Terminal

“Why are you asking about my son?” Anne demanded.

“I’ve been sent by the Forbes Cancer Center in Miami,” Sterling explained.

Recognizing the name of the institution where Sean was working, Anne opened the door and gazed up at the stranger. He was an attractive man with a broad face and straight nose. His hair was light brown and mildly curly. Anne thought he could have been Irish except for his name. He was over six feet tall with eyes as blue as those of her own sons.

“Has Sean done something I should know about?” she asked.

“Not that I’m aware of,” Sterling said. “The management of the clinic routinely looks into the background of the people who work there. Security is an important issue with them. I merely wanted to ask you a few questions.”

“Like what?” Anne asked.

“Has your son been involved with any biotechnology companies to your knowledge?”

“You are the second person to ask that question in the last hour,” Anne said.

“Oh?” Sterling said. “Who may I ask made similar inquiries?”

Anne reached into her apron pocket and drew out Tanaka’s business card. She handed it to Sterling. Anne could see the man’s eyes narrow. He handed her the card back.

“And what did you tell Mr. Yamaguchi?” Sterling asked.

“I told him my son and a few friends had started their own biotechnology company,” Anne said. “They called it Immunotherapy.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Murphy,” Sterling said. “I appreciate your talking with me.”

Anne watched the elegant stranger descend the steps in front of her house and climb into the back seat of a dark sedan. His driver was in uniform.

More baffled than ever, Anne went back upstairs. After some indecision she picked up the phone and called Brian. After apologizing for interrupting his busy day, she told him about her two, curious visitors.

“That’s odd,” Brian said when she was finished.

“Should we be worried about Sean?” Anne asked. “You know your brother.”

“I’ll call him,” Brian said. “Meanwhile, if anyone else comes asking questions, don’t tell them anything. Just refer them to me.”

“I hope I didn’t say anything wrong,” Anne said.

“I’m sure you didn’t,” Brian assured her.

“Will we be seeing you later?”

“I’m still working on it,” Brian said. “But if I’m not there by eight eat without me.”

WITH THE Miami street map open on the seat next to her, Janet managed to find her way back to the Forbes residence. She was pleased when she saw Sean’s Isuzu in the parking lot. She was hoping to find him home since she had what she thought was good news. She’d found an airy, pleasant furnished apartment on the southern tip of Miami Beach that even had a limited view of the ocean from the bathroom. When she’d first started looking for apartments she’d been discouraged since it was “in season.” The place she found had been reserved a year in advance, but the people had unexpectedly canceled. Their cancellation had come in five minutes before Janet stepped into the real estate office.

Grabbing her purse and her copy of the rental agreement, Janet went up to her apartment. She took a few minutes to wash her face and change into shorts and a tank top. Then with lease in hand she walked down the balcony to Sean’s slider. She found him glumly slouched on the couch.

“Good news!” Janet said cheerfully. She plopped down in the armchair across from him.

“I could use some of that,” Sean said.

“I found an apartment,” she announced. She brandished the lease. “It’s not fabulous, but it’s a block from the beach, and best of all it’s a straight shot out the expressway to the Forbes.”

“Janet, I don’t know whether I can stay here,” Sean said. He sounded depressed.

“What happened?” Janet asked, feeling a shiver of anxiety.

“The Forbes is nuts,” Sean said. “The atmosphere sucks. For one thing, there’s a Japanese weirdo who I swear is watching me. Every time I turn around, there he is.”

“What else?” Janet asked. She wanted to hear all Sean’s objections so she could figure a way to deal with them. Having just signed a lease for two months made her commitment to remaining in Miami that much more binding.

“There’s something basically wrong with the place,” Sean said. “People are either friendly or unfriendly. It’s so black and white. It’s not natural. Besides, I’m working by myself in this huge empty room. It’s crazy.”

“You’ve always complained about the lack of space,” Janet said.

“Remind me never to complain again,” Sean said. “I never realized it, but I need people around me. And another thing: they have this secret maximum containment lab which is supposed to be off limits. I ignored the sign and went in anyway. You know what I found? Nothing. The place was empty. Well, I didn’t get to go in every room. In fact, I hadn’t gotten far when this frustrated Marine who heads up the security department stormed in and threatened me.”

“With what?” Janet asked with alarm.

“With his gut,” Sean said. “He came up real close and gave me this nasty look. I was this far from giving him a shot in the nuts.” Sean held up his thumb and index finger about a half inch apart.