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the reason you two split up?”
    Janis felt her heart race. The nature of Malcolm’s questions inclined her to suspect the worst. Why else display such passion? Why else explore such topics? “What are you doing?”
    “I’m not trying to entrap you if that’s what you’re worried about.”
    “You still work for Eugene Mass – you just said so.”
    “Listen, we’re on the same side here. I’m the one who’s been locked out.”
    “Naturally. It makes sense if you had to get this to look real.”
    Malcolm fumed. “What do you think is going on here? You really think I came over here to pretend estrangement from Mass just to see what information you would give up?”
    Janis stepped to the front door. “Trying to hide in plain sight won’t help.”
    Malcolm stood his ground, hands on hips. “I don’t believe it. You really think I’m playing you.”
    “Either way, I don’t want to get involved.” She opened the door.
    “Do me a favor.”
    “Sure. I’ll forget you ever came over tonight.”
    “If you can get into Riya’s office, would you bring me her personal effects?”
    Janis didn’t need time to consider it. “You should go.”
    Sensing that Janis had reached her limit, Malcolm nodded and stepped over the threshold and into the night. “Thanks for the tea.” He never turned back.
    Janis shut the door and turned the deadbolt. She spun around and leaned back with her eyes closed. What was real was lost in a flurry of thoughts. She let the silence settle around her. For a moment, being alone was a comfort. Then a chill set in. Trying to make sense of what just happened left little room to be positive.
    Pushing off without finding a sense of relief, she stepped through the living room, turning out lights as she went. She left the food on the table and walked down the hallway. At Alyssa’s door she stopped. The light was on but Alyssa was fast asleep. Even if she wanted to talk to Alyssa now, Janis didn’t have the strength. She decided to put the food away and head to bed.
    Maybe in the morning all the nightmares would be gone.

Chapter 3
     
    Kasu Brahmananda Reddy National Park
    Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad
     
    Another redial. Janis pressed the cell phone to her ear. A meandering peacock crossed her path. Late afternoon sun filtered through polluted air and casted an orange-brown sheen over the nature trail.
    No answer. Same as a half hour before. This time Janis let it ring.
    Steps ahead but within sight, Alyssa aimed her camera at something of interest. It was an animal, not moving. Possibly dead. From spots on its lithe body, Janis guessed it was an Indian civet.
    “Don’t touch that.”
    “Don’t worry.”
    Janis regretted calling out. No doubt Alyssa would take it as treating her like a child. After the interruption of their conversation at dinner the night before, Janis had hoped the dialogue between them would restart. Another terse exchange was not helping.
    Why call out to warn Alyssa? Janis scolded herself and fumbled for an excuse. Last night’s mention of USAMRIID by Malcolm had brought back a flood of memories. Maybe she hadn’t realized how much her time working at Fort Detrick , Maryland impacted her – was still a part of her.
    Thoughts of a classified briefing on the 2003 SARS outbreak in Asia came to mind. Many at the time believed the causal trail of the epidemic led back to the Masked Palm Civet, a cousin of the dead mammal being photographed. Old news.
    Janis restarted her stroll to calm a swirl of emotion. She tried concentrating on little things in nature that otherwise would have gone unnoticed. It was no use. Everything she thought or felt led back to intrusive questions and a need for self-examination. It was exactly what she wished to avoid, but Riya’s murder was fresh in mind. With it came a palpable sense of mortality and the impulse for life review.
    Having such a large park so near their house was a luxury in such a sprawling metropolis. Over the last decade,