Page 37 of Never Quiet

After receiving the soil and water samples taken from the destroyed village two days later, Amanda tested them immediately.

When the results for her second and third tests were the same as the first, she didn’t waste time texting. She grabbed her phone and called Hayden.

“Amanda? Are you alright?”

“The water table is saturated with methylmercury at levels that could only be deliberate. You need to relocate those people, cave in the underground water source, and put up markers. It will take decades for the area to recover. It might never be safe.”

“Fuck. Amanda…”

“Go, Hayden. They can’t bathe or cook with it, much less drink it. If the samples I received are from the water source they use, it’s shot for good. There’s no treating these amounts. There are no safe levels.”

“I’ll call you back.”

He disconnected and she paced after she checked her test results three more times.

Two hours later, her phone rang and she answered it immediately. “Tell me they’re out…”

“They refused to go at first. We needed a local scientist to confirm your results and explain in their language. They’re being moved now.”

Sitting down in her chair, she exhaled roughly. “Good.”

“Thank you, Amanda.”

“You’re welcome. Invest in a few basic poison and chemical testing kits. Give them to your medical guys. A lot of things won’t show up but mercury, lead, and a few others will. I can test anything that comes back with a negative.”

“You’re brilliant.”

“I appreciate that.” Taking a deep breath, she asked, “Think you can put me in rotation when you have a situation like this come up again? I’d love to get the samples right away.”

He laughed on the other end of the line. “I can and will. I’ll put you on the payroll.”

“No, thank you. I won’t take money I don’t need. I’m happy to test stuff to keep people safe. I enjoy the work.”

Hayden was quiet for a long moment. “What a magnificent human you are. How about some lab equipment?”

“As a matter of fact…” She rattled off several things she needed. “I also need a lockable safe where I can keep the samples. Heather isn’t usually curious about my lab but, just in case, I don’t want her touching it.”

“Consider it done. You’re a rock star, Amanda.”

She snorted. “Hardly. Just a big nerd.”

“Your very best feature. Talk to you soon, sweetheart.”

“Later, Hayden.”

Searching out her sister, Amanda took her riding. It helped her feel normal for a little while.

It was becoming ever clearer that normal might be something out of reach in her life. She wondered what the people around her were hiding from her.

Part of her didn’t want to know.

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