Encrypted (47 page)

“Great,” Zach said. “Let’s go crash their party and get the vaccine.”

Ronnie shook her head
,
though. “It isn’t that simple. This is a cipher built with code
and
layered over code. I need way more information before I can pinpoint any one location.” The room seemed to sag as she continued. “I am going to have to correlate this new symbol with all of the other symbols
,
then extrapolate where the next
—
”

“That will not be necessary,” Francois stated as he rose from the bed. “I know exactly where we must go.”

Ronnie waited for the elderly man to elabora
te,
but he just picked up his jacket and strode to the door. Zach blocked his path.

“Mind filling us in?”

Francois seemed truly perplexed as he
looked at
each of them.

“Why
,
Graceland
,
of course.”

* * *

Amanda coughed into the
crook
of her elbow. Not that she couldn’t just walk up to any of the remaining scientists and cough directly in their face
s
. They were all infected. Each
was
flushed with fever. Their fingernails
were
blackening as their lungs filled with fluid.

She didn’t blame two who had gone back downstairs. Nor the two
who
had laid their head
s
down for a quick rest
,
and
were now still slumbering away. Absently
,
Amanda scratched her arm
—
only to feel wet, thick liquid under her fingernails.

The boils were rupturing
,
w
hich meant that her lymph nodes were rupturing. Which meant her immune system’s last resort
s
were giving out. Amanda turned to Jennifer. Her assistant’s lymph nodes had been gone for over four hours. Now her arms were a wreck of pustules and open sores. Yet still she typed. Slower than even an hour before
,
with breaks to catch her breath.

“I want to grow up to be just like you,” Amanda said, placing her hand over Jennifer’s. Her assistant gave it a weak squeeze
,
and
then went back to calculating the average mean derivation of plague resistance in the tristate area.

“Amanda, you
had
better listen to this,” Henderson said as he turned up the television. Anderson
Cooper
was back on
, and
l
ooking a hell of a lot like Jennifer. They weren’t even bothering with makeup anymore.
H
ow could any makeup cover bloodshot eyes?

“All U
.S.
air travel has been suspended. I repeat
,
even small, private aircraft have been grounded. The only aircraft allowed in the sky is Air Force One. Please be advised
that
if you attempt to fly and ignore demands to land, you will be shot down.” Anderson stopped and wiped his face with his hand. “This is what it has come to, my fellow citizens. Anybody that is considering fleeing, please think it through…Where are you going to go?”

Devlin, who must have snuck in during the broadcast, turned the volume back down. “I’ve got equally bad news.”

Seriously, how much worse could any news get?

“Our CIA operative, the one tasked with finding the code breaker, has gone silent. We don’t know if he is dead or gone
under
ground because he was hunted, but we’re pretty sure the hacker has escaped.”

Amanda felt the air rush from her lungs. The entire point of doing all of this was to be ready when the Hidden Hand’s code was broken. What were they doing
,
then? What hope did they have left?

Devlin
,
though
,
gave a tight grin. “So
,
I’d like to offer my assistance
i
n any way I can.” He looked
at
Henderson. “Better late than never, right?”

The CIA liaison then turned his gaze on Amanda. “May I?”

Why the hell not
?
Amanda thought as she scooted her chair over.

If they were on a fool’s errand, they might as well all be fools together.

CHAPTER 21

Memphis, Tennessee

2:57
a
.
m
.,
C
ST

Graceland. Graceland. Graceland.
Quirk repeated the name over and over again in his head. Graceland. It couldn’t be true
,
could it? He would pinch himself
,
except, you know, he didn’t want to bruise his well
-
moisturized, delicate skin.

He was so excited that he didn’t even complain that the small aircraft they “borrowed” didn’t have sparkling water
,
nor did he even utter a peep when he was crammed in the back of this “borrowed” SUV with the stinky Frenchman and Ronnie. They were in Memphis on their way to Graceland. How could he complain?

Graceland.

Ah
,
to visit where Elvis had lived and died. To breathe the air
that
the King breathed.

The only downside to being a world-renowned hacker was that you seldom
went
sightseeing. You lived your life in safe houses and lead
-
lined rooms. Which worked out nicely with his desire to avoid all form of germ contact, but oh, Graceland was so worth the risk
—
of even the plague.

Which reminded him. Quirk checked his phone
—
no messages from Jennifer. But from the newscasts it looked like Tennessee hadn’t been hit hard yet by the Black Death because, well, it was Tennessee.
Probably n
ot a lot of travelers from Venice booked their next flight to Memphis. But the rest of the country? Especially New York?

He didn’t even try to suppress the shudder. All those infected
—
breathing, hacking,
and
coughing. Again
,
the shudder. Quirk turned to Ronnie to give her a well
-
deserved “I told you so,” to find her laptop open
and
fingers on the keyboard
,
but her head
was
propped up against the window. Given that the French guy was unabashedly snoring, Quirk assumed that Ronnie was asleep as well.

Quirk looked
ahead at
the passenger’s seat to find Zach in nearly the same position. Oh, the nerve! He’d gone all Special Agent to secure the shotgun position,
and
then fell asleep? That just wouldn’t do.

As he opened his mouth to let the entire car know his disdain, Quirk caught the pilot’s eyes watching him in the rearview mirror. Those liquid brown orbs, so like molten chocolate, silenced Quirk.
Fine
. Maybe he didn’t have to awake
n
everyone. He could let them know his disappointment upon their arrival.

Quirk gave a little shrug
.
O
f course
,
he r
oll
ed
his eyes so
that
the pilot knew exactly the toll keeping silent was taking.

Then the pilot winked.

Okay, there were definite perks to being on the road.

* * *

Zach opened the car door and was met with warm, heavy air. It was just early May
,
and already the South was ready to drown
visitors
with humidity. He glanced across the street to the wrought iron gates that guarded the mansion. They were aptly decorated with musical notes and Elvis’ iconic figure. Th
ey
were the perfect protect
ors
of the white columns of Graceland, even this late at night, illuminated against the dark sky.

Funny, Zach had been here
…
how many times? Yet
,
never at night. During his childhood
,
they’d come to Elvis’ mansion, but always during the day with the mobs and mobs of tours. Which was kind of ironic
,
since Elvis had moved out here to the “country” to get away from the maddening crowds
.
In the end
,
the maddening crowds had followed him to Graceland.

Weird to be here again, especially under the
se
circumstances.

Although Quirk didn’t seem to share his unease. Even though they were across the street from the mansion, the kid was snapping picture after picture, making the pilot move this way or that to get the best shot. Of course
,
he’d said they needed surveillance pictures, but come on, he knew a fan photo shoot when he saw one.

It was odd to think that
such everyday, ordinary suburban items such as a strip mall surrounded
a prominent landmark like
Graceland
. The mansion
,
in some small way
,
reminded Zach of the White House. How surprised he’d been to find the nation’s seat of power surrounded on every side by… well, everything and anything. The White House was an oasis in a sea of city buildings. Much like Graceland.

N
ext to him
,
Ronnie
began to get out of
the car, stretching as she straightened.

“So that’s the King’s crib, eh?”

“Yep.”

“Well, security is so bad that 2005 is calling, and wants it back,” Ronnie said as she yawned, pulling out her palmtop. “I broke through its firewall in
,
like
,
twenty
-
two second
s
flat. After we neutralize the two security guards, we should be able to slide in and get whatever painting we need
—
”

“Of Elvis,” Zach added. “The painting we need is of Elvis. It was his father’s last gift before Elvis died.”

“Okay…” Ronnie said, tilting her head
.

Zach tried to shrug it off
.
“Dad was a pretty big fan. We came here on summer breaks.”

It wasn’t until that moment
that
Zach realized that Graceland was the last family vacation before his
d
ad…He shook off the memory. What in the hell was he doing dwelling on crap like that
,
when the world was under siege by the Hidden Hand?

“Anyway, I know exactly where the painting is hung.”

Ronnie went to say something, but Quirk burst into their conversation. “So
,
are we ready?”

“We?” Ronnie answered. “Since when do ‘we’ do the actual recon work?”

“Um, since it’s
Graceland
,” Quirk rambled on, pulling out his tablet. “I say we go in the back here…”

Zach looked at the schematic and shook his head. “Nice try.”

“What?” Quirk said apparently trying to look innocent.

Ronnie glanced
at
Zach. “Yes, I’d love to hear what Quirk is up to.”

“That,” Zach said pointing to the map, “
i
s the window to the jungle room.”

The young assistant took in a sharp breath. He was busted
,
and he seemed to know it.

“Quirk?” Ronnie pressed.

“Well, yes, it is the jungle room, but that doesn’t mean that
it
isn’t the most strategic location for insertion.”

Again
,
n
ice try. Zach pointed to the room on the map that had served as Elvis’ living room. “The painting is just to the right of the front door.
I
go in there, grab the painting
,
and
then
come
back out again.” He nodded to
ward
the pilot. “Our driver will have the SUV revved and ready for the road.
I
should be in and out within a minute.”