Page 56 of No Questions Asked

Three years. Damn.

Exhausted, he pushed his hands through his hair and continued to read.El Esqueleto’soperational style had him nurturing profitable relationships with government officials who in turn provided him with protection and information. Just like every other drug lord. There had to besomethingelse about him that could be exploited.

For unknown reasons,El Esqueletofell out of favor in Venezuela, and had been forced to move much of his operation elsewhere. Where, appeared to be unknown, although most sources suspected he was still in South America. It was possibleEl Esqueletocould have moved from southern Venezuela into Brazil. The police had minimal presence in northern Brazil, where there were large swaths of unpopulated rainforests, a small population, and much bigger problems with drugs and criminal gangs in the big cities and the south. All of which would make the region attractive to a drug lord who wanted to keep in the shadows.

The more he considered it, the more he liked that possible scenario. That might explain whyEl Esqueletowas using drug operators to keep strangers—especially ones with government backing—out of his new area. But that didn’t answer the question of how he was staying in business. The region’s ecology in this area wasn’t suitable for growing the most profitable narcotics, although he’d heard some discussion of bioengineering cocaine. Even keeping that in mind, transportation to and from the area would be difficult with limited options for bulky drugs like cocaine and marijuana. In the end, none of this speculation provided him a single damn lead as to where Lexi might be.

He jerked when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“I’m sorry to interrupt,” a woman said softly. “We haven’t been formally introduced. I’m Lilith Burbridge, CEO of Vaccitex. I’m sorry about Lexi. We’re going to do everything we can to find her.”

He glanced over the woman’s shoulder and saw Gwen standing there as well. Her eyes were puffy and red from crying, her cheeks splotched with pink spots. She looked as miserable as he felt.

He rose and held out a hand to the woman, studying her for a long moment. Had he met her before? “Nice to meet you, Lilith. I’m sorry, I’m not much in a mood to talk.”

“I understand. I just wanted to tell you the helicopter you chartered is parked at the airport, fully fueled and ready for a rapid response when you’re ready. The pilot is at a hotel in Coari awaiting word from you.”

“Thank you for helping me expedite that. I’m grateful.” He glanced down beneath the table that held his laptop. A backpack that he’d packed and repacked several times sat ready to go. The contents held several packets of food, medical supplies, guns and ammunition, lights, and even night vision gear. In twelve hours, Gabriel had helped him secure everything he wanted. The helicopter he’d chartered could seat three, in addition to the pilot, but had a range of only about one hundred and fifty miles with a full load. If he took three people to help him, then there wouldn’t be room for Lexi. But if he didn’t take enough help, he might not be able to bring her back.

Tough decisions.

Who to take with him was the easy part. He hated to ask because his gut was still bugging him about Vicente, but he needed him. He had no idea who they might encounter and needed to be able to converse quickly and accurately in a variety of languages. He also needed Salvador because once they were on the ground, he needed the guide front and center in getting them to Lexi.

He’d spent time on the phone with the pilot going over the weight limits and the range tradeoff. The helicopter could carry more weight, but it would have a shorter range. In the end, he’d decided to take both Salvador and Vicente, and leave behind their gear if they needed to escape.

He’d just spent the best part of two days doing what he could. Now he needed a miracle. He reached under his shirt and pulled out the silver cross that had once been his father’s. Pressing it to his lips, he prayed to God to give him a chance.

He had no idea if God would respond.

Chapter Thirty-Four

Arjun Singh

It was going to be a tough day when he needed to initiate damage control before he even had his first cup of coffee.

Arjun sat at his office desk reading a series of emails that were getting progressively worse. The first one was from his chief scientist reporting another failure of the process to replicate the malaria vaccine. Without it, they could not go into large-scale production, let alone have enough to run a trial.

He slammed a fist on his desk. This latest incompetent was the third chief scientist he’d had in the past two years.

Idiots, all of them.

He pushed away from his desk and walked across his office. Picking up a crystal decanter with whiskey, he popped it open and poured some into a glass. To hell with coffee. He needed a shot of something a lot stronger. The alcohol burned his throat, but he welcomed the sting. He needed to focus before the entire operation went to hell.

He took the glass and sat down in front of his computer again, taking another swallow before opening the next email. It was from one of his major investors asking him about his request for additional investment funding. The investor wondered why he wasn’t reporting more progress on his key research projects, especially his potential blockbuster, the malaria vaccine.

You’re already a year past your initial trial’s date and there’s no indication you have a working vaccine to test. We need some indication that you are close to fielding a vaccine before we invest any more.

Swearing, Arjun closed the email and opened the next one. Another one of his investors wrote he’d heard reports from a contact at the World Health Organization that a U.S. nonprofit called Vaccitex had already started the Phase 3 clinical trials of an anti-malaria vaccine in Brazil.

If they succeed—even if you get your product approved and to market—you will have a competitor well-positioned to beat your price and reduce the generous profit margins you have been promising. You’re starting to look like a long shot, and under the current circumstances, it will be difficult for us to make another investment at this time.

Fighting the urge to throw the laptop across the room, Arjun picked up his phone and instructed his secretary to summon Vihaan and Krish to his office.

Both men arrived in under five minutes, which meant they were worried. Good, because if they weren’t, he intended to put the fear of God in them. The current situation was unacceptable. Change had to happennow.

He didn’t even waste time with greetings or inviting them to sit down and instead, immediately confronted his brother from behind his desk. “Vihaan, as my Director of Security, I pray you have a favorable update for me on the situation in Brazil.” He studied Vihaan as he made the request, looking for signs of anxiety or avoiding eye contact that might precede bad news. Thankfully, he saw none.

“I do.” Vihaan spread his hands. “The vaccine trials have stopped for the moment.”

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