Life Goes On by Tayell, Frank (large ebook reader txt) 📗

nephew, is the heir to their underworld. The sisters went to collect this nephew from somewhere up north. In North America. Mikael was brought here from Miami where he was sort of under house arrest in a mansion. The sisters, and the nephew, were supposed to come here, but they never arrived.”

“Was Mikael a prisoner, too?” Tess asked.

“Not exactly. Hernando was in charge, but Mikael was obviously way more important to the sisters than anyone else here. He was no saint, but he was also a lonely old man. He wanted company, and I thought maybe that was a way to keep Pete and Olivia alive.”

“I understand,” Tess said. “So Hernando was in charge, but Mikael was the V.I.P. The sisters were supposed to come here with the nephew, but never arrived.”

“What happened to the rest of the locals?” Adams asked.

“Poisoned,” Corrie said. “They were given an injection of what they were told was the British vaccine. The cartel had their supplies stashed in Colombia. Food and medicine mostly. But the plan wasn’t to come here specifically. It was to take over an island. Any island. But not to decide on which one in advance. Find an island, kill everyone, and then wait. They thought they would be betrayed. Their original plan was to seize the Panama Canal and charge all the world’s governments for access. It was a route to legitimacy and empire. The sisters didn’t think the apocalypse would get so bad. But they never came here, and you destroyed their supplies in Colombia.”

“We did,” Adams said.

“After the plane spotted the smoke, Hernando decided he’d done enough waiting. If your warship came this way, he was going to drop poison on it. All the boats were going to scatter, but he was going to take the icebreaker and go look for the sisters. He was that scared of them. Even now, he was going to look for them. Mikael was certain they were dead, though. He wanted to stay here. Start a new life in paradise.”

“The sisters bought the VX for Panama,” Tess said. “That’s why they had a base in Colombia, in the desert. Within range of the canal, but nowhere near enough they would need to worry about poison carried by the wind. Drop the VX, kill the survivors, and any new survivors who turn up, and then move in a month or two later.”

“That’s more or less what Mikael thought,” Corrie said. “But he didn’t know about the VX until we came here.”

“You said Mikael was brought here because they thought they’d been betrayed,” Tess said. “Was this suspected betrayal before or after the outbreak?”

“Before, I think, but I’m not sure,” Corrie said.

“Perhaps one of our two prisoners know,” Adams said. “Am I right that Lisa Kempton went looking for the sisters and this nephew?”

“I think so,” Corrie said. “Lisa was hunting the politicians, too.”

“As the sisters never arrived, perhaps she found them,” Adams said.

“What about the lab?” Tess asked.

“What lab?” Corrie asked.

“Back in Australia, we caught one of their conspirators. He told us the lab which developed the zom-virus was in Colombia. That’s why we came to this sea. But if Hernando picked this island at random, the lab can’t be here. Do you know where it is?”

“Sorry, Mikael didn’t know anything about it, or the zombies. I don’t think Hernando did, either. But I can’t be certain. He was less like a leader and more like a courier. A caretaker. He returned to Miami a day before the outbreak, with orders to get ready to move Mikael. Someone else was supposed to arrive and take charge. Maybe it was the sisters, but I don’t think it was supposed to be Hernando. More than half his people were just street-dealers. After the outbreak hit Manhattan, he grabbed everyone he could as quickly as he could, and fled south.”

“If he could only recruit amateurs, let’s hope that means the professionals are all dead,” Tess said. “Do you know where they were fleeing to from here?”

“Sorry, no,” Corrie said. “Before you destroyed their depot in Colombia, that was their rendezvous. They must have picked somewhere new, but they didn’t tell Mikael. Or he didn’t tell me.”

“We think they had some kind of attack ship,” Adams said. “Something sank a flotilla of sailing ships on the southern shore of the Caribbean Sea, but there’s nothing on this island with that capability.”

“I wasn’t allowed out much,” Corrie said. “The cellar, Mikael’s rooms, and sometimes we’d sit out on the veranda behind the house, but that was it. The only time we made it to the shore was when we failed to escape.”

“Do you know where Hernando slept?” Tess asked. “I’d like to search his things.”

“It was one of the big houses on the other side of the junction,” Corrie said.

“You won’t have long, Tess,” Adams said. “We can’t guarantee we’ve caught or killed all the enemy. I want to be gone before nightfall, when a sniper might come looking for revenge.”

The sound of an approaching engine had them turn to look north. The truck was returning, with Zach behind the wheel.

“We’ll talk again later, and in more detail,” Tess said. “Sorry, it’s vital, but it can wait until we’re aboard the ship and sailing for home. You should go there now. See the doc.”

“I’m fine,” Corrie said. “I’ll help them move the food. I’d prefer to keep busy, you know?”

Tess nodded, walking back across the courtyard, Captain Adams at her side.

“What’s your view of her story?” Adams asked.

“Officially, or personally?” Tess asked.

“Are they different?” Adams asked.

“Officially, the sisters didn’t come here. They should have. As this is where their brother was, they surely must have intended to. They didn’t, so they’re dead. Probably killed trying to find this nephew. Possibly killed by Lisa Kempton. Officially,