Chapter 42
The outboards howled as we headed back to Coconut Key. The moon glowed overhead, and the stars flickered. The briny air swirled.
Dr. Malcolm sat with a solemn face, probably regretting his decision to help us. We were both between a rock and a hard place. I could report the incident, get the county out to Torchlight Key, and make a stink about it. Dr. Malcolm could refuse to help us. Kara would most certainly die.
Or I could let him call Company cleaners, and it would be as if the mess never happened. They would come out to the island, dispose of the bodies, and cover the whole thing up. It happened all the time.
The former option would have been a lot of paperwork.
My phone buzzed with several missed calls and texts as we got back into the coverage area. I didn’t even want to look.
Kara hovered by the helm station as I piloted us back, the boat bouncing across the obsidian waves. “You know, we have some unfinished business to take care of when all of this is over.”
I lifted an intrigued brow. “I believe I can accommodate that request.”
Kara smiled.
She wasn’t a quitter. I admired that about her. A lot of people would have given up by now and accepted their fate. She’d had her moments of doubt, but it was clear now. She was going to go out fighting. It was hard not to root for her, despite how gray this whole thing had become.
I navigated the patrol boat into the marina at Diver Down and pulled into an empty slip. Kara tied off, and I cut the engines. We hopped out and made our way with caution to the Avventura. I kept my head on a swivel, looking for threats.
We boarded the boat and found Jack and Piper on the sky deck, eating a late dinner. Jack's face wrinkled with confusion. "Where the hell have you been? I've been trying to call you."
"Long story. There was no cell service at Torchlight.”
His wrinkled brow persisted. “What the hell were you doing there?”
I gave him the speed version of the situation.
"Well, that explains a lot. What's the plan now?”
I told him.
Jack lifted a skeptical brow. "You want to break into what?”
“I need a complete overview of the security setup at Zonatrex Pharma," I said.
“The property is surrounded by a fence topped with razor wire,” Dr. Malcolm said.
"Who is this guy?" JD asked.
"Jack, this is Dr. Malcolm. Dr. Malcolm, Jack Donovan."
The two shook hands and exchanged pleasantries. I introduced him to Piper as well.
"So you’re the guy, huh? Dr. Death.”
Dr. Malcolm frowned.
I told Jack the toxin poisoning Kara was a variant of the one Dr. Malcolm had designed.
"You were saying, Dr. Malcolm?" I said, steering the conversation back on track.
He took a deep breath. "As with any high-tech facility, there is a security booth at the entrance to the parking lot.
The building has standard security measures.
24-hour guards on duty. Two of them, as I recall.
Key card access, with increasing clearances needed for secure areas.
There are cameras throughout the building and motion-activated sensors.
Trial drugs and samples are kept in SRL-7 in cold storage.
Each sample has an RFID chip and is tracked.
" Dr. Malcolm shook his head. "I'm not sure how you plan to get inside the building.
Even if you can make it to the secure areas and acquire the drug, you're likely to trip some kind of alarm. I hope you have a solid exit plan.”
Piper watched the conversation with amusement. “So, you guys are going to break into a pharma lab and steal drugs.”
I gave her a flat look. “Steal an experimental drug that could save Kara’s life.”
Piper smirked. "Okay, but I don't want you to ever lecture me about taking the law into my own hands. And don't give me that I am the law bit."
"Extenuating circumstances," I said.
She smiled and snarked, "Sure. Whatever you say, boss.”
I’d lost the moral high ground in the argument against the vigilante group she associated with.
"If you need my help, count me in," she said. "Any chance to stick it to Big Pharma. You got a plan?"