The Fall: Victim Zero Read Free Page B

a small blur that eventually resolved itself into his chief associate researcher, John Leibowitz. The tiny man, barely over five feet, had four years on Kell but not a gray hair to be seen, a fact Kell noticed and grieved over every time he saw the man. It was criminal that his own hair had receded so far that shaving, his last resort, had been the only option. Small Jewish men approaching forty should not beat him in the hair-growing department, much less look like a scaled-down George Clooney.
    “Kell, we've got some serious fucking problems going on,” Leibowitz said as he approached Kell.
    “ And a lovely morning to you as well, John. Please, don't beat around the bush. Tell me how you're feeling today.”
    John only flashed a half-smile, totally unembarrassed. That was something Kell had always liked about him, ever since grad school; the man was utterly unapologetic about his reactions. He said what he thought with no filter, and no matter how brutal the honesty people seemed to like him for it. Proof of concept that a loveable asshole is preferable to a sweet liar.
    “Did you know about these guys coming in here to set up an observation and isolation suite? And that there's some guy out in a trailer waiting to be brought in? What the hell is going on?”
    Kell did his best to calm the room, but stopped short of giving them the details. He was normally very forthright with the team, but Mitchell had been clear about keeping the situation as quiet as possible. Kell compromised.
    “Everyone,” he said a few minutes later when the team had gathered in the conference room. “You know we're bringing someone in for observation. For today that's all I can tell you. John is going to be in charge, because I've been asked by the VP of the biomedical division to do the initial assessment myself. I'll be in and out all day, doing the grunt work I pay all of you so well to do for me.”
    There was a wave of quiet laughter. Smiles. Good, that would make the pill easier to swallow.
    “I know this is weird and completely out of line with our routine, but this got dropped in my lap less than a day ago. Nothing I can do about it, nothing you can do about it, so we have to just get to it.”
    Someone in the back started asking a question, but Kell raised a hand to cut him off. “I can't talk about it more than that, and I honestly wouldn't have time even if I could. I'll fill you in as soon as I'm told I can, but for right now I need to make up for twenty minutes of missed time with the patient. Go on about your business.”
    The team was reluctant to leave, but John stepped up and shooed them away. “You heard the man, people. I'm in charge. All the women put on low-necked shirts. All the men stop being prettier than me so I've got a chance to snag a date.”
    People left the room laughing, and for that alone Kell could have kissed John Leibowitz. Happy employees were less likely to go home and complain about the secrecy at work. That was a headache all of them could do without.
    Kell made his way down to the parking lot and over to the isolation container. A door at the end of the thing opened, and a pair of men came out to greet him. Both wore plain clothes, but while the one who carried a clipboard stuffed with papers was clearly a doctor or scientist of some kind, the other had the unmistakable bearing of a military man. The earpiece and gun bulge only added to the impression.
    The man with the clipboard reached out a hand and shook with Kell. “Doctor McDonald, it's an honor to finally meet you. I'm Greg Cramer. I run the Boston division of the Chimera project.”
    Kell's fingers went limp. “You'll have to excuse me, Doctor Cramer, but until yesterday I didn't even know there was such a thing. My understanding was that Chimera was only being studied here.”
    The second man spoke up. “We deliberately asked to keep the projects separate, Doctor. Your hesitance about moving forward with Chimera was well-known by your