Chapter 15

Campground, Sedona, AZ

The next morning, the sound of birds chirping loudly woke Luke Spencer up. Birds on steroids from the sounds of things, he thought to himself. He rubbed his eyes for a minute, disoriented to find himself alone in a large tent, wrapped in a cocoon made out of an old blanket. He thought about where he was for a minute, and then remembered that he was in Arizona with Robert and Holly. He had gone for a long walk around the campground the night before, partly because he felt so bad about what he had said to Holly, and partly to give Robert and Holly a little space. He had gotten back to the tent late. He had been a little afraid to interrupt something, but when all he heard from outside the tent were the sounds of sleep, he had crept in carefully. Holly was in the sleeping bag, with Robert snuggled up beside her, an arm thrown protectively over her. Luke had noticed a blanket folded up on the side of the tent. He took it and wrapped himself in it, trying to ward off the chill of the night air.

Luke emerged from the tent and looked around the campsite. Holly and Robert were sitting facing one another on the picnic table bench, arms around each other, heads touching as they talked softly to one another. For their part, they had spent hours the night before making out like teenagers in front of the fire. "I wish we had a proper bed to adjourn to," Robert had murmured to Holly. "Mmmm. This is nice, though," she had replied.

Luke looked at the two of them for a minute. It was nice to see them together again after all this time, now that the truth was out. "All right, enough with the goo-goo eyes," he announced. "You're going to have to get a room if you keep this up," he joked.

"We would have but there weren't any in a 50 mile radius, remember?" quipped Robert. Holly started to giggle.

All of a sudden, Luke missed Tracy, even though she probably hadn't giggled in at least 30 years. He hoped this would all be over soon. He frowned as he wondered where that feeling came from.

"You didn't sleep well, Luke?" asked Holly innocently.

"I was freezing all night. Somebody else had the sleeping bag." Luke was glad for the distraction.

"At least you got a blanket, mate," pointed out Robert with a grin, "that's better than I did." He dodged a mock punch from Holly.

"I think I earned the sleeping bag, didn't I?"

"So what's the plan for today, pal?"

"We have a bit of a walk ahead of us. This Dr. Neuhaus is not too fond of visitors. His lab is in a very isolated area that we're going to have to hike to."

"Hike? I haven't hiked in 20 years!" lamented Luke.

"You don't have to come if you don't want to. In fact, why are you still here? Clearly you don't have to protect me from Holly."

"Listen, I may have to protect you guys from each other. At least with me around you'll actually make it to the lab today."

It took several hours to hike to Neuhaus' lab. Fortunately, it was a beautiful day, not too warm but lovely and sunny. The views along the way of the red rocks of Sedona were spectacular. They fended their way along a trail and around rocks. Eventually they arrived at the lab, thanks to the map that Andrew Burns had provided. A large door stood out amongst the rocks.

All three looked at the door, unsure of what to do. Finally Holly spoke up: "Maybe we should just knock?"

The door opened slowly, revealing a small bespectacled man. He frowned at his visitors. "Ja?"

"Dr. Neuhaus? We were given your name by Andrew Burns. We'd like to ask you some questions about your work."

Neuhaus was fairly close-mouthed about his research. Surprisingly, he was somewhat willing to discuss his employer.

"Let me guess," Robert asked exasperatedly, "you were approached by a headhunter."

"Nein. I was contacted directly by an investor who offered to subsidize my work."

Robert asked a few more questions that didn't provide any useful information. Holly eventually asked, "Can you at least describe him physically?" None of the three were prepared for the answer.

"Certainly. He's a small man, wiry, long hair. European, Scandinavian, probably, judging from his accent."

Robert's face drained of color as he asked, "He smokes cigars?" Holly quickly realized who was being described and grabbed Robert's hand to support him. For his part, Luke's blood pressure almost doubled in 10 seconds.

"Ja, ja. Filthy habit." With their questions more or less answered, and half in shock, Robert, Luke and Holly thanked Dr. Neuhaus and quickly left the lab.

After his visitors left Dr. Neuhaus made a phone call: "They were just here. Ja, I told them you hired me." He paused to listen to the voice on the other end of the phone. "Oh, they were most definitely disturbed by the news."

Cesar Faison hung up the phone. He rubbed his hands together and gleefully contemplated the events that were to come. He pulled out his laptop and keyed in a few commands. In an instant, the release of another virus was initiated.

"Hiring all these scientists has paid off," Faison mused out loud, "their combined efforts have allowed them to produce a virus that has an especially short incubation period. It shouldn't be long before I can have my final revenge on Robert Scorpio."

Robert, Holly and Luke began the long hike back. On the way they discussed what to do next. All three were clearly shaken by the revelation that Faison was still alive. Robert had tried tracing his whereabouts on several occasions but had never been able to turn up a trail. It chilled his heart to think that the man was alive. He tried to shake the thoughts, but the cold feeling lingered. He was surprised that he wasn't feeling angry, yet. Holly and Luke had their own thoughts about Faison to contend with.

"I say we go back to Phoenix. It shouldn't take long for Faison to tip his hand. And when he does, we'll be close to an international airport. But until then, I'm going to try not to think about him," announced Robert.

It was early evening by the time they got back to the car; the sun was just setting. Holly looked around at the beautiful rock formations and wished they had some time to appreciate them. Luke volunteered to drive them back to Phoenix, for which Robert was grateful. His back was killing him after having slept on the ground the night before. He popped a couple of anti-inflammatories and fell asleep almost instantly.

"You're going to have to entertain me, English, so I don't drive off the road."

"I'm not going to tell you a story."

"You and this old geezer back together, then?" Luke paused. "Heh. He must be asleep if I can get away with that kind of comment."

"It's looking that way," smiled Holly, "but I can hardly wrap my brain around it. If you had asked me at Christmas time where I would be right now, I never could have imagined this."

"Funny how things go, isn't it?"

Holly and Luke caught up on the years during the remainder of the drive to Phoenix.

Airport Hotel, Phoenix, AZ

Holly walked into the hotel room and sighed with happiness. Robert came in behind her and in a flash, swept her into his arms. She spun around and they met in a passionate kiss. Robert began to kiss Holly's neck while simultaneously slowly unbuttoning her shirt. Holly felt like she could melt. Neither of them could get over how fast and strong their passion for each other could flare.

It took every ounce of strength that she possessed for Holly to pull away from Robert's embrace, but she managed. "What's wrong?" asked Robert, looking none too pleased and quite worried at the same time.

"Nothing's wrong," paused Holly, "except, well, we're both rather dirty, aren't we?" she asked with a smile, brushing red dust off her forearm.

"That's ok, I don't mind." Robert reached for Holly but she jumped back playfully just out of his reach.

"No, you're taking a shower, then I'm taking one. That's it."

"You're bossier than you used to be," laughed Robert.

"No, it's just that your memory is failing you," retorted Holly as she pushed Robert into the bathroom.

A short time later, Robert came out of the bathroom in a robe, humming a little tune, feeling refreshed. "You were right, luv, a shower was an excellent idea. I feel so much better." He looked over at the bed and shook his head in disbelief. Holly was curled up on the bed, fast asleep.

"Maybe she's just napping?" thought Robert hopefully. He climbed on to the bed and nudged her shoulder gently, "Holly, Holly, time to wake up, big night planned, remember?" Robert rubbed her arm again. All he got in response was a series of mmmmms. He sighed in frustration and laid down beside her. After the lack of sleep the night before, the long hike, and the stress of learning that Faison was still alive, it didn't take long for him to follow her into sleep.