Lost Immunity by Daniel Kalla (free reads TXT) 📕

“Things change.”

Their ride pulls up out front of the warehouse, and they climb in the back of the nondescript sedan. Fiona doesn’t stop fidgeting during the whole ride. She never mentions where they’re heading, and he doesn’t bother to ask or attempt any small talk.

The driver drops them off at Alki Beach Park, one of Seattle’s westernmost points, where the isthmus juts out into Elliott Bay. It’s a warm late-summer day, but a canopy of unpredictable gray clouds hovers overhead and keeps the stunning waterfront trail clear of most other visitors.

It’s not until they step onto the path that Fiona speaks again. “An FBI agent came to interview me,” she says. “Not just any agent, either. She’s assistant head of the Seattle field office.”

“About the database?”

She nods.

“What did she ask you?”

“Questions about my level of access and admin rights. That kind of stuff. She also wanted to know how often I logged on. And from where.”

“All information she could easily find out for herself.”

“She was also very curious about my level of technical expertise.”

“In what sense?”

“Whether I had any web design or programming experience.” She looks over to him. “Which I don’t.”

“How did she seem to you?”

“Hard to tell. Friendly enough, but she has a good poker face.” Fiona pauses. “She must assume we’re the ones who doctored the website.”

“Why do you think so?”

She walks a few feet farther before she answers. “Because I would, if I were her.”

Nathan slows, as does Fiona, but she doesn’t look at him. “You didn’t, though, did you, Fee?”

She shakes her head.

“You think I did?”

Fiona kicks at a pebble. “I think someone on our side would’ve been very motivated to cover up the connection between Darius Washington and Neissovax.”

“And you think it was me?”

She finally looks up at him. “Was it?”

He grimaces. “How long have you known me?”

“Five years.”

“And you think I’m capable?”

“Not really. But people surprise you, Nathan. Sometimes in the most terrible ways. Do things you couldn’t even imagine them capable of.” She begins to move again, and he follows in step. “I can’t think of anyone outside of the company with a reason to have done it. Can you?”

Nathan sighs. “Neither can Lisa, apparently.”

Fiona stares off to the horizon for a while before she says, “You like her, don’t you?”

“She’s married.”

“My sense is that’s not going to last.”

“Even if that were true, what would be the point? She lives three thousand miles from me and is convinced I’m a conspirator.”

“And yet you still like her.”

He snorts. “I’m a sucker for hopeless predicaments.”

“No, you’re not, Nathan. You just need something substantial. And Lisa is definitely that.”

“A substantial pipe dream.”

“Not so sure about that.”

They tread along the trail in silence for a while, passing benches, gardens, and even a small replica of the Statue of Liberty. On most days, Nathan would have found peace and comfort in the stroll along the practically deserted trail, with the soft sound of waves lapping at the beach and the cries of the gulls gliding overhead. Not today. The volatile clouds have begun to darken and sputter, reflecting his internal uneasiness. And like the weather, he expects his own situation only to worsen.

“I don’t think it’s just about the website breach,” Fiona says apropos of nothing.

“What do you mean?”

“Special Agent Kennedy. I think there might be more to her investigation.”

“What makes you say that?”

“She demanded samples of Neissovax.” Fiona’s pace begins to increase as she speaks. “Why would an FBI agent be interested in testing our vaccine?”

“It’s probably standard procedure.”

“Yeah, but Lisa already confiscated samples. Why does the FBI need them, as well? What do they have to do with a potential cybercrime?”

“I don’t have the faintest clue.”

“Have you heard anything else about this?” she asks. “Do they have concerns about the vials themselves?”

“I haven’t met this agent, Fee.” He holds up a hand. “I’m as much in the dark as you are.”

“I mean, I could understand why Lisa wouldn’t trust my—our—quality-control measures. But the FBI? What could they possibly be looking for?”

Fiona doesn’t appear indignant as she has in the past when her performance has been questioned. Rather, she seems worried.

“It’s going to be OK, Fee.”

She turns to him with a foreign look that’s somewhere between hurt and anger. “Just don’t tell me everything happens for a reason. I’ve heard that lie before.”

CHAPTER 57

“Thanks for coming so quickly,” Lisa says to Eileen, when she arrives at her office within thirty minutes of receiving her text.

“It sounded important.”

“It is,” Lisa says, lowering her voice and glancing over to the closed door. “We found a person of interest.”

Eileen chuckles. “You’re stealing our terminology now?”

Lisa’s smile is fleeting. “There’s this vehement anti-vaxxer. He’s medical—a naturopath. And his girlfriend is one of our public-health nurses.”

Eileen’s neck and shoulders straighten. “Who administered some of the shots?”

“Yes.” Lisa goes on to explain what they’ve discovered about Max, including Tyra’s recent revelation that one of the other public-health nurses, Katerina, spotted him at a different vaccine clinic from the one Lisa had seen him at.

“A person of extreme interest, I’d say,” Eileen says. “Would he have had access to the vaccine through his girlfriend?”

“Yolanda swears not. She says she only sent him a photo of the vial.”

“And why would he want that?”

“Can’t think of a legitimate reason.”

“As a naturopath, would Dr. Balfour be able to prescribe the medications that were found in those tainted syringes?”

“Not the antibiotics or antiseizure drugs, no. They’d be considered outside his scope of practice.”

“How would he get his hands on them?”

“Same as anyone else. He could have taken them from a friend or a loved one’s bottle. Also, he could have gotten them prescribed to himself through his own doctor. Or, more likely, at a walk-in clinic or an urgent care.”

Eileen nods. “He could’ve just told them he ran out, right?”

“Exactly. None of these meds are narcotics or potential drugs of abuse. And they’re generally considered fairly safe. So most MDs would be far less reluctant to prescribe them to a stranger.”

“OK, let’s