The Ninth Day by Jamie Freveletti

Author:Jamie Freveletti [Freveletti, Jamie]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Harper
Published: 2011-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 25

“Emma Caldridge broke into a pharmaceutical lab in Nebraska, tied up a scientist working there, used the lab to run some tests on an accomplice, and, when she was discovered, shot at the security guard on duty.”

Banner and Sumner were sitting in an all-suite business hotel near the Phoenix Airport when Stromeyer called to deliver this news. Banner was lounging in front of the hotel-room desk, his feet on the top, eating a Subway sandwich, when he’d hit the speaker button to take Stromeyer’s call. Now he swung his feet off the desk and stood, unable to believe what he’d heard. Sumner stopped eating his own sandwich and stared at the phone with an expression of surprise on his face.

“Are you joking?” Banner asked.

“No. I have the sheriff of the town on the line, do you want to speak to him?”

Banner sat back down in his chair. “Yes, I believe I do.”

“Mr. Banner? Sheriff Carl Wiley here.”

“Can you tell me what happened?” Banner said.

“Near as we can tell, Ms. Caldridge lied to gain access to the Medicant Pharmaceutical building. Once inside, she opened a side door, and two accomplices, both men, joined her. She then helped herself to the equipment and supplies in a lab. When a scientist who was working late stumbled upon them, one of the men threatened to kill him and the other tied him up. The security guard for the building intercepted Caldridge as she ran out of the building to join her buddies, and they sped away in a black SUV. They escaped, but not before they squeezed off a couple of shots at the guard.”

“Was the guard hit?”

“No. Missed. There’s a security camera in the main hallway that leads to the lab. We’re looking at it now. Maybe we can get a picture of the three of them. Figure out who the men are.”

“Sheriff, I’ve known Ms. Caldridge for some time now, and she would never allow someone innocent to be attacked. She must have been coerced.”

“Doesn’t sound like it at all. The scientist said she was marching around the lab issuing orders that the two men followed.”

“Do you have any idea where she is now?”

“I do not. Got an APB out on a black SUV. American made.”

“I’m on my way.”

Four hours later Banner and Sumner pulled up in a rented car in front of the county police station in a town a hundred miles from Omaha. It was a small modern, rectangular brown brick building with glass doors. An empty flagpole held a prominent position on the front lawn. Banner parked at the side of the building.

Once inside, Banner saw a long counter facing him that was covered in some sort of pressed wood veneer. Tacked on a far wall was a large seal with the words E PLURIBUS UNU on it. A tired-looking cop sat behind the counter under a harsh fluorescent light, reading the newspaper. He threw it down when they entered.

“Can I help you?”

Banner introduced himself and Sumner. He pointed at the seal.

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