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“He was also my doctor,” Ash added.
Letty looked from Sloane to Ash. “So you’re both experiencing similar problems and both happen to have had the same doctor?”
Ash nodded. “Who also prescribed us the same doses of Thelxinomine, a Therian antibiotic meant to help our immune system and fight off infection from our injuries.”
Something seemed to dawn on Calvin. “Wait a second. How is Dr. Ward missing if he’s dead?”
This was getting fun. His team had no idea what the hell to make of all this. He could see it in their faces. Cael chimed in with an answer.
“Rosa and I showed up at the crime scene like usual. I found a bottle of Thelxinomine under Dr. Ward’s desk. The name of the medication seemed familiar, so I asked Rosa to check it out on Themis, except nothing came up, which we all know never happens. So I asked a Human male nurse for more information. The guy left and never came back. When we went to find out what was taking so long, we were introduced to a Therian female nurse with the same name. Apparently the only nurse working there with that name. When we returned to the crime scene, the body was gone. The scene had been swept. The whole office was empty.”
Rosa let out an indelicate snort. “It gets better. Hudson, Nina, and the CSIs should have been there before us, but they weren’t. We were told they’d been detained. When Cael spoke to Hudson, he said they were never called out to begin with. Then Ash and Sloane’s meds vanished from their desks, where they’d been
keeping them while at work.”
“Okay.” Calvin frowned thoughtfully. “We can rule out freak coincidence. You both had the same doctor, who wound up dead. You were prescribed the same meds, which were at the crime scene and now have mysteriously disappeared. No doc, no evidence, no pills. This is all very fascinating and weird, but I don’t understand what your investigation has to do with the rest of us.”
“Because it was never our investigation,” Rosa said. “Sparks told us the case had already been assigned to another team. That dispatch had made a mistake by giving us the call. When Cael brought up Dr. Ward, Sparks said he was mistaken. That the body brought in was a Dr. Fredrickson, which happened to be the name on file at the hospital as the attending doctor for Sloane and Ash, which we all know is not true. After that, we were dismissed.”
Ash met Dex’s gaze and gave him a nod. If Calvin was confused now, wait until he heard the rest of it.
“After Sloane lost control of his shift the second time, Ash and I went to see Dr. Shultzon. We had no idea what could be causing it, so we figured we’d ask the one guy who knew more about Therians than anyone. Unfortunately, he didn’t have any answers for us, just left us with more questions. He believes the THIRDS is still carrying on with the development of the control drug from the research facility. The one Isaac used on me. One that could be used to control Therians.”
Dex paused, and Ash understood his hesitation. Shit, he didn’t want to break the news either.
“He also believes a high-ranking THIRDS officer is involved, most likely using specialist agents. He told us someone isn’t who they say they are, and we should be mindful of the orders we’re given.”
Everyone went quiet as they thought about that. There was only one officer who gave them orders who could be involved. No one believed Maddock would have anything to do with this mess. The man would sooner hand in his badge than be involved with a Therian mind-control drug, and Sloane wasn’t even a consideration.
Letty jumped to her feet. “Mierda. Are you suggesting Sparks is involved?”
“How well do you guys know her?” Dex asked.
Cael shrugged. “As well as anyone in our unit. She’s really reserved. But that doesn’t mean she’s involved in some control-drug conspiracy.”
“I hate to say it,” Ash pitched in, and he really did hate saying it, but someone had to, “but when you think about it, she’s the only logical choice. She was mighty pissed off when she showed up at the research facility after we took Isaac down. What if she knew what was going on, and she was pissed off for another reason? Ward was somehow involved, and he got killed for it. Then Sparks covers it up.”
“If Ward was involved, which is likely considering what’s happened, and he prescribed your meds, which disappeared. Do you think the meds are what’s been messing with your feral half?” Calvin asked.
Letty looked startled. “Do you think he gave you the drug, passing it off as meds?”
Sloane shook his head. “The drug’s supposed to control Therians. There was no control when I shifted. If it was the drug, it’s a complete failure. I can’t explain why our meds disappeared or what purpose they served, outside of what we were led to believe. Either way, it leaves us with a hell of a lot of unanswered questions.”
He let out a sigh, and Ash knew his best friend was feeling guilty for his thoughts about Sparks. Ash felt the same. Maybe they didn’t know her all that well despite having worked under her for so long, but she always had their backs, always supported them, gave them more leeway than any officer had to. She was a damned good lieutenant. If they assigned guilt to someone simply based on their abrasive nature, Ash would be responsible for everything wrong with the world.
“I don’t know if Sparks is involved, but her recent behavior raises a lot of questions,” Sloane admitted. “Any time I’ve asked about the First Gen Research Facility, she’s shot me down. And don’t forget Austen showed up with the very same drug when you were moving in on Bautista. Austen reports directly to Sparks. Shultzon said whoever was working on this was using specialist agents.”
“You think Austen’s in on this too?” Letty asked worriedly.
“God knows I don’t want to believe it, but all this has left me unsure of anything. I know the evidence right now is against him, but I believe in him. I don’t think he’s capable of doing anything like this, and if he is involved, I can’t imagine he’d do so willingly. I admit there’s a huge amount I don’t know about what his job entails, but I trust him to do what’s right.”
“So what do we do now?” Calvin asked.
Everyone turned their attention to Sloane.
“It’ll be interesting to see if I have any episodes now that I’m off the meds. As for the rest, keep your eyes and ears open. I want to hear about anything you might come across that’s strange. There isn’t a whole lot we can do until we’re back in the field. I’m going to try and get a hold of Austen, see if he can shed any light on all this.”
Ash frowned. “You really think he’ll tell you? What if he’s involved?”
