Phillips pressed her lips together for a moment. “The partial email we recovered mentioning the termination of a project was sent about fourteen days ago. Which happens to coincide with a shipment of fentanyl New World had put on a plane going into Egypt.”
“Fentanyl?” Then it hit Reese. “That’s how they’ve been moving it out of the country, isn’t it?” New World had medical supplies going out globally every day. Something like fentanyl would be a common product.
She nodded. “From what I’ve been able to tell looking at customs records, they sent out regular supplies to several third-world countries. The only one that was a constant is Yemen. When the supplies were checked through customs this last time, they were short a little over one thousand single-dose vials.”
“Were they taken?”
“We don’t know. If New World knows they aren’t sharing, and they’ve made sure to destroy anything that might tell us.”
“So they helped Dr. Markus trash the lab to cover it up? That seems a bit extreme.”
“Not if there was a chance for the serum to be traced back to them,” Harrington said.
“Even if it was, why would it matter? If a person doesn’t have the ichor in them, there’s nothing for the serum to interact with, then the worst that could happen is someone dies from anaphylactic shock. And even that’s highly unlikely.” Reese wasn’t even sure there’d be any kind of effect unless someone had an allergic reaction to the preservatives they might have used to protect any biologicals in the ingredients.
“Think outside your backyard. All it would take is those vials being traced back to them to unravel their entire operation. If they are involved with illegal human experimentation, domestic or foreign, they’d stand to lose billions. Not just from lawsuits filed by the US but internationally as well. Every country they’ve ever done business with would want a piece of them. They’d also stand trial for human rights violations.”
And no matter how wealthy a company was, it could be bankrupted. The idea of being penniless probably frightened the heads of New World Genetics a lot more than facing criminal charges.
“It still seems extreme.” Especially for all the money New World had invested. Money and time.
“People have done far worse for less cause,” Phillips said.
Reese stuck his hands in his pockets. It still felt wrong. Like a piece was missing.
“Okay, so let’s say you’re right, and Dr. Markus helped Dr. Echols make these new Anubis in some mixed-up scheme to eventually bring down the lab. Why? Once he was on the inside, he could have just blown it up or set it on fire?”
Harrington put a hand on Reese’s shoulder. “When you figure it out, let us know.”
Reese glared.
“And you can figure it out on the way back to the airport.” Phillips waved a hand at the mess in the field. “We need to get this area cleaned up and everything collected. Make the call, Colonel.” She turned.
With the same grace Phillips showed earlier, she returned to the chopper without a single misstep.
“I have no idea,” Harrington said.
“Huh?”
The colonel nodded at Phillips who pulled herself up into the chopper. “How she can walk on those heels, let alone walk on ground like this.”
“It’s impressive.” And Reese meant it.
“No, impressive is watching her run, or kick a man in the face while wearing them.” Harrington pulled out his phone. “Go ahead and load up on the Huey. This shouldn’t take more than a few minutes.”
*****
Luca was wrong.
At first, Nox hadn’t understood the fertile ground undertone mixing with Luca’s scent. And the constant close proximity had rendered him nose blind. But after an hour away breathing in air void of Luca’s delicious flavor, Nox realized just how much his scent had changed.
A comfort.
A fear.
Familiar.
Nox was ripped from the dreamless sleep to the sound of Koda screaming.