Lost Immunity by Daniel Kalla (free reads TXT) 📕

say he did get prescriptions for himself. Could we track them down?”

“Yes! Like most states, Washington has mandatory e-prescribing now. In other words, there’d be an electronic trail of any of his prescriptions that should be accessible. Although I don’t know the legality of accessing them.”

“Let me worry about legalities.”

“So what’s next?”

“This is a really strong lead, but he’s not our only suspect,” Eileen says. “And I still have to interview Yolanda and the other nurses who worked the vaccine clinics in question.”

“Understood,” Lisa says, feeling a bit deflated at the prospect of exposing her staff to potential interrogation.

“I’ve already begun to interview the employees at Delaware.”

“Including Nathan and Fiona?”

“Only Fiona so far. Nathan was in New York when I went to their warehouse.”

“What did you make of her?”

Eileen leans back in her chair, considering it for a moment. “She was relatively forthcoming, but she seemed… worried.”

“As if she were hiding something?”

“Not necessarily. Just concerned about the situation. Particularly the allegations you leveled against Nathan and her.”

Lisa sighs. “I should never have gone to see them.”

“What’s done is done. Besides, Fiona doesn’t seem to know about the tainted vaccines yet. She was upset when I told her that we were seizing the entire vaccine supply.”

“I already had the tox lab test the unopened vials, and none of them were contaminated.”

“We’ll have to retest them in our own forensics lab for legal chain-of-evidence purposes.”

“Makes sense,” Lisa says, feeling sheepish for overstepping her bounds.

“I also checked to see if any of the gyms where the clinics were held had any kind of video surveillance systems. But sadly none of them did.”

“I bet they do at the warehouse where Delaware stores the supply.”

“They do. But getting those files will require a court order, which will take a bit longer.”

“Damn.”

“We haven’t had much luck on the website tampering. Our cybercrime experts have reached the same dead-end trail as your guy did.”

“Which confirms it had to have been a pretty sophisticated hack, right?” Lisa asks. “Unlikely a naturopath could have pulled that off. At least, not without help.”

“Even if he could have, I still think the hack of the website happened because of the tainted vaccine. Which would mean the two parties were acting independently.”

“I think so, too. If Max did poison those vaccines, it’s almost certain he wasn’t behind the cover-up.”

“Agreed.” Eileen hops to her feet. “Let’s go find out if it was him.”

CHAPTER 58

Max breaks into a smile as he steps into his private office and recognizes the first of the two visitors waiting for him. Based on what his spooked assistant told him, he assumed both women must be from the FBI. But he’s somewhat relieved to see Lisa standing beside the statuesque federal agent.

“Good to see you again, Dr. Dyer,” Max says, and Lisa nods a curt greeting in return. He turns to the other woman with an extended hand. “And you must be the special agent in charge.”

“Agent Kennedy.” Eileen shows him a professional smile. “Thanks for taking the time to meet us, Dr. Balfour.”

“My pleasure.” Max walks around his desk and lowers himself into the chair behind it, motioning for the women to sit down across from him. “This must be important to bring such high-ranking officials to my humble office.”

“Not necessarily, Dr. Balfour,” Eileen says. “The FBI has been asked to look into certain irregularities regarding the recent vaccination program. Since Dr. Dyer managed the campaign, I’ve asked her to join us for perspective. I hope that’s all right?”

“Absolutely. I always enjoy my chats with Dr. Dyer.” Max crosses one leg over the other knee, trying to appear as casual as possible. “You mentioned irregularities. Can you be more specific?”

Lisa opens her mouth, but Eileen answers before she has a chance to speak. “To be clear, we haven’t confirmed there is substance to these concerns.”

“Sure. I get it. But what kind of concerns?”

“Let’s start with the website,” Eileen says.

“Start with? My website?” Max uncrosses his leg, and then puts it back again.

“No, the Seattle Public Health’s website. The app that was created for reporting adverse reactions to the new meningitis vaccine.”

Max leans back slightly. “And how can I help with that?”

“We believe somebody tampered with the records on its database.”

He frowns. “As in altered the data?”

“Potentially, yes.”

“And you think it might have been me?”

“We’re exploring all possibilities.”

He looks directly at Lisa and asks, “Why would I hack your database?”

“You do hold some strong views on the subject of vaccines,” Eileen says.

“You mean the dangers of vaccines, don’t you?”

“Is it fair to say that you’re a prominent anti-vax activist?”

“We prefer the term ‘vaccine hesitancy.’ But yes, I’m committed to raising awareness about the issue. Still, even if I were the most ardent vaccine opponent alive, how would hacking the database help me advance our cause?”

“Our investigation is in the early stages. But we’ve come here because many consider you to be a leader of the local anti-vaxxers.”

“Leader? We’re a loosely affiliated community, not a military organization.” He laughs. “Besides, no matter how motivated I was, I couldn’t hack my way into my own website. And I have the admin password for it. I think tampering with a government website would be a bit beyond my skill set.”

Lisa views Max impassively, but Eileen accepts the explanation with a simple nod. “On another note,” she says, “I read a few of your most recent blog posts. Sounds as if you viewed the complications from the vaccine as a big victory for the cause.”

“Victory?” Max purses his lips. “It would be morbid to gloat over something like that. Kids got very sick. At least one of them died. As a parent of a child who suffers from a severe vaccine injury, I’m very sensitive to that. I feel awful for those families.”

“Maybe, but the posts read like you were celebrating what happened.”

“Not the complications from the vaccine. Only that they were uncovered early. This time. And that our cautionary voices were finally heard. It’s way overdue.” He glances