Page 3 of Broken Wheels

“No, they don’t. In my experience, people would rather live—and die—in ignorance.”

“You’re too late.” Tanner swallowed hard. “I’ve already been in contact with the others. Word will get out.”

He tilted his head to one side. “Heard from any of them lately? Or have they all gone quiet?” He smiled. “Yeah, I’ll bet you a million bucks all those busy little emails and messages you’ve been sending back and forth have dried up.”

Tanner frowned. “How do you—” He froze. “What have you done?”

“I think you already know the answer to that.”

Tanner gaped at him. “But what if there are deaths because of this? Don’t you care?”

Maybe he had—once—but now?

“You want to know something? Everyone dies.” He smiled. “Even you.” Then he aimed the gun.

“No, don’t do this!” Tanner cried as he turned, his feet already moving, except he couldn’t run that fast.

No one could outrun their destiny.

Tanner might as well have drawn a target on his back. Even with his suppressor, the sound echoed off the building and surrounding hills. Tanner had chosen well. This spot was difficult to find, being well hidden in the dense foliage. He went down in a heartbeat, his groans filling the air.

He walked over to where Tanner lay writhing on the ground. He wanted to say something, maybe offer an apology, then thought better of it.

The dead have no need for such things.

“This might hurt a little.” He reached into his pocket, removed the container, and poured its contents over Tanner. Fluid streamed in an arc, spattering Tanner and the ground around him, filling the frigid air with an acrid smell. This stuff had been developed by the group he worked for. It left a thick, oily substance that clung to practically anything.

Which now included the soon-to-be late Cliff Tanner.

He reached into his pocket, removed his lighter, and flicked it into life, its bright flame lighting up the area. He held the flame to the viscous fluid, and it lit instantly, licking up the trail with a slow tongue, consuming the splashes of liquid until it reached Tanner’s body. He stood and watched as the fire flickered around him, then swelled into a living, breathing monster that engulfed Tanner. His screams were short-lived as he either asphyxiated or his lungs were roasted by inhaling the blaze.

I’ve seen enough.

He turned from the smoldering corpse and went inside the building to retrieve the laptop. A cursory examination showed several emails had been sent, and he opened the folder to take a look at their contents. Most were inane, stuff that could be found in anyone’s mail. He found what he’d been looking for and smiled. The eleven recipients were already taken care of.

Then he saw the last one and groaned.

Dr. Malone,

I don’t know if you remember me. We worked together. I certainly haven’t forgotten you.

The thing is, I’ve discovered something, and I need to talk to you about what I’ve found. I know they’re following me, so I don’t know how long I have. Can we meet? I want to tell you face to face, so you know I’m serious.

I contacted the others, but they’ve all stopped answering my emails. To be honest, that scares me. You’re my only hope now.

Please, say you’ll meet with me. You can pick the location. Name the place and time, and I’ll be there. But make it soon? I think I’m running out of time.

Dr. Cliff Tanner

He closed the laptop with a sigh.

Bad enough that you had to reach out to those people, you had to send it to him.

It looked as if he’d earn that promised bonus after all.

He’d known the name, of course, long before the boss had called him on board with this particular job. Malone’s reputation lingered long after his departure. He’d made a lot of people very nervous when he stole files that could link the project’s backers to things they’d rather no one knew about. What was worse, Malone had threatened to disseminate them if anyone came near him. That took balls of steel.

No one threatened the company. No one. Yet Malone had gotten away with it.