Page 63 of Mastermind

“And yet here I am, offering you my help. And he’s on the run,” I reply.

“But you have an angle. A book deal, a TV series, or a something.”

I reach into my pocket and set my burner phone, hotel key, and twelve dollars on the table. “This is the entirety of my net worth. And both the phone and the money are borrowed. I transferred everything I own to my girlfriend over a year ago, with no obligation for her to give it back. I’ve been washing my underwear and socks in the sink every night because they’re the only ones I own. I’ve never accepted a book deal because I find the idea of profiting off the horrific acts committed by the people I caught to be disturbing. I’ve never sold movie rights, tried to sell them, or had any wish to be a public person other than to what degree it helps me help other people. If you think I’m trying to profiteer from a situation, then I think I have a better understanding why you’ve failed to see the warning signs within your own agency of agents found guilty of corruption and espionage.”

Pullman doesn’t immediately respond. He sits back and sizes me up for a moment. “You’re nuts. You’re absolutely nuts. I just can’t tell if you’re the good kind or the bad kind.”

“I can simplify that proposition for you. All you have to ask is if I’m the useful kind.”

Pullman turns to Gerald. “Do you vouch for him?”

“That he’s nuts? One hundred percent. That he’s useful? Blackwood thinks so. And that’s better than my own opinion.”

“Fine. If Dr. Cray flips out and turns evil, I’m having you both put on trial as conspirators,” says Pullman.

“If I went evil, there would be no one left on this planet to hold trials,” I reply. Jessica groans audibly.

Too much?

“He doesn’t know when to shut up, does he?” Pullman asks her.

“You get used to it,” she sighs.

“No,” Pullman replies. “You get used to it. Not me. Let’s move on. Blackwood told us that you found evidence that Heywood or someone he’s connected to is working on a biological weapon.”

“We did not,” I correct.

I can feel Jessica’s stare burning into my face. “Pardon me?” says Pullman.

“We found a testing facility where they were using stolen chimpanzees and a mass grave where we believe more chimpanzees will be found. This could indicate a bioweapon. It could just be a clandestine pharmaceutical-testing facility doing under-the-table work for a major pharma company,” I explain.

“Run that by me again?”

“Human trials are prohibitively expensive. Sometimes pharmaceutical companies will conduct secret trials using third parties to determine if it’s worth the effort to spend billions of dollars taking a drug to the next stage of development.”

“I’m not familiar with this.”

“It’s a kind of regulatory compromise. Either way, though, that facility could be a weapons-testing lab. It’s illegal and probably has ties to the United States.”

“So you want us to send you back to Thailand to investigate further?” asks Pullman.

“No. I want you to send Blackwood and me to Estonia.”

Jessica’s head snaps toward me. I didn’t tell her this part because I knew she’d have to disclose everything to her superiors. Whereas I’m under no such obligation. I can also present only one set of facts to them while withholding other details.

“We’ve had one EMP attack in the United States, two in Asia. My guess is that if the target is data-storage facilities, then the next one will be in Europe. Estonia is a possible target. I’d like to start there.”

“Estonia? What about the chimp research?” asks Pullman.

“We found that lab inside an abandoned data center. Estonia has quite a number of data centers. There might be a correlation.” But there’s not . . .

“Fine. Voigt, they’re your problem. Got it?”

“They’re definitely my problem,” Gerald replies.

Pullman gets up and leaves the room, taking everyone else with him except Gerald and Jessica.

She makes a polite nod and waves as they depart, then turns to me. “What. The. Fuck. Was. That?”