"Aren't you worried about legal repercussions?”
He grinned. "They gotta catch me first.”
He wasn't the only one who shared the sentiment. All the fishermen she interviewed were more than willing to harvest whatever monstrosity was hunting the waters around Coconut Key. There were dozens of boats out there chumming the water, looking for the massive beast.
That sense of dread swelled. This wouldn’t end well for anybody. My concern was that they'd pull every shark out of the water, regardless of size. It didn't matter. This was a witch hunt now. As far as they were concerned, every shark was a threat.
It wasn't our issue technically. It was the FWC’s problem.
Jack stumbled out of his stateroom in time to dish up a plate. We ate on the sky deck as the sun cast a warm glow on the marina.
After we ate, we decided to rattle Mark Weaver's cage again. I'm not sure it was the smartest thing to do, but I wanted to shake the tree.
26
Mark laughed when we interviewed him in his office. "Absolute nonsense. Genetically modified sharks? Here? Where are you getting this information from?"
"An anonymous source," I said.
Mark frowned dismissively. "Figures. Anybody can say anything. Doesn't make it so.”
"True, but what's the point?"
Mark shrugged. "Some people like to stir up shit.”
I couldn't disagree with that.
"Look, I can tell you that kind of thing goes against everything we stand for here. Our entire body of work is focused on preserving and maintaining the ecosystem, not disrupting it."
"Sounds like the perfect cover," I said, playing devil’s advocate.
Mark laughed again. "I can't win with you guys. You conspiracy theorists never stop. You've always got an explanation foreverything, even when you have to jump through extreme mental hoops to justify it.”
"I'm not jumping through any mental hoops. I'm just asking questions."
Mark took a deep breath. "As you should. That's your job. I'm sure you're good at it. Where would we be if we didn't question things? Take nothing at face value, that's my motto. Of course, I look at it in a different context. I look at the status quo, and I say, ‘Why is that the status quo? How can we make it better? How can we improve?’ Genetically modifying sharks for some covert military operation doesn't sound like an improvement to me. It sounds like a dystopian nightmare."
"I agree with you on that."
"I'm going to be honest with you. This has been hard for everyone here to process. First, Andrew's death, then Tess's. It's a little too much.”
"I don't know if you're aware, but we believe Andrew was murdered before he was tossed to the sharks.”
Mark lifted a curious brow. “Murdered? I guess that makes sense. I'm sure you're focusing on Bobby Fallon.” He theorized, “He found out about the affair, killed his wife and her lover. It's a tale as old as time.”
“Indeed,” I replied.
“The simplest explanation is often the most accurate.”
I couldn’t disagree. “I’m sure you’d have no problem giving us an extensive tour of the facility.”
Mark forced a smile. “Certainly. Whatever I can do to assist in your investigation, just ask.”
He picked up the phone and dialed an extension. “Marguerite, could you escort the deputies around the building? Take them wherever they want to go.”
Mark hung up the phone and smiled at us. “She’ll take good care of you.”
"Thank you," I said.
