No Immunity

somewhere?”
    Louisa shook her head. “I don’t know, or care. The bottom line is they’re going to die without help, and it looks like I’m the only one who gives a damn. Well, you and me.”
    The BMW swung right onto the top of First Street. Kiernan slipped down onto the floor pad, feeling more vulnerable there where she could see nothing but Louisa Larson’s inadequate shoes. If there was an “overland” to be done, Larson would not be the one doing it. “Are we past the sheriff’s office yet? Any movement there?”
    “No one coming out.”
    “How about standing inside the window, casually reading a map or talking or—”
    “Oh, yeah. Big guy, drinking a cup of coffee.”
    “See if he comes out and gets in his car.”
    “Nope. This is the turn. Right, you said?”
    “Right. The street looks like it dead-ends. Go all the way, the sharp right uphill. It’s a road you’d never take unless you were headed for back country. Keep checking the rearview mirror.”
    “Are you on the run from everyone?”
    “So it seems, huh?” She waited till she felt the vehicle turn and start uphill before pushing up onto the seat. “Louisa, you’re a doctor. You’ve come all this way to save the boys. When you find them, what is it you’re going to do for them? I saw Grady. He had already started bleeding out. What virus do they have? Is there any treatment?”
    Louisa gave a little cry, and when she spoke, it was so softly, Kiernan almost missed her words. “Poor kids. I can’t believe after all they’ve been through they can just die now. I was treating them, and their fevers were lowering.”
    “Treating them with what?”
    “A derivative of ribavirin. I’ve got some in a freezer case in the trunk. If I can get to the boys in time, it could make the difference.”
    “This late?”
    “The latest research indicates at least an ameliorative effect. Mixed with a drug called Cyro— But this is getting too technical. Trust me, what I’ve got is the best treatment there is. Whether it will be enough, I don’t know.”
    Yeah , well, I do know. Ribavirin enhanced survival rates only if it was given early on. And only in specific arenaviruses. For Lassa fever it was a godsend. For Ebola, useless. In the case of an idiopathic condition, how could Louisa be doing any more than taking a stab and hoping? Why this particular combination—unless she knew the strains of virus that had infected the boys?
    Louisa eyed the narrow, windy road, shot a glance at the gray soil and low prickly wild plants. “Just where are the boys?”
    “A couple hours out of town.”
    “On a road like this?”
    “Worse.”
    “But where?”
    “I’ll direct you, Louisa.”
    “I’m not a chauffeur! Tell me or—”
    “Or what?” Purposely Kiernan kept her voice light and the aura of collegiality in place. “What do you want? I’m the only one who knows where they are. I’m taking you there. But it’s not like there are street signs. I’ll know the turns when I see them—I hope.” She forced herself to add plaintively, “I’m doing the best I can.”
    “Sorry. Of course. I’m just edgy.”
    Plaintive always worked. It just galled her to use it. Already the town was barely visible. The landscape, which she had seen only in the dark, was green and gray in all directions, dry and endless. She checked the rearview mirror again, but by now she expected the road behind to be empty. With all the resources of the county sheriff’s department and the United States Navy, Fox wouldn’t have to tail them. And if he did choose that low-tech method, he had plenty of time before there were any turnoffs.
    She thought of the boys, but it was Louisa who put words to the worry. “Even in Vegas, where there’s grass and shrubs and potted palms, Juan and Carlos looked stunned. What were they thinking—how do you think without words? But that’s another issue. They looked as if a spaceship had abandoned them on Mars. To them this dirt and sand and air so dry it cuts your skin was as incomprehensible as living in outer space. I wanted to ask... everything.” She sucked in breath, staring ahead at the empty road, hands white on the wheel. “And in the end I could do nothing for them.”
    “But you did arrange for them to go to the tropical park, didn’t you. Grady said a friend told him about it.” Louisa’s jaw tightened before she could smile. She clasped the steering wheel harder. “One of my professors in college had a