THE MAVERICK DOCTOR AND MISS PRIM/ABOUT THAT NIGHT... by Scarlet Wilson Page B

her team’s time. They needed to deal with the issues around the containment facility. It was time to delegate.
    She could feel her arm tremble slightly as she picked up the phone again. Isabel would have been fit for Evan Hunter. She would have chewed him up and spat him out. It was time to embrace some of her sister’s personality traits.
    “Evan?”
    “What on earth were you doing? When I call I expect—”
    She cut him off straight away. “What have I been doing? What have I been doing? I’ve just been getting my smallpox vaccination and I’ve just inoculated another member of staff. I’ve been assessing our most up-to-date information to determine whether or not this is a terrorist attack.” She glanced at the clock. “Information I wasn’t due to present to you for another eight minutes. And, incidentally, my professional opinion is that it’s not.
    “I’ve also been trying to keep the staff and patients here calm and informed about what’s going on. I’m trying to find out how Callum is but no one will tell me anything. I’m having problems with the containment facility. We can’t make all the contacts for the plane passengers.” She was starting to count things off on her fingers.
    “We’re just about to vaccinate those exposed—but we have a pregnant nurse to consider. Oh, and Sawyer is driving me crazy.” She took a deep breath. “So, how’s your day going, Evan?” She couldn’t help it. The more she spoke, the more she felt swamped, the more she felt angry that Callum wasn’t at her side. The more she realized that Evan Hunter, boss or not, should be doing more to help her, not adding to the problems.
    The silence at the end of the phone was deafening. Her heart rate quickened. Had she just got herself sacked?
    No. How could he? Not when she was in the middle of all this.
    She heard him clear his throat. “Point made.”
    She was shocked. “What?”
    “Point made, Callie. What do you need?”
    For a second she couldn’t speak. What did she need? Apart from getting out of here?
    “I need you to take over the plane contacts. We’ve got three hundred passengers and only contact details for seventy-six. I also need you to take over the viable threat assessment for these people as our details are sketchy. I’ll get one of the contact tracers and epidemiologists to conference-call you.” Isabel used to quote the English expression “In for a penny, in for a pound” before she took a risk. Somehow, it seemed apt.
    “Fine. I can do that. Anything else?”
    She felt like a girl in a fancy department store on a fifty percent sale day. But nothing else screamed out at her. “Can you magic me up some pediatric ICU facilities?”
    “That might be a little tricky.”
    “Didn’t think so. Never mind. I’ll let you know if I need anything else. When can I expect to hear from the lab?”
    “That’s what I wanted to tell you.”
    Oops. She almost felt bad for being snarky with him.
    “The samples have been received and are being processed. It’s only been a couple of hours. In another ten we should be able to tell you which virus type it is. That will give us something to work with.”
    She nodded as she scribbled notes. “That’s great.”
    “And, Callie?”
    “Yes?” This was it. This was where he blasted her for the way she’d just spoken to him.
    “Leave Sawyer to me. I’m going to try and find out where he’s been and what he’s been doing these last few years. Let him know who’s in charge. Only use him if you have to. He’s not part of the DPA anymore.”
    She could feel the steel in his words and instantly regretted her outburst that Sawyer was driving her crazy. “He’s actually been quite helpful. He’s just a little...” she struggled to think of the word “...inconsistent. One minute he’s helping, the next he looks as if he could jump out the nearest window.” She looked over at the window next to her. The sun was splitting the sky outside. She almost