Lethal Intent

by Cara C. Putman

  With those words echoing between them, she slipped out of the car and marched to the front door.

  Now to find out if her ID would get her in on the weekend.

  Chapter 38

  When Caroline pushed through the door, no one sat at the security or reception desks.

  She’d cleared the first hurdle.

  But that meant the security officer was somewhere in the building. She’d deal with that when she ran into whoever was working and hope it was someone from the weekday cohort. Someone who wouldn’t understand how unlikely it was she’d be in on the weekend.

  She hurried down the hallways until she reached the executive wing. The lights were off in most of the offices. One had light, but she hurried past hoping no one was working inside. She expected to run into others, only nearer the labs, where work outside regular hours was the norm.

  When she reached her office, she tested the door.

  Locked.

  Good. It should be. She used her key and slipped inside but kept the light off as she moved to her desk. Sunlight coming through the window was enough to find her genetics file. Then she eased back into the hallway and headed for the laboratory wing.

  She hesitated at the first dim hallway. Could she turn on the lights? Would that be enough to calm the pounding in her heart? She hated darkness almost as much as she needed stealth. Her imagination latched onto it with vivid reminders of the awful things that happened in the hidden voids of the dark.

  She stayed along the right wall and wondered if she should worry about cameras. If someone was back at the security desk, would they monitor her? Or would it be better to stride with purpose as if she knew where she was going and what she wanted?

  Caroline hauled in oxygen and forced her right foot into the darkness.

  Then she moved her left foot forward.

  She would do this for Anna and Bethany. For Justin and Sarah. She repeated a name with each step, a drumbeat of courage and remembrance.

  Her phone chirped from her pocket, and she squealed, clamping a hand over her mouth. Had anyone heard?

  She paused to pull out and silence the phone. After reading Brandon’s text, she quickly replied. In the hall leading to lab. So far so good.

  He sent a thumbs-up back. Instead of sliding the phone back into her pocket or purse, she held on to it.

  She forced another step forward. Each got easier as she turned down a second and then third hallway. At least this weekend it seemed no one was working, which would make the fact she was notable.

  Her steps came quicker as she started looking for the right lab.

  There. The last turn.

  She froze as she noted light spilling from the small window in the lab’s door.

  Really? Out of all the labs, someone was in this one?

  Caroline eased closer and listened for activity in the lab. Maybe the light had been left on by a careless employee. Still nothing.

  The computer stood in a locked alcove on the other side of the door and beyond the wall of windows. Because of how the company siloed the computer data to minimize contamination across experiments, she had to access the lab somehow. This was the part where all her planning in the night broke down. Would her ID give her access? She wouldn’t know until she swiped it, and then there would be a clear record she’d tried. She’d purposefully not told her friends about this potential problem.

  The light flicked off.

  She dashed across the door moments before it opened.

  Hide.

  She had to hide.

  But where?

  * * *

  Brandon waited for the timer to finish its countdown so he could text Caroline again. Waiting in the car was for those who didn’t mind sitting in the stands rather than fighting in the arena. He’d always been a middle-of-the-battle guy. However, no matter how he’d wrestled the problem in the dark of the night, he concluded Caroline was right. Much as he wanted to deny it, his presence would make her movements more conspicuous.

  That meant he had to cool his heels and pray she would be all right.

  Texting was not his idea of protecting her.

  The front door opened.

  A woman in a security getup walked out, glanced around the parking lot, then headed toward him, her hands braced on her belt. She motioned for him to roll down his window. “Sir, this isn’t a place you can park unless you work for the company.”

  “I was resting my eyes.” He felt the vibration of his phone as it alerted him to ten minutes gone. Without looking at the device, he tapped send on the text he had typed and ready.

  “You’ll have to do that somewhere else. The parking lot is private property.”

  “Sure. It was empty, so I didn’t think it would harm anything to pull in. It was an early morning and I needed a minute before going to my next thing.”

  She frowned as she watched him.

  Yep, he was talking too much. He turned the key in the ignition and nodded at the woman. “Have a good day.”

  “You too.” He watched her in the rearview mirror. Surely she would leave so he could go park in a hidden corner of the lot. Caroline hadn’t responded. Instead of cooperating, the rent-a-cop stood in place and watched until he had no option but to pull from the parking lot.

  He needed a plan B.

  Based on Caroline’s lack of response, he needed it fast.

  * * *

  Brian Silver.

  That wasn’t who she’d expected.

  The phone vibrated in her hand, but she couldn’t do anything. She tucked it close to her body, hoping the sudden illumination wouldn’t give away her location.

  She was exposed.

  One move and he’d see her.

  Brian would know she had no reason to be in this corner of Praecursoria. Not on a Sunday morning. His red hair was disheveled in that way he liked, and he scanned the hallway as if he knew he wasn’t alone. His gaze landed on her.

  “Ms. Bragg. What are you doing here?”

  She held up her bag. “Picking up a file.”

  “Did you get lost?” He pivoted from side to side. “I’ll be glad to escort you back to your car.” The words sounded chivalrous and dismissive at the same time.

  “No. In fact, I hoped you might be here today.” The words rushed, making her sound like she was babbling. “I keep wondering what happened to the email I sent you. It’s like it disappeared or was never sent. But we must have backups, right?’’

  “You should ask someone who knows. That’s what IT is for.”

  “James hasn’t responded to my requests about that. Maybe he couldn’t find it either.” She sighed. “I thought things like that had multiple copies on servers.”

  “Not my area of expertise.”

  “I sent a copy to Justin too, and I had hoped one copy survived.” He stiffened but she pretended not to notice as she pushed from the wall. He certainly didn’t need to know she’d received another copy via email from Anna. “He was going to meet with me the day he died. Explain what he’d found in the data. So I know it reached him.” She walked past Brian but paused. “Did you know I was there? When he was hit? It was awful.”

  Brian took an intimidating step toward her. “I wondered how long it would take for you to poke a little too far into processes you don’t understand.” In the shadows it was difficult to read his face, but his voice held a hard edge.

  “I’m not sure what you mean.” She started walking, but he closed the distance until she was trapped with her back against the lab’s exterior wall.

  “What possible reason can you create to be here at”—he glanced at his watch—“7:45 on a Sunday morning?”

  “I don’t need a reason beyond getting the file.” She tipped her chin and squared her shoulders, refusing to be threatened. She tried to stay calm as she wondered how long it would take for Brandon to respond to her lack of a text. “Since you’re here, can you explain why, when I asked you about Genetics for You, you didn’t tell me you were the VP?”
<
br />   The man shrugged. “It didn’t matter. We would have gotten rich riding the testing wave, but Quentin was sure we were wrong. Spun it off. So I cobbled together the group that bought it.”

  “But then you found flaws in the testing methods.”

  He snorted. “Something like that. The science morphed completely, exposing how wrong the early recommendations were. In an instant the sure thing was a dud.”

  “Why not tell me that when I asked?”

  “No need to bother. It’s a defunct company. Why keep a company with bad tech?”

  “Did you send letters to the former clients? Those who had genetic testing done through Praecursoria?”

  “Seemed like a good way to close things down. Remind Quentin what the buy-sell agreement said. He was so ready for the next thing that he trusted me to get the agreement crafted.” He snorted. “Then everyone started focusing on other more lucrative advances.”

  Advances. The only ones people had discussed since she arrived related to Patrick’s cells and CAR T 463. “Did genetics testing help Sarah find the anomaly in Patrick’s cells?”

  He snorted. “That was me, not Sarah. Did you know she only had a master’s in biology? I’m the one with the postdoctoral education. I’m the one who figured out that his cells were multiplying and not dying. But she didn’t even include me on the patent. It was my discovery, but she took all the credit, along with Samson.”

  “So Sarah cut you out of the patent? And out of future earnings.”

  “The two are connected.” His teeth shone in the low light, but the smile wasn’t warm. “It was all right. I found another way to monetize the cells.”

  Patient 1’s cells are used in the other patients. The thought flashed across her mind. “You started using Patrick’s cells as part of CAR T. But that’s not what CAR T is. It’s supposed to be the patient’s own cells.”

  “Using his wouldn’t be any more dangerous than the current mouse cells. In fact, it’s probably less dangerous. A well-trained immune system will detect the mouse cells and react. This was a much better solution. And it’s working.”

  “Not for Bethany.”

  “She’s one patient who was probably going to die anyway. There are so many lives we can save.” Throughout their conversation, he never stopped watching her. He opened the lab door and gestured for her to go in.

  “Since you’re so desperate to see what’s inside.” When she didn’t move, he pulled a small gun from his lab coat pocket. “I insist.”

  Caroline swallowed as she tried to think of a way out. As long as he didn’t pull the trigger, she was okay. But how to stay that way?

  * * *

  Brandon parked next door and returned to Praecursoria. He wasn’t sure how to get inside or where to go once he was there. But he couldn’t do nothing. His phone’s timer dinged again, and he wished he was friends with a police officer. Someone who could check on Caroline.

  She wouldn’t ignore his texts, but just to make sure, he texted again as he jogged.

  you okay? you’re worrying me.

  After sixty seconds, he knew something was wrong. She’d have responded if she could.

  He squared his shoulders, puffed out his chest, and put on his best football swagger.

  With a push the doors opened, and he sauntered to the security desk.

  The security officer glanced up from the book she was reading and her mouth opened. “What are you doing? I told you to leave.”

  “Congratulations. My friend and I were running a test to see if you’d be distracted by the fact you had a celebrity here.”

  She squinted at him. “I do?”

  “Me.” He gestured wide with his arms in a ta-da movement.

  “Humph.” She didn’t sound the least bit impressed as she stood and placed her hands on her belt. “Sir, you have to leave, or I’m calling the police. This is private property.”

  “Yep, heard you the first time. Here’s the thing. My friend is inside this building and isn’t responding to texts. That tells me she’s in trouble.”

  “Who’s your friend?”

  “Caroline Bragg. Praecursoria’s attorney.”

  The woman didn’t seem impressed. “I work nights and weekends.”

  Time was ticking away. “Look, Caroline is somewhere in this building. And she’s not responding. We have to find her before . . .” What? It was too late? While that was exactly what he feared, he didn’t know how to convince the woman in front of him.

  She glanced at something on the desk. He stepped closer and took in the bank of small monitors. “Where was your friend headed?”

  “Her office and then one of the labs.”

  She looked down and clicked a couple of buttons. “I can scan the video feeds to see if she’s in that wing.” She examined him. “Who did you say you are?”

  “Brandon Lancaster. I was a linebacker for the . . .”

  “Colts. I know. I’m a Redskins fan.”

  Of course she was.

  “I’ll take two minutes to look for your friend.” The way she emphasized the last word highlighted how skeptical she was. “Then either I see her or I call the police.”

  “Or you see her and call the police because she’s in danger.”

  The woman arched her eyebrows and then focused on the monitors.

  Chapter 39

  “Enough stalling.” Brian aimed the gun at her head. “Move.”

  Caroline swallowed and tried to move but couldn’t. This was her worst nightmare happening in real life. The nights she’d cowered as a child in the closet praying nothing evil occurred as her mother brought man after man into the apartment. The nights she’d tried to protect her little sister, Mel, yet knew she was too small to do it. She’d promised herself she’d never feel at someone else’s mercy, and now she was at the mercy of Brian Silver and his gun.

  How she hated them.

  “Why?” She squeaked the word past a throat that threatened to fill with bile.

  “You figured it out. Money. Did you know HeLa cells have been sold for billions of dollars, and the Lacks family never made a dime? I thought with the genetic testing I’d find something similar. I could build the testing capacity and leave the liability with Praecursoria.” The man gave a hard laugh. “Quentin thought he was so smart to off-load the testing, but he’s not wise about the law. Fool.”

  “That’s why he hired me.”

  “Too late. After he spent years listening to people like me advising him not to waste scant resources on bloodsucking attorneys.” He pointed the gun at her head. “Into the lab now. I’ll disappear before anyone even knows you’re gone.”

  “I didn’t come alone.”

  He sneered. “What, the football player? He won’t get past the security desk. Donna’s loyal. She knows not to let anyone in on the weekends that I haven’t approved.”

  “She let me in.”

  “Was she at the desk?” At her silence he tilted his head. “Move.”

  Caroline’s hope of rescue melted as she glanced around the lab. She had to keep him talking while she came up with an escape. He grabbed a pair of gloves from a box by the door.

  “Do I need a set?”

  “They won’t help you.” He slid on each glove without setting the gun down.

  Normally the people who worked in the lab wore blue protective suits over their clothes plus gloves, booties, and hair masks. “Won’t we contaminate the room?”

  “It won’t matter.” His words sounded ominous, and she slid her gaze from side to side as she looked for anything that could help.

  The lab was a large room with machines lining the walls and a couple of tables with sophisticated microscopes. There was nothing she could use to defend herself. A couple of spray bottles sat on one cart, but it was across the long room and there wasn’t an easy way to reach it without him figuring out her intent.

  “Did you know you’d kill Bethany? Was she nothing more than collateral damage to you?”

  “She migh
t have rallied. Don’t forget her participation in the trial is palliative. For sure she’d die without it.”

  His callous disregard for the eleven-year-old made fire burn inside Caroline. “Nobody can give informed consent to treatment if you’re not telling them what the treatment is.”

  “Which is exactly why I didn’t ask. Then they can’t say no.” He glanced at his Rolex. “Time to move on. Head through the lab. We’re going out the back.”

  Caroline considered refusing until he repositioned the gun at her head. Why couldn’t his arms grow tired?

  “Move.”

  The one word ended her hopes of talking her way out of the situation.

  “Why did you kill Anna?”

  “That was an accident.”

  “You hit her car into the intersection by accident?”

  “I wanted to have a conversation. Bethany wasn’t responding and she needed to know why. Instead of reporting the results and chalking it up to a failed idea, she kept questioning and wouldn’t stop. I wasn’t disappointed when she was injured.”

  “But she died.”

  “Unintended.” He said it as if that cleared him of wrongdoing.

  “But Justin’s death was intended.”

  “Why would you think that?”

  She stopped moving between the large vat machines. “Because I saw the vehicle pull away.”

  “That doesn’t mean it was me.” He gestured toward the door. “Keep moving.”

  “Who else would it be? It looked like the company security vehicle.” She didn’t mention she hadn’t found a dent on it. “I caught a glimpse of red hair under a ball cap.”

  He snorted. He grabbed her arm and dragged her toward the door. “Enough of the stalling. No one is coming to save you.”

  His words landed as hard as his grip. He was right. Only Brandon knew for certain where she was, and he couldn’t get inside.

  * * *

  “There.” The woman pointed at the far-right screen in the bank of six. “It looks like they’re leaving out the back of Lab F.”

  “And he’s pulling her with him. Who is it?”