Before I Wake

by Dee Henderson

  He changed the subject before Franklin could ask. “I know you’re just getting started looking over the notebooks found at the cabin. Can you tell me anything at this point about the designer drug they were trying to create?”

  “Nothing here tells us much about the new drug. It does tell me this cook was the one who designed the rave-party drug that killed the twelve kids. But we don’t have the current notebook he’s using, and that leaves a big gap.”

  “Anything you can tell me based on the precursor chemicals that were out in the cabin?”

  “That gets a bit more interesting. There was a legal prescription drug used to treat Parkinson’s disease found in bulk powder, like prescription tablets had been crushed. It’s the same drug that causes a very small percentage of its patients to become gambling addicts overnight. It gives a very nice high. I think that is a key component to this new drug. We found prescription sedatives, a smaller amount, but also in a crushed powder form. And one thing very strange.” Franklin pulled out the lab report in his in-box.

  “He’s using something called Vytribit, a man-made synthetic drug taken straight out of the rattlesnake venom family. It is used in the drug-manufacturing world like salt is used to preserve meat. You see it in the more sophisticated meth production batches out east. He probably picked up the technique there and was trying to cross-promote it here. It turns out, even in low doses, to have paralyzing properties to it when improperly heated. I doubt he intended that side effect.”

  “He’s figuring this formulation out fast if he’s down to tweaking those factors.”

  Franklin nodded. “He has a working designer-drug recipe that is close to being perfected, and if Rae is right about the chocolate, a very difficult delivery system to beat. If you can’t find this guy—Nathan, he can open a Web-based chocolate store and ship product around the country and look totally legit.”

  Nathan rubbed his face. “Franklin, the drug could be mailing now for all we know. At best we may have found the cabin after he was finishing his last test batch. The kid who died—he was the extra hands helping with a larger production batch. The first time something like this expands in higher quantities and volumes is always the most dangerous. Something went wrong and the kid got a face full of the product without realizing it.”

  “I don’t have toxicology yet, but I’m hoping the boy died of enough of the drug, was in a deep freeze of snow for the night, that his body is going to still have measurable quantities available. I’m going to know that in about twenty-four hours.” Franklin smiled and nodded. “About the time they are working on properly dealing with that arm.”

  Nathan laughed and pushed himself to his feet. “That’s the problem with too small of a town—all the doctors have to compare notes. Do you want to be there when they patch this up properly?”

  “I was hoping you would ask. I specialized in gunshot wounds. And dead people are not the only people I know how to doctor.”

  “I want an X-ray and a new bandage and to be sent home to recuperate for a week.”

  “What you want in life is rarely what you get.”

  “True. I’ll see you tomorrow, if I don’t talk to you again before then.”

  Nathan headed out. Home would have to be soon, but the office was his next stop. He still hadn’t thanked his guys for the heroic job they had done at the tile plant today. He planned to shake hands with every man on the force before the night was over.

  “Will, tell me we’ve got some word from the APB on Isaac Keif.”

  “Not even a good false sighting. I fed his photo to reporters a few minutes ago, and let one even tape a brief clip of us loading money bundles into the armored car the bank sent over. We’re going to literally put the armored car into evidence, I figure it’s safer than trying to keep the cash loose in the evidence room. The reporters will find Isaac Keif for us or at least start the tips rolling in for where he might have gone.”

  “How high a reward do you want to put out?” Nathan asked him.

  “I was thinking two hundred thousand had a nice sound to it.”

  “Good. Do it.” He thought a second moment and called Will back. “Who do you have answering the phones?”

  Will laughed. “Don’t worry about it. The state crime stoppers program said they would handle it for us and feed us the information. Sillman said he’s bored enough he can do the first review of what looks interesting.”

  “Good. I’ll be back at the office for a few minutes if you need me. Then Bruce and I are going out to the cabin to check in on the HazMat team’s progress.”

  “I’ll find you if anything breaks here,” Will promised.

  44

  It felt like his last meal. Nathan took a seat at the hospital cafeteria table. Rae reached across to sample one of his fries.

  “These are good.” Rae looked at Bruce. “You mentioned they had cheese sauce available for nachos? Think they’ll sell it for fries?”

  “You might get lucky.”

  Rae stuffed dollar bills in her pocket. “I’m going to go check. I’m starved.”

  Nathan watched her leave. “She’s looking better.”

  “You’re looking worse.”

  “They were pushing around the arm to get the X-rays they wanted. Then they frowned at the pictures and said come back in an hour.”

  “Sounds about right.” Bruce pushed aside his tray and shifted the chair so he could use the adjoining chair as a footrest. “We thought we would come keep you company after they get done with you, commiserate with the misery or something.”

  “What are the odds they are going to let me go home tonight?”

  “Slim to none.”

  “Yeah. That’s what I figured.” Nathan dumped catsup in an open corner of his plate. The thought was depressing. His family was threatening to visit en masse too.

  “They let you eat?”

  “They said I could eat. They apparently plan locals for what they are doing this afternoon. I can’t say that idea went over real well.”

  Rae returned with a second tray to stack on the one she already had. A basket of fries smothered in cheese sauce threatened to slide over. She gingerly pulled one out.

  “So I gather you two have been checking in around town this morning?” Nathan asked, working on where to pick up his sandwich.

  “Just listening to gossip, talking with Adam at the union hall, comparing a few notes with your grandfather on cars. He saw mine this morning.”

  Nathan smiled. “I’ll hear from Henry about your car soon, I’m sure. Any interesting rumors going around?”

  “I think most people are just sharing news back and forth, kind of shocked with everything. No one seems to have realized what Isaac was doing. Did you have any better luck?”

  “Sillman and Will ran me down what has been found at the tile plant, at Isaac’s place, and out at the cabin, but it’s precious little that we didn’t know twenty-four hours ago. That’s a bad sign. Finding these guys is growing cold on us fast.”

  “We know the guy that committed suicide in my car was in the transportation side of things for that millennium rave party. Based on the notebooks found at the cabin, this cook was also involved before. Isaac—his enterprise had enough depth to it he could have been involved back then too. That leaves what, the second shooter? The financial backer probably behind this?”

  “The chemicals found in that cabin were not cheap. And while Isaac was holding a bunch of cash, if some of that was being diverted to this effort, the decision was likely being done by someone higher up the food chain than Isaac. He was moving cans around a tile plant part of the day, pouring chocolates on weekends for his dad, acting as a delivery person for cash—that says he was still a utility player with a novel delivery system idea for the new drug, but still not the guy ultimately running this show.”

  Rae pulled another cheese fry from the basket. “Finding Isaac is your best lead to this drug designer. It’s going to take a while to get at him via the financial backer
. Isaac has worked with him and will more easily give up a name.”

  Nathan nodded. “We know this cook exists, but that’s about it. We’ve got his handwriting in the notebooks, but the prints in the cabin aren’t turning up anything useful about him. And he’s the one guy we have to find. We don’t find Isaac—well, we already have all his money and the tile plant is no longer a drug transit point. Isaac can’t do much more damage. But this cook—he’s either got that last notebook with him or enough information in his head to recreate it where he is at.”

  “Has anyone else in town split like Isaac did? Just up and left their life?” Bruce asked.

  “Not that I’ve been able to find, and by this point I think I’d be hearing about it.”

  “Isaac didn’t plan to run,” Rae pointed out. “He may have some things planned, but I doubt he planned to just be gone for good at a drop of the hat. Have you tapped his father’s phones?”

  “Yes. The man practically pushed the idea himself not more than two minutes into our initial conversation.” Nathan shook his head at the memory. “I swear Isaac was being disinherited in six different languages. He told me to burn his son’s things from the apartment, that he didn’t want them back. He even insisted I have his mail checked before he saw it. He swears he knew nothing and will do whatever it takes to prove it to us. I lean toward believing him, but we’ll be doing a lot of checking.”

  “It’s going to hurt his business.”

  Nathan looked over at Rae at that comment. “Are you kidding? There were more townsfolk lined up to buy chocolates and talk with him today than I have ever seen in his store before. He’s the good parent with a really bad son; everyone has to rally now, both to support him and gossip about who caused Isaac to go bad.”

  “Really?” She shook her head. “It’s going to take me a while to get used to a small town.”

  “It will start to make sense eventually. You see Peggy’s parents tomorrow?”

  She nodded. “I’m going by Peggy’s place first to return items I took from her home office, and then I’m going to her parents’ home to give them my report. I wish I had more definite news to tell them.”

  “This will keep unfolding for a while. But Peggy was the trigger that uncovered all this. That has to mean something. And confirming Peggy was murdered—I’d say you went far beyond where this case initially looked like it could go.”

  “Sheriff.”

  Nathan turned in his chair. The nurse coming toward him was not someone he wanted to see.

  “The doctors are ready for you.”

  “Already?” Nathan pushed back his chair and got to his feet.

  “I’ll take care of your tray,” Rae offered as he reached for it.

  “Thanks.” He straightened his sling. “Franklin was coming over too. This is going to be fun.”

  “Smile, Nathan. And just remember it will be over in a few hours.”

  “Make sure I get something better than Jell-O with Cool Whip or that vanilla pudding tonight.”

  She laughed. “Promise.”

  He shared a final smile. He turned and followed the nurse. He felt like he was walking into his own worst nightmare. At least when he got shot, he hadn’t known it was coming.

  45

  “Thank you, Mrs. Worth.” Rae accepted the china cup offered her and settled gingerly into the seat the lady indicated, the delicacy of the chair suggesting it was old, French, and not made for this kind of casual use.

  “I appreciate you coming to visit me here, Miss Gabriella. After watching the violent happenings in Justice the last few days on television, I wasn’t up to visiting the town again and seeing it up close.”

  “I only wish I had been able to keep our originally scheduled appointment or to bring better news with me when I came.” Rae had hoped to bring complete news and a wrapped-up case in her final report, but that wasn’t possible. Hopefully what she had was enough to set their minds to rest about their daughter and begin to help Mrs. Worth find the closure she had sought.

  Mr. Worth took a seat in a more substantial chair across from them. “Our daughter was working on a real story.”

  “A very substantial one. Peggy’s arrival in Justice, her questions, have led to the breaking up of a very large-scale drug enterprise. I’m so very sorry she isn’t here to be able to see the results of her work.”

  “I believe she knows.”

  Rae opened her portfolio and retrieved two copies of her final report. She handed Lucy and Richard each a copy. “The reporter I believe you have met, Gage Collier, is working on completing the story Peggy was writing as a tribute to her. His story in a week or so will be better able to give you a much fuller picture of what occurred. Too much of the matter is still fluid to have answers to some of the questions yet. As you have no doubt seen on the news, every day has brought new significant developments.”

  Richard smiled. “I would say you have more than successfully handled our case. You’ve answered the core questions we asked. Our daughter was murdered, and we know the story she was working on. And to get those answers, you nearly became a victim too. That effort has been far beyond anything we could have hoped for.”

  Mrs. Worth nodded. “The coroner called this morning to personally apologize for his initial findings, and he’s asked for and received permission to exhume Peggy’s body if it’s discovered there is a way to test for this new designer drug. We might never be able to get a court conviction if all they can prove is the man had Peggy’s BlackBerry, but even so, we’ll now know the truth. That is what I most wanted and needed. To know the truth.”

  “I’m glad it has come to this point where much is known.”

  Rae nodded to her report. “Regarding the men involved: all the police have right now is a strong lead for the identity of one of the men. A man named Isaac Keif. You’ll have seen the reward being offered and his photo on television.”

  “We have.”

  “It’s believed there are one or two others directly involved. Arresting Isaac Keif is the most direct way to learn who those people are. The investigation is proceeding, but it is slower now that the people they seek appear to have dispersed and left the Justice area.”

  “I’m certain the reward will eventually lead to finding Isaac Keif,” Mr. Worth agreed. “Tell us more about the story, Miss Gabriella. Tell us about what Peggy was so passionate about during the last days of her life.”

  “The lead that took her to Justice involved a school notebook. It belonged to Joe Prescott’s grandson and was recovered from the boy’s belongings after his death. The young man was one of twelve who died at a millennium rave party from a bad designer drug. Peggy thought the notebook could give her a lead on the man who designed the drug. Having now seen that notebook, she was on the right track.

  “Isaac Keif, or one of the other men who were involved in this, gave your daughter a lethal dose of the drug, either intending to kill her or with the expectation she’d grow ill enough to leave town. She probably received it within a piece of chocolate among a batch that was simply pure chocolate. I believe that same method was used to test the drug on a Karen Reese, another lady who died in a way similar to your daughter, as well as how they were able to drug me without my being aware of the danger.”

  “Are there plans to make some kind of public warning about that possibility?” Richard asked.

  “I’m sorry; I wish I could say I knew what kind of final decision will be made by law enforcement as this unfolds. It is possible, by breaking up the group now, that it has eliminated the chances this drug will ever reach the public in a large-scale way. The actions now, triggered by Peggy’s questions, may have delayed this threat from ever reaching the public.”

  “I don’t suppose bulletins warning death by chocolate would be viewed kindly by the confectioners’ industry,” Lucy remarked.

  Rae smiled. “That is why there are good reporters like your daughter pursuing stories like this, to keep the public fully informed. Gage Collier will
do that now with his tribute to your daughter.”

  Rae opened her purse and retrieved the set of keys to Peggy’s home. She offered them to Lucy. “I have returned the files I had removed from your daughter’s home office and the items you were able to share with me—her address book, her phone—I left on the desk in her office. The police have both her BlackBerry and the last notebook we recovered. They’ll be returned with time.”

  Mrs. Worth nodded. She gripped the key ring. “Do you think it awful when I say I’m glad this is over?”

  Rae offered a sympathetic smile in reply. “It’s closure, Mrs. Worth. After a loss of this magnitude, it’s a very necessary and good thing to find.”

  She rose to her feet and shook hands with Mr. Worth, then with his wife. “You have my number. Please don’t hesitate to call if I can answer any further questions you have.”

  “Thank you. For everything.”

  Rae nodded her good-byes. “I’ll let myself out.”

  * * *

  “How did it go with Peggy’s parents?” Bruce asked.

  Rae looked up from the files on her desk she was sorting and packing away. Her partner was leaning against the doorway and looked remarkably nice in a suit and tie and polished boots.

  “It went well. They hoped for more answers as to who had done this I think, but they seemed pleased to at least now know what happened to their daughter.” She added a square label marked Gabriella Worth and the date to the side of the white banker box. “You look particularly dressed up. Have a meeting?”

  “Just one with you.”

  She looked over.

  “You got dressed up for your meeting; I figured we would do lunch somewhere a step above cheeseburgers and fries and paper napkins.”

  She smiled. “I’d like that.”

  Bruce settled into the chair across from her desk. He smiled and gestured to the box she was packing. “As a first case, you have to admit, it beats a lost Pekinese. You’re a seasoned private investigator now.”