All Fall Down by Louise Voss Read Free Book Online Page B

hard it was to believe, there were others, still at liberty, who had shared Gaunt’s warped ambitions and engaged in a sick race – or, as Gaunt had called it, ‘a delicious intellectual game’ – with each other to create the world’s deadliest virus. It was a secret competition, with little cells of scientists across the globe taking part.
    Immediately after the events at Gaunt’s lab, Kate and Paul had been interviewed by Harley, and Kate had told him that she remembered Gaunt talking about someone called Mangold. Harley had raised an eyebrow at that and told them that the name Charles Mangold had been found in papers in Gaunt’s office; papers that showed a number of large deposits into Gaunt’s bank account.
    After that, Paul had spent hours scouring the internet, trying to find Charles Mangold, but there was only so much he could do online. To track down Mangold’s current location, Paul would have needed to travel to America, but a criminal record, acquired during his days as a hacker, made this impossible. All he could do was pass on the information to the relevant law enforcement agencies and seethe with frustration when they failed to take it any further, and Harley and his employers appeared to have done nothing about Mangold either, much to Paul’s consternation.
    It had taken some major string-pulling by Harley to get Paul a visa for this trip, but Kate was glad she’d insisted on him coming too. She kissed Paul’s stubbly cheek, drawing a smile.
    Jason Harley slipped into the seat across the aisle from them. According to the map on the jumbo jet’s TV screens, they were halfway across the Atlantic, the tiny cartoon plane on the monitor edging ever closer to Dallas. Harley had surprised them with seats in First Class, the first time Kate or Paul had ever turned left when getting on a plane.
    Paul glanced at Jack to make sure he wasn’t able to hear them, then leaned across and demanded: ‘So, what do you know about the people who planted the bomb at the hotel? Has no one taken responsibility for it since you got the anonymous message?’
    Harley winced. ‘Please keep your voice down. But no, they haven’t.’
    Paul dropped his voice. ‘Don’t you think it’s a coincidence that a good percentage of the world’s top virologists were murdered shortly after a new killer virus breaks out in America?’
    Harley didn’t respond.
    ‘What I don’t understand is why you spooks were involved in this before the bomb went off, when it was “just” a viral outbreak. I thought that kind of thing was dealt with by the World Health Organization?’
    Irritation flitted across Harley’s face at the word ‘spooks’, but he kept his tone neutral. ‘That’s a fair question. But I can’t divulge any more information to a civilian at this point.’
    ‘A civilian? That’s a hell of a nice way to put it. You’re dragging our family across the globe. The least you can do is tell us what’s going on.’
    ‘Please don’t raise your voice.’
    ‘Why, because you don’t want people to get scared? If some horrific African virus has broken out and someone is blowing up virologists, maybe they should be scared.’
    ‘Paul.’ Kate laid her hand on his arm. ‘Come on, stay calm. You’re going to scare Jack. You’re scaring
me
.’
    In truth, Jack was oblivious, still glued to a movie, the volume pumped up to block out the roar of the jets that filled the cabin. But she wished Paul wouldn’t talk about virologists being blown up. Not when Isaac had been one of the victims, and when she was a virologist herself.
    Paul hissed across the aisle to Harley, ‘You must have suspected terrorists were involved before the bomb. Otherwise, why were
you
sent to recruit Kate?’
    Harley blinked. ‘Mr Wilson.’
    Paul laughed sarcastically. ‘“Mr Wilson”? Please, I feel we’re close enough for you to call me Paul.’
    ‘Mr Wilson, we are in a public space. We agreed to allow you to come on this trip purely in