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so I don’t have to worry, and I bet you’re keeping people’s spirits up, too.”
“You know what I mean.” He sighed. “I wish I could do something. I wanna stay busy so I don’t fret so much about you.”
“Yeah. I get it. Well, I started out washing dishes and beakers and stuff. Everyone there kind of pitches in when it comes to keeping the place clean, so how about you sweep up or whatever.”
“I can do that! It’ll be just like at the bar but with less dead bugs.”
“A lot less! Hey, could you ask Rosario something for me?”
“Hang on. Let me get a pen and paper.”
“Nah, this one’s easy. Ask him if he told Kristi about seeing Judd walk off into the swamp after being killed with the tranq.”
“Okay. I think I got it.”
“Thanks. You can text me what he says.”
We exchanged “love you”s and hung up. I returned to sorting project results, feeling much lighter.
My phone buzzed with a text about five minutes later.
“Hey, Dr. Nikas?” I said. “What if someone had weeks instead of days to create LZ-1 and a cure?”
He gave me a puzzled look. “How so?”
I related what Rosario had said about seeing Judd walk off, and that he’d told Kristi. “What if she put two and two together and figured out Judd was some kind of zombie variant. Then used that info to start working on the LZ-1 mutation? Hell, she could have sent people into the swamp to find Judd’s remains.”
Portia looked thoughtful. Dr. Nikas ran a hand over his hair in a rare show of consternation. “Three weeks could be sufficient for a researcher of her caliber.”
“There’s a problem with that,” Brian said. “We’ve been watching Dr. Charish closely in Chicago, and she hasn’t set foot in a lab in the last three weeks.”
Rachel cocked her head. “But she could have relayed the Judd info to Saberton R&D for them to do the work.”
“That’s true,” Brian said. “We know there’s a leak or a bug in our organization that we haven’t pinned down yet.” A look of aggravation swept over his face. “So let’s assume that Monday, Saberton found out about Horton waking up and shambling in the morgue. Not only could that have triggered their gator hunt—and, thanks to the leak, they knew precisely where to go—but it also presented the perfect opportunity to debut their new LZ-1 toy, especially after Connor collapsed the next day. A case untraceable to Saberton that served to muddy the waters.”
Rachel’s brows knitted. “Why would Dr. Charish work with us against her own people?”
“I don’t think she considers anyone ‘her own people,’” Brian said with a snort.
“Yeah,” I said. “Kristi looks out for Kristi. Right now, she’s eating up being in the limelight as the star researcher working toward a cure. Maybe she even wants to beat Saberton at their own game and release a cure before they do, to undercut them. Be celebrated as a hero like Jonas Salk. You can bet your rosy red—”
Reno shoved the door open and entered. Kristi followed, eyes on a printout, and went straight to her usual stool.
“Ari, have you seen the analysis of the blood samples from the patient who died at the gym?” she asked, eyes on the reports. “The glutamate numbers are through the roof.”
“Yes,” he said. “And I have no explanation for it. I’ll check the latest cultures.”
Portia looked up. “I’ll stay here and finish the extrapolations.”
“That would be quite helpful,” he said, as warmly as if he’d told her the heavens were in her eyes. He turned and exited the lab, pausing only to gently touch Reg’s shoulder and ask if the tech would accompany him.
Reg responded with a nod and smile then left with Dr. Nikas.
Kristi’s mouth pursed in a frown as she put the printouts aside and logged on to the computer.
I sidled up to her, ignoring the dirty look Reno gave me. “Hey, Kristi,” I murmured. “Why’d you cut on the gators?”
She didn’t bother to look up. “Samples.”
