Conspiracy (Alex and Cassidy Book 4)

by Nancy Ann Healy

  Rose chuckled at Helen’s observation. There was no denying the fact that Alex Toles possessed a unique charm. Rose had noted that same palpable energy radiating from Jonathan Krause. Even Alex’s younger brother Nick possessed it, albeit in a more unassuming manner. She had also witnessed similar qualities in the woman before her. Helen was more reserved than either of her children, or her husband. Loving someone with such an immense personality often meant taking a softer approach, learning to linger a bit in the background. Few would have believed that about either woman now, Rose was sure of that. But, Rose had played that role for many years with Cassidy’s father. She easily related to what Helen was saying.

  “Jim was the same way,” Rose fell into a memory.

  Helen watched as Rose began to lose herself in her private thoughts. They had discussed their marriages and their children many times. Neither woman had a tendency to replay the most emotional moments, and neither had spent much time recounting the early years of her marriage. Conversation naturally wound itself to their children and grandchildren, and the pair would muse over what their husbands would have thought of all of it. Helen reached across and took Rose’s hand. “I’ll bet he was quite handsome.”

  “He was,” Rose said. “Everyone says Cassie looks like me, but the eyes, those are all Jim’s, so is her disposition.”

  “Oh, I don’t know, I see an awful lot of you in her,” Helen said.

  “Her sense of humor,” Rose agreed with a smile. “Somewhere along the way Cassie became more than just my daughter. She became my best friend,” Rose said. “But, believe me, she is very much like her father. Calm. Cassie possesses an eerie calm about her even when she is furious. Jim was the same. I could see the storm brewing in his eyes, but he seldom raised his voice. He would grit his teeth and bite his bottom lip,” she recalled. “That’s what he always did when Cassie tested his patience,” Rose laughed. “And, she did, although she doesn’t remember that,” she said.

  Rose got up from her seat and made her way to a desk that sat at the far side of the room. She opened up the bottom and retrieved an old scrapbook. “It’s funny, I’m not sure I’ve even shown this to Cassie,” she said. Rose sat down beside Helen and opened the book.

  Helen looked at the picture on the first page. She’d seen a wedding photo of Rose and Jim McCollum, and a handful of the family that Cassidy kept in frames, but that was the extent of her familiarity with the man. “My God, Rose, I thought Mackenzie looked like Cassidy.”

  Rose smiled. “She does. The eyes, I told you,” she said. Rose turned another page and Helen smiled a bit more broadly, noting the mistiness of Rose’s eyes. “He thought she hung the moon,” Rose said. “No matter what else happened, the moment Cassie walked into the room, he lit up.”

  Helen sensed a change in Rose’s mood and looked at her to continue. Rose turned another page and looked at the pictures while Helen kept watch on her. “I don’t really know what happened,” Rose said. “Jim was never a drinker, never smoked. He was a health nut before they invented health nuts,” Rose joked. “He just was so tight lipped. When the drinking started…”

  Helen sighed. She looked down at the page in the album that Rose had turned to and felt her heart plummet in her chest. She could hear Rose speaking, but suddenly none of the words were registering. Helen’s hand lifted to cover her mouth and she closed her eyes.

  “Helen?” Rose reached over and took hold of Helen’s hand. “Are you all right?”

  Helen opened her eyes and looked at Rose fearfully. She shook her head in disbelief and looked back at the album. “Rose,” she began cautiously.

  “What is it?” Rose’s concern began to swell.

  Helen’s hand dropped and traced a picture in the book. “What did Jim do?” she asked.

  Rose was puzzled. “For work?” she asked. Helen nodded. “He was a biological and chemical engineer, why?”

  Helen nodded again. She took a breath and exhaled it steadily. “Do you know the men in this photo?” she asked.

  Rose shook her head again. She was beginning to feel a sickening sense of foreboding. “Helen? What is it?”

  Helen tried to find the right words. “Who did he work for?” she asked quietly.

  Seeing the pallid color of Helen’s cheeks startled Rose. She began to worry about her best friend’s heart. “Helen? Do you…”

  “Rose,” Helen said with the shake of her head. She pointed to the picture. “That man next to Jim? That’s Edmond.”

  “Edmond?”

  “Callier, Rose. That’s Edmond Callier.”

  “Eleana’s father?” Rose asked. “That’s strange. I mean…”

  “Rose,” Helen tried to steady her nerves. “Edmond is not just Eleana’s father. He’s Alexis’s godfather.”

  Rose looked up from the album and met Helen’s startled eyes. “I don’t understand,” Rose said nervously

  “Neither do I,” Helen said. “That symbol on his jacket,” Helen pointed to the photo. The photo was of Cassidy’s father, Edmond Callier and another man that Helen did not recognize. Both Jim McCollum and the unidentified man were wearing jackets with an insignia of some kind on the right breast. “Right there,” Helen pointed.

  “Yes? I don’t really recall that,” Rose said. “Strange, I don’t even remember that jacket.”

  “I do,” Helen said. Rose looked at Helen again curiously. “Nicolaus had one. I’d never seen it before. I found it in an old trunk in the attic a few months back.”

  “I don’t….”

  “Rose,” Helen said with a deep breath. “How much do you know about Alexis’s work?” Helen asked. Rose shook her head. Helen nodded. “I think it’s time we had a talk,” she said. She saw Rose’s expression darken and painted on a comforting smile.

  “What is going on?” Rose asked.

  “I don’t know,” Helen said honestly. “I’m beginning to wonder that myself.”

  ***

  Cassidy yawned and stretched. It had been an incredibly long day. Finally, Mackenzie was asleep. Cassidy reached over for her phone to call Alex and noticed the missed call. She sighed.

  Hi. It’s just me.

  Cassidy smiled at the sound of Alex’s voice.

  You’re probably sitting sipping wine with the grandmas.

  “No, I’m sipping ginger ale while our daughter sips Tylenol and pink goo.”

  Jane asked for you, not like you don’t talk to her all the time, but I promised I would let you know.

  “Mm-hm. What is going on with you, Alex?” Cassidy wondered. Alex’s voice sounded strained, almost sad.

  I had to make a quick trip. Anyway, it just kind of got me remembering some things.

  “What things?” Cassidy asked aloud as she continued to listen to Alex’s message.

  I guess, I just miss you. I wish I were with you guys. If all goes well here, I’ll be back in Natick tomorrow. I miss you, Cass. Kiss Kenzie for me, and tell Dylan I will make this up to him. I promise. I’ll call you as soon as I can. Love you.

  Cassidy disconnected the message and looked at her phone. For the first time since watching her mother and Helen pull away with Dylan in her car, she saw a bright spot in her changed plans. She hated that Mackenzie was so miserable, and she was disappointed about missing the ski trip with Dylan. Cassidy realized there might have been a bigger hand at work. She could detect the despondent tone of Alex’s voice. Perhaps if Alex knew that Cassidy and Mackenzie would be waiting for her in her childhood home, she might feel a sense of relief and happiness. Cassidy placed the phone back to her ear.

  “I just heard your message. Sorry, that I missed your call. Sounds like you are on the run again. I wish you were with us too. I have some bad news and some good news. Ready? The bad news is that our daughter has a nasty ear infection. The good news is that I am at the house in Natick right now with her. No skiing for Kenzie and me. So, we will be waiting here for you when you get in. If you are really nice and stop and pick up some white wine, I might even
make you tacos. I’ll see you tomorrow. I miss you too, Alex. Be safe. I love you.”

  Cassidy finished her message and placed the phone beside the bed. She pulled the covers over her and let out a contented, albeit exhausted sigh. “Well, maybe we will get a few hours alone if Kenzie starts feeling better,” Cassidy mused. She closed her eyes and began conjuring images and possibilities for ways to welcome Alex home. “Might turn out to be just what the doctor ordered after all.”

  ***

  Krause pounded his fist against the metal door in frustration. He was certain that this was the final access point. The access point to what, he did not know. He did know that he needed to get the door open before he and Eleana were caught in a flood of toxic soup. He studied the door again and shook his head. There was no obvious place for a passcode. “Fuck,” he groaned.

  Eleana’s eyes scanned the door methodically. She stopped and zeroed in on a small silver panel at the bottom of the door. “Interesting.”

  “What is it?” Krause asked.

  Eleana squatted down and looked at the silver rectangle closely. “It’s worn off,” Eleana said. She stood and let her eyes track across the door again. She allowed them to roam past the blue steel and down the wall. Her feet carried her along.

  “Eleana, stop.”

  Eleana offered Krause a triumphant smile. “Any ideas what the passcode might be?” she asked. Krause thought for a moment. Eleana shrugged and reached for the panel.

  “Eleana, it could have a trigger,” Krause warned as he grabbed her hand.

  “Maybe. Do you have any ideas?” she challenged him. Krause remained silent. “Okay, then we will try mine. If I am wrong and we end up the victims of some booby trap, so be it. I’m not waiting around for that decaying sludge to drown us. So, either you have a crowbar in that jacket somewhere, or we are trying it my way.”

  Krause smiled in spite of the situation. He had no argument to mount. Eleana reached out and typed several letters in. She held her breath—nothing. “Damnit!” she yelled.

  “It’s all right, Eleana,” Krause began just as a loud pop filled the air.

  “We’re dead,” she commented, believing the roll of toxic waste was headed their way

  Krause shook his head and pointed to the door. “Not today,” he told her. Eleana looked past Krause and breathed an audible sigh of relief at the sight of the door ajar. “Just out of curiosity,” he asked her as they began to make their way through the narrow passageway. “What did you type?”

  Eleana shrugged. “Lynx. Just a shot in the dark,” she admitted.

  “That’s what they call sharpshooting,” he complimented her. “Come on.”

  ***

  “Bob,” Alex said as she extended her hand.

  “Alex, thanks for making the trip on such short notice,” Robert Gray replied.

  Alex slowed her stride to walk beside him as he led her into a small building toward the back of the Rand Industries complex. “I have to admit, I am curious,” she told him.

  “I’m sure. Lots of curious things happening these days, I would say,” he offered cryptically.

  “So, I’ve heard.”

  Gray slid his identification card into a door panel and invited Alex through. “This way,” he said.

  “I can’t imagine your boss would be very pleased to learn who you are entertaining,” Alex said.

  “Depends on which boss you are referring to,” Gray countered.

  “Touché.”

  Gray led Alex down a winding corridor. She watched him cautiously, noting the confidence in his gait.

  “Not concerned who might see us?” Alex asked.

  “Let’s just say that I have bigger concerns right now. Better that we are out in the open. There are a million reasons I could justify this meeting. I’m not sure that I could find a way to justify avoiding it,” Gray told her. He pressed his thumb to a panel on the wall and waited for a door to slide open. “Follow me,” he instructed Alex.

  Alex followed him through the door into what appeared to be an observation room of some kind. She was familiar with the layout intimately, the window that undoubtedly appeared as a mirror on the other side, the long table that sat in front of it, and the intercom at its center. At one time, Alex would have found the reality curious—an observation room within the halls of a pharmaceutical company. The last year, while much of what she encountered had piqued her curiosity, had also banished any element of surprise. Industrial espionage was at the center of the entire spy game. Corporations were the soft arm of the intelligence complex. At times, Alex had learned, corporations also employed the complex’s strong arm. She groaned inwardly. No matter how she attempted to see the bigger picture, it seemed to Alex that the reasoning behind everything in her world was money. Money equaled power. There was no denying it for Alex. She watched as Gray dimmed the lights in the room and the world beyond the two-way mirror revealed itself.

  Alex’s gaze narrowed. She was not certain what she was attempting to bring into focus. Drug trials were not uncommon. Her trained eyes scanned the room beyond. Three hospital beds sat approximately five feet from one another. IV racks stood beside each bed. Monitors adorned the walls behind each bed. She looked upward and noted the lights suspended from the ceiling. What was this, an operating theater? Why on earth would there be more than one bed present? Why, Alex wondered would Rand Industries be performing any type of surgery?

  “Ask,” Gray suggested.

  “I’m not sure what the question should be,” Alex replied. She turned her attention to the man standing beside her. “So? What is this about?”

  “Alex, what do you know about psychotropic research?”

  “Enough,” Alex said. “It’s a primary research endeavor at MyoGen. Antidepressants are a big industry, Bob. I don’t have to tell you that.”

  “No, you don’t.”

  “So? That’s what this is? What about it? MyoGen has similar facilities for testing and observation. Why don’t you clarify things for me?” Alex challenged the man. Her patience was already wearing thin.

  “It’s a disguise, Alex.”

  “Come again?”

  “This,” Gray waved his hand. “It’s a disguise. The trials we are engaged in. When we test new chemical compounds on patients, they have only a cursory understanding of what we are administering.”

  Alex’s temple began to twitch. In the past year, Alex had presided over the merger of Carecom with several large pharmaceutical companies. She had command of the way in which business was conducted. She had challenged several of the executives that had been brought into Carecom on the ethical nature of their practices. Patients were not lied to, they were also not given a clear and full picture of what they agreed to. Preying on the weak made Alex nauseous and angry. She had shut down several projects at the last company Carecom took control of after reviewing the standard practices, and speaking with patients herself.

  One program sought to inhibit anxiety responses in children with varying Pervasive Development Disorders including autism, and children suffering from acute anxiety and depression disorders. Alex had taken a particular interest in the program, making a trip to the company’s research facility in North Carolina. She was astounded at the lack of transparency given to the parents of subjects who had submitted for trials. For weeks, Alex had reviewed forms, documents, and reports that concerned the program. It had consumed so much of her time that Krause had taken it upon himself to intervene. Alex had thrown a folder of her findings at her brother in anger. She had called an emergency staff meeting and moved to end the program completely. Money. She had been met with strong resistance. It always came down to money.

  Alex took a deep breath and released it slowly. “All right, Bob, you have my attention. What does this have to do with Rand and MyoGen?”

  “At one time the two were…”

  “I know the history,” Alex interrupted his thought. “Tell me what I don’t know. That’s why we’re here.”

  G
ray nodded and leaned against the long table. “For the last fifteen years, Alex, MyoGen and Rand have been competing for the front spot in psychotropic drug research.”

  “And?”

  “Where do you think that funding is coming from?” he asked her. “Do you know who the main investor in Rand Industries is? Where the money comes from for our research projects?”

  Alex folded her arms across her chest. “Aside from the obvious government grants?” she interjected.

  “Right. Aside from that.”

  “Enlighten me,” Alex said.

  “Advanced Strategic Applications,” he told her.

  “ASA is funding your research?”

  Gray nodded. “Not just ours, Alex—MyoGen’s too, at least, that was the case until recently.”

  Alex pressed on her temple with her thumb. She was beginning to see the pieces of an equation more clearly. She still wasn’t certain what it all added up to. For years, her father had funneled money through Carecom to ASA. That had abruptly ended shortly before his death. Alex had still failed to determine his reasons. Now, she wondered how the pieces fit together. Jane had been adamant that bringing MyoGen under Carecom’s control was essential to undermining The Collaborative and rooting out its core elements. Alex had suspected for a long time that neither Jane nor Edmond had been completely forthright with her. This visit solidified that belief. She found her thoughts drifted to Krause, wondering what he might find on his trip to Russia. More accurately, she wondered who he might find.

  “Why? What interest does ASA have in pharmaceuticals? Other than the obvious financial gains, what does a weapons company want with Rand or MyoGen? You trying to tell me that this has something to do with chemical or biological warfare?” she asked.

  Gray laughed. “That would be the simple explanation, wouldn’t it?” he asked. Alex did not share his humor. “Of course, they are interested in those applications, Alex. That’s an easy one. They don’t need us for that. The work we provide is more nuanced.”

  Alex felt a chill pass over her skin. The veiled meaning was becoming apparent. She hoped that she was wrong. She regarded Gray silently for a moment. “You provide guinea pigs.”