The Plague

Chapter One-2

“Yeah, it was all over the papers.”

“Well, the girl that was being abused by the so-called victim was my niece.”

“Did Bree – does Bree know that?”

“We went to see my niece after she was released from the hospital. We came after work in our dress clothes and that black guy nearly assaulted us. Bree put on something like what looked like that Nightcrawler costume and went back in there. The next day, that article came out in the papers. For a long time I had my suspicions, but after the Nightcrawler fell off the Statue of Liberty and that blimp in the New York harbor, I knew it wasn't her.”

“Have you ever told anyone about this?” Hoyt searched her face.

“No, never, not 'til now.”

“Let's keep it between us,” he insisted. “If guys like Stone got hold of it, they'd pop open a fresh can of worms. It's all I can do to keep those vultures from perching on her bedpost.”

“That's why I came to you. I just had to get it off my chest.”

“Good,” he smiled. “Uh, did Bree ever say anything to you about meeting the Nightcrawler, or knowing about him in any way?”

“No, never. We never discussed that day ever again. It was just one of those things you don't talk about in a friendship. We saw how the newspapers turned the incident into a public spectacle. I guess we both knew that they would've dragged Bree and my niece through the mud if they had the chance. Neither one of us considered the consequences of her going back there and calling him out. I'll tell you, though, if you'd been there you would've gone in yourself, even if you weren't a police officer. I would've gone in myself, but he would've beat the piss out of me.”

“I'm glad you didn't. Things just had a way of working themselves out, didn't they?”

“Say, here comes Mr. Aeppli.”

Hoyt shook hands with the silver-haired president of Brooks Chemical Company as Rita gave him a hug before taking her leave.

“I just thought I'd stop by and see how our girl was doing.”

“Nothing new. Say, did you ever find out who was paying for all this?”

“It's like I said, she set up this so-called Brooks Foundation without my knowledge.” Hoyt was always fascinated how the older man's cobalt eyes bored into their focal point like lasers. “All of a sudden we started getting these phone calls about how our funding was going to be covered after the Russians pulled out of the AIDS project. I was also told by the billing department at the hospital that Bree's expenses were being taken care of. It sounds like some off-shore deal. Every time I try to make inquiries I get tied up in some relay network in the Caribbean. I guess she had already planned for this day in advance.”

“I just can't figure out why she never told you. She thinks of you like a father.”

“She thinks of you like a future husband. I'd think you'd be her go-to guy.”

“If I had any control over her, this would've never happened.”

“Her father was my partner and my best friend,” Jon looked out the window next to where they stood. “He would've wanted me to watch over her. Now look where we are.”

“Let's quit beating ourselves up,” Hoyt decided. “We've got to move on. We've got to get her up out of that bed. We can't give up on her. And you've got to keep her company ready for when she comes back.”

“It's been rough sailing,” Jon exhaled. “We ordered a lot of equipment we can't use, and some of the suppliers are balking because these were special orders. When the Russians pulled out, our Government pulled the plug on the whole project. We're getting lots of queries from private researchers, but no one's offering the kind of money we need to keep the ball rolling. Plus the whole thing's traumatized our workforce. You know how many of those gay guys were counting on our success.”

“I know the feeling. I've been through three high-level debriefings so far. Homeland Security grilled me about the aborted chlorine bomb attack by Boko Haram at the Sberbank Rossii building on Wall Street. After that the Chief and the Captain put me through the wringer about Clyde Giroux and the corruption allegations against our team. Next Lieutenant Shreve calls me in for an interview with the Russian Security Service on their investigation of Alex Tretiak. In every meeting they made it sound like I masterminded the whole damned thing.”

“We've all got our burdens to bear,” Jon replied as he headed towards the exit. “Let's just hope we can help that little girl carry hers.”

* * *

Just a couple of miles away, a meeting was in progress at the Dagestani Dress Company in the Garment District of Manhattan. The people in attendance would also have a major impact in the life of Sabrina Brooks. They convened in a dusty room furnished with antiquated metal tables, chairs and cabinets that seemed a century removed from the glass and chrome splendor of the lower level showroom.

“It is a good thing that we are finally able to meet, praise Allah,” the leader of the group opened the meeting. “As you both know, I am Colonel Boris Semenko of the Federal Security Service in Moscow. I am also a member of Tryzub, as are we all. We have been sent here to pick up where the Malkin triplets left off. Only our leaders in Makhachkala have modified our goals. Instead of destroying the Russian Mafiya, we will be working with them to carry out our terror campaign in bringing America to its knees. The Americans are already engaged in a crucial struggle against the Ebola epidemic. They will be entirely unprepared to defend themselves against what we are about to bring them.”

“Have you brought the weapon?” the second man asked.

“The canisters are off-shore, waiting to be launched.”

“Praise be to Allah,” the woman said.

“My comrade, this is Cesaro Francium, a retired Captain of the GRU Spetsnaz of the Russian Army. He is a ranking member of the Tryzub Military Command in Makhachkala. He goes by the code name of Apollyon. He played a major role in the military campaigns in Grozny over the last decade as well as the Beslan operation in 2004. Let us just say that, when the name of Apollyon is mentioned in tradecraft, all who hear it know that death and destruction are not far behind.”

“I'm pleased to know that I will be working with the best.”

“And this is Chakra Khan, the leader of our cell unit in Nigeria. She goes by the code name of Black Diamond. She also holds rank in Boko Haram and has played a major role in their campaigns in Borno and Gwoza. The mention of the Black Diamond in Nigeria brings with it a portent of wholesale s*******r and mass annihilation.”

“I'm sure Comrade Khan is just as familiar with your own exploits. The Colonel has masterminded the annexation of the Crimea and the ongoing guerilla war in the Ukraine, as well as the shoot-down of the Malaysian aircraft a short time back,” Cesaro noted. “Now that we are all familiar with one another's penchant for mass destruction, let us proceed. How will we attend to the matters at hand?”

“The mission is twofold. As we know, Homeland Security is still investigating the deaths of the Malkin triplets. It is giving our people time to cover their tracks. The Federal Security Service has taken over the inquiry concerning Alexander Malkin, so that matter is fairly well closed. We have linked Grigori Malkin to the Russian Mob, so that is leading the NYPD into a dead end. The death of Dariya Malkin is still being investigated as a homicide, making her a victim rather than a suspect. It facilitates our move into position as the new leaders of the American Tryzub.”

“How are we going to repair the bridge between us and the Mafiya?” Cesaro asked.

“It has already been take care of in Moscow. Our connections with the Chechen Mob acted as intercessors. In exchange for a forty percent commission, the Mafiya will provide us full support in blackmailing the Government for one hundred million dollars ransom. Within forty-eight hours, we will be sending them samples of the mutated Ebola virus our scientists have developed. We will then exchange the canisters of EVDIII in exchange for the ransom money. If they refuse, the canisters will be used in attacks on the people of New York City. It will cause paralysis throughout the financial networks of the nations of the world. From there it will be easier to blackmail other nations in future endeavors.”

“It is a lofty goal,” Cesaro concurred. “Let us hope we are equal to the task.”

“The secondary objective will be to eliminate the Nightcrawler once and for all. This masked vigilante has been conducting raids against our Mafiya colleagues ever since our Boko Haram assassins were killed a few weeks ago. Apparently the Nightcrawler established the connection between the Mafiya and Boko Haram. This is a well-trained, elusive and cunning adversary who is not only well-informed but well-equipped with unique and highly effective equipment. At first he was using what seemed a modified form of our own Kolokol-1, but now it seems he has a derivative which is twice as effective and easier to produce.”

“May I ask where we are getting all this information?” Chakra inquired.

“Ironically, the deaths of the Malkins opened up a whole new dialogue between the Security Service, Homeland Security and the NYPD. They are now freely trading information in order to shut down the Chechen Mob and the Mafiya in New York City. Unknown to them, we have double agents in both the hierarchy and middle management throughout the Security Service. All of their information is placed on our tables on a silver platter.”

They shared a hearty laugh.

“The downside is that we are receiving most troubling information on the Nightcrawler, and it tells us more about what we do not know about him,” Boris frowned. “He has been one step ahead of us in every phase of the game. We have every reason to believe that he has informers inside the Russian community. We also believe he has connections to the business community, the scientific community and law enforcement. We believe that he has a contact within the Brooks Chemical Company, possibly with its CEO. However, Sabrina Brooks suffered injuries which put her in a coma during the attack against Boko Haram. We have agents watching her hospital room, awaiting word of her recovery so we may gain further information from her. That, unfortunately, may not happen for some time to come. Instead we have decided to kill the Nightcrawler and remove this stumbling block from our path to success.”

“How was Brooks involved in the attack on Boko Haram?” Cesaro wondered.

“This is where it gets murky. The NYPD and Homeland Security are also waiting to debrief Ms. Brooks for the same reason. The general consensus is that the Nightcrawler learned about a plan by Boko Haram to kidnap Ms. Brooks. For what reason we do not know. Apparently the gambit was to dress Ms. Brooks as the Nightcrawler and use Dariya Malkin as bait. The Boko Haram agents staged a raid on the Brooks Chemical complex, and Dariya had no choice but to defend Brooks. Boko Haram had no knowledge of Dariya being part of Tryzub, and killed her in the skirmish. They then took Brooks back to their waterfront hideout, where the Nightcrawler overtook them. There was an explosion that killed the agents and incapacitated Brooks. Somehow the Nightcrawler escaped.”

“From your words, it seems that the Nightcrawler may have stood by and watch our agents kill Malkin and kidnap Brooks in order to trail our people to their hideout,” Chakra pointed out. “That seems somewhat ruthless for a crimefighter.”