AN: Happy early Christmas! ACD owns anything resembling H&W.
Chapter 6
I shook my head slowly. "You don't want to mess with this shit, Holmes. Do you have any idea what this will fucking do to you if you screw up?" I could feel my voice rising an octave and turning shrill.
He glared at me. "Keep it down, will you? Just listen to the rest of my plan."
I bit my lip to keep myself from saying more.
"Listen, Laura. We're just going to be setting him up, ok? With the advent of Homeland Security and the way Justice is set up right now, if Sebastian gets caught trying to purchase biological agents, he's a dead man. Gone, locked away for good. There's no FBI protection for that, no matter what he did in the past. It's what he deserves."
"I don't think you're hearing me, Jake." I sighed. "Anthrax is extremely dangerous to handle and the there is a very high fatality rate once infection happens. This is very different than playing with a gun."
He shrugged. "Look, I'm just setting up a trap, Laura, what could possible go wrong?"
The man was seriously daft. "Are you kidding me? First off, how are you going to get a specimen and culture of the stuff? Then, how do you plan on contact the right people to make sure he gets caught red-handed? Logistics aside, I don't even know if you know how it works and how to handle something as dangerous as anthrax spores. You might infect yourself or anyone who comes in contact with you. Honestly, Holmes, this is hands down the worst idea you've ever had."
His jaw clenched and his steely eyes bore right through me. "Anything else, Watson?" he hissed testily.
I shook my head. "If this is what your plan is, I don't know why I'm here."
"Feel free to leave at any time. If I may refresh your memory, doctor, you were the one who insisted on coming," he snarled.
"I came to stop you from doing something you'll regret for the rest of your life, Jake. You are not a criminal. But what you're proposing to do… what if you get caught?"
He cocked an eyebrow. "Only if someone turns me in- and if that's how you feel, then so be it. Just a betrayal on your part, of course."
That really hurt. Was I always going to be untrustworthy to every man in my life? I took a deep breath and gathered myself; I didn't want to let Holmes have the satisfaction of knowing that he got to me. So I changed tactics. "Holmes, I'm not trying to throw you behind bars. It's just that I just think your plan could use some ah, fine-tuning."
"What do you mean? I'm open to suggestions, Laura." The spitefulness had immediately dissipated from his voice, and he seemed genuinely interested. I had piqued his interest.
I racked through my accumulated knowledge of infectious diseases before I landed on a particularly useful piece of information. "You don't have to supply him with actual anthrax, you know."
His brows narrowed. "Go on."
"Inhalational anthrax is caused by a bacterium- specifically Bacillus anthracis. The 2001 attacks by mail were very deadly and dangerous. But that wasn't the first time Bacillus anthracis was used in an attempted biological terror attack. There were a few other times before that, and those attacks did not end up being deadly. In fact, no one even got sick in 1993 in the Kameido Tokyo incident even though spores were released into a huge crowd."
"I don't see your point." He began tapping his foot impatiently.
"My point is, dear Holmes, there are multiple strains of Bacillus anthracis, and you can supply him with a completely innocuous strain, and there would be no way he would be able to tell."
I don't think I have ever won an argument with my dear friend Jake Holmes, but that day at lunch was the closest I ever came. As I watched the features on his face gradually relax, I breathed a sigh of relief (crisis adverted!) before adding, "The innocuous strain and the disease inducing strain are microscopically similar and the spore formation is virtually identical. The only way you'd be able to tell them apart would be either to sequence the genomes or to actually test it on your subjects and watch the results."
His face broke into a rare smile as he settled back into his chair. "This will work out even better than I thought. He'll still come under question for attempting to purchase biological agents, even if it's the harmless strain… Honestly, Watson, what would I do without you?"
My face turned the color of my untouched jambalaya soup, as I was rendered speechless by his casually strewn compliment.
Holmes didn't seem to notice as he became preoccupied with his lunch. After some moments of silence, he then asked (through a mouthful of banana rum pie), "Are you up for some sightseeing tonight?"
"Tonight? Where?"
"The French Quarter. There are a number of bars on Bourbon Street there we can check out. Sebastian is working as a bartender, as you know."
I beamed at the thought of finally being in New Orleans and the chance to be immersed in the numerous jazz clubs in the Quarter, even though I recognized the undertone of hard core sleuth work. "That'd be great."
Holmes' voice shifted in tone, indicating the discussion was over. "So, how's the jambalaya?"
"You're right, this is some of the best food I've ever had." I smiled before raising another spoonful to my mouth.
When I first opened the door to the hotel room, the first thing I noticed was the bed. Or rather, the lack of the second one. Even though I found myself growing more comfortable with pretending to be Mrs.Young, I was not prepared for the idea that we might have to share a bed. I had slept alone for years.
I turned around to face Holmes, who had just closed the door behind him. "Uh, is that part of the plan?" I pointed at the bed.
Holmes arched an eyebrow, his face expressionless. "What?"
"That." When he still didn't answer, I spelled it out for him. "The bed. You know, how there's only one bed?" Not wanting him to see me blushing, I turned around to face the bed again, with my back toward him.
I swear, a good five minutes passed before it seemed to finally dawned on him what I was saying. Then he began to laugh. "If it bothers you so much, I'll sleep on top of the sheets."
Before I could mutter my thanks, he continued, coming up behind me, leaning in and whispering in my ear. "But really, Laura, how can you pull off a convincing Mrs. Young if you won't even let me sleep under the sheets?"
I whirled around. "You egotistical punk. Not every woman wants to sleep with you," I sputtered indignantly. Well, maybe I did, but he didn't have to hear about that.
He laughed heartedly before switching the subject. "So, Laura, for tonight. Do you have something appropriate to wear?"
"Like what?"
"None of the stuff you normally wear. More like, what Maggie wears."
I snickered. "Slut ho clothes?"
"What have you got against her, anyway? She's been very useful."
This was too easy. "Really? In what way?" I suppressed my grin.
"Maggie works for Carlos Ramirez, a hotshot drug smuggler based here in New Orleans. She's been very helpful in getting me a meeting with Ramirez," Holmes explained, oblivious to my implied meaning. "I met her when I was undercover for Lestrade."
"So why are you connecting with Ramirez? I thought that you were thinking of branching out, into biological agents."
Holmes nodded. "According to Maggie, Carlos is looking into branching out into biological agents. He has the equipment and laboratory set up; he just needs a go-to guy. A salesman, if you will."
"You."
"Yes. I have a meeting with Carlos in two days about this. In the meantime, we need to find out everything we can about what Sebastian is up to. And to do that, I need you to dress appropriately. We'll be hitting a lot of trendy bars and clubs tonight. You know what appropriate wear is, right? I would like us to blend in."
I sighed. "Yes, dear." I grinned inwardly as I realized I didn't pack any "Maggie-style" clothes. What better excuse was there than to go out shopping for the rest of this afternoon? "I'll see you later then. I didn't pack anything appropriate, so I'm going to hit the streets."
Holmes had taken the opportunity to collapse in the bed, and waved me off. "Be back by seven, pumpkin."
I rolled my eyes at the unmistakable sarcasm in his voice, grabbed my purse, hotel key, and let myself out.
AN: Thanks a bunch to my reviewers! Kenta Divina- I'm glad that you're back and thanks again for the support (knowing that this is more exciting than homework is a great compliment). With regards to the jealously, well, you'll have to wait and see :-D. Pinkpanther- yay! you're back. Hope this will tide you over for a while! QueenofSpain- I'm glad that you're still sticking with it. I may not be the most avid poster, but I do finish my stories eventually. So here's an update- much sooner than last time! MaskedPhantom- hahah, you guessed it! I had to put in a sharing the bed awkward moment :-D Kittenchatter- So many of you caught the little cocaine reference (made me smile quite a bit as I realize you all are reading all these details) and yes, emotionally awkward the entire time. I also didn't mean to make Mags so incredibly unlikeable, but she will serve a purpose later on. Thanks for your unwavering support! Jepa- thanks for keeping with this story for so long! I hope you enjoy the development of their relationship… snowwolf- hey my old faithful! here's an update for you- and don't worry, Brian will reappear soon, I just figured we need some Watson and Holmes time first. Yes, the bit about the family I threw in there because I promised you all some background into Holmes' life (yes, I know it doesn't really correspond with the real ACD Holmes). horsefeathers103- I'm glad you enjoy my story so much, and thanks for being so understanding about my infrequent posting, but here's an update for you. Again, you guys are so awesome, catching the little cocaine reference I tossed in there- makes me want to continually work on my writing as I know you're all reading all the details :-D.
