All Fall Down

‘Almost time to go!’ she said, injecting a brightness into her voice. ‘You still excited about staying with Daddy for the summer?’

She felt him nod vigorously into her shoulder.

‘Bradley will be so happy to see you again. I bet he’s really missed you. You two will have lots of fun together. Daddy’s going to take you to a baseball game, and swimming, and all sorts of great stuff. Oh, and here – I’ve got something for you.’

She unwrapped one arm and delved into her shoulder bag, bringing out a plastic bag with a box inside. Jack dived into it, and held up the box. ‘A new Transformer! Thanks, Mum.’ He hugged her again, but his voice sounded suddenly flat.

‘I thought you and Bradley could put it together.’

He clung to her more tightly. ‘Mum?’

‘Yes?’

‘You know how someone on purpose blew up Isaac with a bomb?’

Before she could think of something to say to put his mind at ease, Jack continued, his lower lip trembling: ‘Don’t let Dad see me crying, but I’m really scared, ’cos Callum said his dad was murdered by terrorists who want to kill scientists, and you’re a scientist too. What if someone makes a bomb and puts it where you are, and kills you when I’m in Dallas?’

‘Oh, Jack,’ she said, rocking him gently in her arms. ‘We don’t know why those people put a bomb in Isaac’s hotel. I’m sure it wasn’t because he’s a scientist. There are thousands and thousands of scientists in the world! It won’t happen to me, I promise. Now, promise me you won’t worry about it, because I’ll be perfectly safe. I’ve got Paul to look after me.’

‘I want to look after you,’ said Jack sullenly.

‘You can send me lots of pictures and things to show me what a good time you’re having with Dad, OK? Because that’ll cheer me up, and that’s a great way to look after someone.’

‘OK,’ said Jack, wiping his nose on her shoulder. Kate straightened up and led him back to where Vernon and Paul were standing by the barrier, neither of them making the least attempt at conversation. Like bloody children! she thought, but the momentary flash of irritation immediately disappeared, to be replaced by a dull ache in her heart as she kissed her son’s smooth cheek and handed him over to his father.

From his vantage point beside the doorway to Arrivals, Harley watched the family saying their goodbyes. He couldn’t understand what Kate had ever seen in Vernon Maddox. And he wasn’t too impressed with Paul Wilson either. If it had been up to Harley, he would have left Wilson in the UK. The guy was a liability, and undeserving of such a lovely woman.

He had a word with himself. What was he doing, thinking of her as ‘lovely’ and forming opinions about her personal life? His job was to make sure Kate got to the lab and, unlike Wilson, he wasn’t about to let emotion cloud his judgment. Harley prided himself on his rational, professional approach, untainted by prejudice or feeling. Whatever was best for Britain: that was all that mattered. In the course of his career he had encountered things that had shocked him, and that most people would find horrifying or unethical. But if there was a rational case for it, Harley could assimilate anything.

It was what made him such a good MI6 officer. A safe pair of hands.

Without letting Kate and Paul out of his sight, he made for a nearby news kiosk and picked up a couple of packs of chewing gum. Glancing at the newspaper stand beside the cash register, the headline on the Dallas Morning News caught his attention. Momentarily forgetting about keeping an eye on Kate, he picked it up, swearing under his breath. The cat was out of the bag.

OUTBREAK, screamed the headline. Killer virus on loose in Los Angeles. Authorities urge citizens ‘Don’t Panic!’

Harley dropped a couple of dollars on the counter and exited the kiosk, absorbed by the story, which had pushed the news about the bombing off the front page. The newspaper reported that fifty-nine deaths had been confirmed, with many more cases in hospital. That meant it was spreading through the city even faster than they had feared. He scoured the paper, looking for any suggestion of a link between the bombing and this outbreak. Aside from a passing reference to the bombing now seeming even more unfortunate, ‘just when we need virologists the most’, no connection had been made. The media didn’t know about the message that had been left – not yet anyway.

His cellphone rang.

‘I take it you’re in Dallas?’ It was the voice of Nicholas Lepore, Harley’s Director.

‘Yes, we’ve—’

‘Good, good. Listen. There’s been a change of plan …’

When Lepore had finished his briefing and ended the call, Harley stood for a moment, wondering if the cold ripple of fear that crept up his back and prickled his armpits was a wholly rational response. He looked over at Kate and Paul. They weren’t going to like this. Not one bit.

7

‘Hey, I’m afraid we’re going to have to get a move on. Kate and I have got a plane to catch,’ said Paul. ‘A private jet, apparently,’ he added, unable to resist the chance to gloat. Sometimes Kate wished he and Vernon would just take their shirts off and wrestle, get it out of their systems.

Vernon whistled. ‘Jeez, Kate. Since when did you become a VIP?’ He turned to Jack: ‘Hey, buddy, we should have a helicopter to whizz us back to my place, right?’ He chucked Jack’s cheek, but the boy looked pale and miserable now that the actual moment of parting was upon them.

Kate bent down to give Jack one final hug, and he clung tightly to her, making her neck wet with his tears.

‘Be good, Jack, OK?’ she whispered into his ear. ‘Have an amazing summer. Do what Daddy tells you. I promise I’ll email and call whenever I can.’

‘Let’s go, Jackie-boy,’ Vernon said, as Shirley returned. He peeled his son’s hands off the back of Kate’s neck and ruffled his hair. ‘You and me and Shirley are gonna have an awesome time, right? I’ll take you swimming tomorrow, and that’s a promise.’

‘Right,’ Jack said, in a high quavery voice, unable to take his eyes off Kate. ‘Bye, Mummy.’

‘Bye, my darling.’ She had to speak in a small, tight way to prevent the lump in her throat choking her. ‘I love you.’

‘Love you too, Mum.’

And he was gone, tears pouring down his face, looking back at her over his shoulder as Vernon and Shirley led him away, dragging his little wheeled suitcase behind him. Kate closed her eyes briefly, overwhelmed by the pain of not knowing when she would next see him. She swallowed, then straightened her back. Harley appeared next to them, looking stressed.

‘Ready?’

Kate blew her nose on a tissue she found in her skirt pocket. ‘Come on then,’ she said. ‘What are we waiting for?’

There really was a private plane, a six-seater Hawker light jet normally used for whisking high-ranking government officials around the country. Harley sat on his own, up near the cockpit, leaving the rear of the cabin to Kate and Paul. Neither of them could sleep. Kate’s brain was abuzz, wondering if she was doing the right thing leaving Jack with Vernon, worrying about what lay ahead. She had no idea how quickly the virus was spreading or how long they had. Scientists don’t like to work against the clock. Fighting viruses was a long, slow process, small step after small step, and Eureka moments were few and far between. She had so many questions and, like viruses, they multiplied until her head was bursting with them.

She watched Harley remove his shoes and recline in his vast leather seat, stretching out his legs. Tension had been coming off him in waves on the plane across the Atlantic, and now she saw his shoulders sink quickly into an enviable sleep. She realised that, despite everything, she liked him. He had an old-fashioned quality, a stoic, take-it-on-the-chin Britishness that made her think of army officers in black-and-white war films.

Her thoughts of Harley were interrupted by a hand squeezing her leg. She looked around, surprised to see Paul sitting there with the sort of naughty grin on his face she hadn’t seen for quite some time.

He gestured towards Harley. ‘He’s asleep and the stewardess is nowhere to be seen …’

‘Ye-es? And?’ Although Kate suspected that she had already guessed.

Paul leaned in, whispered in her ear, then took her hand. They ran into the toilet together, giggling like newlyweds. Paul slammed the lock into place and pushed Kate up against the wall. She breathed in the familiar musky scent of his skin and they kissed deeply.

‘What if he wakes up? It’s a bit bloody obvious where we’ve gone!’ she said, breaking off the kiss. She ran her hand down Paul’s hard belly towards the bulge in his jeans. He shrugged. ‘I’m sure we’re not the first, and we won’t be the last. Are you a member of the Mile High Club?’

‘Not yet,’ Kate said, unzipping him and sliding her hand inside his boxers. ‘You?’

‘Nope,’ he replied, lifting up her skirt and pulling down her knickers. The beige moulded wall of the plane’s small bathroom felt cool against Kate’s hot flesh.

‘Oh, darling,’ Paul said, kissing her neck and slipping a finger inside her, groaning when he felt how wet she was.

Kate felt tears fill her eyes and she held Paul tightly as he pushed his hard cock into her. ‘I love you,’ she whispered, before losing herself in the sensation of his thrusts; gentle at first, then becoming faster and harder. He lifted her up so she was sitting on the edge of the basin, and she leaned back, putting a hand on either side of it to steady herself as the movement increased in speed and intensity. They were both panting.

Over the engine noise, Kate heard a sound right outside the bathroom. ‘Stop!’ she hissed, and they both froze, their eyes wide, like guilty schoolkids caught in the act. There was a soft knock and the sound of a woman clearing her throat.

‘Everything all right in there?’ the flight attendant enquired drily through the door. Paul gave another gentle teasing thrust and Kate had to press her lips together to stop herself from either giggling or moaning – or both.

‘Just a minute,’ Paul called, with as much dignity as he could muster. ‘I think she’s on to us,’ he whispered to Kate, resuming his activity with renewed vigour.