All of it, except for the wheels, was to be wrapped in heavy blue tinted vinyl that had a HEPA filter layer. I took off my suit with great relief, and retreated into the warm, well-lit rangers’ station, where I scrubbed my hands and face. My nerves were jangled and I would have given anything to crawl into bed, down shots of NyQuil and sleep.
‘If this ain’t a mess,’ Marino said as he came in with a lot of cold air.
‘Please shut the door,’ I said, shivering.
‘What’s eating you?’ He sat on the other side of the room.
‘Life.’
‘I can’t believe you’re out here when you’re sick. I think you’ve lost your friggin’ mind.’
‘Thank you for the words of comfort.’ I said.
‘Well, this ain’t exactly a holiday for me, either. Stuck out here with people to interview, and I got no wheels.’ He looked frayed.
‘What are you going to do?’
‘I’ll find something. Rumor has it Lucy and Janet are in the area and have a ride.’
‘Where?’ I started to get up.
‘Don’t get excited. They’re out trying to find people to interview, like I gotta do. God, I gotta smoke. It’s been almost all day.’
‘Not in here.’ I pointed to a sign.
‘People are dying of smallpox and you’re bitching about cigarettes.’
I got out Motrin and popped three without water.
‘So what will all these space cadets do now?’ he asked.
‘Some of them will stay in the area, tracking down any other people who may have been exposed either on Tangier or in the campground. They’ll work in shifts with other team members. I guess you’ll be in contact with them, too, in case you come across anyone who might have been exposed.’
‘What? I’m supposed to walk around in an orange suit all week?’ He yawned and cracked his neck. ‘Man, aren’t they a bitch? Hot as hell except up in the hood.’ He was secretly proud that he had worn one.
‘No, you won’t be wearing a plastic suit,’ I said.
‘And what happens if I find out someone I’m interviewing was exposed?’
‘Just don’t kiss him.’
‘I don’t think this is funny.’ He stared at me.
‘It’s anything but that.’
‘What about the dead guy? They going to cremate him when we don’t know who he is?’
‘He’ll be autopsied in the morning,’ I said. ‘I imagine they’ll store his body for as long as they can.’
‘The whole thing’s just weird.’ Marino rubbed his face in his hands. ‘And you saw a computer in there.’
‘Yes, a laptop. But no printer or scanner. I’m suspicious this is someone’s getaway. The printer, the scanner, at home.’
‘What about a phone?’
I thought for a minute. ‘Don’t remember seeing one.’
‘Well, the phone line runs from the camper to the utility box. We’ll see what we can find out about that, like whose account it is. I’ll also tell Wesley what’s going on.’
‘If the phone line was used only for AOL,’ Lucy said as she walked in and shut the door, ‘there won’t be any telephone account. The only account will be AOL, which will still come back to Perley, the guy whose credit card number got pinched.’
She looked alert but a little tousled in jeans and a leather jacket. Sitting next to me, she examined the whites of my eyes, and felt the glands in my neck.
‘Stick out your tongue,’ she seriously said.
‘Stop it!’ I pushed her away, coughing and laughing at the same time.
‘How are you feeling?’
‘Better. Where’s Janet?’ I said.
‘Talking. Out somewhere. What kind of computer’s in there?’
‘I didn’t take time to study it,’ I replied. ‘I didn’t notice any of the particulars.
‘Was it on?’
‘Don’t know. I didn’t check’
‘I need to get in it.’
‘What do you want to do?’ I asked, looking at her.
‘I think I need to go with you.’
‘Will they let you do that?’ Marino asked.
‘Who the hell is they?’
‘The drones you work for,’ he replied.
‘They put me on the case. They expect me to break it.’
Her eyes never stopped moving to windows and the door. Lucy had been infected and would succumb from her exposure to law enforcement. Beneath her jacket she wore a Sig Sauer nine-millimeter pistol in a leather holster with extra magazines. She probably had brass knuckles in her pocket. She tensed as the door opened and another ranger hurried in, his hair still wet from the shower, eyes nervous and excited.