It took Reese a moment to realize what the colonel meant. “I think there’s less of a chance Luca would know Dr. Markus than Nash.”
“Then who would Nash know?”
Reese rubbed the sleep from his eyes. “Me, Echols, top clearance guards, probably a few other people who did testing.”
“Is there any chance your name could be connected to Dr. Markus?”
Was there? “I’m sure there are some old articles out there with our names on it.”
Harrington twitched his mustache, and the crow’s-feet at the corners of his eyes deepened.
“You think Nash found the articles?”
Harrington cut Reese a look. “I don’t think Nash would be confused as to why he’s being chased by a bunch of his own kind. Luca Suarez however….”
Reese sat back. “The articles are old. He’d have to dig for them.”
Harrington laughed. “You teach high school to a bunch of kids not much younger than Luca. Do you think they could find Dr. Markus if they searched your name or Echols?”
“Okay, yeah, you win.”
And since nothing on the internet ever went away, those articles would be out there in one form or another.
Yeah, Luca would have found them. If he were anything like his brother, he wouldn’t even have to try very hard.
“But what’s the point?” Reese said it more to himself than Harrington.
“What?”
“Let’s say they found his name, why show up here?”
“They had questions and thought he might have answers? I don’t know.”
“Considering the possibility of Dr. Markus’s involvement with New World, that could go very good or very, very bad.”
The road eased into a large curve. Brake lights threw crimson through liquid prisms. The SUV ahead of them sloshed up waves from the puddles gathering on the blacktop. Harrington slowed, and the whoosh of water beat against the underside of the vehicle.
“Well, something tells me it’s going to be bad.” Harrington nodded at the road in front of them.
Blue lights flickered through the trees, adding more color to the rain reflecting the red taillights of the SUVs. The strobes brightened as they neared their turn.
Two patrol cars blocked the driveway.
It looked like the colonel was right.
Cops in reflective rain gear waved them down.
The SUV with Phillips jerked off the shoulders, cutting around the cars. Mud, grass, and water spun up from the ditch. Globs of earth flung from under the tires, splattering cops and cruisers. The SUV popped the curb again on the other side of their barrier and roared up the driveway. One of the men in uniform followed it a few feet on foot.
“You going to jump that ditch too?” Reese hoped not.
The colonel stopped at the roadblock and rolled down his window.
“This road is closed, you need to turn around.”
The colonel held up a billfold, flashing an ID. “My name is Colonel Harrington of the US Army. You need to move your cars and let us through.”
The guy took out his flashlight and shined it on the ID card. “Military? Why is the military here?”