TO HOLD AN EAGLE by Justine Davis

Author:Justine Davis
Format: epub

* * *

Chapter 9

« ^ »

Chandra stared at Linc as his words seemed to echo in the room. Then she reached for the newspaper; Linc gave it up without a word. She read the article swiftly, then looked up at Linc, bewildered.

"But this is impossible," she said. "It couldn't be ready. There were too many things still wrong with it. Al said so."

"Wrong?" Linc asked, staring at her so intensely she couldn't answer for a moment.

"The drug wasn't ready," she repeated at last. "There were some side effects, too many of them, and they were too unpredictable."

"Oh?"

Linc didn't say it sarcastically, or even doubtfully, but Chandra knew what he meant.

"I realize I'm hardly a chemical genius," she said, more resigned than defensive.

"I didn't say—"

"You didn't have to. I know I barely got through high school chemistry. But I know about this because a few weeks ago Al Cleary, Lansing's head research chemist, was at the house. He and Daniel were arguing, and it was about this drug."

"Arguing?"

"Daniel was pushing, as usual, and Al was saying they couldn't go public yet."

"Because of the side effects?"

"Yes. Al said he thought it could be fixed, but that it would take months, maybe even years to work out all the problems. And Daniel was saying they didn't have that kind of time."

"What happened?"

Chandra didn't see what any of this had to do with anything, but she was unable to withstand Linc's sudden intensity.

"Daniel…" She swallowed and tried again. "Daniel got angry. Very angry. They started yelling, and Daniel threatened to fire Al. Al just told him to go ahead. He said that since Daniel had insisted Al be in sole charge of the project, reporting only to him, Daniel would lose everything, because no one else knew about it at all, let alone enough to take over."

She took a breath, then went on when she realized they were all watching her intently, waiting.

"That made Daniel calm down. They quit shouting after that." She shrugged. "That was all I heard, except that when Al left an hour later, I heard Daniel apologize to him at the door."

"You're sure of this?"

"Yes, I am, because—"

"You're positive that it was just a few weeks ago, not the months the chemist said he'd need?" Linc interrupted, sounding oddly urgent.

"That's what I was trying to tell you. I'm positive, because it was just a week before the accident."

Linc stiffened. "What accident?"

Chandra was aware of them all staring at her, and she had the oddest sensation of collective breath being held. But she couldn't look away from Linc's burning gaze. "A car accident. A horrible one."

"And?" Linc prodded when she paused.

"Al was killed. That's why this doesn't make any sense. He was the only one who knew about this project."

"And it should have died with him," Linc said on a long breath.

Chandra nodded. "Al was the only one who was working on it, the only one who knew the steps already taken, what had and hadn't been tried, and the current status.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.