Читать книгу Mysterious Circumstances - Rita Herron - Страница 8

Too many people had died already.

Ruth Thornbird had to tell someone the truth about what was going on. She’d come to this hellhole of a place hoping to help eradicate disease and had devoted her every day and night to the project, traveling to un-godly primitive areas to save lives.

But she’d been brought to Egypt under false pretenses. And three weeks into her mission, her orders had changed.

Now she was investigating a strange outbreak of an unnamed virus that was killing people in droves. A disease she suspected could have been prevented.

Worse, she also suspected innocent people were being used as test subjects without their knowledge.

Yanking the sterile gloves from her hands, she tossed them into the bin designated to collect biohazardous materials and rushed toward the small cubicle serving as her temporary office. Darkness bathed the cramped space, the desk lamp shedding the only light from a low-wattage bulb. The clock read nearly midnight. She’d purposely waited until everyone was gone so she wouldn’t get caught.

Once she phoned the proper authorities and sent them her suspicious findings, she’d ask to return stateside. As much as she wanted to help cure this disease, for the first time in her life she actually feared what she might find—that there was no cure.

And that her own government was to blame for the outbreak.

Guilt slammed into her for being a coward and wanting to run, and she hesitated, but the angelic face of her eight-year-old daughter Olivia flashed in her mind, and her fingers tightened around the handset. She desperately wanted to hug her child. To forget that horrors like this existed.

The door squeaked open behind her. She jerked around, shocked to see a man enter and move into the shadows. Her nerves on edge, she searched his face for recognition, but he wore a surgical suit and mask. The only visible part of his body—his eyes.

They stared at her with a coldness that sent a chill down her spine.

“Who are you?” she asked.

“That doesn’t matter,” he said in a low voice. “But I can’t let you leave here, Dr. Thornbird.”

The low timbre of his tone made her stomach clench. She reached for her purse, but the man vaulted forward, knocked it from her hand, then manacled her wrist. When she saw the hypodermic in his hand, her blood turned to ice.

He lifted the needle so the tip glinted in front of her face. “You know what’s in here, don’t you?”

A sob caught in her throat. She not only knew, but she’d witnessed the deadly results of its effects. The bodies she’d been studying. The horrible way the people had suffered. The inevitable death.

Her heart pounding, she kicked out at him and ran, but he caught her, jabbed the needle into her neck, and held her until a chilling ache seeped through her. Her throat closed. Her body convulsed. The horrible panic of knowing what came next sliced through her.

She slumped to the floor like a rag doll as he released her.

Her little girl’s face appeared in her mind’s eye. Sweet, precious Olivia. That beautiful angelic blond hair. Those baby-blue eyes.

She’d talked to her husband earlier. Olivia was making posters, decorating the house for her homecoming. She’d been marking the days on the calendar until she returned. Had planned a surprise party with homemade chocolate chip cookies. Her husband was even taking the day off so they could all be together.

A tear rolled down her cheek, but she was helpless to wipe it away. Then she closed her eyes, welcoming the numbness. Regrets surfaced. She would never see her husband or baby girl again. Never hold them or kiss them good-night.

And no one would ever know the reason she’d died.