Malice

by Jennifer Jaynes

  I’m telling you, Daniel. Don’t. Do. This.

  “You okay there, Danny?” Teddy asked.

  Daniel smiled. “Yeah, why?”

  “You look like you just shit your pants.”

  Daniel forced a grin. “No, I’m fine.”

  When there was a break in the conversation, Daniel took a deep breath and seized the opportunity. “So, I’m guessing everyone here is prescribing Respira by now,” he said.

  Chet, Roy, and Collin nodded.

  Next to him, Teddy cleared his throat. Daniel avoided his eyes.

  “Why do you ask?” Roy asked, taking a long sip of his water.

  “I was just wondering if you’ve received any complaints about it from parents.”

  He scanned all the faces, except for Teddy’s. He heard his boss shift in his seat.

  “Complaints?” Collin asked.

  “Any severe adverse reactions,” Daniel answered.

  Chet chuckled, and his eyes darted in Teddy’s direction. “What’s this about?”

  Daniel opened the folder and started passing out the sixty-three-page packets he had prepared. He placed a packet in front of each of the doctors. Everyone except Collin just stared at the cover without picking theirs up. Collin leafed through his.

  “I think you’re going to be troubled by what I’ve discovered,” Daniel said. “Or hopefully, you know something that can put my fears to rest.” Daniel glanced at everyone and went on. “A colleague told me he’s been witnessing significant injuries in his clinic, including a cardiac arrest. Then a patient of mine, an eighteen-month-old female, experienced a seizure after her first dose. Then again after her second.”

  “Anomalies,” Teddy muttered beside him, his tone cool.

  “Like Teddy said, those are exceptions,” said Roy. “You don’t know if Respira caused her seizures. These children are in formative stages. Anything could have triggered these symptoms.”

  “Tell me,” Chet interrupted. “Did the cardiac arrest happen instantly?”

  “Within ten minutes of administration,” Daniel said. “And hundreds of parents are reporting injuries after their child’s treatments.”

  “Hundreds?” Roy asked, the crease between his manicured eyebrows deepening. “What do you mean? At your practice?”

  Daniel turned to another page in his packet. “No. All over the country. There are groups of parents online who say—”

  Roy chuckled.

  Teddy joined him with laughter of his own. “Didn’t I warn you about getting your medical information from Google? You need to spend more time in the journals, son.”

  Chet stared at Daniel, appearing amused.

  Daniel’s face grew hot. “There are over five thousand parents in one group alone on Facebook who are concerned—”

  “Facebook? Social media is doing peer-reviewed studies now?” Teddy asked.

  More laughter.

  If they’d only let him finish a sentence, they’d see where he was going. He asked them if they were aware that a child had even died of respiratory arrest during the short study that preceded it going to market. That Respira hadn’t been studied nearly long enough to demonstrate it could boost a child’s immune system.

  “Teddy, where’d you get this guy?” Chet asked.

  “Look, Dan,” Teddy said, completely ignoring the fact that he’d just said that a child had died during the drug’s study. “The parents complaining about Respira probably mean well, but they don’t know what the hell they’re talking about. They’re not doctors. And we’ve all seen rumors and untruths take hold on social media and spread like wildfire.”

  “You should at least read their stories,” Daniel continued. “There are so many of them, and their stories are so similar.”

  “And anecdotal,” Teddy said.

  “Since when do we disregard evidence simply because it’s anecdotal?” Daniel asked. “Anecdotal evidence is the basis for hypothesis. Hypothesis leads to research.”

  The table went quiet.

  Now that he had their attention, he told him about two emergency room physicians he’d spoken to who claimed their teams had noted a marked increase in pediatric seizures over the last three months. “And the common denominator? Most of those patients had recently received Respira.”

  “And most of those patients probably recently ate peanut butter or vanilla ice cream,” Teddy muttered.

  I told you, Daniel. They don’t give a damn. Just laugh it off like you were only joking, and change the subject.

  “Did you know there’s a lawsuit in Japan? And that they banned Respira due to safety concerns?”

  Everyone was staring at him.

  Good. They were still listening. He’d need to be quick and get into the studies before he was interrupted again.

  “Do you know how much aluminum phosphate is in Respira?”

  “If you’re one of those people who has an irrational fear of chemicals, I’m afraid you’re in the wrong profession, kid,” Chet said. “Besides, the science has been settled about aluminum. It’s perfectly safe in the amounts—”

  Daniel shook his head. “That’s what I thought, too, Chet. But it may not be true. Look on page ten.”

  Only Collin flipped to page ten. The other doctors just gazed at him. Daniel tried not to let it fluster him.

  “Aluminum being safe might simply be old science. Not only old, but the studies that showed it was safe were not structured in accordance with established scientific principles and have been summarily debunked by scientists all around the world. On top of that, there’s new science, and a lot of it, that says that injected aluminum can lead to many neurological issues, including brain damage. Not only are they finding high levels of aluminum in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients but also brain-damaged children. And just one dose of Respira contains the upper limit of—”

  Chet waved his hand. “That’s absurd, Winters! Aluminum is everywhere. In food, water. If small amounts of aluminum were so damn deadly, we would all be dead right now.”

  “But there’s a fundamental difference between ingesting aluminum and injecting it. Aluminum that’s injected directly into the bloodstream bypasses most of our excretory channels,” Daniel said, talking quickly. He shook the packet in his hand. “Twenty pages in this packet are abstracts from top aluminum scientists who have found that this form of aluminum can also cross the blood-brain barrier, which can cause a shitstorm of neurological issues and autoimmune conditions. Many cancers, even. The injected aluminum adjuvant that Respira contains has been shown to trigger immune activation events—”

  “That’s exactly what it’s supposed to do!” Chet interjected. “Stimulate a stronger immune response.”

  “But the aluminum might be doing more than just stimulating an immune response. It appears it’s also triggering an immune activation event in the brains of some children. The very neurological injuries that appear as adverse reactions on the insert are injuries that are caused by aluminum.”

  “One in a million,” chimed Chet.

  “Again, respectfully, I’m afraid that’s not even close to being true. Look, flip to page fifty-three. There’ve been over six hundred safety reports filed. Not only that, but these are just the reported cases. The government estimates that only one percent of events like these are reported because a lot of practitioners and parents don’t even know about this reporting system.”

  No one but Collin was flipping the pages.

  Stop, Daniel.

  Daniel stared at the doctors. “Aren’t you guys seeing a big problem here?”

  Silence.

  “Guys, when parent after parent reports similar events with Respira as the common denominator, we have a responsibility to start paying attention. Don’t we?”

  “If it wasn’t safe, then how did it pass the safety studies?” Roy asked.

  Yes! He finally had someone’s interest. “Well, here’s the thing. In clinical trials, instead of using a saline solution placebo as a control, Immunex
t used a placebo that contained aluminum. Which I’m sure we all know can artificially increase the appearance of safety. Think about it, guys. There was no true placebo control. Isn’t that insane?”

  He noticed Roy was staring at Teddy—and he didn’t look happy.

  The waitress arrived with the food.

  “I think I need another Bloody Mary, stat,” Chet said to the waitress.

  Roy and Teddy ordered second drinks as well. As the waitress left, Chet turned to Collin and pointed at his Apple Watch: “That thing worth the price tag?”

  “Oh, absolutely,” Collin said. He began to tell Chet about the watch’s features. Daniel listened to the conversation in disbelief. The two doctors seemed more interested in a damn watch than the possibility that a drug they were giving kids could be dangerous!

  “All right, enough business,” Teddy said, clapping his hands. “My eggs Benedict require my undivided attention.”

  Daniel’s pulse sped up even more.

  Don’t even think about opening your mouth again.

  I have to! This isn’t right. They’re intentionally looking the other way.

  Daniel stared incredulously at his colleagues. “Guys, I don’t understand. How can you just sit here when—”

  “Shut up, Daniel,” Teddy growled. “You’re ruining our brunch. You’ve said your piece. Now let it go.”

  Toe the damn line, Daniel.

  Chet asked Collin to pass the buttered croissants that had been set in front of him. Roy groaned as he stuck a forkful of eggs into his mouth. He chewed a few times. “I have dreams about these eggs.”

  Daniel’s heart was thumping so hard, he could see the front of his shirt moving.

  Just shut up now, Daniel. You’ve worked so hard for this career.

  But Daniel wasn’t done. “Can someone tell me where I’m wrong? Look, I want to be wrong about this. But if I’m not, what do we do? We’ve got some important questions to ask. Of Immunext. Of the FDA or the CDC or the American Academy of Pediatrics. I honestly don’t know where to start, but I knew you guys would.”

  Just the sounds of chewing.

  Blood surged in his veins. “We’re the ones on the front lines seeing these injuries in real time. As they happen. Isn’t asking questions part of our job?”

  “No. It is not,” Teddy snapped. “That’s the job of the researchers and regulatory agencies. Our job is to take care of our patients. Diagnose them and administer FDA-approved medications.”

  “But what if the researchers are wrong? Or, God forbid, biased?”

  Nothing.

  “How about all the parents begging to be heard? Do we just ignore their concerns?”

  “That’s what therapists are for,” Teddy said, a vein throbbing in his neck.

  Chet regarded Daniel. “Thanks for entertaining us this morning, Winters, but I’m going to tell you what we’re all going to do, okay?” He leaned forward in his seat and lowered his voice. “We’re going to prescribe Respira as we’ve been doing until the FDA tells us to stop. And we’re going to enjoy our big fat paychecks while we’re doing it. And going forward, we’re going to shut the hell up about what we read about on the internet in our spare time. If we were supposed to be privy to this information, it would be published in our journals. Got it?” Chet fixed him with a hard stare. “Let me give you a piece of advice: In this business, the last thing you want to do is make waves. Make waves, and you’ll destroy your career.” His eyes flitted to Teddy. “And your practice.”

  Daniel stared incredulously at the man, then watched Teddy smile at everyone in apology. Teddy threw Daniel a cautionary look, leaned over, and hissed, “Not one more fucking word. Understand? Not one.”

  Teddy turned back to the other doctors and quickly shifted the conversation to golf.

  Twenty minutes later, everyone except Teddy had left. Collin was the only one who even bothered to take his information packet, but Daniel noticed him throw something in the wastebasket on his way out.

  Teddy stood up from the table. He quickly gathered the discarded packets and tossed them on the table in front of Daniel.

  “Get rid of all this horseshit; then go home and pack a bag. I’m taking you to my hunting cabin. We need to talk.”

  CHAPTER 24

  MIA

  MIA WALKED INTO the bedroom and was surprised to see Daniel packing a duffel bag.

  She frowned. “Where are you going?”

  “Teddy asked me to join him at his cabin for the night.” He went to his bureau and grabbed some jeans. Brought them back to the bed, rolled them up, and stuck them in the bag. “He’ll be here any minute to pick me up.”

  Oh, no. “But I have the night off,” she said. “I was hoping we could spend the evening together. I texted you, but—”

  “He didn’t give me any notice. Or any choice.”

  Well, you could have at least replied to my texts, she thought, remembering the texts she’d sent this morning. Picking at the bandage on her hand, she thought it best to just let it go.

  She’d barely dodged a bullet last night with him showing up at Jiminy’s. Any other night this past week, and she wouldn’t have been at the restaurant. And she wouldn’t have had an explanation for her whereabouts.

  She’d gotten a bad feeling last night when he and his friend had been sitting at Jiminy’s. Their eyes had been on her the entire time.

  She sat on the bed next to Bruce. “Does it have to be tonight?” she asked. “I just picked up some Thai takeout. Your favorites are downstairs: pad Thai and mango sticky rice.”

  “Trust me. The last thing I want to do is spend the night with Teddy at his hunting cabin,” Daniel said, stuffing toiletries in the bag.

  “Did he tell you why he wants you there?”

  “To talk about Respira. I brought up my concerns at the brunch today with all the doctors.”

  “Yeah? How did that go?”

  He grunted. “He wasn’t very happy about it, to say the least. None of them were.”

  Respira. She wondered if Daniel had thought any more about what she’d told him about Hemsworth. About the family possibly being murdered by someone connected to the drug. After all, if Hemsworth had been in danger, Daniel could be, too.

  She’d found a Facebook page titled Justice for the Hemsworths this morning. Someone in the group had managed to make a digital copy of the piece in the Los Angeles Times before it had disappeared. She’d emailed the PDF to Daniel to read, but the last time she checked, he hadn’t opened the email.

  He zipped up his duffel bag, grabbed it, and headed out of the room without saying anything to her. She followed him down the stairs. “Did you get the email I sent you this morning?”

  “No,” he said, shoving his arms into a flannel jacket. “I haven’t checked my email in hours.”

  “I found the piece that the Los Angeles Times published and sent it to you. The one with Hemsworth’s father.”

  Daniel nodded. He was obviously distracted and upset, but it was unclear how much of his negative feelings were due to Teddy and the Respira situation and how much of it was directed at her.

  She wrung her hands. “Do you think Teddy’s going to fire you?”

  The space between them suddenly felt chilly. “I honestly don’t know. And if he did?”

  She folded her arms across her body, her hands clutching her sweater. “I don’t understand your question.”

  His eyes narrowed as though he didn’t believe her. “Never mind.”

  As Daniel jammed his feet into a pair of hiking boots, Bruce’s ears stood at attention. Then a horn bleated outside. Teddy had arrived. Bruce hobbled to the door and whined.

  Mia went to Daniel and wrapped her arms around him. Then she stood on her tiptoes and kissed him on the mouth.

  But the kiss wasn’t returned.

  She felt tears well up in her eyes. Real tears. “I’m going to miss you tonight,” she said.

  Daniel nodded. “I’ll see you sometime tomorrow.”

&n
bsp; CHAPTER 25

  DANIEL

  DANIEL SLID INTO Teddy’s silver Tesla Model S. The big man greeted him with a somber look on his face and a nod, then backed the car out of the driveway without saying a word.

  Daniel fastened his seat belt, and when he looked up, he saw Mia was outside, waving goodbye.

  “Is that the elusive Mrs. Winters?” Teddy asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “Beautiful woman,” he remarked, but not with half the heart he usually spoke with. Instead of offering some kind of joke, he was quiet. It reminded Daniel of how he had been acting just before he left for the honeymoon.

  Teddy pulled onto the Pacific Coast Highway. “If you need to make any calls, you’ll want to do it now,” Teddy said. “Coverage in the mountains is iffy at best, and I don’t have a land line at the cabin.”

  Billy. He’d need to call him and make sure he would be keeping tabs on Mia, especially now that he wouldn’t be with her tonight.

  He shot a quick text off to Billy and waited for an answer. But typical of Billy, one didn’t come right away. He set his phone on his lap and sighed inwardly.

  The tension in the vehicle was palpable, uncomfortable. He decided to address the elephant in the Tesla. “About this morning—”

  “No,” Teddy interrupted. “Let’s save it for later. No work talk for the rest of the day. Tomorrow morning, you’ll have my undivided attention.”

  Undivided attention.

  After brunch today, he somehow doubted that.

  Teddy flipped on some music. The Best of the Eighties.

  Being in the car with such a subdued Teddy was awkward. He knew Teddy was angry. But dammit, he was angry, too. Angry at Teddy for demanding this trip. But even angrier with himself for not having the balls to say no.

  Daniel cleared his throat. “So, where is this cabin of yours?”

  “Los Padres National Forest.”

  “Hear it’s beautiful up there.”

  “What you heard is true.”

  As they traveled down the Pacific Coast Highway, Daniel thought about Mia again. What would she end up doing tonight? Maybe the trip to the cabin wouldn’t be so bad after all, because Billy might have a chance to find out something sooner rather than later. He checked his phone again, but no texts had come in.