Tully knew Maggie was right. This was personal. How else could they explain Caroline getting a package with a plastic Ziploc bag inside? A package with Tully’s return address. She had faxed him the label and at first glance the block-style lettering looked identical to the note found in the doughnut box. It had to be the same guy.

Now Tully realized that he himself may have been one of the targets. The box of doughnuts. He had been late getting to work Friday morning, otherwise he might have been the first one to dig in, to find the note, to respond to the threat at the Kellerman house. To be where Cunningham was right now.

After Tully got off the phone with Maggie he called Emma. A knee-jerk reaction. She was home alone today. No school. Fall break. He wanted to call and tell her not to leave the house. Don’t answer the door. No, that wasn’t right. Don’t open any packages. Especially ones with money inside.

Her voice-messaging service kept picking up. She was on the phone probably talking to friends. Damn! And he’d been too cheap to add call-waiting to their cell-phone plan.

He’d have to stop by the house. What time did the mail usually come? There was a sense of urgency pumping through his veins. A sense of dread. Who else did the killer intend to hurt? He grabbed his jacket and car keys. As he rushed to the elevators he punched in Gwen’s number. Four rings and her voice-messaging service picked up. Didn’t anyone answer their phones anymore?

“Gwen, it’s Tully. Don’t open any packages you get in the mail. I’ll explain later. Just don’t open any.”

In the parking lot he called Maggie back.

“This is Maggie O’Dell.”

“If I’m the target, how does Chicago fit in?” He tried to hide the panic in his voice.

“Does the name Markus Schroder mean anything to you?”

“Not a thing. At least not off the top of my head.” He was sweating, though the day was chilly. He wrestled out of his jacket, balled it up and tossed it into the backseat.

“You may be one on his list of targets. Like a hit list. People who’ve done him wrong over the years. That doesn’t mean you’d know everyone on the list.”

“Good point.” He was already gunning the engine, zigzagging out of the parking lot. He needed to calm down. “But why Caroline? She’s my ex-wife. Why does he think he’d hurt me by hurting her?”

“Maybe he thinks you still care about her,” Maggie suggested. “Listen, Tully…” She waited as if to get his attention. “Have you ever worked with anyone at USAMRIID? Ever had a confrontation or a run-in with one of their scientists?”

Tully remembered his earlier suspicions. That the Ebola may have come from one of the Army’s labs. Now Maggie must be thinking the same thing.

“I don’t think so,” he said slowly. He couldn’t think straight. He just wanted to make sure Gwen and Emma were okay. “Let me think about that.”