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spread given the limited method of dispersal. The algorithms he used were not much help; too many
variables. Frustrated, he decided to have a drink while checking the news one last time before he left the
next day. Everything he could do was done, and staying would only increase the risk of capture. Better to
get on his way and get established in the little village his money would control. From there he could
access his funds in the Caymans and the lab he had set up there. He was paying attention to new statistics
being released by the CDC, and didn't hear the door to the den open. He did hear the booted footsteps,
though.
Perkins whirled around in his chair. The man standing in front of him pointed a heavy automatic
pistol at his belly. He punched a button on his PDA. It began speaking, "...while you're at it, take care
of Ralphie for me, too."
"Ralphie! I& don't believe th-"
"Did you really think I would live as a criminal hunted by the governments of every nation while
you got away clean? Waterson kept me out of sight, but now he's gone. And now you're gone!"
Perkins heard the explosion at the same time the impact from the hollow point .45 slug hit him in
the solar plexus; tumbling and expanding as it tore through his body. The exit wound was much larger
than the entrance. Ralph left him lying in a pool of blood, still alive but wounded so grievously that he
would die soon, and suffer horribly before he did.
"Bastard," Ralph said, wiping prints from the gun and placing it in Perkins' dying hand.
He cared little about what would happen next; he had no desire to spend his life in prison or face
execution. He was simply going through the motions. He never heard the shot from one of Perkins'
guards that killed him quickly and cleanly.
As word of Perkins' death spread among his cohorts, resistance ceased. By the time the
sporadic return fire was suppressed, and Jantz's team rappelled down from the helicopter there was no
fight left in the opposition. The men who had vowed to die before surrendering were cuffed and led
away, all except the one who had killed Perkins' former lover. He was shot trying to escape.
Once the place was secured Jantz called in Crystal and other CDC scientists, and a contingent
of specialists to probe into the computer hard drives and backups scattered around the house. Most of
them belonged to the guards. Perkins' personal computer died with him, blown up by a charge of C4, the
explosion triggered when his heartbeat ceased.
A day later the bleary-eyed Jantz and Crystal climbed into a helicopter ready to get back and
catch a good night's sleep. As he buckled his seat belt Jantz felt a tickling sensation in his nostrils. He
sniffed, sucked in his breath, and let it out in an explosive sneeze. At the time, he thought nothing of it.
THE END
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