Page 79 of Smoky Lake

“That dude? There’s something not right about him.” A frown creased her smooth brown forehead. “I heard him on the phone just now outside the tent. He was asking someone to give him more time, like he was talking to a mob boss wanting his cut.”

“What else did you hear?”

“That’s it, but when he passed by me, he looked like he was going to shit his pants.”

Ani had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. Victor had probably been terrified that she’d recognize the guy who had knocked her out. Which was such a crazy thing to do…Would any legitimate scientist do the things he’d done?

Sergeant Thomson was correct. Something wasn’t right about Victor.

A shocking suspicion came to her—was Victor working with the people who were trying to weaponize the virus?

Urgently, Ani clutched at Thomson’s arm again.

“Who destroyed the Institute? Who’s behind all this? Please tell me. I know it’s classified. But we’ve been tossed into the middle of this whole thing with no clue what’s going on.”

“They don’t tell me that kind of shit.” Thomson shrugged from under Ani’s grip. “I’m just a sergeant. But I have my theories.” She quirked a smile at Ani.

“I’ll take anything.”

“I always say, follow the money. You know that mining crew up in Ninuk that started this whole thing?”

“Yes.”

“It’s owned by a consortium. Their core samples came up empty, did you know that? So maybe someone in that group decided to make their profit some other way.”

Ani swallowed hard. Quite a switch from mining to bioweapons. But profit was profit. Maybe this consortium had connections to pharmaceutical companies or foreign investors. “Did you catch the people you were exchanging fire with in the woods that night?”

“No, they’ve gone dark. Literally. We have thermal imaging and still haven’t seen a peep. They might have left the area. We’re still on alert in case they haven’t.”

“So are they the same people who’ve been following us, or is that someone else? How many bad guys are we dealing with here?”

Thomson looked at her gravely. “Excellent question. I don’t have the answer.”

“How…” Ani nearly exploded with frustration. “That’s not helpful!”

“Sorry, babe. I only know what I know.” Thomson jerked her chin toward the hardware store. “Looks like your friends are excited to see you.”

Lila was kneeling in the bay window that had been the storefront back in the old days, waving her arms for attention. Was that Charlie and Molly just behind her, shading their eyes against the sun angling through the window?

Suddenly, Ani couldn’t wait to hug her friends. She might as well take advantage of her immunity.

“Thanks, Sergeant. Thanks for sharing what you do know. And sorry again about?—”

Thomson waved her off. “Be safe out there. You know what? Take this.” She handed Ani a military-issue sat phone. “You need anything, get on here and dial the top number. Here.”

She turned it over to show Ani a list of numbers taped on the back.

“Thanks. I can walk to the boardinghouse from here, it’s not far. You don’t need to wait.”

38

As the Jeep roared off down the road, Ani hurried inside the hardware store and into a flurry of hugs from her friends—and so many questions.

“Where have you been? Has your phone been off?”

“Did you get sick with the omegavirus?”

“Are you helping the doctors? What are they saying? Do you know what’s going on?”

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