Ebola K: A Terrorism Thriller by Bobby Adair Page B

forward and put her elbows on
the table, entirely serious. “You know this sounds a little nuts,
right? I’m not saying you’re nuts, but you know, people might think
that. Do you really think there’s a danger?”
    Paul leaned back and tried to look casual.
“No, not really. I just worry about it, that’s all. I guess I
figured a hundred bucks was a small price to pay to assuage my
fears over this Ebola thing. We can stick it in the basement and
not worry about it. If we need it, it’s there. If we don’t, we’re
not going to miss a hundred bucks.”
    “This isn’t like you.”
    “I know,” Paul agreed. “I hate white rice
too. But like I said, they didn’t have brown.”
    “No, not the rice. You’re always so…I don’t
know. You don’t worry about stuff. That’s my job, isn’t
it?”
    Paul shrugged. “This one concerns me a
bit.”
    Uncharacteristically wordless, Heidi looked
down at her iced tea.
    “I’m probably overreacting.” It seemed like
the right thing to say, and maybe it was. Nonetheless, Paul
couldn’t shake the feeling that maybe he hadn’t done enough. He was
trying to find the happy balance between doing enough and feeling
embarrassed for doing anything.
    Looking back up at him, Heidi asked, “Do you
think we’ll see an epidemic here, like they’re having in West
Africa?”
    “No.” Paul’s brow furrowed while he thought
about that snap answer. “A lot of people are sick. A lot . A
lot of people have died. More than in that SARS thing a few years
ago.”
    “It’s been going on for three or four months,
right?” Heidi asked. “That’s a while. So you’d think more people
would catch it, right?”
    Paul nodded. Her point was valid. “I just
don’t get how it spread to so many people in that short amount of
time. It’s supposedly transferred through bodily fluids, but it
seems like too many people are infected for it all to be explained
by just that.”
    “I don’t understand. What are you getting
at?” Heidi glanced down at her phone. Her newsfeed was calling.
    “I’m only speculating, but I wonder if there
isn’t an airborne strain that’s spreading over there.”
    Heidi shook her head while she thought about
it. “Taking the reverse argument, if it was airborne and
it’s been around since March or April, wouldn’t a lot more people
be infected?”
    It was Paul’s turn to sit back and ponder.
“Yeah. I think you’re right. Just the same, we’ve got some food in
the basement.”
    “You know what worries me?”
    “If your phone battery is going to last
through the day?” He smiled.
    Heidi kicked him under the table. “No. With
Austin in Uganda, what happens if the epidemic spreads? Will the
university bring him home early?”
    Looking at her across the table, Paul saw the
worry growing on her face.
    “I know he’s not my son, but I feel like he
is.”
    Paul grinned. “You’re getting maternal?”
    Heidi kicked again, but missed. “Don’t be a
butt. You know how I feel about him.”
    “Yeah, sorry.” Going back to the previous
question, Paul said, “I don’t know if the university will bring him
home early or not. It honestly never crossed my mind.”
    “Do you want me to call tomorrow and find
out?”
    Paul knew what that really meant was that
Heidi was going to call tomorrow and was just letting him know.
Still, things worked better if he played the game. “Yeah, that
sounds like a good idea.”
    “Did he give you any contact
information?”
    Paul shrugged. “No.”
    “Didn’t you ask?”
    “Of course.”
    “Do you know the name of the program he went
there with?” Heidi asked.
    Paul shrugged again. “No.”
    “I thought you asked him for that.” There was
exasperation in her voice.
    “I did ask. I don’t remember him emailing me
the information.”
    “Did he send you his contact information in
Africa?”
    “No.” It came out a lot more sheepishly than
Paul intended. “I asked him to send it. He just didn’t.”
    “He