“I appreciate that. I’m doin’ fine. I owe you an apology too. I wasn’t myself when I was in the hospital. I’m not usually quite that cranky.”
“It’s alright, sir. We all get that way when we don’t feel good. Especially doctors and nurses,” chuckled Jeremy. “Mr. Rabalais, I was just wondering if you received a package maybe the week before you started feeling sick.”
“You know, I did. I get me a new puzzle every week. It keeps my mind sharp and gives me something to do. In fact, I got one delivered yesterday.”
“Did you touch it, Mr. Rabalais?”
“Sure I did but I feel fine. No fever, no dizziness, nothin’.”
“That’s good to hear, sir. If you start having any symptoms at all, I want you to call me right away.”
“No problem at all. Thank you, son.”
“That’s a total of sixty-one people who received a package in the mail the week or two before becoming sick. Only nineteen had not but they could have had inadvertent contact with other patients,” said Kennedy.
“How do we figure all this out?” asked Eric. “All these packages came from different vendors and went to different people.”
“It’s not the vendors,” said Kennedy. “It’s something else.”
“What?” asked Ally. “How do we figure out the outlier here?”
“I’m not sure but I think we start with interviewing the handlers at the carrier hubs.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
“I know what you’re asking sir, but it’s just not possible,” said the parcel worker.
“What do you mean it’s not possible?” asked Luke.
“Sir, we are a sub-hub.”
“A sub-hub? What the fuck does that mean?” he asked getting frustrated with the man.
“It means that the packages actually go to a larger hub first, then they’re distributed to the sub-hubs for distribution to the customers.”
“So, one hub will have touched any package that went to all these addresses?” asked Hex.
“That’s right. We’re different than most areas because we primarily serve the rural communities like those on your list. We don’t have a lot of sub-hubs or major hubs. Just one.”
“Where is the major hub?” asked Eric.
“I’ll write it down for you,” said the man. “It’s kind of out in the sticks. Not a lot of folks would even guess what it is. It’s just one big metal building.”
“No problem. We’ll find it,” said Luke. “The sticks are something we know a little about.”
Luke and Hex left the sub-hub and headed to the address the man gave them. Sure enough, it was out there.
“I’ve never seen this building,” said Luke.
“Wouldn’t be a reason for us to see it. It’s only for packages going through mail sources or couriers in the area.”
“Still, that’s a lot of packages for one hub to sort through,” said Luke. “What if there was something suspicious in the packages? Are they even trained to look for things like that?”
“Brother, you’re asking the wrong man,” said Hex as they got out of the truck. “But I suspect the man we need to speak with is inside.”
The door was locked with a buzzer that would allow people in once identified.
“Can I help you?” said a voice.
