by K C Gillis
“Sorry, Rachel,” Jordan said. “My fault. We’ve been going nonstop since breakfast. I should have at least dropped you a text. But we’re here now.”
The pair sat down and almost simultaneously leaned back and closed their eyes.
“You guys look like you need some food and drinks. I can’t wait to hear how your drone adventure went.”
“Oh, we’ll tell you,” Jordan said. “It’s a good one.”
Travis smiled. “Yep. One we won’t forget anytime soon.”
“Let’s get you two some food. While you’re eating, I can tell you about my morning. I may have a knack for this reporting stuff.”
“Sounds interesting,” Jordan said.
The trio ordered lunch and drinks. “Boy, a cold beer looks fantastic right about now,” Rachel said. “I can’t believe I can’t have one until next year.”
“You’re the one who got knocked up,” Jordan said.
“I’m not getting any younger, you know.”
“Better you than me. So tell us about your morning.”
“Sure. I confirmed who owns the land that site is on. It’s officially state land. In fact, all the property reached by the road near that site is state land.”
“That doesn’t make sense,” Rachel said. “NeuSterone is a private company, right, Travis?”
“It is. There’s no indication the state owns any stake in the company at all.”
“There’s more,” Rachel said. “The land NeuSterone is sitting on is leased to an LLC called NorConn Holdings. The lease is for ten years.”
“That might help, but I’ve never heard of them.”
“I have,” Travis said.
“What? How the hell did you hear of them?” Jordan asked.
“You can thank yourself for that one. Remember the guy you met yesterday that you wanted me to look up? Francis Emberly? Well, last night I looked for his connections. He was listed as an owner of NorConn Holdings.”
“Why am I just hearing about this now?”
“We’ve been kind of busy, remember? I just didn’t get around to sharing the stuff on Emberly.”
“Did you find out anything else about this company?”
“Not much. LLCs don’t have to disclose very much beyond ownership and contact information. As the name says, they’re a holding company, so they can act as a middleman for just about any kind of business transaction. It’s a good way for people to hide what they’re doing.”
“So it’s probably not a coincidence that he’s up here,” Rachel said.
“Highly unlikely.”
“You said you did some digging on the Emberly guy,” Jordan said. “What else did you find?”
“What I thought was the best part before the NorConn thing came up. Francis Emberly and Chris Chisholm go back to undergrad.”
“Whoa.” While Jordan processed this latest bit of information, none other than Francis Emberly came down the walkway. He sat at a table on the opposite side of the patio from her group.
“Speak of the devil,” Jordan said. “There he is.” Jordan nodded in Emberly’s direction.
“That’s the guy from yesterday, right?” Rachel said. “The one you tricked into giving you his name?”
“Yes. Why?”
“I saw Alice Banfield talking to a man this morning. I think it was him. His back was to me, but seeing him now, I’m pretty sure that’s the guy.”
“Did you happen to hear anything they said?”
“Kind of. They talked about someone wanting to buy the marina, but that he wasn’t the only one.”
“Did they say who?”
“I heard them say one potential buyer was someone named Chris. That has to be the senator. They didn’t say who the other buyer was.”
“So Emberly is tied to NeuSterone, works for a senator, and has some kind of interest in buying the marina. Plus, someone else is trying to buy the marina, but we don’t know who yet. At the same time, the marina is experiencing a bunch of weird accidents. Anyone else think this all too much to be a coincidence?”
“You’ve got my vote,” Travis said. “You get businessmen tied to politicians and shady holding companies, someone has got to be breaking the law.”
“Alice also asked when Chris would come to Copper Lake,” Rachel said.
“How did Alice seem?” Jordan said.
“A bit emotional, actually. Not exactly angry or sad, but anxious.”
“Here’s my bet,” Jordan said. “Alice and the senator have had or are having a relationship.”
“Based on one question?” Travis said.
“Almost. Derek said there’s gossip among the marina staff that Alice is sleeping with someone. When a woman’s asking when a man is coming to town, that’s always my first guess. And they have to know each other, having grown up in the same town. She’s still a good-looking woman. So I’ll put my money on the senator.”
“Even if she and the senator do have some kind of relationship, how does it tie in here?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“So we think the senator involved in NeuSterone wants to buy the marina?” Travis said.
“Exactly,” Jordan said. “Emberly has got to be the senator’s right-hand man. It’s safer to have Emberly named in NorConn Holdings. Less to trace back to him. Being from Copper Lake and likely knowing Mike, he probably figures he can leverage that to convince him to sell the marina.”
“You make a good case. What now?”
“We review the video from the NeuSterone site. Make sure we know exactly what we have and what we don’t have.”
“Hey,” Rachel said. “You guys still haven’t told me about your droning yet.”
“I don’t think it’s called droning,” Jordan said.
“Yeah. It’s just called flying,” Travis said.
“Whatever,” Rachel said. “Just tell me what happened.”
“Go ahead, Travis. You were the pilot.”
Travis took Rachel through the highlights of their aerial caper, with emphasis on what they saw inside the large building. He tried to downplay their encounter with the worker and the subsequent drone crash, but Rachel would have none of that. She demanded every detail of the encounter, right down to their escape.
“So you’re sure no one actually saw you both?”
“We don’t think so,” Jordan said. “The guy who was working there was so focused on the crashed drone, he didn’t seem to realize that there had to be people nearby who were flying the thing.”
“Plus, we drove around a bit to see if anyone was following us,” Travis said. “We seem to have gotten away clean.”
“That’s lucky. If you had gotten caught, you’d both be in jail right now.”
“Relax, sis. We had everything under control.”
Rachel smiled as Travis slowly shook his head, mouthing, “No, we didn’t.”
“Don’t test me, Travis,” Jordan said.
“Sorry.”
Jordan’s phone interrupted their story. She felt slightly irritated at the interruption, but when she saw that it was Charlie calling, she couldn’t answer fast enough.
“Charlie,” Jordan said. “Great timing. I’m sitting here with Travis and my sister, Rachel.”
“I wish I were there. After our little adventure in the fall, I have to say I miss the excitement. Except for the kidnapping part. Tell Travis I’ll join him for the next adventure.”
“For sure. So what do you have? I’m guessing you’re calling with some news on the testing of the fish? I was a bit worried we wouldn’t get results back until after the Fourth.”
“The results were ready last evening, but apparently the lab tech forgot to send them to me. I had to call him today.”
“It doesn’t matter now. What did the tests show?”
“First, I need to pat myself on the back. My assumption that the culprit was some kind of growth hormone was correct.”
“I didn’t doubt you. Was it something natural?”
“No, it wasn’t. It took a few attempts, but the lab was able to get some details on the chemicals the fish was exposed to.”
“Chemicals? Plural?”
“Yes. As far as the lab could tell, there were two distinct chemicals found in high levels in the fish. One was some kind of a derivative of testosterone, but like nothing I’ve ever seen before. My guess is that someone engineered it to provide greater stimulation of growth receptors in the body. For the other chemical, they could only get a partial structure. It’s definitely not a hormone and will take more testing to figure out what it is and what it does.”
“But you’re convinced the hormone you found isn’t natural? That it’s man-made?”
“Without a doubt. We should do a patent search to see who originally developed or conceived it, but in the end, it doesn’t matter. It’s not natural and shouldn’t be in animals. Unless the FDA approved it. I have a friend in the animal division of the FDA. She’ll do a courtesy check for me to see if they have approved anything like this. She’ll also check if there’s any company operating out of Copper Lake authorized for animal testing. She’s never heard of Copper Lake, so it’s doubtful this company is FDA approved for anything.”
“That’s great news, Charlie. We’ve pieced together a fair bit on the ownership of the site where the testing is being done. With what you said, I think all I need is a sample from the site that matches what you found. I may need you to do a verification test.”
“Not a problem. But I have to ask, how are you going to get a sample? I hope you’re not planning on breaking in anywhere.”
“Then you better not ask.”
“That’s what I thought. Let me know what’s next. And be careful.”
“Thanks, Charlie. I’ll talk to you soon.”
“Good news from our CDC friend?” Travis said.
“As expected. He knows his shit. Some souped-up growth hormone, plus another chemical that the lab couldn’t identify yet, killed the fish.”
“So what next?” Rachel said.
“We should go through the video now,” Travis said. “If Jordan really thinks she still needs to break in, we better make sure she knows exactly where to go inside.”
Rachel blanched at Travis’s comment and looked at Jordan. “You aren’t seriously thinking of trying to get inside that building? You’ll never pull it off. Especially since your drone adventure tipped them off.”
“Just humor me for now. I might not have to break in, but if I need something critical for the story, then I’ll do it. For the story.”
“We’ll see,” Rachel said. “Break out your laptop, Travis.”
As Travis got out his laptop, Jordan couldn’t help but overhear the arrival of someone at the bar. It wasn’t that she was particularly loud or otherwise obnoxious. But her voice betrayed a combination of fear and shock. The woman was at the bar, asking for the chief.
“Are you sure the chief isn’t around?” Jordan heard the woman ask.
The server at the bar, someone Jordan didn’t know, answered.
“Sorry, but I haven’t seen him. If you call the station, they’ll put you through.”
“I know. I was just so close to the marina, I thought I’d stop here first. Is Derek around?”
“He’s on the water. He should be back in an hour or so.”
“Great. I guess I should call animal control. Can you get me a red wine? Whatever you have by the glass.”
“You got it.”
No one would ever classify Jordan as a Good Samaritan, but she knew when a person could use a little help. More than the server was offering, that was for sure. She went to the bar, close to where the woman was sitting. The woman’s half of the conversation was enough to inform the basics of what happened.
“Hi,” Jordan said when the woman was done on the phone. “I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but I heard you asking for the chief, and you sounded kind of upset. Do you need help with something?”
“I’ll be fine. I just need to calm my nerves. Then I might need to call roadside assistance.”
“Oh? What happened?”
“The short version is that I hit a deer. Not even a half mile north of here. Since I keep a boat here, and there isn’t much else within a couple of miles, the marina was the easiest place to get to.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. The accident damaged your car?”
The woman took a big sip of wine, her hand trembling slightly. “Oh yeah. Right fender is smashed and rubbing against a tire. I’m worried it’ll puncture if I drive it home.”
“Probably a good idea to wait for help. What about the deer?”
“It should be pretty much right where I hit it. It never got up, and it looked dead.”
“Bad luck for both of you.”
“Sure was. But I think that deer was on its last legs anyway.”
That seemed odd. Jordan couldn’t imagine getting a good enough look at a deer you were about to hit to judge its health or age.
“Why do you say that?”
“The way it moved. It was on the road, staggering back and forth. It seemed like it couldn’t walk in a straight line. I actually thought I was going to miss it, but then it staggered left, right in front of me. I couldn’t avoid it.”
Jordan’s inner alarm sounded. Not loud, just a warning. The woman’s description of a potentially sick deer, in the general vicinity of the NeuSterone mystery site, could be coincidental. But Jordan knew that such coincidences rarely were just that.
“Did you get a look after you hit it? Was there anything strange you noticed?”
“Sorry, no. I could see that it wasn’t moving, and I came right here. I know I should have stayed there, but I was worried about my car. I didn’t know if there was any engine damage and wanted to get it off the road. But animal control said they’d send someone out. I’ll still have to report the accident. For my insurance, if nothing else.”
Jordan knew what she had to do.
“So you’re sure you’re OK? You don’t need any help?”
“I’m sure. Thanks for asking.”
“Good. You said you hit the deer just north of here?”
“Yes. Maybe a half mile up the road. Are you going there?”
“I think so. I’m interested to see if the deer was sick.”
“If you see someone from animal control, you can tell them I’m at the marina if they need me.”
“For sure.”
Jordan went back to Travis and Rachel. “I need to take off for a few minutes. I won’t be long.”
She didn’t wait to answer their expected and obvious questions.
34
Jordan debated driving versus going on foot. A half mile she could cover in five or six minutes at an easy jog. But if the woman’s estimate was off, she risked taking too long to get there. She wanted to beat animal control to the dead deer. It turned out the woman had estimated the distance well. Jordan’s drive took less than two minutes.
Unsurprisingly, the dead deer was unattended. Jordan couldn’t count the number of dead deer she had seen on roadsides in her life, but not once had she ever seen anyone standing beside one. This instance was no different. Most important for Jordan was that animal control hadn’t arrived.
Jordan parked on the right side of the road, about one hundred feet past the dead deer. She grabbed her phone and went to the animal. She approached slowly, just in case the animal wasn’t dead but was instead in shock. Her regular exposure to horror movies made visualizing a zombie deer popping off the road and chasing her all too easy.
By the time she reached the body, Jordan had no doubt it was dead. There was no trace of any breathing function, and the eyes were wide open and unmoving. One rear leg was at an impossible angle, and much of the abdomen seemed to be abnormally large. Possibly a result of internal bleeding. The deer had probably survived for several minutes, maybe more, after the impact.
Jordan had planned to take some pictures and bolt. But she couldn’t. Not once she took in
the deer’s appearance. Ignoring the injuries from the collision with the car, the deer otherwise looked awful. Almost hideous. Jordan had seen enough deer to be able to conjure an image of what normal looked like. The deer in front of her didn’t fit that image.
Something was horribly off, and Jordan struggled to compare what she saw to a known reference or benchmark. The only thing that came to mind was the Hunchback of Notre Dame. And not because of any specific size similarity. The comparison emerged because the deer’s body looked misshapen.
The area around its shoulders and hind legs were not only large but looked overgrown and irregular. Patches of fur were missing, leaving raw red wounds. The neck was similarly malformed. Even if she accounted for swelling over the deer’s entire body as a result of the accident, the degree of deformity still seemed excessive. Plus, what she saw, except for the abdomen, didn’t look like any swelling she had ever seen.
A better comparison took shape in Jordan’s mind. Perhaps the realization took so long because the animals were about as dissimilar as possible. Nevertheless, looking at the dead deer’s misshapen body made her think of the dead fish she had brought to Charlie.
If that comparison were fair and accurate, it meant that whatever was being tested at the site had gotten out. And it could affect other species.
Jordan had not intended to wait for animal control. But on seeing the deer, she knew she had to. She needed to get some kind of sample from the animal. Something that she could give to Charlie. If her burgeoning hypothesis were correct, Charlie should be able to confirm it. She had briefly considered taking a tissue sample herself, but in her mind, such an action would involve crossing a line she preferred to stay behind. Better to leave that to the experts. Plus, if she had gotten caught doing such a thing, she might face charges. No, better to handle this properly and ask for a sample. Worst case, she could ask Charlie to play his CDC card to get one.
So as to not draw undue attention, Jordan got back into her car. Once someone from animal control arrived, she’d make her request. Three vehicles drove by without stopping. Two were headed south, while the other headed north.
