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“Yes.”
“And where is it?” Agent DuBose asked.
But instead of answering the agent’s question, Lennox answered with one of her own. “Who put that envelope in my convention bag?”
The two agents looked at each other. Finally, Agent Warner said, “It appears that someone at the convention had developed a guilty conscience about his role in Dr. Bellamy’s death and felt you should be warned. Unfortunately, that warning came with a price. This morning, we were notified of a mass shooting at the Boston airport. Five people were killed. The man who likely left the note was gunned down as he tried to leave the country. We have good reason to believe he was the intended target, but four other people lost their lives so as not to raise any suspicion of the hit.”
Lennox fought hard not to fall over. Four innocent people had lost their lives because of one corrupt man on the run! “Who was he?”
Agent Warner hesitated a moment and then said, “Dr. Steven Owens.”
Shock hit Lennox like a ton of bricks. She suddenly felt dizzy and dropped back down in her chair. “Steve?”
At the agent’s nod, her heart gave a hard thump in her chest. She couldn’t believe it. “That’s impossible. Steve was like a father-figure to both me and DeWalt. He hired us out of college and was our boss for years. He was even our mentor.”
She then remembered one important detail. “Steve was there with DeWalt the night of the convention. In fact, he told me he was sitting beside him,” Lennox said. “He said he tried to save DeWalt’s life and administered first aid with the use of DeWalt’s EpiPen.”
From the looks on the two agents’ faces, Lennox had the feeling that had not been the case. “He didn’t try to save DeWalt, did he?” she asked in a soft, broken voice. Her stomach clenched at the thought of what their answer might be.
It was Special Agent Warner who answered. “No. We recently discovered some information in a plea deal with one of the federal agents arrested. Instead of an EpiPen containing epinephrine, Dr. Owens used one that was filled with nandrolone.”
Lennox closed her eyes. If nandrolone had been injected into DeWalt’s body, there was no chance he could have survived. The drug contained high concentrations of peanut oil.
“I don’t understand.” Lennox said, shaking her head. “The hotel accepted their guilt. They admitted they’d made a mistake in preparing DeWalt’s food.”
“Yes, but we have reason to believe it was all part of the plan. That’s the reason they made you a more than a generous offer before you could file a claim against them.”
“Are you saying the owner of the hotel had something to do with it?”
“Yes. The cartel also has business owners and CEOs in their illegal network.”
Lennox hung her head and closed her eyes again. What the agent was telling her was too much. She assisted in the investigation of crimes every day. It was a way of life for her. Her job. Her chosen career. But at no time had she ever dreamed…
“Dr. Roswell?”
Lennox opened her eyes and lifted her head to stare at the two Federal agents. They looked uncomfortable. And as far as she was concerned, they should be. If they had suspected Steven of anything, why hadn’t he been arrested years ago? Maybe if he had, four innocent people would be alive today. And what about the owners of the hotel chain? Had any arrests been made during the past five years?
“What?” she finally answered, feeling the shock of everything she’d been told all the way down to her bones.
“Earlier, you verified there was a box, but you didn’t say where it was. We checked and it’s not at the crime scene.”
Lennox glared at Agent Warner.They had been to her condo and had gone through her things? From the surprised expression on Joy’s face, it was apparent that this was news to her as well. Federal agents often took overinvestigations when they felt it was within their jurisdiction to do so. But to make a move like this and not make the person in charge of the local investigation aware of their actions? It showed a definite lack of respect.
“You’re right. The box is not at the crime scene,” she said.
“Then where is it?” Agent DuBose asked again, as if he had every right to know.
Lennox switched her gaze from one agent to another. In addition to having traitors within the organization, the Bureau had made major blunders in the handling of this case. Now it appeared that the only thing the two agents were concerned with was that box. The possibility that it might contain something vital to their investigation was all they cared about.
DeWalt was dead. The hotel and Steven had been involved in his death and now Steven was dead, too, along with four innocent people. And last night, someone had tried to kill her. She needed time to think, to decide what she should do. But she couldn’t do that now or in this place.
As far as she was concerned, the box was in a safe place for now. On Sunday, she had taken it to someone she trusted, someone who would keep it until she returned to get it. No one would ever think to go to this person for it. However, just in case they somehow did, she needed to let everyone assume the box was still in her possession.
Making a decision, she stood and crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m sorry gentlemen. But I have no intention of telling you where that box is.”
ROLAND LOOKED FROM ONEagent to the other. The looks on their faces were priceless. In fact, he’d be tempted to laugh out loud and would have if not for the seriousness of the situation.
To the agents’ utter dismay, they’d uncovered one important fact in this case—that Dr. Lennox Roswell was a force to be reckoned with and they wouldn’t be able to get on her good side with any smooth talk or intimidation. At that moment, his respect and admiration for her went up a notch. She was standing her ground, refusing to do what the agents were hoping she would--forget their agency had made some damn major screw-ups.
