“I already told you. I am very confident that she’s not involved in any drug trafficking. She has four younger siblings who mean the world to her. She wouldn’t risk them going into foster care. She was a college student with a 4.0 average, she’s held down a full time job since she was sixteen…she’s not like the rest of the family.”
“I hope you’re right.” The agent didn’t sound convinced. It was understandable; the Jones family was notorious among bear shifters, for good reason.
“How are things going with the Somniatus task force?” Sam asked, eager to change the subject to anything other than his delicious Clover.
“You heard about the laboratory bust?”
“No.” Sam perked up. “That sounds like good news. Tell me about it.”
“We believe we’ve busted the last laboratory that manufactures the stuff. Not only that, but we’ve worked with the manufacturers who made the chemicals that were used by the laboratories. They are now putting in an agent that will render the chemicals useless to the labs.”
“That’s amazing news,” Sam said. “So…why don’t you sound happier?”
“Apparently, there’s a crop of Somniatus being grown somewhere, and we have no idea where in the country that might be. It is possible that if someone gets ahold of the actual plants, they could find a way to clone them and reproduce them that way.”
“Well, like I told you, we have seen absolutely no sign of it here. I can assure you if we did, I’d let you know immediately. I’ll keep my eyes and ears open.”
“And you’re still confident that Clover isn’t in touch with her family? Can’t tell us where her parents or her uncle are?”
“Very confident,” he said. “Have you uncovered anything new that indicates that her parents are involved?”
“Nothing new, but Ralph Jones was a major player in the business, and it doesn’t look good that they went underground and left their own children behind rather than sticking around to talk to our agents. That suggests that they had at least some involvement.”
“I can’t argue with that,” Sam said. “It could be because they were afraid they’d be arrested, or it could be because they have something to hide. Clover adamantly denies that they’d ever be involved in something like that, but she has a blind spot where her family is concerned.
