going to jeopardize it.”

Raul stepped back into the shadows, and she couldn’t see his face. She walked away from him with a cheerful wave, but deep inside she was worried. Two outbreaks in the same area didn’t bode well.

Mentally she reviewed what she knew about the area. She hadn’t been paying close attention to world news. Were they doing any construction there? Sometimes clearing the land stirred up diseases that had been lying dormant in the heart of the jungle. She’d grab the local paper and use her rusty Spanish to find out what was going on in the Amazon basin.

What had they uncovered, and was it seeking bodies as carriers to spread itself out of the jungle?

Twenty minutes later she was sitting in the hotel bar relaxing as much as she could. She’d hated leaving the vials in her room, but they should be safe for an hour behind a locked door.

“Jane Miller?”

She glanced up to see a dark man with thick hair and more than one day’s worth of stubble on his face. He was tall and lean and looked as if he’d been living in a rough area of the world for a while. His eyes were hidden behind sunglasses, and he wore khaki clothes that were worn and looked comfortable. His voice was a low rumble.

“Yes.”

“Mac Coleman, Rebel Virology.”

She stood and shook his hand. It was warm and dry, calloused on the ridge of his palm. He tightened it briefly and then let her hand drop. Jane sat back down and waited for him to do the same. She hoped her disappointment that Maria hadn’t made it instead didn’t show. Her earlier doubts about him crept into her mind.

He removed his sunglasses. His eyes were a light blue color at odds with his dark coloring. His pupils dilated adjusting to the light. Jane wondered if he had problems with light sensitivity.

He 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.”