The Immortality Virus (31 page)

“A job to come back here and finish what he started?” Grace asked.

Matt nodded. “My father had him. I think he knew Jordan didn’t really kill those people, but he was a pretty ruthless man. Jordan grew to hate him.”

Something in his tone made Grace think to ask, “As you hated him?”

Matt shrugged. “Hate is such a strong word. It definitely fits Jordan, though. My father convinced him that creating and releasing that virus would serve all humanity. Jordan still believes it. Hang on.” He pressed an old-fashioned power button on the portable diary and said, “Play entry from July 16, 2050.”

My Dearest Margaret, It’s July 16, 2050,

Mr. Stanton came to talk to me again today. He’s the sorriest sack of shit I’ve ever run across. Pardon my language. He expects me to believe after I get this virus released, he’ll help clear my name and get Chrissy put in jail where she belongs. Why would he do that? He’s got me right where he wants me, and it won’t stop with this virus. Mark my word. If I live for an eternity, it will be here.

But it doesn’t matter. I’m not doing this for him. I’m doing it for you. When the virus is released, you’ll be well again.

I love you,

Jordan

When the recording stopped, Grace asked, “Didn’t his wife die back in March of 2050?”

“Yes,” Matt confirmed. “It would be another year before my father told him, just after the release of the virus. In case you’re interested, that was September 3, 2051. A strange flu epidemic hit the world that fall. A handful of people died but most recovered in a few days. Nobody ever put that small and short-lived epidemic together with the timing of The Change. Most people are convinced it happened a decade later.”

They fell into silence for a minute as Grace let the weight of the information fall down around her. Then she found herself wondering something else: Why hide this?

It didn’t take long for her to answer her own question: Because Jordan’s the one who killed Mr. Stanton Sr., with Matt’s help. She wondered if more recent diary entries would have details.
If it did, it was the proof the Kansas City Establishment needed. She realized she had what she needed to take Matt down if she had to–which was exactly why he hadn’t told her this.

“You said you intended to let Jordan go?” Grace asked.

“I did let Jordan go,” Matt said. “I thought he would continue to help me anyway. He said he would, but perhaps I should have realized four hundred years would make even the most honorable man lie for his freedom.”

“When did you let him go?” Grace asked.

Matt hesitated.

“It was the day your father died, wasn’t it?” Grace asked. “The day you stole the holosuit.” She stopped and reconsidered. “Wait–Jordan has the holosuit, doesn’t he? The man could look like anyone and you didn’t see fit to tell me?”

Matt shook his head. “You don’t understand.”

She understood plenty. She understood she could have been staring straight at Jordan and never have known it. For all she knew, Matt could be Jordan. “Enlighten me.”

He glanced out the window and then back at Grace. “Do you see that?” He gestured outside. “You think I’m an evil man–I can tell–but that’s what I’ve been trying to solve for longer than I can remember. I’ve got my own fortune, I didn’t need my father’s, although he had considerably more than I did. I just wanted to find a way to help them. Nutri-bar drops almost cause more harm than good, though I did my share of those. Birth restrictions don’t work on the unregistered masses. Some thought we should do more nutri-bar drops and put birth control in them, but I couldn’t bring myself to force medication on people.”

“Why are you telling me this?” Grace asked.

“You said you wanted enlightenment,” Matt said. “It’s a slow process.”

Grace shut up and leaned back in her chair, just listening. She was still predisposed to dislike this man who had lied to her, thrown her in harm’s way without enough information, and who was probably doing all this for his own selfish reasons, but she could hear him out.

“I bet Ethan Lacklin put all kinds of strange notions in your head about me when he held you captive. I should have expected that. He’s a liar. He’ll say or do anything to get what he wants.”

Matt took a sip of water. “The day I hired you, you gave my spy the slip. I fired him and put three men on you. I’m not sure what you did after that until Sam contacted me to say you were with him. What were you doing during that time?”

She had been at the police station, but she couldn’t tell him that. She searched for a lie, but found none forthcoming.

“I’m not the only one keeping secrets, am I? I had a feeling the rest of The Establishment would be after you. They probably took you to the police department. No, don’t argue. They’re after my blood and would use anyone or anything against me. They probably didn’t so much ask whether I killed my father, but rather whether you had proof.”

Grace worked to keep her expression impassive.

“I didn’t kill my father,” Matt said, “but there is definitely enough circumstantial evidence for them. They just want to warn their own offspring away from killing them. I don’t know why they bothered to have kids if they were so scared of them.”

“Are you suggesting,” Grace began, “that you stole the holosuit to free Jordan, but he then killed your father of his own accord?”

“Yes,” Matt said. “After that, it became essential I find him quickly, which is why I hired you. You’re the best. I needed that, blacklist or no, and I thought–mistakenly it seems–that The Establishment may have forgotten you by now.”

“And you didn’t tell me all of this because you don’t trust me?” Grace asked.

“Would it have made a difference?” Matt asked. “The logical place to start was still Alexander Lacklin. And now things are even more critical. Too many people have reasoned out what you’re after. If we don’t find Jordan before someone else does...”

He dropped the end of that sentence, but Grace didn’t fill it in the way she thought he wanted her to. If Matt didn’t find Jordan, then someone else would have the secret to immortality. Someone who might take away his own chance at it.

Or
, came a small voice at the back of her mind,
someone like Ethan, who would destroy the source of the information and make sure the world continued to suffer.

Compared to that, was Matt so bad? She didn’t know. She needed time to think.

And what of Jordan? What did he want? If she turned him over to anyone at all, he would be a prisoner. The man only remained free so long as he remained unidentified.

“Grace, will you finish this case?” Matt asked.

“If I can,” was all Grace would commit to.

As Grace rode the elevator down to the lobby, she wanted nothing more than to escape the building, clear her head, maybe get a good night’s sleep, and talk to Alex. She knew finding Jordan was time sensitive, but just at the moment she couldn’t decide if Matt was a friend or foe–murderer or victim. Maybe all of the above.

She practically ran into Sam as she flew out of the elevator. Damn. She’d wanted to leave without running into him.

“Are you my new chaperone?” Grace asked when Sam fell into step beside her. “I don’t need you.”

“Matt feels differently,” Sam said. He wasn’t smiling. “He said I should stay with you until this is over.”

That could present a problem. She’d told Alex to meet her back at her apartment. She’d even given him the code combination. Somehow, she didn’t think Sam would approve of her being so friendly with Lacklin’s grandson–on a personal or professional level.

“I don’t think this is a good idea,” Grace said. Then, because she couldn’t think of anything else to say, “I work alone.”

“There’s one for the cliché hall of fame,” Sam said. “You don’t have a choice, though, and neither do I.”

She opened her mouth to speak but closed it again. There were too many battles to fight; maybe this wasn’t one worth fighting.

They didn’t speak on the way back to Grace’s apartment. He became her silent shadow as she ducked through crowds and pushed her way onto trains, completely unconcerned as to whether he could keep up or not. He did, but that didn’t surprise her. They had both lived in the city for a long time and knew how to navigate the public transit system.

Finally, as they entered Grace’s apartment building, Sam spoke. He had to grab Grace by the wrist to get her attention. “Wait.”

“What?”

“Before you get to work, I just want you to know that I’m still your friend.”

“Sam, we’ve never been friends.” In fact, she’d had precious few friends in her lifetime. Everyone in her life seemed to want something from her, including her mom and sister who only called when there wasn’t a man in their lives.

“That’s true,” Sam said. “Then maybe I should say I’d like to become your friend. It’s been a long time. We had a lot in common and I bet we still do.”

They probably did. All the more reason not to become friends. It wasn’t what she wanted from Sam. It never had been.

“There’s someone at my apartment,” Grace told him by way of changing the subject.

“Oh?” Sam’s face fell. “A man?”

“Yes, a man. Alexander Lacklin.”

It took Sam a minute to register the name. She could tell when he did. “Jordan’s grandson? What’s he doing here?”

“He helped me escape and saved my life. Now, he wants to help me find his grandfather.”

“But not for Matt,” Sam said.

“I don’t think so.”

Sam pursed his lips but didn’t say anything else about it until they reached her apartment. She started to enter the code when he put a hand over hers to stop her. “Don’t trust him. Don’t trust anyone.”

“Don’t worry. I haven’t trusted anyone in a very long time.” She meant it as a jab and it seemed to work, because he withdrew his hand.

She punched in the code and opened the door, preparing herself for any number of reactions from Alex or Sam. But she didn’t prepare for the fact that Alex wasn’t alone.

Grace didn’t see a face at first, just a mass of unruly brown hair. It came at her with a guttural cry as if from a wounded animal. Grace blocked a feeble punch and held the arms at bay while she studied the face.

“Meg!”

“How dare you?” Meg said. “I told you I was happy there! How dare you make them let me go?”

Alex came up behind Meg and took her gently by the arms. She turned and buried her face in his chest, sobbing. Part of Grace wanted to tell her to get her paws off him, but most of her just wanted to know why she was so upset.

“What’s going on here?” Grace asked.

“I found her in the hallway when I arrived this morning,” Alex said. “She came in just ahead of the army, from the sounds of it. My sister let her go, just like you asked.”

“I told you I was happy!” Meg screamed again. “I had a home there.”

“But you’re free here.” Grace heard the pleading tone in her voice. She thought Meg might take some time to adjust, but she hadn’t really considered that the girl would resent her for setting her free. Why hadn’t she? Arrogance, probably. That and she hadn’t had a real friend in too long. Maybe never.

“What am I supposed to do here? Live in a trash can? I have no skills.”

“You were learning to read,” Grace pointed out. “I’ll teach you. You can be my assistant.”

Meg turned slightly to look at Grace. Her eyes were red and puffy. “It’s not really freedom if I don’t choose it.”

Grace lowered her eyes to the floor. She hated shame. It was the worst emotion. It meant she had done something wrong. “I’m sorry. When this is all over, I’ll take you back.”

Meg swallowed, hard. She didn’t respond, though. She let go of Alex and made her way through the only door in the apartment–the one leading to Grace’s bedroom.

“I think she’ll be okay after she’s had some time to adjust,” Alex said. “She just doesn’t know what to do. I’ve been trying to reason with her all day.”

“Maybe we shouldn’t just stand in the doorway,” Sam said. She’d almost forgotten he was there.

“Right.” They walked inside and Grace closed the door. Alex eyed Sam, but didn’t say anything. He just waited for Grace’s introduction. “Alex, this is Sam.”

“Good evening!” chirped the voice locked in Grace’s computer terminal. Her face turned scarlet as she realized it had responded to its name–Sam. Most unfortunately, both Sam and Alex realized the same thing.

“The ex-boyfriend.” Alex’s face was impassive, but she thought she saw the edges of his lips curl downward.

Sam had a strange half-smile on his face.

“Um, look, we have work to do here.” Grace walked as casually as she could over to her computer terminal and removed the power pack.

“Poor Sam,” Sam said.

Grace didn’t look at him. “Can we focus?”

Sam smiled and nodded once. Alex glared at him but also nodded. If she’d been a different type of person, she might have enjoyed the tension between them.

“I don’t think Jordan is in the city. The trouble is there’s no way out right now.”

“Matt might be able to help get us out,” Sam said, “But where do you think he is?”