Mare sat up straighter, pinning me under her intense stare. “He doesn’t remember anything?”
“I mean, he might remember bits and pieces.” His blurry and distorted memories flashed in my head. “But just the way he talked.” I shrugged again. “I could be reading into it though.”
“It would make more sense why he’s going after the lab workers,” Lewis said thoughtfully, tapping his chin. “It might not just be revenge he’s seeking. But maybe answers too.”
We all looked at each other then as that idea finally settled.
“Get President Osborne on the line,” London said finally.
Jinx rolled up to the largest monitor in the room and pulled up a video call app. Within a minute, President Osborne’s face filled the screen. She scanned the room, and her gaze lingered the most on me. Her brows hid under her bangs. “Mr. Gonzalez. I hope you’re feeling better?”
I smiled weakly. “Peachy.”
Ignoring my sass, she turned to London. “What is it, Mr. Whitmore?”
“We’re trying to track him with the street cams, but he’s switching cars sporadically, making it difficult to keep track of where he is. We think he’s aware now that that’s mostly how we’ve been tracking him.”
“All right. I’ll let the other team know. They’ll need to work around that.”
“That’s not why I’m contacting you,” London said quickly when it seemed like she planned to end the call. She paused, waiting for him to continue. He held up one of the vials. “We found Lucas’s backpack. We think we found some of the drug they tested out on Lucas in the labs.”
Her eyes widened, and she leaned closer to the screen as if trying to get a better look. “Are you sure?”
“No,” I said, drawing her attention. “But I know what I saw. One moment, Lucas was an uncontrolled mess. Then he injected himself with that stuff and it was like he was finally able to focus again. I haven’t ever heard of another drug able to do that. Have you?”
“No,” she said thoughtfully, eyes still trained on the vial. “I haven’t. You’re scheduled to arrive this afternoon, correct?” she asked London.
“Yes, we’ll land around three.”
“Good. I want that drug tested. Have someone bring it to the Citadel so we can study it.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Anything else?”
London told her my theory about Lucas’s memories, and she appeared contemplative. “If that’s true, then this case is a lot more complicated.”
After a quick goodbye, she ended the call, and Blade moved all the vials from the bed to a cushioned case where they could be stored safer. The last thing we needed was one of them to break and spill unidentified liquid.
London checked his watch. “Okay, we need to pack up and move out. Our flight leaves in a few hours, and it will take nearly that long to drive there.” While the others snapped to it, he came over to me. “Why do you look so concerned?”
“How would he have gotten it?”
“What?”
“Lucas,” I said. “How would he have gotten the drugs? I thought the labs were destroyed, meaning the drugs would have been destroyed too, right?”
The others paused, listening in on our conversation. London’s eyebrows slammed down as he mulled over my questions. “I honestly have no idea. Maybe it’s not the drug at all and just something else he picked up somewhere.”
“Mm, maybe,” I said, not convinced. There was something we were missing. But there were too many scattered puzzle pieces still, so we didn’t have a clear picture.
“Hey.” London chucked me gently under the chin. “Relax. I know it’s frustrating not to have all the answers, but we’ll figure this out.”
“I know. Sorry.”
He smiled and stood. “Now sit back and stop stressing. You’ll have enough stress soon enough.”
I cocked my head. “What do you mean?”