Loose Ends (The Hammer Commission Book 3) Read online

  "Well, gentlemen, you can either come, or stay here. I honestly don't care." Mark said and turned towards Bill Frey. "Bill? Long as you're here, you might as well come along."

  Bill nodded and followed him out of the room, the other three getting up and trailing along as well. Both Todd and Scott looked rather upset, Jack just looked annoyed.

  When they got to the entrance to the research labs Thomas stopped and looked at him, "Mark," he warned angrily.

  Mark nodded, "Yeah, I know. You're mad at me, I'm off the Christmas list, blah, blah, blah. I don't care Tom; I don't care if you never speak to me again, just as long as you're still here to keep being mad at me for another fifty years and get to dance at your daughter's wedding."

  Mark tried not to smile as his brother flinched at that. Just because he didn't like bullying his little brother it didn't mean he had forgotten how to do it.

  "Now open the door or I'll get a crowbar and rip it off."

  Thomas grumbled but put his hand on the scanner the door while looking at the camera there and door opened.

  Mark smiled and walked inside, pulling his credentials out and flashing them at the camera. Hopefully that would keep the security company from calling the police, who were still sitting outside in a patrol car while the door was being fixed.

  The door led to a short passage which opened up into a rather large lobby area with what appeared to be two labs to either side, and another two on the far wall.

  "Okay, this is the lab where we are working on the dementia drug," Thomas said and brought them all up to the first door set next to a glass wall on the left side of the room that looked into the large laboratory.

  Mark could see there were about a dozen people working inside. They were all wearing 'bunny' suits, booties, gloves and facemasks.

  "Are they working with open samples?" Mark asked. He'd seen enough lab work from all the criminal labs he'd been to over the years.

  "No. Everything is in the glove boxes. But these are high security labs with extreme anti-contamination measures. That's part of the reason why I don't want you in here! You go in there and you could contaminate everything!"

  "You have extra suits, don't you?" Mark asked, looking at him.

  "That's millions of dollars of work in there, Mark. I can't afford you messing it up!"

  "Thanks for the vote of confidence, Tom," Mark sighed. "Now, show me where the suits are so I can go in and look around. Call whoever is in charge inside there; tell them to give me the full tour."

  Thomas grumbled, but he led Mark through the door while the others watched from lobby outside. The door led into an airlock, of sorts, where there were extra sets of white coveralls, boots, gloves, facemasks and head coverings that everyone wore inside.

  Thomas helped him dress, then got dressed as well, and led him through the system that cleaned off the outside of the suit using air jets and UV lights, and then into the lab proper.

  Mark spent the next thirty minutes looking at samples and hearing about the research that they were doing. Most of it he didn't understand, and he got the impression his brother was enjoying Mark's ignorance every time he asked a stupid question.

  Mark found the whole setup very interesting however. Everything was very orderly, very clean, and very structured. The samples were kept in glove boxes that were attached by sealed conveyors. If something had to come out, it was sealed in a container not much different than a pressure cooker, and then put into a decontamination chamber, before coming out.

  When they finished, Thomas led him back out the way they had come in.

  "We can't just go into the next lab?" Mark asked.

  Thomas shook his head, "No, all of the labs are physically separate from each other. The only way in, once a lab is active, is through the airlock."

  Mark nodded and took off the suit, "Well, let's see the next one."

  The next lab was the one where they were working on improving their current diabetes line of drugs. That was even more boring than the previous one, but it was faster at least.

  "This is where we're working on the myopathy treatment," Thomas said as they went inside the third lab which was one of the two on the far end of the lobby. Four of the researchers working inside were leaving to go take lunch as they entered. The doctor in charge of the lab however stayed to give them the tour.

  Mark was listening to the doctor in charge going over the status of their testing, they'd been working on this research for almost a month now, and they'd been having some truly amazing results.

  "We've found that the chemical agent we've been gathering has a fairly energizing effect on muscle cells," the doctor was telling him, "it's incredibly complex, far beyond anything we've seen in nature before." The doctor then motion towards his brother Thomas, "It was your brother's pioneering work that unlocked the chemical's properties, he's the head researcher on this project."

  Mark nodded, he knew his brother was a genius, he'd put up with him as a child after all.

  "And just where are you getting this agent from?" Mark asked and the doctor steered him over to one of the glove boxes.

  "This biological sample we discovered has been generating it," he said as Mark looked through the glass and into the box. "Again, after your brother unlocked the method for getting it to produce more than just trace amounts."

  Mark could see a large glass dish, with a large piece of what looked like black flesh. Not black as in a person's skin either, black as in the black of night.

  Mark could feel his hackles rising.

  "How do you keep it from growing?" he asked the doctor, who looked rather shocked.

  "How did you know about that?"

  "Answer the question, please," Mark said, looking at the piece of flesh. It was probably a good twelve inches long, but only two wide.

  "We trim off the excess with scalpels."

  "And what do you do with the excess material?"

  "Well, we set up two extra cultures at first. But now we just incinerate it."

  "You still have the ash?" Mark asked, looking up at him.

  "Of course! That's biological waste. It has to be processed carefully. We're still working on the process for that."

  Mark nodded and sighed.

  "Where did you get this from, Thomas?"

  "What?"

  "Where did you get this sample from?"

  "Why?"

  "Because right about now you're looking at a dozen felonies, long jail terms, and enough fines that you'll be buried in an unmarked grave in potter's field." Mark looked at the now speechless doctor. "You too, Doc."

  "Mark, I...."

  "Can it, Thomas. It's damage control time. Tell me what you know, and I mean tell me everything you know. This is dangerous stuff you have here. State secret stuff. The kind of stuff people will kidnap and murder you for."

  "Jack got it. He has some people who he pays to look for interesting biological specimen and samples. They find stuff from all over the world and send it to us, along with the reasons for why they think it's interesting. Usually we get plant samples from things witchdoctors and shaman's use in spiritual rituals or medical potions."

  "What was the note with this one? What made it interesting?"

  "They found it in a jet engine."

  Mark swore, it couldn't be, could it?

  "A jet engine on a plane that landed at a military base in Utah?"

  Thomas looked surprised, "How did you know?"

  "How was it removed from the custody of the Air Force?"

  Thomas shrugged, "As far as I know, it wasn't. A private contractor was brought in to service the engines and replace them. One of the guys rebuilding the engines saw the flesh samples and thought they looked strange, so he boxed them up and sent them to Jack's people. They sent it to us. Most of it was dead, but there were a couple of cells still living, and we cultured that off of it," Thomas said, nodding towards the sample in the glove box.

  "Do you know what it is?" Thomas asked Mark.

&nb
sp; Mark nodded, "Yeah, trouble. Now, let's see just how much trouble we're in here. Where are all of your research findings stored?"

  "On a server, here in this room," Thomas said, pointing to a small computer in the corner. "We utilize the physical security of the labs to secure our research servers as well."

  "Does that have outside access?"

  "Only to certain researchers, and everything is logged. You're not allowed to copy anything off of it."

  Mark nodded, "Okay, go isolate that server so no one can access it from outside of this room. We'll have someone go through the logs and check to be sure nothing was removed. Doc," Mark said looking up at the head researcher, "gather all of the live samples into that one chamber."

  "What are you going to do?" Thomas asked, coming back over after physically unplugging the server from the network.

  "Clean up this mess of course," Mark said and walked out of the lab, taking off the headgear as he did.

  "Found something?" Bill asked as he came out, still dressed in the white cover all.

  "Yup," Mark turned to Faith, "Go get the small bag out of the trunk of the car and bring it here."

  Mark turned back to Bill. "Take him into protective custody," he said and pointed towards Jack Smith, "on a forty-eight hour hold. No phone calls, he talks to no one but me or whoever I bring in. Got that?"

  "What!?" Todd said, jumping up to his feet, "You can't do that!"

  "Actually, I can, he's now a material witness in a capital case." Mark said and turned to Scott Patrick, the VP next. "I need you to find everyone who has worked on this project to any degree and bring them all together in a secure conference room."

  "Mark?" Faith said in a voice that got Mark's attention immediately.

  "What?" Mark said turning to look at Faith. Jack Smith had taken a hold of one of Faith's arms with one hand, and had a pistol in the other.

  "I have a better idea!" Jack said, "How about me and your little wife here leave while the rest of you stay inside?"

  Mark sighed and grabbed the bridge of his nose between his thumb and index finger as he shook his head.

  "Jack! What the hell are you doing?!" Thomas said in shock.

  Mark noticed that Todd and Scott had both carefully moved away from where Jack was holding Faith. Jack had his eyes on both Bill and Mark, figuring that they were the only two with guns in the room.

  "Stand down, Bill," Mark said and shook his head. "You set up the kidnapping, didn't you?" he asked looking at Jack.

  "Let's just say I helped."

  "Jack, how could you?" Thomas said shocked.

  "Sorry, Thomas. But I don't think you understand what's involved here," Jack said, starting to make his way to the exit with Faith.

  "Put the gun down, before you get hurt," Mark sighed. "Come clean, turn state's evidence, and we'll go easy on you."

  "Even I know it's gone too far for that!" Jack snarled. "I have a hostage, and I'm not afraid to kill her. You will all just wait inside here until I'm safely away, or she gets one to the head and two to the chest. Understand?"

  "Fine, we won't be taking you alive," Mark said and shook his head. "Go, I'll catch up with you in a few, Faith."

  Mark watched as Jack and Faith left the room, Jack had stuck the gun in his suit jacket pocket as he hustled Faith along.

  Faith was looking rather annoyed.

  Mark pulled out his cell phone as the door closed; he noticed it had zero signal.

  "He's got Faith! We have to do something!" Thomas said.

  "Calm down, Thomas. Why won't my cell phone work in here?

  "The labs are shielded. Aren't you afraid? He's got your wife!"

  "No, I'm not worried at all. Now, where is there a phone I can use? I need to make a phone call."

  "Mark! He's got your wife! Do something!" Thomas yelled at him.

  "I already did, Thomas. Now, I need a phone."

  "You already did? But, I didn't see anything!"

  "I told her she could kill him. He'll be dead the moment they're alone. Phone. Now."

  Thomas looked at him, almost in shock, and then led him over to a phone on the wall, still looking a little dazed. He picked it up and dialed 'nine-one' and handed him the handset.

  "You can call anywhere now,"

  Mark nodded and called Manresa. He'd call Woods at the FBI next, and get all of that rolling, but first things first, he needed a priest.

  He turned towards the others while dialing, "Give it about five minutes for Jack to meet his fate. Scott, go round up everyone who has worked on this program, like I asked. Thomas, send everyone else home for the rest of the day, this place is going to be crawling with FBI and everyone else in an hour. Best not to have anyone in the way."

  The other end of the phone picked up then and he was a little busy talking after that.

  Five minutes later and he had a promise of a team of priests to be there by sunset to bless everything and was on the phone to Agent Woods.

  "Hi, Chief," Mark said.

  "Mark, is this about the kidnapping?" Agent Woods asked.

  "I found the root cause, Chief. It's not pretty and it falls into your jurisdiction. Mine too for that matter. I'm gonna need some computer specialists up here pronto to check some machines and remove some data. Also going to need a couple of field agents to secure the scene for a day or two and ask some questions."

  "I'll have Haines and Chance on a jet within the hour," Woods told him. "I'll call the New York office and have them send out some of their computer geeks, they got the best. When can I expect your report?"

  "As soon as I have the time to write it. I got an agent Bill Frey with me here; he's from the New York office. Okay if I read him in on this?"

  "Only if you have to, keep it to a minimum. Where are you at? The phone says LevGen or something."

  "My brother's biotech company."

  "Ouch, I bet his lawyer is about to come unglued!" Woods laughed.

  Mark glanced over at Todd, and saw that was not far from the truth. "Yeah, you got that right."

  "I'll have legal get involved. I want a preliminary report before six, got that? You can send me the full thing by nine."

  Mark sighed, "Yes, Chief," and hung up the phone.

  The others were still standing around looking at him.

  "This is an illegal search!" Todd started up as soon as Mark looked at him. Mark figured he'd been spending the last five minutes trying to figure out how to best protect the company.

  "We're cooperating fully, Todd." Thomas said. "Jack just walked out of here with a gun to the head of my sister-in-law. You either cooperate, or you're fired." Thomas turned to look at Scott then.

  Scott held his hands up in the air, "No need to yell at me Thomas, I'm onboard, I get it."

  The doctor from the lab had come out and joined the rest of them at that point, looking a little confused.

  "Is it okay if I go get lunch?" he asked.

  "Sure," Scott said, "In fact, come on up to my office and I'll have them send up whatever you want." Scott looked at Mark, "Is that okay?"

  Mark nodded, "Sure. Come on Bill, let's go find my wife and see what's left of Jack."

  Mark and Bill found Faith pacing around the outside of a car, at the end of the long driveway into the parking lot. There was quite a bit of blood on her clothes, and she did not look at all happy.

  "You okay, Hon?" Mark asked getting out of the car and walking up to her. Faith was growling, and he noticed she was walking around a little stiff legged. Obviously she was still winding down from the fight.

  She looked at him and grumbled, loudly.

  Mark held his arms open, "Come here, Hon. Everything is fine."

  Faith almost sidled over to him, and then leaned into him, putting her face against his neck and slowly started to relax as Mark held her.

  "What the..." Bill exclaimed and Mark looked up to see Bill was looking in through the driver's window, "what did you do to him?"

  "I ripped his face off," Faith growled
softly. "And then I shot him. Two to the chest and one to the groin."

  "I thought he said head?" Bill said standing upright and looking back at Faith, who was holding onto Mark tightly now.

  "Big head, little head, what's the difference?"

  Bill's eyes got wide and he laughed loudly at that, surprising Mark. Even Faith raised her head up and turned to look at him.

  "Sorry," Bill said, still laughing, "but that was funny. He just got the last surprise of his life."

  "So, now what?" Faith asked.

  "Well, you need to go home and put on something less bloody. I need to tell the arriving agents what to do. I also have some Commission business I need to take care of.

  "What about him?" Faith said and nodded towards the car. Mark noticed that there really was quite a bit of blood splattered on the inside window near the driver.

  "He's not going anywhere. We'll lock the doors and put a guard on it for now I guess."

  Mark led Faith over to the car and almost had to pry her off, she was definitely being very grabby.

  "You okay, Hon?" Mark asked in a soft voice.

  "Think you might want to come with me?" Faith asked in a voice that was a lot lower than her normal voice and rubbed up against him in a way that his body was not willing to ignore.

  Suddenly Mark had a pretty good idea of just what Faith wanted.

  "I have to do a few things here, and then I will be home," Mark said softly and suddenly rather tempted to toss it all in Bill's lap and leave.

  "Then I'm staying with you, until you leave," She said in a soft growl.

  "Okay then," Mark smiled, "let me get that bag, and then it's back to the labs."

  They hopped into the rental car and drove back to the front door, then got back out. Mark walking back into the labs with Bill trailing him, and Faith under his arm. The door was now locked open and people were all leaving the building. Bill told one of the cops that were now in the front lobby to have someone sit on Smith's car as it was a crime scene.