He reached out his hand for her to shake. Albert quickly stepped up but the doctor motioned him back. She shook Earl’s hand. Hers felt warm and soft inside his bony cold one.
“God bless you, Doc. God bless you from a dying old man.”
She walked off to the next patient. But Earl had done his job.
He knew she was going to do exactly as he had asked.
Chapter
9
THE CARGO PLANE BUMPED ALONG at about ten thousand feet as they descended into what looked to be dense forest. Robie and Reel sat across from each other in jump seats in the cargo hold. As the plane shuddered and thrashed through the air Reel smiled.
“What?” asked Robie.
“For some reason I thought the agency would have sent one of the Gulfstream jets for us.”
“Right. At least the trip wasn’t long.”
“Good old North Carolina. In the middle of nowhere, North Carolina,” she amended.
“The agency does not encourage neighbors,” replied Robie.
There were no windows for them to look out, but their ear pops told them the plane was in descent. And their watches confirmed this to be the case.
“What’s your best guess for when we get there?” she asked.
Robie shrugged. “They said they were going to put us through the paces. I expect them to do nothing less than that.”
“And afterward?”
“If there is an afterward.”
“I don’t think that’s entirely up to us, Robie.”
“Never thought anything different.”
Five minutes later they heard the landing gear come down. A few minutes after that the plane touched down on the tarmac, then rolled for a bit as the thrust reversers and wheel brakes were engaged and the aircraft came to a clunky halt far down the runway.
The plane taxied and then the engines were killed. A door was opened and they were told by one of the aircraft’s personnel to exit.
They walked down a set of portable stairs that had been rolled to the open door of the plane.
When they touched ground a Humvee pulled up with a skid. Inside was a driver and, next to him, Amanda Marks, dressed in cammie gear. She got out and faced them.
“Welcome to the Burner. We’ve made some changes since you were here last.”
“What kind?” asked Reel.
“I don’t want to spoil the surprise,” replied Marks. She eyed them both and then looked at a sky full of clouds. The chilly wind whipped around them.
“Down to your skivvies. You can keep your shoes on.”
“Excuse me?” said Reel.
“Strip down to your skivvies,” Marks said again. Her tone now carried no pleasantness.
“And why would that be?” asked Robie.
“Either do it or get back on the plane and hire a lawyer,” she retorted.
Robie and Reel looked at each other and then slowly started to undress on the tarmac.
Robie had on running shorts and a white thermal long-sleeved T. Reel had on bike shorts and a blue tight-fitting long-sleeved Under Armour workout shirt. Both had on running shoes.
This was not lost on Marks.
“I can see you anticipated something like this,” she said, her tone somewhat disappointed.
Robie and Reel said nothing.
Marks pointed to her left. “The complex is down that way. Only a few miles, although it does get hilly the last mile. You will follow the Humvee. We will keep to a six-minute-a-mile pace. If you drop back from that for longer than five seconds, we will have an issue.”
She climbed back into the Humvee and signaled for the driver to start up. He spun the vehicle around and headed off east.
Robie and Reel exchanged one more glance and then fell in behind the vehicle at a swift pace.
“Good thing we figured they’d start to kick our asses from the get-go,” said Robie. “And dressed accordingly.”
“Six-minute pace isn’t a killer. But the hills might make it seem like a five-minute pace, maybe less.” She eyed the Humvee, gauging distance and speed. “Figure fifty feet back will keep us from having an issue.”
“Right.”
The run was not three miles, though. It was six. And the last mile wasn’t hilly. The last three miles were. Exactly four seconds short of thirty-six minutes later they reached the sprawling complex set on a plateau surrounded by forests of mostly evergreens. The CIA loved putting facilities in the middle of nowhere, if only because they could see someone coming from miles away.
The Humvee stopped and Marks jumped out as Robie and Reel reached her. They kept running in place, letting their muscles, lungs, and hearts cool down.
“Now, that wasn’t so bad was it?” said Marks.
“No. I’m sure your Hummer ride was very warm and comfortable,” said Reel. “So when you said you’d be with us every step of the way I guess that was metaphorically speaking?”