Stone Cold (42 page)

“Is there a file on him too?”

Dr. Hamilton floated him the file he’d been holding.

He continued,
“I made a few calls and found out Dr. Reinhart died from the infection he contracted. No one knows how he got it because he had never worked with that particular bacterium before.”

Conall took
Dr. Richard’s file. He was looking at Dr. Hamilton as he laid it on the table and started to open it.

“
From the events that you’ve described, my guess is that Dr. Reinhart’s death was no accident. It seems likely that he was infected with the bacteria on purpose to enable Dr. Richards to gain access to your lab.”

Dr. Hamilton nodded in agreement.

“Because of what I know, I’ve been ordered to leave for the DoD as soon as you were briefed on the situation. I’ll be there at least until your mission is completed. Please, please save my team.”

Conall nodded, and w
ith no further delay, the special operations team escorted Dr. Hamilton to an army helicopter that was waiting to take him to a military plane headed for Washington, DC.

*****

Never in a million years could anyone have predicted what happened next.

After watching Dr. Hamilton leave, Conall looked down at the picture in the fully opened file in front of him. His eyes immediately met the cold, empty gaze of the man in question. Instantaneously, the hairs on his entire body stood up as a tremor shook him from head to toe. The image triggered an instant flashback in his mind and he jumped backwards in his chair as he gasped.