“I’m not interested in dying,” I said.
“Who is? Unfortunately, it’s not something that’s up for debate. The pathogen’s going to take its pound of flesh. Then the real fun starts. Washington will go all-out to paint this as a terrorist attack. Put a lid on anything, and anyone, connected to Detrick and the lightbulb angle.”
“That’s you and me?”
“When it comes to something like this, people fall into two categories. Either they can be contained, or they’re killed. I don’t have to tell you which category we fall into.”
“So you just sit around and wait for them to show up?”
“A man always has options. Especially in how he dies.”
“You want to kill yourself, go ahead. Why pull me in?”
“I received some information this morning… ”
“From who?”
“Doesn’t matter. The sting I was running had been compromised.”
“You already knew that.”
“Whoever dropped me the information gave me this as well.”
Danielson pushed a folded piece of paper across the desk. “It’s not much. And I doubt it will help.”
“Why don’t you run it down?”
“I told you. I had my chance. Now people are dead. And someone has to answer.”
I looked at the folded-up slip of paper. “But you think I’ll give it a try?”
Danielson twitched pale fingers in the half-light. Silence twisted itself around us like a shroud. He lifted his gun to my head, before settling on my heart.
“Think of it as a last good act.”
The man from Homeland Security tilted forward and wrapped his lips carefully around the black barrel. Then he leaned back in his chair and stared at me without blinking. Right up until the moment he pulled the trigger.