Jonah did not look his usual, kempt self. He wore a t-shirt, jeans, and the butt of a cigarette dangled from his lips. “When did you start smoking?” Henry asked, surprised that of all questions, he would ask that one. “Was it because you got laid off?”
Jonah cracked a smile. “I always did like you Henry,” he mumbled. “Come with me. We have some serious problems to resolve.”
Henry hesitated. “Jonathan told me to stay here,” he said. “I could lose my job if I don’t listen to him.”
Jonah stared at Henry with eyes he’d not seen before. “This goes beyond your job Henry,” Jonah explained. “I don’t know what Jonathan has told you, but people are dead.”
“I heard about that,” Henry said, protesting. “It was one of the clones! Jonathan moved me here to keep me safe.”
Jonah continued to stare with those strange eyes in silence for several moments. He then reached into his back pocket and pulled something out. It was a badge that read, FBI. “Henry,” Jonah commanded. “Get in the car.”
Henry did as he was told. It was a black charger. Henry recognized it as one of the unmarked police cars that often sat in speed traps. Jonah put out the cigarette before getting into the car, then sat down and began to drive.
“When did you get a job with the FBI?” Henry asked.
“About twelve years ago,” Jonah answered. He held up his hand to stop Henry’s line of questioning. “Let me explain. Henry, I’ve been working undercover for the past year at Privex. We’ve known for some time that they were up to something, and what you just told me was the final piece of the puzzle.”
Henry tried to think about what he’d said, then realized he’d mentioned the clones. “Oh no!” he moaned. “Now I know I’m going to lose my job.”
“That’s going to happen regardless,” Jonah observed tersely. Privex has broken enough laws that there is no way that company can hope to stay together. Henry you recall about six months ago the patents for Privex’s main money-makers ended?”
“Sure,” Henry answered soberly. He could not imagine having to find another job.
Jonah continued. “They have a few things in the pipeline, but nothing that’ll get approved by the FDA for another few years. Even if they do get approved, they won’t be the big money that the company enjoyed in the past. A lot of analysts had given them up for dead. The stock price has been devalued three times in the last quarter alone. That’s a pretty bad sign of a company going under. They needed something new, but even a magical breakthrough drug would require FDA approval, and there was no guarantee that the company would be able to remain liquid long enough for that happen. You follow me so far?”
Henry nodded, and this time he actually did. Numbers were the one thing he did understand.
Jonah continued. “So imagine our surprise when suddenly the company finds the money to build a whole new top secret research facility adjoining the existing building. Something like that does not come cheap, and they were not financing it through sale of stock, because the stock didn’t have the necessary value. Private investment is not unheard of, but the names disclosed were from agencies with known ties to triads and Columbian cartels. These groups have had some bitter rivalries in the past, so imagine our surprise that both were willing to put money into a failing drug company. We assumed that Privex was being hired to make the next marijuana or heroin. They sent me into accounting to try and figure out from the expenses what kind of drug they were working on, but the expenditures didn’t make sense. They were building dorms and buying full body CAT scan machines, as well as DNA sequencers. This is not the kind of stuff you use to develop a better meth.”
The car pulled onto the highway and Henry felt himself sink into the chair as Jonah accelerated. He did not drive fast and hard like Jonathan, but certainly had no problem going quickly. He flipped a switch and the flashing lights came on, but no siren. Jonah picked up a radio broadcaster and made an announcement. “This is Jonah,” he stated. “I have the suspect in custody, and we’re enroute back to the crime scene.”
“What?” Henry asked. “But, Jonah, you must know I didn’t do this thing.”
“I do,” Jonah replied. “And if you want to get out of this without much or any jail time, you’d better do exactly as I say.”
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