Down there, once you got past the storage area where they kept the snow blowers and salt, you could open a door to an access tunnel that led under the street, connecting to a maze of fire tunnels, forgotten corridors, and dusty storm shelters.

Qween explained her plan. “We can go blocks without them soldiers seein’ us.”

“It’s not the soldiers I’m worried about down here,” Dr. Menard said. “It’s the bugs.”

Qween shrugged. “Maybe. I’ll take my chances stomping on dem bugs any day over tryin’ to stomp on a bullet.”

CHAPTER 56

10:34 AM

August 14

The convoy of trucks streamed east, strung out along I-80. Evans drove the third truck, and kept the drivers coordinated through a disposable cell phone. Every driver carried one. He kept them spaced roughly a quarter mile apart, allowing cars and even other trucks to slip into the convoy, all in the interest of maintaining the lowest possible profile. The trailers and tanks all sported different corporate logos.

Evans didn’t want to think about what they were actually hauling, about the hell that would be unleashed if one of his drivers happened to accidently collide with a sleepy tourist behind the wheel of a minivan.

Evans called Dr. Reischtal. “On schedule,” he said. “Should be arriving in the area by early evening.”

“See that you do,” Dr. Reischtal said, and hung up.

Uncle Phil pounded on the bathroom door. “I’d appreciate it if you could get out here right fucking now.”

Lee raised his head out of the icy spray and yelled, “Heard you the first time. Go wait downstairs.” He added under his breath, “Ugly ass troll.”

Phil thought Lee had said something else, but decided to ignore it. He continued to yell. “You’re late, and if you fuck this meeting up, swear to Christ, they’ll find a way to pin this shitstorm on you. It’s your ass.”

Lee reluctantly turned the water off. He loved his showers cold, with the handle twisted all the way to the right, craving how the freezing needles lowered his body temperature to a tingling numbness. There wasn’t much worse than feeling his pores start to ooze sweat at the thought of stepping out into the goddamn humidity.

He dried off and went into the bedroom, threw on a suit. His new phone rang. Lee opened it, said, “What?”

Phil said, “Tell me you’re on the way down.”

Lee snapped the phone shut. Phil had left it for him. It was a cheap piece of shit, unable to connect to the Internet or any other bells and whistles, but his old one wasn’t working right ever since he threw it at the TV. He didn’t even want to think about the fucking plasma, let alone look at it. It didn’t matter. All of this shit was temporary.

He walked into the living room, struggling with his tie. Kimmy and Grace were on the couch, faces plastered to the windows, watching the endless procession of dozens and dozens of CTA buses, all streaming through Grant Park before heading south on Lake Shore Drive. Good. Let ’em stare at the spectacle, he thought. It would keep them out of his hair for a while.

“Gotta go, babe. They need me.”

Kimmy turned, confusion and worry crinkling her forehead. “Okay, but aren’t we supposed to evacuate too? That’s what the news said.”

“You gonna listen to the news or you gonna listen to me? Who the hell you think has the inside scoop? Huh? No, you two stay here. You’re absolutely, one hundred percent safe. Believe me, it’s already over. I’ll be back quick as I can, soon as I get this business done. Then later on tonight, we’ll all go back down to the press conference. So lay out your best outfit and be ready for a night on the town.”

“It’s all going to be okay? The city, all the sick people, I mean? They’re gonna get all those bugs, right?”

“Of course.” He gave her his best smile. “They’re just being careful. And as it happens, it’s gonna be the best thing that ever happened for us. I’ll make a big deal out of how I’m volunteering to stay behind to protect my city. Phil says the media is gonna eat it up. Says it could be the defining moment of my career. You’ll be at my side later when I give that press conference telling people that the city has been saved. You watch. I’m gonna be a hero. Trust me.”

“Okay, baby. Can we bring Grace?”

“Yeah, I wanna come,” Grace said, finally tearing her eyes away from all the buses when she heard her name.

Lee kept his grin alive. “We’ll have to see, kiddo.” He grabbed his briefcase. It was empty except for a Maxim magazine, but Phil told him he looked more professional carrying it around. He checked his watch. “I’m sorry, but I gotta run. Phil and Bryan are downstairs.”

Kimmy came off the couch and stood in the sunlight, hands clasped at her chest. “Love you.”

It was impossible to ignore the pleading, questioning tone in her voice. Lee struggled to keep his smile wide. “Yeah, see you later,” he said and left.

As he walked down the hall to the elevator, he reconsidered his initial anger and outright revulsion at being around the brat at home, let alone in public. The more he thought about it, the more he came to understand that she might not be such a bad prop for the press conference. Might be the best visual confirmation that the city was safe, hoisting a four-year-old girl to his shoulders. Yeah. That would make a hell of a shot.

He made a final adjustment to his tie in the reflective metal of the elevator. Funny how things turned out. Less than twelve hours ago he had been on his way to becoming one of the most reviled politicians in the city’s history. And for Chicago, that was really saying something. The way Phil barked, he’d be lucky if he avoided jail time. But that was then, as they said, and now things had definitely swung back in his favor. He wondered what the hell that freak Dr. Reischtal wanted. He strode out into the lobby and saluted the doorman.

The doorman, some simpering idiot who couldn’t find a real job, held up his hand. “So sorry, Mr. Shea, but I’m trying to get a tally of who is left in the building. Most of the residents have already left, of course, but I’ve been told that I need to give the soldiers a count of who is left on the premises.”

“You can scratch my place off your list, then,” Lee said. “It’s empty.”

“Oh, so Kimmy and Grace are gone, then? I must have missed them.”

Lee was irritated that this piss-boy knew Kimmy’s name. “I sent ’em to her mother’s last night. Like I said, it’s all clear up there.” Lee didn’t wait for a response, and strolled through the spinning doors, down the steps to where Bryan and Phil waited in the car.

CHAPTER 57

10:44 AM

August 14

Farther down Clark, where it passed under the El tracks that covered Van Buren, a slim slab of beige granite sat all by itself in the midst of a perfectly average city plaza, filled with plenty of benches, a few ornamental trees, some shrubs and flowers in long cement planters. Lots of people who worked in the Loop liked to sit in the sun and eat their lunch before returning to the skyscrapers. If you weren’t paying attention, you’d never know it was a maximum-security federal prison.

The windows gave it away. They were narrow slits and resembled ports for medieval archers to fire arrows, too small for anyone to squeeze through. A small, nondescript sign identified the building as the Metropolitan Correction Center.

Ed and Sam rolled into the secure parking lot next door. The guard at the entrance wasted time by having them wait in their car while he called his superior officer upstairs. He got the all-clear, but still demanded to know what he should do if he saw a rat—“or one of them bedbugs.”