Catch and Release

Chapter 15

Chapter 15Samir sat in his rental car in the parking building directly across the street from the CDC building. He was fortunate to secure a parking space on the third level that overlooked the entrance as well as the parking lot. Samir took a long pull from his Peach Snapple and unwrapped yet another candy bar as he stepped out of the car to stretch his legs.

“These things are gonna kill me one day.” Samir said while igniting another cigarette. He had been staring out at the parking lot for several hours now with very little to catch his attention other than several women whom he thought were dressed far too immodestly. He walked to the front of the car, kicking and shaking his legs out to regain circulation, and stretched upward, arching his back which clicked several vertebrae.

He looked down at the parking lot again and muttered to himself, “I really wish that b***h would hurry up, so I can leave this Godless country.”

Just as he finished his sentence, almost as if it were timed and rehearsed, the door to the service entrance swung open and Zoe made her way across the parking lot but not toward her car.

“Interesting, now where exactly is she going?” Samir said. “I suppose I should go find out. I am meant to be tailing her after all.”

Samir grabbed his phone from the car and locked it as he hurried off toward the stairs at a slight jog.

***

Zoe rounded the corner and moved fast toward her favorite deli. She didn’t go there very frequently as it was a little on the expensive side. Her budget only allowed for the occasional meal out, and those were usually a treat for Lex. She could see the deli half a block away, a small Italian place named Piccola Vecchia Gastronomia. She opened the door and relaxed instantly at the comforting smell of the Italian Roast. Zoe looked at her watch. Her lunch break was quickly passing, so she was relieved the line at the counter was short, and she filed in behind two others. Five minutes later, Zoe was at the front of the line, ordering a long black and a Mediterranean spinach sandwich. The girl behind the counter turned away to operate an espresso machine that looked like something out of an H.G. Wells novel. The machine started to make a less than subtle noise when Zoe heard a horrifyingly familiar voice from the person behind her.

“A double espresso with a tuna and olive salad may help you focus on your work.”

Zoe froze as the blood drained from her face, and a chill ran up her spine. She felt as though she would throw up despite not eating anything since the night before.

“Piccola Vecchia Gastronomia, little old deli, certainly fits the feel of this place.”

She tried to speak but couldn’t manage more than a slight cracking sound. The girl behind the counter returned with Zoe’s coffee and sandwich. “That’ll be nine dollars and eighty-three cents.”

Zoe handed over a ten-dollar bill, grabbed her food and coffee, and moved her left foot backward to turn around, bumping into the man behind her whom she couldn’t even stand to look at. She felt a jabbing sensation in her shoulder. Not painful, just a feeling of running into something hard. She moved forward slightly to take a wider berth around him and headed for the door with her head down. She didn’t even respond when the girl behind the counter called out to her about her change. She walked out the door at a much faster pace than she normally would. She risked a look back into the deli only to catch a glimpse of an evil grin behind a cell phone that made her want to run as far and as fast as she could. With her mind running at a million miles an hour she focused on getting back to the lab. A new question had crossed her mind. What did I run into?