Lost Immunity by Daniel Kalla (free reads TXT) 📕

“No end of people with motive. Anti-vaxxers, antipharma activists, disgruntled employees, terrorists, or any other whack job you can imagine. But Max is the only one I can think of with both an obvious motive and a clear opportunity.”

“Which is why we have to focus on anyone else with opportunity. It’s a much shorter list.” Eileen taps her steering wheel. “Starting with your nurses who worked all three clinics where recipients ended up developing bad skin reactions.”

“Only eight nurses worked both of the first two clinics in question. And Tyra is narrowing down the list to include those who also attended the latest victim’s clinic. Probably no more than four in total.”

“We’ve also got to look into people on the Delaware side.”

“Fiona should be able to provide you a list of her staff who worked those same clinics,” Lisa says.

Eileen glances over at her. It’s only when her eyes return to the road that she says, “Nathan and Fiona would’ve also had the opportunity.”

Lisa can’t imagine any of her staff being involved in poisoning the vaccine, let alone Nathan or Fiona. Given the alternatives, she still hopes Max is responsible, but she left his office far less convinced of his guilt than when she arrived. “It’s probably worth tracking down the e-prescription records on those nurses in question. As well as for Nathan and Fiona, huh?”

“I intend to. And as you pointed out, the perpetrator could be stealing pills from a loved one. So I’m going to look into close relatives as well.”

“Makes sense,” Lisa says, feeling even more dejected. “Max has a special-needs son. And Fiona mentioned a debilitated mother in a care home. All I know about Nathan’s family is that he has two teenage sons.”

“We’ll cast the net fairly wide.”

A silence falls over the car. Eileen is too professional to show it, but Lisa senses the agent shares in her disappointment over the setback with Max.

Eileen drops Lisa off at the Public Health building just after five p.m. Even more trucks and vans tattooed with media logos line the street out front, establishing how ravenous the press must be for details on the latest Neissovax reaction. Whether Max was involved in tipping the scales or not, the anti-vax movement continued to reap huge gains in the public opinion war from the continued fallout. Lisa shudders at the thought of how the public will respond to the news of the poisoned vaccine. A total FUBAR.

She can’t bear the thought of facing the media right now, not with some of her own staff under investigation, so instead she heads directly to her car and, on a whim, drives over to Bellevue, to her sister’s place.

Olivia answers the front door. She wraps Lisa’s midsection in a hug.

“Was the hospital sick of you?” Lisa asks when Olivia breaks off the embrace and then drags her inside by the hand.

“They said it was nothing, Tee,” Olivia says. “That Mommy overacted.”

“Overreacted,” Amber corrects with a laugh as she joins them in the living room.

“Show me your arm,” Lisa instructs.

Olivia slides up her sleeve to reveal that the patch of redness has faded, and the welt is almost unnoticeable.

“Better.” Lisa nods approvingly. “Is Daddy home?”

“Meetings,” Olivia says with an exaggerated attempt at an eye roll that makes Lisa chuckle.

Lisa grabs Amber’s arm. “Mommy and I are going to chat in the kitchen for a bit.”

“Can I watch my show, Mommy?” Olivia asks.

“You get thirty minutes on the iPad.” Amber checks her watch. “Starting… now.”

Olivia turns and races down corridor toward one of the bedrooms.

“Should I open a bottle?” Amber asks Lisa when they reach the kitchen, which smells of sautéed onions and unidentified herbs.

“Not for me, thanks.”

Amber wiggles four fingers in a beckoning gesture. “Tell me.”

Lisa notices a pot simmering on the front element. “How much time do you have?”

“Work- or home-related?”

“Both, I suppose,” Lisa says. “But the crisis at work is even more acute than the one at home.”

“Worse than it’s been the last few days?”

Lisa considers it for a moment. “Different.”

“How so?”

Lisa glances around out of instinct, and lowers her voice. “There’s nothing wrong with the actual vaccine.”

Amber frowns. “What about those life-threatening rashes? The news said there was a fourth one reported today.”

“Poison.”

“What?”

Lisa explains about the sabotaged vaccine.

“What a fucking nightmare.”

“You’re telling me. The worst part is, I have no idea who I can even trust anymore.”

Amber raises an eyebrow. “Nathan?” Even though Lisa has never told her sister much about the pharmaceutical-company executive, Lisa knows her sister intuits her attraction to him. “You think he could be involved?”

“Maybe,” Lisa says. “I can’t see him poisoning a vaccine. But the cover-up? Yeah, sure, I could see that.”

“Hey! It’s not your responsibility to figure this out.” Amber pats her wrist. “That’s why you brought in the FBI.”

“It is my job to control this meningitis outbreak. And we’re going to need Neissovax to do it. But we can’t use the vaccine until we find out who’s contaminating it and how.”

“Crap, that’s a real conundrum.”

“Even if and when we do ensure the vaccine supply is pure, how will we ever win back the public’s trust?”

“One step at a time.” Amber flashes a cheeky grin. “Besides, you’re relentless. You’ll wear them down. Just like you did me.”

Lisa snorts a small laugh. “Amber…”

“Yeah?”

“Dad wasn’t right, after all. This vaccine would’ve been totally safe if someone hadn’t tried to sabotage it.”

“I know.” Amber clears her throat. “I’m sorry, Lisa.”

“For?”

“Doubting you. It’s just that when those kids got sick after the vaccine and then Liv—”

“Don’t even.” Lisa cuts her sister off by wrapping her in a hug. “I began to doubt myself. You had every right to.”

Amber clings tightly to her for a moment. “Stay for dinner?” she asks as she slips out of Lisa’s arms. “I made Olivia’s favorite, lentil stew.”

“Smells great, but I better go deal with the home front. Whichever general said it first got it right. Never fight a two-front war.” She says a quick good-bye to Olivia and then heads