Free BioKill by Stuart Handley

waiver; it would remain unchanged until his dying day. Neither Matt Lilburn, nor anyone else, would be able to even chip the outer layer.
    He was fast running out of time and needed to take another tack. “You know why you were brought in here. We’ve uncovered your little scheme and once this is over, you’ll be put away for a very long time.” Lilburn stood up. As far as he was concerned there was no more to be gained. “And just in case you think I’m bluffing, I’ll leave you with one word.”
    Despite himself, the Imam looked up at Lilburn.
    “Syria.”
    Lilburn left the room, but not before watching the beginning of a smile appear briefly on the Imam’s face.
    Gibbons was waiting outside the interrogation room.
    “Did you get what you were after?”
    “Nothing, as I expected. Fawaz didn’t utter a word. Keep him as long as you can, then I’ll need you to put surveillance on him when he’s released and have his phones tapped.”
    “We need the necessary authority to tap the phones… and I still don’t know what information we’re looking for.”
    “I’ll see you have the authority. Look for anything to do with a breach in national security. You’ll know if you come across it. What I can say is anything to do with Syria will start alarm bells ringing.”
     
    The phone operator at Homeland Security transferred Lilburn’s call through to Director Hall.
    “How did you go?”
    “No luck, sir. We pulled in the cleric but he won’t answer any questions and certainly hasn’t volunteered anything.”
    Unsurprised, Director Hall gave Lilburn instructions to stay in New York and return in the morning. “Nothing for you to do up here. Dr. Crawston is working out a strategy in conjunction with the Disease Control Center on how to deal with an outbreak, if and when it occurs. I’ve sent out a heads-up nationwide to all enforcement agencies and postal services to report any activity to do with Syria. Best guess at the moment is the virus arrives in the post, possibly New York but that’s not certain by a long shot. Be back here tomorrow morning.” There was a click on Lilburn’s mobile as Hall bluntly ended the call.
    *
    “All right, all right, you rabble, settle down, it ain’t over until I say so. The lieutenant wants to say something. Boss.”
    “Thank you, sergeant. This has come in from Homeland Security — while you’re out on the street, be specially diligent about any reference to Syria. Mail from the place, anything like that. And for you bozos who don’t already know it, Syria is a country.
    An officer not known for his wits spoke up. “Which state, sir?”
    “Button it, pinhead,” the sergeant broke in. “You don’t know where Syria is, go look up a map.”
    “Thank you, sergeant, anyone else here want to interrupt me? No? Now Homeland has sent this out as a top priority. You all know as well as me when Homeland starts sending us stuff,” the lieutenant waved around a piece of paper in the air, “we know something is serious. Now for your information, yesterday a squad picked up a Muslim preacher from our precinct and took him back to have a word with him. One of the Homeland boys from Albany tagged along. I don’t know much more than that but let me say it again, anything at all regarding Syria then let me or the sergeant know. Just don’t forget what happened with the Twin Towers. No questions? Then carry on.”
    Rookie officer Martinez couldn’t believe his luck. Something Homeland Security was interested in was going down in the streets he worked. The lieutenant mentioned Syria, something registered about that name. Something… “Officer Maitland?” Maitland, the briefing over, had stood up and was about to leave the room when the rookie spoke. “The other day, remember? The apartment.”
    “What friggin’apartment are you talking about? There’s thousands of the damn things.”
    “Remember the old lady who said the two men next door were making a bomb?”
    Maitland