Havoc - v4 Read Online Free PDF

area.”
    “And get his ticket out of here punched, no doubt.”
    “Probably. I’ve spent the past six weeks shifting tons of worthless mud, until I heard slaughter season was starting up again. I waited as long as I dared, then sent my workers out. When I packed it in yesterday I found these people along the way.”
    “Listen, I ah, I’m planning on heading north tomorrow. How bad is it?”
    Mercer stopped unloading the truck to give her his full attention. “Since this corner of the world isn’t on many tourist maps, I assume whatever you’re doing here is important. I won’t try to talk you out of it, but if you really need to head upriver, do it today. Right now.”
    “I can’t,” Cali admitted. “Some hopped-up teenager used my truck for target practice this morning. I have to go down to Rafai to buy a spare tire.”
    “Then forget it.”
    He wasn’t being dismissive, or protective. He was stating a fact as simply as he could. Cali appreciated that, but she also had to ignore his advice. “I wish I could. I have to go.”
    Mercer pushed wet hair off his forehead. Cali thought he was calculating a price he wanted for his truck. “How far?”
    “Sorry?”
    “How far do you need to go?”
    “There’s a village on the Scilla River about a mile from where it empties into the Chinko.”
    “That’s about a hundred miles north. How important is this?”
    Cali answered readily. “One of our researchers came across some medical records put together by a missionary in the late eighties. No one had paid any attention to them. It seems the people in this town suffer from the highest cancer rate on the planet. The CDC believes there may be a genetic cause. If we can isolate it, well, you can figure it out for yourself.”
    “Gene therapy to prevent cancer.”
    She nodded. “And possibly cure it. I need to get blood and tissue samples.”
    “And if you don’t get there before Dayce, those people are either going to be dead—”
    “Or so scattered I’ll never find them,” Cali finished for him. “That’s why I rushed here as soon as I could.”
    “You’re talking about going further than I’d planned, but I’ll take you.”
    “You were going back up there?” Cali couldn’t believe it.
    “Why do you think I unloaded the truck?” he said. “I passed a lot more people than I could carry on my way down here. The government’s not going to get them, so someone has to.” His voice went grave. “Just so we’re clear, though. We’re turning around at the first sign of trouble.”
    Cali’s tone matched his. This was her best, and probably only, shot. “You got it.”
    “Okay, once I get this beast refueled we’re out of here.”
    “Thank you,” she said.
    He grinned. “Don’t thank me until we come back. Why don’t you wait in the cab out of the rain.”
    Mercer watched Cali slide around the battered Ford but didn’t know what to make of her. He was sure that if he hadn’t offered to drive her she would have followed her original plan. It was in the stubborn set of her jaw, but mostly it was the intensity of her eyes. Cali Stowe believed in her mission and he couldn’t imagine much that could deter her. It was a trait he admired because there were few people left who had it.
    One of the refugees he’d driven down pressed two tomatoes into his hand as he fed diesel from the drum lashed behind the cab. Mercer was overwhelmed by the gesture. This man had just lost everything he owned, the home he’d lived in probably since he was a child, but still wanted to thank him with perhaps the only food he’d have for as long as it took to get resettled. Mercer carefully inspected the tomatoes, took the best for himself, and handed the other back. Returning the better one would have been an insult. The farmer touched Mercer’s hand and nodded. Behind him his wife smiled her gratitude and hugged her children a little tighter.
    Mercer’s thoughts turned back to Cali. As a field researcher for