Masked

CHAPTER 32 | do unto others

Portland, Oregon

A scream pierced the otherwise calm office.

Parker raced down the corridor, past employees peering over their dividers. "Beth, are you..." She stopped short and frowned when she turned the corner into the main reception area.

Beth was jumping up and down, hands cupping her cheeks and squealing. A delighted grin stretched from ear-to-ear.

She rolled her eyes and placed her hands on her hips. "Jesus Christ Beth, get a grip. What's going on?"

Beth halted her excited jiggling. "Sorry, Boss. I couldn't help it." She pointed to a giant flower arrangement on the front desk. "Look what just arrived for me."

Beth held up an intricate gold chain that she had been clenching in her hand. "And this came with it." She wiggled both eyebrows. "My new man's gonna get himself somethin', somethin' tonight."

"Beth, you do understand that this is a place of business?"

"Yeah. And?"

Parker groaned. "No reason."

She headed back to her office. Why in God's name did I hire her? Cause she livens up an otherwise dreary workday. Oh yeah, that's why.

She shook her head. Beth was such a loving soul, who only saw the best in people, but she had such bad luck with men. This one seemed to make her happy. She hoped he would not crush Beth's heart as callously as the others had.

Since returning to Portland, life had continued its roller-coaster ride. Getting up to speed with her team at the office had occupied her days, and circumnavigating the CDC's firewall and extensive databases had filled her nights. She found that keeping herself busy was the best way to keep Daniel from her mind.

She snorted. Who was she kidding? He was never out of her mind.

She sighed and stared out the window. When Daniel rushed to New York, their daily calls had halted. The number of Werewolves affected by Wildfire had suddenly raged out of control and needed containment before it spilled over into the Human world any more than it already had. While she missed talking to him, she knew it was for the best. It gave her time to place a barrier around her heart.

She forced herself to concentrate on finishing an end-of-project report and became so engrossed in her work, she did not realize when the day moved into night. Except for Trevor, her ever-present bodyguard, everyone had left hours ago. She jumped when her mobile cut through the silence.

She turned the phone over and smiled as she pressed the answer button. "Hey Alice, did you get the files I emailed?"

Once she had broken into the CDC network and found the information related to the Wildfire outbreak, understanding the case notes became difficult. She had forwarded the information to the only other person who might be able to make sense of it.

"I've spent the day pouring through the case reports and lab results," Alice said. "I'm pretty much out of my depth here, but as far as I can tell, it looks like Elise has combined two viruses together—one that's unique to canines, the other a deadly Human virus."

"What does that mean?" Parker said.

"As we suspected, we are dealing with a genetic bomb—it's just that the CDC doesn't know it yet."

She was on high alert and wasn't going to like the answer to her next question. "Dare I ask the name of the virus?"

"Ebola."

Her throat constricted, and it felt like the walls of her office were moving inwards. Blood rushed through her veins, and her pulse raced. She brought a hand up to her forehead. Oh God!

"Parker? Parker...are you there?"

Her voice cracked as she spoke. "T-there's no cure for Ebola."

"There's no cure for CDV-1, either. The Europeans have a vaccine, but it's not available in the US."

She was thankful she was sitting. Her legs had begun to shake along with the rest of her body. "So how does this combined virus work?"

"My guess is that the CDV-1 virus searches for the appropriate wolf gene, and if it detects the right set of proteins, it blocks the immune system and releases the Ebola virus."

"What about the CDC's notes? Does it look like they might be able to work it out and find some way of stopping it?"

Alice exhaled slowly. "Because they don't know that it's targeting a specific set of proteins that make up a particular gene, I can't see how."

She rested her head on her free hand and closed her eyes. Her head throbbed. "So, how do we fix this?"

"We can't." Alice's tone was apologetic. "The best we can do is make sure that the Werewolf community keeps away from anything that might contain Wildfire."

She snapped. "And what about Humans? Who's going to warn them?"

"Parker, you know the rules. We can't risk exposure, and I don't have the skills or the experience to solve this crisis."

The line went silent as she considered the options open to her. "Alice, I need you to send me the exact location of the gene and proteins."

Alice hesitated. "Why?"

There was a short delay before she replied. "So I can detect if the CDC stumble onto the gene. I imagine that the Alliance would want a heads up on it."

"Good idea. I didn't think of that," Alice said. "I'll email the details to you in the morning."

She stared at her phone for a long while after the call ended. Could she really sit still and allow this to go unchecked? Images of thousands of bodies lying dead in hospitals, on streets, in homes, and in schools flashed through her mind, and her heart faltered. She let out a small whimper as her mind strayed to Bobby. God, how she missed him. There was a hole in her life that would never be filled.

She reached for her phone and scanned through the images he had sent her from Awesomeness Con in New York. Tears streamed down her face when she stopped at the one of him with Stan Lee. The ear-to-ear smile she missed each and every day ripped open the lid of grief she had held at bay since his death. She wept uncontrollably and grieved not only for Bobby, but for the families of the unsuspecting victims that had no part in the fight Elise was bringing to them. How many dead men, women, and children were walking their last steps? How many Humans were out there, not knowing the grim reaper was about to come calling?

She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, and drew in a shaky breath. I can't let this happen.

Her decision was made.There was only one option open to her, and she needed to take it, or countlesslives would be lost.