Elixir by Charles Atkins

Author:Charles Atkins [Atkins, Charles]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781448304264
Publisher: Severn House Publishers
Published: 2020-03-13T00:00:00+00:00

NINETEEN

‘I don’t like this detective,’ Leona told Dalton, via car phone as she headed home to Greenwich and he was en route to Manhattan for a bone-dry series of budget meetings.

‘Agreed. Still, he could prove useful.’ But Dalton heard her unstated directive – Detective Sean Brody is a problem. Fix it.

‘In what universe?’ she asked.

‘The one where I live.’

‘Really. You think you can divert him? Frank resisted what you offered.’

‘Don’t know until I try. Frank is an anomaly. And if not, Mother, people who get in your way are prone to misfortune. Also, he’s potential leverage. Which we’ve little of.’ He braked as the traffic slowed and three lanes merged to two for the agonizing stop-and-go entry into Manhattan through the Midtown Tunnel.

‘Points taken. So how goes our Frank the Saint Save-the-Children cancer study? You’ve had three days, where are we?’

‘We’re good.’ He knew that anything less would set her off. ‘What I’d not counted on was how quick those families said yes. No hesitation from any of them.’

‘They’re desperate,’ she said. ‘It’s understandable.’

‘It’s Garfield. I told them it’s his study and they didn’t need anything else. Just, “where do we sign?” The man has something, some quality …’

‘Dalton. What aren’t you saying? Do you have a little thing for him? I thought we were done with your boy phase.’

‘I like him, he’s compelling, something about him draws people in. Which is fascinating considering how little he thinks of himself.’

‘Wounded birds,’ she offered. ‘Never cared for them.’ A brief silence. ‘We need to move fast. How long before he or the detective catch on?’

‘Frank so far has no experience with human studies. Everything looks perfect, and barring a leak, we should get a month, maybe longer. But that month will give us the answers you need, correct?’

‘I hope so. I need his telomere compound and the process. Worst scenario we work backwards from the molecule. Though it’s risky. Somehow, he’s figured the impossible. And all those years with Jackson … all that simmering paranoia. Jackson trusted no one.’

‘They’re set to close his case,’ Dalton said.

‘A pointless robbery. Trinkets for drugs. And then the moron winds up dead from an overdose. A strange symmetry there.’

‘How so?’

‘Jackson believed pharma was the root of all evil. In the end, we caused his death.’

Dalton startled. Does she know? ‘I don’t follow. How does a random robbery for drugs have anything to do with pharma … with us?’

‘Connect the dots, Dalton. Without us there would be no opioid epidemic, or whatever they call it. We created the market for synthetic opioids. Convinced doctors and the whole healthcare industry that pain was the fifth vital sign. And shame on them if they didn’t dole out the oxies and percocets.’ She chuckled. ‘I remember when we released Tranxic patches. Potent and non-habit forming … at least the first part was true. But doctors believe what they want, especially when delivered by a pretty face with a box of donuts and coffee for the office staff.’

‘And now it’s cheap fentanyl from China.

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