Cut in Darkness by Heather Sunseri

Author:Heather Sunseri
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sun Publishing

Chapter 18

Declan

“Was that Brooke? I would have said hello,” said Fritz Hahn, my friend and resident chemist at my Chicago laboratory, as he walked into the lab at the tail end of my conversation with Brooke. “You’re one lucky SOB,” he added, shaking his head.

“That I am,” I said softly, staring at the blank phone screen. There had been something very off about Brooke. Even in the small screen of the video, I could see that she’d been crying and was trying very hard to hide it.

I turned to Fritz and the data lying on the table before us. I sat on one of the stools and stared at the reports and information I’d gathered from my contacts in the intelligence community—information and contacts I had not yet shared with Brooke. “So, where were we?” I felt a strong pull to wrap up my business in Chicago and get back to Brooke.

“We were talking about carfentanil.” Fritz sucked in a breath and puffed out his cheeks before letting the air out. “They’re not getting this in the United States. The only people even allowed to have a supply of carfentanil in the US are zookeepers, and their supplies are small and heavily monitored, as in audited regularly.”

“So, what? We’re looking at distribution out of China? Or brought up from Mexico?”

“Could be either,” Fritz said, “although even the Mexicans probably get it from China originally. You don’t need huge tracts of land like you do to grow poppies; carfentanil is completely synthetic. I can see the appeal to drug dealers. Far less labor intensive and far less expensive to manufacture. A small quantity of a synthetic drug like this can replace a whole lot of heroin.”

I crossed an arm across my chest and lifted a hand to rub the stubble forming on my chin and face. “Is it possible that someone is making this carfentanil right here in the United States?”

“I suppose,” Fritz said. “But they’d have to be very skilled to do so. Or stupid. This isn’t for the hobbyist chemist. This is a dangerous, extremely lethal drug. Breathing in the chemicals, or even getting a small amount of carfentanil on your skin… that can be deadly. And you’d need some sophisticated laboratory equipment. It’s a lot easier to just order it from China on the dark web. Although I guess that comes with its own risks.”

“And a person would have to be equally careful while combining the carfentanil with heroin?” I asked.

“That goes without saying.”

Fritz and I stood there, staring at the table of documents I had brought with me. After several beats had passed, he turned to me. “Brooke is investigating this?” he asked.

I nodded.

“I can see why you’ve got that worried look. I thought you’d just become soft in your old age.”

“Yeah. Even if we put aside the fact that just touching this substance could kill a person, the money at stake for even a small supply of such a drug…”

“It’s a lot.”

“Certainly enough to kill over.”

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