Ghost Detectives Bk. 02: Virus 21-22

Chapter Twenty-One

James phoned Carolyn late evening and they chatted for twenty minutes, but he could tell by her voice she was tired and asked how John was holding up. He knew John would be equally as tired and he tried to lighten the conversation and asked if she had her georges with her, which brought a smile to her face.

She gave a little giggle. "I haven't time to pee let along hang out with even little pocket george. Wish you were here just talking to you makes me feel horny. What about you?"

"Might get a bit in the other dimension, if you're fine with it."

"Have one for me."

"You could always jump in with John."

"Courtney called; he took a few hours off and they were like two rutting pigs, so there's not a lot left for me," she laughed.

"You could have grabbed Courtney for a little one on one girl style."

"Crossed my mind but getting this sorted is more important. If it gets too much, I have fingers and my vibrating toothbrush," but her laugh was tinged with sadness. "A cloth round it, on my clitoris and there you are, not as good as the real thing but it gets me sorted. On a serious note, I love you so much, be careful. From what you say Ebola is rife over there, so stay away from it," she sobbed.

"Love, are you still there?"

"Sorry, yes, be safe and don't stay long. Text me as soon as you get back."

Twenty minutes later he was at his flat and wasted no time in turning to the news channels. To say there was chaos would be an understatement. The world had gone mad. The Canarias were a battleground of death. Thousands of cases had been reported in the UK with multiple deaths, bodies stacked in sealed bags awaiting the crematorium. Hospitals, doctor's surgeries, government buildings, had armed guards protecting them. Anyone wearing anything pro Muslim came under suspicion; even odd sounding names were suspect, and mosques were attacked and set ablaze. The divide between us and them had fallen right into the hands of those who had planned this abomination. Authorities linked with responsible journalists and appealed for calm but with the disease spreading so fast trust and tolerance were in short supply, reminiscent of Jews in Germany in the 1930's connecting with the same flawed logic as the spiral started its downward cycle. Focus turning away from tolerance towards intolerance and abhorrence. As the blame game intensified, the weight of forbearance grew ever lighter.

Hundred had been arrested, armed raids on houses commonplace. The authorities were managing to keep control but for how long he wasn't sure. He linked onto the internet making a careful note where the first outbreaks happened. At a few locations, there was actual camera footage, especially around children's play areas. He made copious notes of these locations taking screenshots of the image, printing the pictures and, making sure he left no fingerprints on the paper, placed them in transparent pockets. Some of those individuals involved had been caught or killed. He made notes of their names and addresses. As tragic as it was an involuntary smile passed his face. Morning was quickly approaching and he needed sleep. It was nearly midday before he woke and he text Debra to ask how Jennie was holding up after her loss.

His phone rang immediately. "James, Jennie's a mess, she really loved him."

"Do you think she'll mind if I ring her?"

"Leave it for a few days. After the situation in the Canarias, bodies are taken and disposed of as quickly as possible."

"Callous, but I understand."

"Stay away from people whenever you can. There are a few cases near to you so spray your flat."

"I've noticed sprays in the foyer."

"They, and face masks, are given out to everyone and left in public areas for people to use."

"Can we get together later today?"

"Can't, I'm busy today. We need that vaccine you've mentioned."

"As soon as I have it, it's yours."

"I don't know whether I should say anything to you."

"Don't, phones have ears. Where are you? I'll come to you if you can give me a few minutes of your time."

"Six o clock at the Lion, we'll have an early dinner. Spray your clothes and wear a face mask."

For the rest of the day, he collected information until it was time to meet Debra. When he was walking towards the Lion armed police and army personal were frequently in view. Everyone wore face masks; fear was palpable like a sword of Damocles pointing towards him and he shuddered as if an icicle had penetrated his soul. People ignored each other when possible, avoiding touching or gazing into each other's eyes as if direct eye contact would throw the disease at them stifling rationality and commonsense, replacing the void by raw fear. Hugging, shaking hands and kissing as a greeting had gone. Suicides were commonplace. To touch someone could well result in a knife in the chest.

He arrived at the Lion and had to spray himself before being allowed entry. Debra was already there and he took a chair opposite and removed his face mask.

"How long, James?"

"We're almost there, but I can't place a date on it."

"It's worse than what's reported."

"I know."

"Do you also know those with the disease are frequently euthanised?"

"Doesn't surprise me. It's down to the wire and morality takes a back seat. Even with the vaccine, we're in uncharted waters, it's still untested."

A few tears fell from her eyes. "A little hope is better than none. We're on the verge of complete anarchy and are at a loss of where we go from here. Hope is being drained out of us and we are near the tipping line with other countries in a similar position."

"Let's eat." James needed to change focus, she was starting to break down. "Why don't you and Jennie come over to my place for lunch or dinner tomorrow. I'll cook and we'll have a few glasses of wine."

"Sounds good, I'll ask her but she may still be in quarantine. My husband is away tonight. Can I come back with you and spend the night? I'm not after sex, just company and a cuddle with someone I trust."

"Let's finish up here and get back. I have a chilled bottle of wine in the fridge with our name on it."

"I'll phone Jennie at your place." They left and were soon back at his flat and true to her word Debra phoned Jennie who agreed to meet at his flat for dinner the following evening saying she'd be cleared from quarantine by lunch time tomorrow. He had a brief chat with her giving his condolences saying he'd see her tomorrow and handed the phone back to Debra who spoke a little longer. "She said the army has brought in temporary crematoriums and are manning them with their own personnel."

"Expected, the quicker bodies are disposed of the better. I'll pour us a glass of wine and run you a bath." While she was relaxing in the bath, he was on the internet seeing if there were any further developments but other than the onward going crisis it was very much the same. The more he looked the more depressed he became and he closed the internet, took a quick shower and changed into a Kaftan, returned to the lounge and played a track from music to relax the soul. Debra stayed in the bath for another hour before joining him, wearing the top of his pyjamas. "Don't stretch too far in that or it'll be winking at me."

"You've seen it all before. God, I needed that!" Smiling, she handed him her glass for a refill.

"Does a gentleman wear the same under a Kaftan as a Scotsman under his kilt?"

"The same, nothing, like you," he laughed. "At least when I stretch nothing hangs out."

"More's the pity," she bantered back. "I have nothing to hang out it's all inside with me. You are the hung one, not me," grabbing his crotch, "half hung I see, a little mouth treatment from me will soon have it standing straight."

"You'll have to go up and under and lose your head in the darkness. A cuddle, nothing hard or heavy you said."

"A lady's prerogative to change her mind."

They sat on the settee and she placed her feet over his lap and he started to massage her toes and feet, working his hand up as far as her knees and back down. "Your hands are liquid gold, James," taking another sip from her glass while splaying her legs a little wider. "You are making me wet down there. I have a body above the knees that needs a little massage," smirking.

"I'll move up to that, little by little," he teased.

"I can feel it smiling at you, James. See," opening her legs.

"It looked more like a wink to me." Moving his hands further past her knee, she opened her legs wider again and took a deep breath in anticipation but he moved his hands back down to her ankles.

"Your direction sucks. You're steering the wrong way. If you don't start finger treatment shortly, I'll be forced to use my own and you know how tired I'm feeling," shooting him an indignant look. "Making a poor girl work for herself is not gentlemanly." Moving her right hand downward and resting in on her mons pubis staring at him with innocence eyes.

He carried on working on her toes, lightly shimmering his palms along her leg as far as her thighs and back down to her toes driving her crazy with desire. It had to happen. Her fingers glided over her clitoris making little round caressing movements circling her little button, occasionally inserting one of her fingers inside her increasingly engorging vagina.

"James" she purred, rubbing her foot against the top of his lap. "I can feel it," she said with a giggle.

"You can," he gasped, "what would you like to do with it?"

"Enclose it in darkness," she shuddered.

"I don't think your fingers will be too happy about that, they look to be having a merry old time."

"Why don't I change my fingers for yours? I'm sure my fingers can find something else to occupy them. I'm quivering here, stop teasing or I'll get violent with you."

"I like a bit of roughness," grinning, moving his hand up her leg and stroking his index finger lightly up and down her vulva. "Does that feel right?"

"Just." She grabbed his fingers and pushed them inside her body and used his hands as her personal dildo. "More pressure, there, faster, sod it!" She had had enough, sharply sat up, pulled up his kaftan, straddled him, held his penis in her hand and guided it into her waiting eager cavity. She sat, pressing her body downward until he felt his shaft against her clitoris and started to buck as if riding a bull at a rodeo, and rode him hard, both arms around his neck, straight into her orgasm and stayed there until she felt his life juices filling her innermost recesses. "I so needed that; no, please, stay inside me just let me come down first." She relaxed into him placing her head on his shoulder and felt his penis soften. His sperm mixed with her love juices; she lightly kissed his ears. He started to move. "Stay there, it feels so good with you inside me. I can feel it getting smaller." She sighed, "I'm frightened James for the future, for all of us."

He placed one of his hands on her head, snuggled her into his shoulder and let her cry. "We all are," he kissed her lightly on the lips. "We'll get through this." He was having doubts but now wasn't the time to display his uncertainties and carried on giving assurance. "Let's finish the wine and get to bed." He suggested they take a shower together before going to sleep but she shook her head saying she wanted to wake tomorrow with the smells of their love making still upon them. Both were asleep within a few minutes of their heads hitting the pillow. When he woke the next morning, she was lying next to him watching him sleep with one of her hands holding his flaccid penis.

"How long have you been awake?" He knew what she meant by not washing their smells away. Sweat, mixed with dried sperm, mixed with her discharge had dried on their bodies as they slept and aromatised their noses with a musky, slightly stale smell of dried passion that acted as an aphrodisiac. His manhood started to harden into her hand. Giving him a soft smile, she moved her head downward, smelling and licking his body. Her hands around his testicles as her mouth pushed forward down the stem of his penis taking him deep into her mouth holding him there for a few seconds and working back up until only the tip remained in her mouth. "Take me, James."

He started to move on top of her but she stopped him. "Let me turn around first, from the back on my side." She turned, shuffled her bottom into him and lifted one of her legs to give him better access. "Now, I need you inside me."

She arched her back and without speaking he penetrated her, placed his hand around her waist and started to move, slowly at first, feeling the tightness as she closed her legs then he speeded up. She pushed back against him and he vigorously thrust into her. "Faster, James, I'm almost there, faster. Don't stop," she screamed in between short gasping breaths. He'd never seen her this animated. Her head rocked back and forth, hands thrashed at the bed, her whole body moving in a dance of orgasmic bliss as if she was exorcising a demon and her life depended on getting it out of every part of her body; trembling and shuddering against the onslaught she collapsed like a rag doll semi-comatose, wheezing and puffing at the air.

He waited before speaking letting her find her equilibrium but she still seemed dazed. "Debra, are you feeling all right?"

She took a few deep breaths pulling air into her lungs. "James, that was the most powerful vaginal organism I've ever had; ninety-eight percent of my organisms are clitoral. My husband has never given me one nor most of my other lovers. I'm still tingling. The aftershock is still raw and I'm pulsating inside." Tears streamed down her face. "I don't know what's wrong with me, I can't stop crying," wiping her face with the bed sheet. "I see no future for anyone. The virus is eating its way through us all. What are we going to do?"

James sat up on the bed struck by something she'd just said and what his wife had told him about the vaccine. The tardigrade can survive in the body. Not necessarily in the gut, the acid there would more than probably destroy it, but in the blood stream and other parts of the body, he wondered? The creature has a voracious appetite. What if it could be made to attack and devour the virus inside the body? What if there was some way for the attacking white and red cells in the body to leave it alone?

"James! Are you there, you seem far away?"

"Sorry, I was in the clouds. You were saying?"

"Doesn't matter, I need to take a shower and be on my way." Half an hour later she was gone leaving James still pondering his earlier thoughts intending to mention it to Carolyn the next time they spoke. He turned on the news and every channel was focused on the crisis with no end in sight. He spent the rest of the morning gathering information, checking and rechecking his data to make sure he hadn't overlooked anything. Why he had earlier printed out pictures and other information, he wasn't sure, as he intended to transfer it all to a pencil to take back through. He was thinking of going out but with all the restrictions and the virus in the air he thought it prudent to stay and leave later that evening and spent the next hour spraying the walls and surfaces of his flat with disinfectant. Late afternoon more breaking news. Parliament have invoked emergency powers and anyone found looting and rioting risked being shot if they failed to stop when requested by the authorities and advised that every person should carry some identification as failure to prove identity could result in arrest. Who would have believed this could happen in Britain, he thought, and wondered the next step? If what Debra had told him was correct, and he had no reason to believe otherwise, euthanasia was being executed on a routine basis in the Canarias and as a limited measure here. Another turn to the dark side of human nature, but desperate measures were needed for desperate times. A dead diseased person bagged up ready for burning posed a lesser risk from contamination that someone alive, but even after death the body was highly toxic and great care was needed when handling the cadaver. James knew exactly how life would be extinguished. First pentobarbital would be injected taking the person into unconsciousness; next, potassium bromide a muscle paralysis drug and the final stage potassium chloride to stop the heart, body sealed and bagged and sent for disposal. Clinically efficient but ethically and morally despicable, but they were near the tipping point and it was no different to what was applied in war; administer to those who have a chance of survival and leave those who don't to die, and to those in pain or near death, a moral duty to painlessly help them on their way.

After midnight, he was in his own house whiskey in hand texting Carolyn and John. He wasn't expecting a reply surmising they'd either be working or asleep. He had settled in his chair intending to make his way to bed when his phone rang. "Working or bed?"

"Working, we've only had a few hours of sleep since the last time we spoke," Carolyn replied.

He brought her up to date mentioning his thoughts on the tardigrades and said he had a lot of information he needed to pass on to John for the authorities and would email her. He told her about Debra; he hadn't used condoms emphasising she was clean and there was no problem. She didn't mind in the least, glad he was able to have a little fun but to keep the rest of his energy for her.

"It's really that bad over there? she queried.

"Worse than bad, and we're only a few months from being in the same position. If the authorities can get people in place at every location I've mentioned, we can knock them out of commission before they're able to spread the virus. I'll phone John later and recommend when we send out our warning to kill these people on sight before they are able to open their spray cans. Where are you on the vaccine?"

"Love, slow down a bit. We are about ready but there is a lot of uncertainty surrounding everything. Under normal circumstances, I would expect at least another year of testing before we're anywhere near a release date. I'll mention to Donald about what you said. You could well be on to something. If the tardigrade is able to attack the virus in the body, we could be looking at a cure as well as a vaccine."

"Any news on this Abisali character?"

"Nothing new other than what you already know. Five of the ten are dead, the other five are here somewhere in hiding."

"They could have already left the country?"

"According to John, they are still here. We know who they are and it'll only be a matter of time before we catch them."

James wasn't convinced. "I know I've told you about what going to happen but I've seen it first-hand and if it comes here the same as there, they'll have a fair chance of getting away. Any sign of you getting home in the next few days?"

"Until we have something positive, I'm staying here. Why don't you come up and we can spend a night together and you can give me a bit of what you've given Debra?"

"I like that idea; goodnight love, I'll ring you in the morning."

"Love you."

"I'll be with you tomorrow and we'll spend a few days together."

Chapter Twenty-Two

Abisali and Kanval had been together for the last five days only going out after dark to collect groceries and to meet up once with Fatik but the authorities seemed to know more than they should. Six of their sleeper cells had been discovered. Four individuals were in custody with five others dead and he was beginning to believe the leak didn't come from any of the three he had killed. Their Tenerife project had also not gone to plan. Praise to Allah he thought, the virus was loose there and casualties were building but not in the number he'd conceived, the distributors of the virus dead before they completed their tasks. Not all was lost however, they did manage a few locations and it was early days. But how were the police waiting at several of the locations where the virus was to be released? No matter what he'd planned they were ahead of the game and he was growing increasingly paranoid checking and rechecking everything but nothing tangible came to light. He knew it couldn't be any of the five from the inner circle. Much of what had, and was about to happen was only known to himself or other individuals who didn't know each other and yet, as if by some mysterious force...