“I didn’t just have a problem with how Inquisitis made money on their drugs. I had a problem with how they developed them. But, I couldn’t do anything about it while I was there. I’d argue with Xander about his methods, but he’d accuse me of killing people by preventing the drug from making it to the market.”
“And his methods were…?”
“Lying about drug trials, cutting corners, paying off people at the FDA, falsifying data records from clinical trials. Anything to get a favorable result and release it to market faster, before anyone else beat him to it. I took all the proof with me. If they turned me in for doing what I did, I would have exposed them. We were at an impasse. They couldn’t touch me, and I couldn’t touch them. I took the job with Flux Pharma and just… put the whole thing behind me. Put him behind me. I redeveloped the cancer drug at Flux and got it released at an affordable price. I told myself I’d done the right thing.”
“You did,” Grant said. “You’ve saved thousands of lives, maybe more.”
“I hope so,” Faith said. “And I wanted to do it again, with this Chorivirus vaccine.”
“You think Xander is targeting you and your work, at least in part, to get back at you?”
“It’s possible,” Faith said. “Inquisitis never made vaccines, before. Only treatments. I know because they tried to rehire me to develop a treatment, not a prevention. A vaccine would cut pretty deep into their profit margins. I’m sure it doesn’t help that my company announced they’re about to release it. Of course, if they developed it first, they’d be one of the richest companies in the world.”
“You still have your lab notes,” Grant said. “You’ve only lost the physical samples. If we can get you back in a lab, I’m sure you can make more.”
Faith nodded. “You’re right. I just need to get back to work and finish what I started.”
“Is Xander the type to hire a hitman? Do you think he’d try to kill you? There are lot of bad people in the world, but many of them will draw the line before murder.”
“He’d do it,” Faith said flatly. “He threatened to kill me and my family when I ended the engagement. I knew he had a temper, but I’d never seen him erupt like that. I was scared. And now cornering the market on drugs for a global pandemic? He could become the richest man in the world. I thought maybe he just wanted to destroy my work. But he knows me. He knows I won’t quit until the vaccine is complete. So now…” Faith’s eyes grew watery again. Grant hugged her.
“He won’t touch you,” he said. He gripped her shoulders. “I have to share this with Rusty. Now we have real motive for Xander to hire a hitman.”
“What if all of this comes out, and I go to jail?”
“I’ll send you a cake with a hacksaw in it.” Grant smiled and kissed her forehead. “Kidding. Don’t worry about it. If you’re right and they’re behind it, we’ve got them on murder, arson, and who knows what else. Nothing they say would matter.”
“I hope so.” Faith lowered the sheet. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have kept that from you. It’s just that after you suddenly showed up at the hotel, I became an emotional wreck.”
“I know, and I’m not disappointed or anything,” Grant said. He reached over the bed and pulled his cell phone from his crumpled pants. “You should get some rest.”
“Where are you going?”
“I have some calls to make. I think we got the man who’s behind this. We can plan our next move to flush the hitman out.”
“About that… I have an idea,” Faith said.
“Let’s hear it.”
“Use me as bait.”
“What?”
“Just hear me out.” Faith told Grant of her masterplan.
“Absolutely not. It’s too dangerous.”
“If you have a better idea, I’m all ears.”
Grant paced around the room. He couldn’t think of a plan to counter Faith’s. “I’ll run it by Rusty.”He walked to the living room and speed dialed Rusty. “Any news, boss?”
“Colt’s been in contact with the CEO of Flux,” Rusty said. “Most of the building is destroyed. The police have officially ruled it as arson. How are you two holding up?”
“I’ve got something to tell you.” Grant filled him in on Faith’s connection to Inquisitis.
“I did not see that coming. But I think the evidence is irrefutable, and we’ve got our guy,” Rusty said. “We just have to catch the hitman and get a confession out of him. Combined with Faith’s testimony, they won’t be able to weasel their way out of jail.”
“I have an idea,” Grant said. “Actually, it’s Faith’s idea. And I don’t like it because it puts her at risk. But it may be the only way to deal with this decisively.”
