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Dr. Stefan Karsky stood tall beside the understated BiOmega sign. His arms draped around the shoulders of a man and woman in white smocks. The man was pudgy and wore a full beard. A third man stood a little behind the woman looking at something off to the side. The woman, rather elegant, looked a few years younger than Karsky. Apparently he had said something funny, because she had turned toward him and was laughing. The fat man was laughing too, his eyes disappearing in slits. |
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Jerry Mars had to admit that Karsky looked quite dapper in his shirt and tie. More like a politician than a microbiologist. His face had that same healthy tan he wore yesterday in the water, and those big white teeth flashed brightly in the sunlight. He seemed a tad thinner, and his hair looked darker. But those hooded eyes were unmistakableas if they were forever stuck in the middle of a blink. Also unmistakable was that expansive boyish smile he had worn while they chatted. Such an affable smile. |
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Jerry smiled back at Dr. Stefan Karsky, and with a black felt-tipped pen slashed an X through his face. He then tucked the photo back into his briefcase and took a sip from his soda water. |
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The plane touched down at JFK as scheduled at 4:47. Because he had only carry-on luggage, Jerry was in a cab and out of the airport within fifteen minutes. |
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He checked into the Carlyle Hotel an hour later. (That it was JFK's favorite hotel in New York somehow amused him.) At eight-fifteen, from a phone booth at another hotel, he dialed the number they had given him. It was to another public phone with a Washington, D.C., area code. |
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