CARTER AND SAM HAD BEEN ON the road for a little over two hours and had said nothing as they couldn’t believe what happened at the hospital. While they wanted to stay on the road all the way back to Sammy’s place, Carter decided it would be best if they stopped at a motel to wind down and get a night’s rest. There was no point driving straight home as the last thing he wanted to do was cause an accident since neither of them had slept in quite a while. Sammy wanted to protest and keep driving, but she understood where her passenger was coming from. It was too risky to keep driving, especially considering how tired they both were. Sammy pulled into the parking lot of what looked like a cheap looking motel. Carter stayed in the car while Sammy booked the room, hoping the motel believed she was checking in alone. Something that would throw the feds off their scent if they’re looking for two people. Once Sammy returned to the car she drove over to the door where the room was located, and they both went into their room and quickly settled in. After a few moments, Carter needed to ask her something.
“I need to burrow your room key.” He softly requested.
“Where are you going?” Sam asked.
“Just to the store across the street to pick up a few things, a few snacks.” Carter replied, “Did you want me to get you anything?”
“Something sweet,” Sammy answered, “Maybe some chocolate.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” Carter said, as he took the keys from her and left. He could hear Sammy locking the door after he left, but never thought anything of it as he scooted across the street to a small strip mall that had several stores for him to pick from. The first thing Carter did was walk into an electronics store to purchase a cheap pay as you go cell phone. He used one of his few fake IDs, and only intended to use the phone for a few calls before ditching it in the trash. Then he scooted over to the pharmacy and picked up some snacks, a newspaper and chocolate for Sam. Carter programmed the phone in the parking lot and then made a quick call. He paused for a moment before someone finally picked up.
“FBI tip line.” The other side opened.
“Hello there,” Carter responded, “I was wondering if I could speak to Special Agent Tony Deacon.”
There was a short pause.
“Can I ask who’s calling for him?” the operator asked.
“Tell him its’ Xavier Carter.” Carter replied.
“Sure, it is,” The operator replied, as it sounded like this wasn’t the first time someone claiming to be him called this line. “I’m afraid Special Agent Deacon isn’t available right now. Would you like to leave a message, Mr. Carter?”
“It’s Dr. Carter actually,” Xavier corrected, “And my message is this: if Special Agent Deacon would like to have his credentials returned, he better be ready to speak to me the next time I call, which will be in 60 minutes.”
Before the lady on the other line had a chance to say anything more, Carter disconnected the call and the proceeded to remove the battery from the phone so it couldn’t be traced to his location. After putting the fragments of the phone back into his coat pockets, Carter walked back to the motel and back to the room where Sam was waiting for him. He found her lying on the bed watching the news on the small television on the other side of the room. All the news networks could talk about was the smallpox outbreak, which was major news to be fair. What they were reporting about the event was that the government had successfully quarantined the outbreak, and that the country was safe. The department of health and the CDC were taking full credit for the successful operation despite the fact that it was Carter’s cure, and the new inhaler they used to deliver it had done all the work.
“I can’t believe this?” Sammy said, clearly disgusted, “It’s all bullshit!”
“At least it’s over,” Carter replied as he sat on the sofa beside the bed.
“No kidding,” Sam said, as she couldn’t stop watching, “I have no doubt the attempt on the Senator had nothing to do with you, but this time I’m sure we were walking into a trap. They were waiting for us. Do you know what that means?”
“I do,” Carter agreed, “It means they started the outbreak.”
“If this had spread,” Sammy continued, “Do you have any idea how devastating this could have been?”
“It could have killed thousands, possibly millions of Americans.” Carter confirmed for her as he took a deep breath. “All done to bring me out of hiding.”
“I still can’t believe they were willing to go so far,” Sammy said, her disgust clearly evident.
“You’re not the only one.” Carter said, as he had been thinking about it all day. “That’s why this all had to end, right now.”
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“What do you mean?” Sam asked.
“If I don’t bring this chase to an end,” Carter continued, “There’s no telling what these crazy people will do next to smoke us out. What if the next time we’re not able to contain it or have enough serum to cover a full-blown outbreak?”
“You don’t think they’ll every stop, do you?” Sam asked.
“I don’t,” Carter said, sitting back on the couch and deeply sighing. “Not until both me and my work are dead and buried.”
“What options do you have then?” Sammy asked, sitting up as she seemed very concerned about what they could do next.
“I can keep running and hope this outbreak was a one-time occurrence,” Carter answered, but even he knew that wasn’t the case. “Or I could surrender and take my chance with the feds.”
“I’ve watched enough movies to know that federal protection isn’t perfect.” Sammy replied, as hopped out of bed and sat down beside him on the couch. “What about your work?”
“I’ve been thinking about that too.” Carter admitted. “If I surrender, we’re going to have to give it to someone else to complete the research.”
“Like who?” Sam asked.
“I was thinking about someone I went to school with,” Xavier answered, “He currently resides in France, and is working at one of the most respectable research facilities in the world. If I can get my work and samples to him, then he and his colleagues should be able to continue the work without anyone knowing they had it until it’s too late. The cure would become a reality and save millions of lives.”
“How are we going to get it to France?” Sammy asked, as she was concerned about the plan and was eager to know more.
“No one knows you’re involved.” Carter replied. “That way we can keep everything at your place until it’s ready to move.”
“We just can’t fed-ex it to France,” Sammy said, showing doubts. “Wouldn’t we need someone to carry it on their person and deliver it to your friend in person?”
“I agree, which is why I think we have the perfect person who can do it.” Carter looked back at Sammy, “In the meantime, would you be okay keeping all of my stuff until we figure out how to deliver it?”
“Of course I can,” Sammy answered, smiling back at him. “You saved my life, mister, so I want this cure to save more people too. I’ll do whatever it takes to help make that a reality.”
“Then it’s settled,” Xavier said as he took the pieces of the cell phone out of his pocket and put it back together. He dialed the same number he called almost an hour earlier, and it rang for a few moments before someone finally answered. Sammy was watching with a puzzled look on her face.
“Who are you calling?” She quietly asked him.
Rather than reply, Carter held up a hand and waited for the line to answer.
“Hi there,” Xavier replied to the operator, “This is Doctor Xavier Carter calling to speak with Special Agent Deacon. Is he available to take my call now?”
“One moment, Doctor Carter,” The operator replied.
Carter put the phone on speaker so Sammy could listen in as well, and a few moments later the phone came back to life.
“This is Special Agent Deacon.” The new voice on the other line opened.
“This is Xavier Carter.” Xavier replied.
“So I’ve been told,” Tony said, half believing it himself.
“I was wondering if you’d like your credentials back,” Xavier offered.
“What credentials?” Tony asked, trying to play dumb.
“You know what one’s I’m talking about,” Xavier said, as he found the banter amusing. “The ones I took from you after Dr. Zaun tazed your ass in Florida.”
There was a short pause.
“Okay,” Tony replied, “Now you have my attention.”
“You just missed us in Connecticut,” Carter continued, as he started to pace around the hotel room. “How is everyone doing over there?”
“I think you already know the answer to that question.” Tony answered.
“As much as I would love to chit chat forever, I’m going to cut this short.” Xavier said, as he knew the call was being traced and that time was short. “I’m calling to inform you that I would like to surrender to yourself and your strong partner in about a week or so.”
“Is that so?” Tony asked, “You want to surrender to us?”
Carter looked over at Sammy and could tell she was a little upset by this.
“Yes, I do,” Xavier confirmed, “I would like to meet you in Washington D.C. in abort a week from now. I’ll call you with more details when I closer to town.”
“Well, can’t you tell me...” Tony started to ask but Carter disconnected.
Carter took the cell apart again and put the pieces down on the table and took a deep breath.
“We’ll go back to your place first,” Carter informed Sammy, “We’ll use the week ahead to pack up my stuff for transport. I’m going to set up two different packages for travel. If the first person we send to France doesn’t make it, I’m going to ask you to deliver it the second time. I’ll make sure you have the money to travel from country to country and slowly crawl into France without anyone noticing. This plan will only be used if our first attempt to get it over there fails.”
“I’ll take care of it,” Sammy said as she walked over and gave Carter a big hug.
She wrapped her arms around him and clutched tightly. She wished there was something else they could do, but she knew this was the easiest way to stop the attacks without surrendering to the thugs that were looking for him. Carter returned the hug and could understand how sad she was that he would have to go.
“This is the only way to stop more people from getting sick just to flush me out,” Xavier said, as he was thinking it too. “We got lucky this time, but I couldn’t bear it if any more people died because of this.”
“I get it,” Sammy said as she never let go of him.
As Carter started to release her, Sam reached back and kissed him. They kissed again much deeper the second time and before they knew it, they were both on the bed and sharing a bed they had no intention of sharing when they first checked in.
“Wait,” Sam said, as they suddenly stopped.
“Is everything okay?” Xavier asked.
“Do we need protection?” Sam shyly asked.
Carter proceeded to laugh quite loudly.
“I don’t believe so,” Xavier answered, “If either of us had anything, the serum would have taken care of it when we first injected it. There’s some more over there in case we need it too.”
“I’m sorry.” Sammy said, as she also giggled. “Force of habit.”
“Quite understandable,” Xavier said, as he leaned back in and kissed her again.
It was at that moment that Carter had the feeling Sammy was going to make his last week of freedom quite interesting.