The Adamas Blueprint (20 page)

For a moment, the man was taken aback. Then he said calmly, “And your name?”

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“No,” Erica said. “This isn’t a prescription.” As she said it, the manager caught up with her at the counter, huffing like he could have a heart attack any minute. Judging from his weight, it was a distinct possibility.

His eyes on the manager, the pharmacist said, “Epinephrine is not an over-the-counter drug. I need a prescription...”

“Listen,” she said. “A girl on the other side of the store had a severe allergic reaction to that coffee cake the woman was serving by the registers. If she doesn’t get epinephrine in the next few minutes, she will die.” She glanced at the manager. “Do you understand?”

The manager’s eyes widened at the implications of a huge lawsuit. He looked at the pharmacist. “I saw the kid. Her face was swollen like a balloon. This woman is a doctor. Get her whatever she needs, right now.”

The pharmacist nodded. He hurried to the last shelf on the right and grabbed a box near the top. He gave it to Erica, who ripped open the package and withdrew a small syringe.

To the manager, she said, “I want you to go to the front of the store and wait for the paramedics so you can show them where we are.”

Without waiting for a response, she ran to Tory.

Erica approached the crowd and shoved two people aside. “Everybody back up!” she yelled.

The dozen people surrounding her complied.

Erica kneeled next to the prone teenager. By now Tory was no longer moving, and her breath came in short, shallow hisses. Erica propped her head back to look down her throat. It was what she feared. In seconds, the throat would be completely constricted.

Maggie was now almost hysterical. “Erica, do something, please! She’s dying!”

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“She’s not going to die,” Erica said as calmly as possible. She stuck the syringe’s needle into Tory’s left quadricep and pushed the plunger to its stop. The epinephrine would quickly flow from the thigh muscle into the femoral vein and then straight to the heart. She removed the needle and stuck it into one of the tomatoes lying on the floor.

The only thing Erica could do now was tilt Tory’s head back to clear the airway as much as possible. Cradling Tory’s neck with her left hand, Erica gently pushed her forehead back. She leaned down and put her ear next to Tory’s mouth. It was only the faintest of puffs, but she was still breathing. Erica hoped the epi had come soon enough.

Erica looked into Maggie’s tearful eyes. “She’s going to be all right,” she said confidently, even though she wasn’t sure. But the words had the desired effect. Maggie nodded and tried to smile.

Two minutes later, she heard sirens blaring and then the honk of a piercing air horn. They were silenced as an EMS unit squealed to a stop in front of the store. The paramedics would be in here any second. Then another siren grew louder. The police, Erica thought with alarm.

When they got here, they would certainly want a statement from Erica, including her name. She had to leave.

The contents of her purse were still scattered across the floor. She hurriedly scooped them up and stuffed them back in her purse. As she finished, the crowd parted and two paramedics holding emergency boxes pushed their way through.

Erica got up and spoke to one of them while he opened the box on the floor. “Anaphylactic reaction. Severe throat constriction causing stridor. A dose of epi was administered via left quad.”

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Before he could ask any questions, she ducked past the crowd. As she ran down the aisle, she could hear shouts behind her. “Hey! Who was that? Come back!”

At the cash registers, she slowed to a walk when she saw a policeman. He was talking to the store manager, who had his back to Erica. She held her face down to avoid being recognized. As inconspicuously as possible, she turned away as the policeman followed the manager toward the rear of the store. She continued walking with her purse clenched tightly to her stomach and made it through the store’s front door without being noticed. Outside, clusters of people were talking and pointing at the emergency vehicles. No one looked at her. Although she was almost hyperventilating, Erica ran.

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CHAPTER 27

Kevin gnawed on a leftover piece of pepperoni pizza as he studied the figures on the computer screen in front of him. The graph of the spectroscopic analysis showed an impurity in the carbon of 0.01%, primarily in the form of methane and other organic molecules. He wasn’t surprised that there was some impurity. Instead of requiring a pure vacuum, the process produced the greatest yield when performed in a vapor of hydrogen gas. Still, to the naked eye, or even under a high-powered loupe, no flaws in the material would be evident unless one had been introduced artificially. Just as the Adamas Blueprint said, the process produced clear, flawless diamond.

Kevin shook his head, still in a mild state of disbelief that it really worked. He walked over to the test chamber and stared through the door’s porthole. The specimen sat in the middle of the chamber, imperceptibly acquiring new coatings of diamond every time the laser’s light flashed, coatings that were fused to the previous layer with the strength of the world’s hardest known substance. Because of this fusion process, the layers were not detectable. It was a single crystal.

Kevin’s contacts were bothering him, as they often did when he stayed up late. He rubbed his eyes and looked at his watch. Almost half past midnight.

“Ready for bed?”

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Kevin whipped around, startled by the voice behind him. Erica’s head peeked past the lab’s open door.

“Hey stranger. I didn’t hear you. What are you doing here?”

Erica came in the rest of the way and closed the door behind her.

“That’s a nice greeting. And when I came all the way over here to find out how you were doing.”

“Sorry. Been a long day I guess.”

“I know what you mean.” Erica walked over to peer into the chamber. When she saw the specimen, she gasped and then chuckled. “So that’s how we’re going to prove it’s an artificial diamond.”

“It was the only thing I could come up with.”

“I like it,” Erica said. “How much
do
we have?” She pulled up a stool and sat next to him.

“Not as much as I’d hoped. It looks like we might get 40 grams by Sunday.”

“How many carats is that?”

“I was wondering that myself, so I went and found a dictionary in Ted’s office. One carat equals 200 milligrams.”

After the slightest pause for a calculation, Erica exclaimed, “That’s 200 carats!”

“Yeah. I figured it would be enough to prove our point.”

“Liz Taylor might not be impressed.”

“She wasn’t. I’ve already got her order for a 300 carat diamond.”

“You have to spend that alimony somehow. How did she know where to find you?”

“Smell. She can detect the scent of large diamonds from as far away as a thousand miles.”

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“Is it a hypersensitivity to all jewels?”

Kevin nodded. “Large amounts of shiny objects.”

“That must explain her irresistible urge to be near Michael Jackson.”

He wanted to laugh, but he was too tired. He smiled, then couldn’t stifle a yawn.

“You need to get some rest,” Erica said. “You’ve barely slept the last two nights.”

“I’m all right.” He rotated his head around and then rubbed his neck. The lack of exercise was starting to get to him. “What did you do all afternoon?

Erica took over rubbing his neck and moved down to his shoulders. He moaned appreciatively. It was just what he needed, and her hands were obviously skilled in the art of massage.

“The reason I’m here,” she said, “is that I couldn’t sleep. Something happened today. I wasn’t going to tell you because I knew it would upset you, but I thought you should know.”

“What?” Kevin’s mind raced through a number of possibilities, all bad.

“Relax. You’re tensing up.”

“No kidding.”

“I won’t go on unless you relax.”

“All right,” he said reluctantly.

“Good. Today, when I went to the store, there was an emergency. A girl, a teenager, had a reaction to something she ate.”

“And?”

“She was severely allergic and went into anaphylactic shock.”

“What’s that?”

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“Sorry. The body acts as if the allergen were a poison. In her case, her throat swelled shut.”

“Wow! Did she live? Is she going to be okay?”

“I’m not sure, but I think so.”

“That’s good...Wait a minute. What does this have to do with you?”

Erica took a deep breath. “I was right there when it happened. By the time anyone noticed, she couldn’t breathe. I guess my instincts took over, otherwise she would have died right in front of me. I had to help. She was suffocating.”

“What did you do?”

She stopped the massage and pulled out a newspaper out of her purse. The banner said
Roanoke Times and World News
. It was folded over, showing a story on the bottom of the front page.

Kevin read the story twice before he looked up.

“Don’t tell me the unidentified woman was you.”

Erica nodded.

“Are you insane? What were you trying to prove?”

“If I had waited until the paramedics arrived, she would have been brain-damaged.”

“But the police. They were there...”

Erica shook her head. “I got away before they could talk to me.”

“Do you realize the risk you took?” Kevin said, his voice rising.

“Like I said, it didn’t seem like I had a choice. It all happened pretty fast.”

“Erica, we have been just one step ahead of these...psychos, whoever they are. What if the police had arrested you?” Kevin was off the stool now, pacing.

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“What would you have wanted me to do? Let that girl die?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Of course not.”

“Oh, I’m the one being ridiculous.”

“You could have waited.”

“No, I couldn’t.”

“Are you sure? How do you know? You’re not a doctor yet.”

“I’ve spent the last three months in the ER. It was a judgment call. I made it. That’s my profession. Deal with it.”

“Your heroics have lousy timing.”

“I’m sorry emergencies aren’t more convenient for you.” Erica stood and picked up her purse.

Kevin grabbed her sinewy shoulders. “Don’t you get it? If you got taken to jail and Barnett found you there, he’d kill you in a minute.”

She looked up at him, her wide green eyes boring into his. “So?”

Kevin’s voice was almost a whisper. “So I couldn’t stand to lose you too.” Then, before he realized what he was doing, he pulled her toward him in a rush and kissed her deeply. Instead of pulling away as he thought she might, Erica returned the kiss even more forcefully. Kevin felt her breasts pleasantly compressed against his chest and inhaled the light scent of fresh soap from her skin. He cradled her head in one palm, holding her to him with the other. Their hips ground together, making him aware of his sudden desire.

After what seemed like an hour but had to have been only a few seconds, Kevin released her and held her hands.

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“Why didn’t you do that in the motel?” Erica said.

“I wasn’t sure then.”

“About whether you wanted to?”

“No. About whether
you
wanted to.”

“Are you sure now?”

“Oh yeah.”

Erica looked at the equipment. “Can this stuff stay unattended for an hour or so?” Then she looked back at him with a curled smile.

Kevin punched a large red EMERGENCY STOP button, and the whine of the machinery ground to a halt. “Yes.”

Ted’s house was only five minutes away. It was the longest five-minute drive Kevin ever took.

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CHAPTER 28

“STU Financial Aid and Student Affairs, this is Teri, may I help you?” The sentence was recited with the boredom of innumerable repetition.

The answering voice spoke in a dreadful southern drawl. She sounded young, maybe a teenager. “Hi, my name’s Maggie Burleson. I was told you were the right person to talk to.”

“What can I help you with?” Teri Linley glanced at the wall clock. Only two hours until the weekend. Friday afternoons were always the slowest. She hoped it wouldn’t take as long to get out of here as last Friday did.

“Yesterday, a friend of mine had an emergency. She ate some cake with peanut oil in it and had an allergic reaction.”

“Are you sure you need this office?”

“No, but this is who they told me to call to find a student. One of the people at the emergency was a South Texas student. Her name is Erica Jensen.”

Teri perked up at the name. It was one of the two she’d been told to be on the alert for. That priggish black-haired guy had told her she’d get a hundred dollars if she could tell him where Erica Jensen was.

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“Go on, Mrs. Burleson.”

A giggle erupted from the other end. “I’m not married.”

Teri was impatient. A hundred dollars would make the weekend a lot more fun. “You said you saw Erica Jensen, Maggie?”

“Yeah. I was wondering if you could tell me her number.”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that, Maggie. We’re not allowed to give out that information for confidentiality reasons. Where did you say you were?”

“It...the emergency happened in Blacksburg.”

Blacksburg? Where the hell was that? “Blacksburg, Texas?”

“No, Blacksburg, Virginia. Uh, I really need to talk to her.”

Teri decided to take another approach. “Maggie, I shouldn’t be doing this, but Erica is a friend of mine. If you tell me the message, I’ll make sure she gets it and calls you back.”

The line was silent for a few seconds. “She a friend of yours?”

“We’re in the fourth year of med school together. I just work here for extra money.” When Maggie hesitated, Teri said, “In fact, I’m going to pick up Erica at the airport tomorrow when she gets back from visiting her relatives in Virginia.”

“All right,” Maggie said, the apprehension apparent in her voice. “You should be proud of Erica. She saved my friend’s life yesterday. The doctors at the hospital said Tory, my friend, might have died if Erica hadn’t given her epinephrine.” She said the word slowly, trying to pronounce it properly.

“Oh my gosh! Is Erica with you now?” Teri impressed herself at how well she was doing.

She was definitely earning that hundred dollars.

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“No, and that’s why I was calling. Erica ran off just as the paramedics and police got there.

Just after she left, I found her medical student badge. It must have fell out when Tory knocked her purse over. I put it in my pocket without telling the police. I been wondering all day whether I should tell them or not, but I figured there was some reason she ran away so fast without telling anyone her last name. That’s why I’m trying to call her, to see if I can tell the police.”

“No!” Teri said, too forcefully. She lowered her voice. “No, you did the right thing. I’ll give Erica the message. She probably just wanted her privacy.”

“That’s what I thought.”

“The ID has an address printed on the back. Just mail it there. She’ll get it back. Thank you very much for your help, Maggie.”

“I was pretty scared yesterday, but Erica helped me a lot. I’m glad I’m able to help her.”

* * *

On Fridays at 6:15, the hospital’s parking garage was about as empty as it ever got. David Lobec motioned for Bern to wait in the car while he got out to meet with Teri Linley. As he expected, she wasn’t going to give the information over the phone when a hundred dollars was on the line.

Through the Friday rush hour traffic, it had taken them almost an hour to get there after her phone call. Her Fiero was parked in front of them at the deserted end of the garage’s fourth level.

A big-haired girl in her twenties got out of the two-seater and approached him. On the other side, a young man opened the door and got out. He wore a body-builder’s tank top and had the physique to match it. Obviously he was the boyfriend along for protection. He puffed up to his full six foot height and casually leaned on the open door.

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“Do you have the money?” she said.

Lobec pulled five twenties out of his pocket and handed the bills over to her. “Where was she sighted?”

“It’ll cost you two hundred.”

Lobec didn’t blink. “The offered price was one hundred. I suggest you take it.”

“It sounded on the phone like you really want this information, and by the looks of you, you can afford it. Two hundred or you don’t get it.” She held out her hand for the money.

Without moving his eyes from hers, Lobec grabbed her hand like a viper snatching its prey and pulled her towards him, twisting her arm back with his right hand. She gasped, but was too surprised to scream.

“You’ll tell me now for a hundred or you’ll tell me for nothing after I’ve broken your arm.

Which shall it be?”

Out of his peripheral vision, Lobec saw the body-builder throw a punch at his head. He ducked under it and slammed his left fist into the man’s crotch in the same movement. Teri Linley began screaming. As the man doubled over, Lobec threw his elbow into the amateur’s face.

Teeth cracked with the impact. The man groaned and vomited, spitting up blood.

Bern was still sitting in the car, smiling. According to the usual procedure, Bern was only to assist if Lobec’s attacker drew a weapon.

Lobec grabbed the woman’s face. “Now stop screaming.”

The woman, wide-eyed at her groaning boyfriend lying on the ground, exhaled in jittery sobs.

“Good. Unfortunately, I will now have to repeat myself. Where was she sighted?”

“B..B.Blacksburg, Virginia. Please, God, don’t hurt me.”

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“You can help matters by answering my questions. Why was she there?”

Teri Linley’s words came out in a rush. “A girl said Erica Jensen saved her friend’s life and ran off before she gave her name to the police or anyone else. The girl found her South Texas ID.

It had Erica’s name on it. That’s all I know, I swear!”

“When?”

“Yesterday. She didn’t say what time.”

“And you’re very sure it was Blacksburg, Virginia?”

“Yes, yes!”

“Thank you,” Lobec said, releasing her arm, satisfied that she was telling the truth. “I hope you’ve learned a valuable lesson in negotiation.”

The woman looked at him as if he were crazy.

Lobec smiled. “Never bargain when you don’t have the advantage.”

* * *

As Bern drove out of the garage, Lobec opened his cell phone and dialed.

“We going to Blacksburg?” Bern asked.

“No, I am calling Mitch Hornung.”

“What for? The girl just said she was in Blacksburg.”

“Exactly. She
was
in Blacksburg. Yesterday. For any number of possible reasons. She and Mr. Hamilton could easily have been passing through on their way to another location. Before we go on another potential wild goose chase, I want to find out if there is any reason they would stay there.”

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After five rings, the line clicked. It switched to Hornung’s beeper answering machine. Lobec entered the cell phone’s number so that it would read out on Hornung’s beeper display.

During the next three hours, Bern and Lobec tried calling the people they had already met with for information about anyone Kevin might know in Blacksburg. Relatives, friends, schoolmates from grade school on up, anyone Erica and Kevin had ever been in contact with.

The few people who were home on a Friday night were useless. Finally, Hornung answered the page. Lobec was livid. Though he was the best hacker money could buy, Hornung’s lack of dependability had always been a problem.

“Mr. Hornung, I gave specific instructions that you were to be on call at all times until this matter was resolved.”

“Sorry, man. I was with Monica.” He said it as if it were supposed to mean something to Lobec.

“That is irrelevant. Mr. Bern and I will be at your computer in fifteen minutes. Meet us there.”

“But Monica...”

“Do as I say, Mr. Hornung. I am not always this pleasant.”

When Mitch Hornung arrived at his office exactly fifteen minutes later, Lobec explained the problem.

“Man, I don’t know. This could take a while.” Hornung looked at the screen in front of him.

“Says here that Blacksburg has a population of 22,921, but including all the students at Virginia Tech and the people in the surrounding area, we’re talking over 100,000.”

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“I didn’t say it would be easy,” said Lobec. “But I could go to this town and never find them if I don’t know where to look.”

“So you’re saying you want me to compare every name in that town to the name of every person either of these two have ever met and see if I get a match?”

“That is the gist of it.”

“These guys must have screwed Tarnwell out of some serious cash.”

“More than even you have,” Lobec whispered into Hornung’s ear. Hornung smiled at Lobec, but when he saw Lobec was serious, his smiled faltered. He quickly turned to the computer and began tapping on the mouse.

* * *

Given the task, Lobec wasn’t expecting an answer until well into the next day. But Hornung was good, which was why Tarnwell let him get away with skimming a few measly thousand each month. At three in the morning, he said, “Bingo.”

Lobec instantly got up from the couch where he was lightly dozing and went over to Hornung’s computer. Bern followed from the chair he was sleeping on. “You have something?”

Lobec said.

“I got lucky. The only reason I found it so quickly was because the name was a little odd.

Theodore Ishio. Both Hamilton and Jensen are getting graduate degrees, so I thought maybe one of them knew a student at Virginia Tech. Then I broadened the search to include professors.

Guess where Theodore Ishio, the new assistant professor in chemistry, got his Ph.D.”

“South Texas?” Bern said.

“Very good, Dick,” Hornung said. “That only took you a few seconds.”

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Bern grabbed Hornung’s arm. “Why you little...”

Lobec held up his hand. “That’s enough.” Bern let go, and Lobec turned to Hornung.

“When did he graduate?”

“This past summer. Looks like he and Hamilton went to school together for a couple of years. Ishio’s got a vita about a mile long posted on the Web. He and Hamilton are even coauthors on one of the papers cited in the vita.”

“What is Theodore Ishio’s address?”

Seconds later the address was feeding into the laser printer on the desk.

Lobec picked up Hornung’s phone. No commercial flights would be leaving either one of Houston’s airports for several hours. But he knew that Tarnwell’s plane would be returning soon. “Yes, this is Lobec. Has the Gulfstream arrived from Washington?...Six o’clock?...No, tell them I’ll need it as soon as it arrives. I want to leave Intercontinental by seven...Then get another flight crew. And find the nearest airport to Blacksburg, Virginia.”

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