“Can we get that contact information?” Pierce asked.
“You’ll have it before I leave the island.”
“Thank you,” Pierce said, taking his seat.
Once everyone was settled, Aria took charge of her meeting. “I propose we stay seated until we have a theory or three, complete with action plans.”
Lisa seconded and heads bobbed all around.
Allison surprised everyone by speaking first, “I have a theory.”
Five heads turned toward hers.
“Remember all the controversy that arose when scientists first started stem cell research? For years, violent and vehement protests were a part of the nightly news. Although that faded as people became educated, it clearly demonstrated animus out there for any interference in ‘God’s plan.’ ” She ended with air quotes.
“You think we’re being assassinated by religious fundamentalists?” Lisa asked. “That they somehow uncovered our secret and are now quietly trying to kill us?”
“Probably just one assassin. Someone like that albino monk in The Da Vinci Code.”
“I’m guessing you recently watched the movie?” Lisa asked.
Allison blushed.
Felix waded in. “While hate groups are certainly worth considering, and I’ll be the first to admit I haven’t explored that angle,” he nodded to Allison, “these aren’t terrorist attacks. Nobody is making a public statement. This is private. It is personal.” He looked over his left shoulder to redirect the conversation back to Lisa. “I think we need to be looking at people we’ve wronged.”
All eyes turned to the former CEO.
Lisa nodded to herself, then looked around the room. “Felix is talking about Kirsten Besanko.”
“What about Kirsten? Why are all of you nodding?” Allison asked, glaring at Lisa. “Are you telling me— Did you— She didn’t die from an ischemic stroke?”
Lisa didn’t flinch. “I poisoned her energy drink.”
Allison gasped and shuddered, her words a tortured whisper. “Kirsten’s husband found her floating in the pool.”
“We couldn’t ask her to leave her family behind.”
“We could have brought Chuck with us. Just one more guy. Why are you all shaking your heads again?”
David put an arm around Allison’s shoulder. “It wasn’t just Chuck, remember. She was pregnant. She’d unknowingly conceived before taking Eos.”
Allison brought hand to mouth as her tears started streaming. “You knew what Lisa did?”
Pierce noted with some surprise that David did not take the politician’s escape. “I didn’t know. But I suspected.”
“And the rest of you?” Allison looked around the table.
“None of them knew,” Lisa said.
Allison bowed her head. “They just suspected. I was the only one naïve enough to fall for the coroner’s report.”
“Where is Chuck now?” Pierce asked, trying to bring this back to a business discussion.
“He’s remarried and living in Portland,” Lisa said. “He has three kids, two from his wife’s previous marriage and one of their own. The marriage looks healthy. I don’t think it’s him.”
“You wouldn’t!” Allison said.
“She had a brother,” David said.
“ ‘Had’ being the operative word,” Lisa replied. “He died of pancreatic cancer.”
“We have other enemies,” Aria said. “You’ve been sabotaging other research efforts for over twenty years.”
Pierce noted her use of ‘you.’ He supposed that was fair. She’d just been denied an important vote because she wasn’t part of the original Eos team. “Our agents have always been blind. They never know who’s paying them to spy and sabotage.”
“Maybe one of them figured it out,” Aria pressed. “They’re criminals, after all. Maybe it’s a type of jealous revenge, one team of researchers against another.”
“Camilla wasn’t a researcher,” Pierce said.
“Maybe Camilla’s death was an accident, a coincidence.”
Pierce understood why Aria would want that to be true. But he also knew that tears tended to warp otherwise logical minds. To save their lives, he needed to dash Aria’s hope and refocus the conversation. “Given the fact that these people all sold out their colleagues for money, you can be certain that if one of them did divine who was paying them and why, they’d resort to blackmail, not murder.”
“I agree,” Felix said. “It’s possible, but unlikely. It’s far more likely that our killer is someone associated with the replacement process. Regarding Camilla, that can’t be a coincidence.” He relayed the call from Tory, word for word, while Pierce nodded along.
“So we know there’s been a leak on Tory’s end,” Lisa summarized. “And this friend who popped up twice is a CIA agent?”
“Ex-agent.”
“Even worse. That just means he’s freed from any constraints on conduct.”
“Tory assures me he’s been left behind in rural Virginia without any leads to follow,” Felix said.
“And in any case, he’s not likely to be the killer,” Pierce added. “He entered with David’s replacement, which was after Eric’s demise. I trust that in light of recent events, we’re all in agreement that Eric’s death wasn’t an accident?”
Everyone nodded.
“But where there’s one known leak, there’s reason to suspect more,” Aria persisted. “I want to grill Tory on the subject.”
“I can arrange that,” Felix replied. “Let’s make that number one on our list. Other action plans?”
“I’m in the process of updating security here,” Aria said. “I dismissed the workers for our meeting, but they’ll be back. I’m turning Seven Star into a fortress. You’re all welcome to return indefinitely if it comes to that.”
Pierce looked around. He could think of worse prisons.
“Any chance it’s Tory himself?” David asked.
“I think it’s extremely unlikely,” Felix said. “We went to him, he didn’t volunteer. And we’re his golden ticket. His pension plan.”
“And you’re certain he’s not involving subcontractors?”
“Actually, I’m sure he is, but not in any meaningful way. Just driving jobs and programming gigs. Compartmentalized tasks with no connection to us or our status. For that matter, Tory doesn’t know who we are or what our status is so he couldn’t share that information even under subpoena or torture.”
“I don’t actually suspect Tory. I’m just being rigorous.” David cleared his throat. “I think it’s one of us.”
The remark struck with the force of a thunderclap. In a room full of big brainpans, David’s tipped the scale. He was the man most responsible for cracking the genetic code that halted aging. An unrivaled expert at exposing hidden patterns.
Everyone’s eyes started roaming, looking for the fight-or-flight blush, waiting for David to stand and point a finger.
Pierce didn’t observe any reddening.
When it became clear that David would remain seated, Aria asked, “What makes you say that, David?”
“It’s the simplest explanation. And statistics back it up. Most murders are committed by friends or family members.”
Lungs exhaled as the tension broke. David didn’t know anything. He was just applying basic analytical rigor.
Pierce looked up from a contemplative thought to find all eyes on him. “What?”
“You’re smiling like a kid just handed chocolate cake,” Lisa said.
Pierce realized he was grinning. “I’m relieved.”
Four sets of inquisitive eyes turned toward Pierce, as did one bemused smile.
“Relieved?” Lisa asked.
“Nobody reacted, just then. You can’t quell the capillary action of an adrenal rush. David just proved that the killer’s not one of us.”
40
Two Strikes
THE BEST WESTERN had a double room ready for early check-in, so they heard the door lock’s inviting click within minutes of making the reservation. Both walked through the room with barely a sideward glance and straight onto the balcony. The weather was muggy, but the view was glorious. All the more so for Skylar, given her brush with death.