“Christopher and Elizabeth from Portland,” he said. “I’m glad you stopped by.”
His color was better, the hectic flush was gone from his cheeks, and he was no longer chalky and sweaty.
“I’m lucky you two showed up when you did. I understand you’re the ones who found me and called 911.”
“You’ve already spoken to the police,” said Christopher, “But, do you mind telling us what happened?”
“It’s weird,” said Benny. “Remember how I mentioned the Portland lab with the two goons who wanted my scorpions last summer?”
We nodded.
“Turns out they came back yesterday with their boss. They demanded I sell the adult bark scorpions. I refused. They said if I didn’t sell them, they’d take them, anyway.”
“Was the boss about five foot ten, kind of stocky, green eyes with a buzz cut?”
“Yeah, that’s him. You know him? He was a pushy asshole. The tall man called him Fengdahl.”
“You mean ‘Dahl’? That’s his last name.”
“Nope, they said ‘Fengdahl.’ I remember because my cousin married a Fengdahl, and I thought what an unusual name. Never expected to hear it again unless I visited Norway or something.”
“Erik Fengdahl,”I sent to the Wilsons.“Try that.”Hope surged at the clue. We were making progress.
“What are the odds they showed up right around the same time as you? You don’t work with them too?”
“We do not. We wanted to talk to you about them because we’ve had problems with Mr. Fengdahl and his men.”
Christopher filled in Benny about the last few months, including Brandon and the experiments. We might catch up to Eric by pooling our knowledge.
“As you can see,” said Christopher, “We hoped to buy scorpion venom so my brother could make the antidote.”
“I thought you two worked for the Portland Museum.” Benny looked back and forth between us with a furrowed brow.
“We do,” I said. “But the boss from Real Tech is my ex-husband, so this is personal. The cops haven’t been able to find him and the name we knew him by is fake.”
“He’s a jerk.” Benny shook his head. “When I said I wouldn’t sell, he got his minions to hold my arm into the tank with the cottonmouths and he slapped the tank to get the snakes agitated. After two of my snakes bit me, they took the scorpions and knocked me out. I came to at some point, but was too weak to get to a phone and call for help. I didn’t think anyone would find me in time. They probably thought so too, as I don’t get a lot of business this time of year. The doctor said I only had another hour before it would have been too late.”
“We were just lucky,” said Christopher.
“If there’s anything I can do, let me know,” said Benny. “I owe you.”
“We need to buy scorpion venom. My brother is going to make the antidote for the people that were experimented on. Guess that’s out of the question now.”
A strange expression crossed Benny’s face. He sat up straighter, leaned forward, and spoke in a conspiratorial tone.
“They took my scorpions, but not my insurance supply. I’ve stockpiled over ten milliliters of bark scorpion venom. I extract it regularly and sell just enough to pay my rent. My creature collection isn’t exactly a top tourist attraction.”
The tension in Christopher’s shoulders lessened. We wouldn’t fail. Hope surged through me that Brandon could be cured.
Benny said. “You saved my life. You can have it.”
“We don’t need that much,” I said.
Christopher’s eyes hadn’t left Benny’s. “Are you sure? The hospital can be expensive. We could buy six milliliters. That’s enough for six doses of the antidote.”
“It’s yours, no cost,” said Benny. “But I can’t get it while I’m in the hospital.”
“We have to get back to Portland for work tomorrow.”
