JD and I headed down to the station and filled out reports. Mark had been processed, printed, and put into an interrogation room. We paid him a visit and sat across the table from him.
I showed him a picture of the bloodstain in the car. "Whose blood is that?"
Mark’s blue eyes narrowed as he studied the smear. "That's just a picture. How do we know it's even blood?”
I gave him a flat look. "We'll find out soon enough.”
We stared at each other for a long moment.
"I'm going to give you the opportunity to come clean about everything.”
"There is nothing to come clean about.”
I stifled a chuckle. "Your wife gave us everything. All the data, emails, you name it. We know about the covert project, the gene splicing, the offshore holding company. Aside and apart from the murders, you're facing numerous federal charges. I'm going to go out on a limb and say you didn't just decide to make a hybrid shark on your own. Who are you working for?”
"As much as I'm enjoying this conversation, gentlemen, I'm going to decline to comment. I want an attorney. Now.”
It wasn't shocking. I was surprised he hadn't lawyered up sooner.
JD and I pushed away from the table and walked to the door. After a quick knock, a guard buzzed us out, and we joined the sheriff in the hallway.
"I think we've got enough to put this scumbag behind bars for a long time," Daniels said in a reasonably confident tone.
"I hate to rain on your parade," I said. "But if he's working for a three-letter agency, they're going to come in here, classify everything, and he's going to walk.”
"It sure would be a shame if all that evidence found its way to the press," he said before walking off.
JD and I grinned and shared a look.
I may or may not have given Parris Delaney a copy of that USB drive.
It didn’t take her long to break the story. It was all over the news, and other stations picked it up. In no time, the scandal had gone nationwide, and pretty soon, everybody was asking questions about Project Leviathan.
Even without the murder charges, Mark was looking at fraud, money laundering, violations of the Lacey Act, Endangered Species Act, and the Biological Weapons Anti-terrorism Act. Not to mention conspiracy, wildlife trafficking, reckless endangerment, tax fraud, and manslaughter.
In total, 300 years of prison time and $100 million in fines. He could probably dial that back to 30 years with cooperation.
At his arraignment the next morning, he was charged and denied bail—flight risk. He had the resources to flee. He’d wait in the county pod until he could be transferred to a federal detention facility.
JD and I watched the news coverage of the circus on the flatscreen in the galley as we grilled up breakfast that morning. The story was still at the top of the news cycle, and Mark had been subpoenaed by the House Oversight Committee. There were a lot of questions that needed to be answered.
Meanwhile, that shark was still at large.
Brenda called not long after we dished up plates. "Thought you'd be thrilled to know the lab found trace blood splatter on that Donna Vatelli dress consistent with Eden Saint. Looks like Lisa Scott shot her stepdaughter.”
She was still in lockup, and at this rate, she wouldn’t be leaving anytime soon.
In the meantime, we had a shark to catch.
58
It was a bureaucratic nightmare.
We looped in the FWC, and their marine unit provided support. We needed a permit from NOAA Fisheries and authorization from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. The Coast Guard, the FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine, and the DOJ all got involved.
The FWC submitted an ESA Section 10(a)(1)(A) research permit application for capture and study, along with an application for a MMPA Section 104 permit. The creature was deemed animminent threat to public safety.
Within 24 hours, the NOAA Regional Administrator signed off.
