VECTOR

Chapter 20 The end

Chapter 20

The End?

Ravi ogled the naked woman and licked his lips. She was attractive, sexy, and he felt a sudden urge to make her feel pain, the pain that wracked his body. He stood, grabbed her by the hair and pushed her to the table. He slammed her down and held her there.

“You are going to please me,” he said. “And when I'm done with you, you will tell me about the man from Paris.”

“No, no, please, no, I don't know anything about Paris. You have the wrong person.”

“Do not think me a fool.” He unbuckled his pants and let them fall. He was happy to have an erection, a nice one, one that needed relief. “Lying will only make things worse.”

He pinned her to the table and rubbed himself between her legs. He wanted her to feel the terror of forcible r**e. His headache raged, and a shiver ran through him, but he did not quit. He would find a bit of joy in this woman, doing what he wanted with her. He spanked her hard, leaving a red mark.

“No, please,” she sobbed.

“It is but the beginning,” Ravi said.

**************************************

Arif stared across the table at the woman from the photo. “I do not understand. He came for you.”

“But he does not have me. I was running late this morning. Traffic. I didn't see him,” the woman said.

The agent had left the room with the address that Arif had provided. Arif was alone with the woman.

“If he doesn't have you, who does he have?”

“No one.”

“I do not see how that is possible.”

“Trust me it is. He's sick, far sicker than you supposed. At this point, he's wracked with fever and contagious. He most likely went some place to lie low until he was better. He would find it difficult to function in his present state.”

“He could have come back to me,” Arif said.

“I don't know why he didn't. But I'm certain the FBI checked your place and didn't find him.”

“What does he have that is so dangerous?”

The woman thought a moment. “Smallpox, he has smallpox.”

“I know nothing of this disease.”

“It has been eradicated in the wild,” she said. “But there are labs in many countries that maintain a supply of the virus—should vaccines be needed.”

“And it is…deadly?”

“You saw the care they used when they brought you in. They did that for a reason.”

“It wasn't just to scare me?”

She shook her head. “You're very lucky.”

Arif didn't feel lucky. He didn't feel lucky at all.

**************************************

The woman squirmed beneath Ravi, and he liked that. She was scared, very scared, and she had every right to be. He was not going to be kind or gentle. He was going to have his pleasure, all his pleasure.

“Tell me you want me to f**k you,” Ravi said.

“What?”

“Say it. Tell me to f**k you.”

“You’re crazy.”

He spanked her harder. “Say it!”

“Go f**k yourself.”

Anger surged through him. This woman had no idea who he was, what he could do. He grabbed her hair and jerked back her head. He leaned forward to lick her cheek and hiss in her ear.

“If you do not say it, I will make this much more painful.”

As he waited, she did something she never expected. She head butted him.

Lights blinked in his vision. That was the last thing he remembered.

**************************************

When her kidnapper fell on top of her, Carlita recognized her opportunity. While the head butt had hurt her some, it had hurt him far more. With a heave, she managed to dislodge him. He rolled off and landed on the floor with a satisfying thud. Standing, she thought to kick the son of a b***h, but while that might be satisfying, it would probably be a waste of time. She knew that no matter what, she was not a physical match for the bastard. She noticed the pistol on the coffee table and wondered if she should shoot him. No, that wouldn't do either. She was not about to put herself in the middle of a killing. That would be crazy.

She scampered to the kitchen and found a knife to cut the duct tape. Freed, she retrieved her clothes. Before she ran out, she considered stealing the car, but again, that would lead to complications and questions she didn't want to answer. She could call the police, but the police were not people an illegal immigrant wanted to chat with. She had managed to stay off the radar this long precisely because she stayed in the background. The problem was that he might come after her again. But she would just have to take that chance. With a last look, she ran out of the cabin.

**************************************

Matt's SUV led the three others up the road. In the distance, he could see the cabin. Two of the other SUVs were filled with SWAT team members, fully armed and ready for anything. The third held a cadre of agents in hazmat suits. Those were the people who would handle Ravi. Matt's orders were to keep as far away from the man as possible and let the guys in the sterile suits do the real work. Matt was cool with that. He had never been vaccinated against smallpox. He was vulnerable. As they rolled onto the property, the SUVs spread out.

**************************************

Ravi woke, feeling worse than ever. He struggled to remember precisely where he was and what he was doing. He was going to f**k the woman. He remembered that. He felt his head, the lump from where she butted him. He had not expected that. Now, he would have to hurt her in many more ways. She could never be allowed to get away with such impudence.

He struggled to his feet. The room spun for a moment before he willed it to stop. He looked around, half expecting the woman to be cowering in a corner. Did she run? Did she actually think she could escape? He searched for the car keys, and he found them. The woman hadn't even been smart enough to steal the stolen car. He laughed. She could not have gotten far. And even if she did, he would simply wait for her at her apartment or wherever she lived.

Then, he remembered. The car couldn't be used. At least, not for long. If he altered the tag number, he might be able to drive it for a little while, only a little while. He remembered that he had to call the worthless Arif and get another car. Ravi shook his head a little to clear it, but that only worsened the headache. Why did he feel so bad? He had never felt so awful. Chills racked his body. What was happening to him?

**************************************

The SUVs spewed forth their occupants. Matt was pleased to see that the stolen car was parked in front of the cabin. That meant that in all likelihood, Ravi was inside the cabin. Matt used hand signals to send one team to the back of the cabin. The other fanned out around Matt. The men in hazmat suits stood behind the SUVs. They weren't equipped to handle an active shooter. Someone handed matt a bullhorn. He waited. The teams had to be in place before he announced their presence—if Ravi hadn’t already spotted them.

**************************************

Ravi found his pistol and looked around the cabin. If he had felt better, he would have made an effort to rid the place of fingerprints and DNA. He had read where even small traces of DNA could be used to convict people of crimes. But he felt too bad to clean anything. If he weren’t on the run, he would probably go to bed and sleep off this infection or whatever it was. But he was running. He needed a better place to hide. He thought for a moment to contact Arif, but he discarded that idea. Better that no one knew where he was. Gun in hand, Ravi stepped through the door.

**************************************

Matt was about to use the bullhorn when the suspect walked out. That was fortunate. At least, he was out in the open.

“FBI!” Matt shouted. “PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR!”

As Matt watched, the man staggered, as if drunk. That was when Matt spotted the pistol.

“GUN! GUN!” Matt yelled and started for cover.

**************************************

Ravi saw the man and heard him call, but for some reason, the words didn't quite register. Ravi stepped off the porch, and he knew he shouldn’t be holding the gun, but he didn't seem able to let it go. He raised one hand and tried to raise the one with the pistol. He didn't get far.

**************************************

Matt didn't know which office fired first, but that gunshot was followed by a dozen more. More than a few bullets slammed into the suspect who wavered for only a moment before he collapsed, his chest red with blood.

“HAZ-MAT!” Matt yelled. “EVERYONE ELSE, STAY BACK!”

The agents in their special suits started forward. Matt followed them but not too closely. Matt was pretty sure the suspect wasn't going to put up any more fight, but he couldn't be sure. If the man died, well, that wasn't the worst outcome.

**************************************

Ravi could no longer feel anything. For a moment, he wondered just what had happened. Then, he knew it didn't matter.

**************************************

Arif sipped water and wondered how he could escape a long prison term. That was the only thing on his mind. But no matter how he twisted the turned the facts, he couldn't work out a good outcome. He was f****d, and he knew it. When they brought in Ravi and cracked him, there would be no more secrets to sell. Arif was not ashamed to hope that Ravi somehow died. With Ravi gone, Arif’s story would be the only one available. That would be a very good thing. If only Ravi would die.

**************************************

At home, Claire sat at her computer and wondered just how to share the news. In a way, she was pretty sure Jasmine wouldn't shed too many tears for her dead husband. On the other hand, Ravi had died at the hands of the FBI, and that would always make the shooting suspect to someone in a foreign country. Was the shooting absolutely necessary? Claire couldn't know, but she did know that Ravi's death seemed to put an end to the epidemic scare. As far as anyone knew, Ravi had made contact only with Arif, and that worm had not been infected. Luck had provided the best possible outcome because the people on the scene had reported that Ravi did indeed show the signs of smallpox. Claire knew that in time, researchers would pinpoint the strain, and that would open up other veins of inquiry. But that wasn't her problem. Jasmine was Claire's problem.

**************************************

Jasmine read the email a dozen times before the impact sank in. Ravi was dead, shot dead by FBI agents somewhere around Washington D.C. She resisted the urge to laugh, to find glee in the outcome. Her husband was dead, and there was no doubt that the resourceful Americans would soon discover his infection. Claire's note said no one else had been infected, but Jasmine wasn’t convinced about that. It was true that Ravi had been infectious for only a short time, but the virus was virile. It would fight to spread itself around. Could she have been so lucky? Even if she was, she knew she could no longer stay in Pakistan. The Americans would tell the Pakistani government, and the government would come for her. No, she had to flee, and flee quickly. If she made it to Paris, to Jacques, could she be retrieved through extradition?

She rose and started for the bedroom, the suitcase she would have to pack. She was stopped by the knock on the door.

Jasmine opened the door and faced two men in plain suits. She knew the type. They were part of the secret police, the ISI. All hope flew from her. The Americans had been faster than she had anticipated.

“Come in,” Jasmine said. “I'll be ready in a moment.”

The men entered and waited as Jasmine disappeared into the bedroom. She had no illusions as to her fate. They would interrogate her and then kill her. She went to the closet and pulled out one of Ravi's pistols. She did not wish to be r***d and tortured any further.

The gunshot did not surprise the men in suits.

**************************************

Oliver placed a cup of coffee in front of Claire. The open air café bustled with people. Saturdays were always popular.

“She's dead,” Oliver said as he sat.

“I suspected as much,” Claire answered. “Then, it is truly over.”

“It appears so.”

“Going to get a medal for saving the country?” Clair asked.

Oliver laughed. “All in a day's work, all in a day's work.”

**************************************

Carlita sat on the beach and stared at the blue waves. After the kidnapping, she had decided to take a few days off. She had hopped the first jet out and flown to the coast. The beach always soothed her. And she needed soothing. She wasn't feeling all that great, and for the first time, she wondered if that crazy man had somehow infected her. He was certainly sick.

No, that was just anxiety. Carlita would feel prefect in another day or two. Sun and surf, that was what she needed, sun and surf.

Two children, brother and sister, ran along the beach, sand pails in their hands. They laughed as they stopped and showed her what they had found. They were her niece and nephew, and they loved going to the beach with their tia Carlita.

“Yuck,” Carlita said. “Dump whatever you found in the ocean and make sure to rinse out the pails.”

They giggled as they ran toward the water. Carlita smiled. Kids, they too young to know that germs were everywhere.

THE END