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.”
