A Taste of Tragedy (17 page)

Nick was surprised to see Devyn sitting at her desk. They had both worked late into the night, or more accurately, early morning, with the drug bust, closeout briefing with the other agencies, and paperwork.

“You’re here early,” he stated.

“And you’re not. What gives?”

“We had a long night, or did you forget?”

“You know, I was a little grumpy having to participate in an interagency sting operation that hasn’t been my baby from the get-go. I prefer to be in charge, but it was fun. My mind has been so focused on the Risky Research case that it was a nice distraction. There’s nothing like tackling a slimy, drug-dealing creep to get your motor running.”

“Now I remember why you’re single. That statement would send most men packing, but I bet Sheriff Harris might just find that line of thought sexy. Maybe we can even bring him on board next time as a little romantic getaway for the two of you.”

Devyn scowled at him but didn’t retaliate.

Nick loved working with Devyn, but he’d never met a woman that got more excited about arresting someone than going on a true vacation. The thought of a vacation drew his mind to his and Morgan’s honeymoon in
Mexico
. He remembered every detail of the tiny two-piece she wore, of the luxurious bungalow on the beach they had shared, and all the time they’d spent enjoying being together, their jobs hundreds of miles away.

He absently reached out and adjusted the mariachi gnome, straightening it on his desk. When he looked up, Devyn was studying him. He shook the thoughts from his mind and cleared his throat.

“We’ve got squat on the Risky Research case, so we’d better get to work. I never had a chance yesterday to put out the info on Candace Rogers, aka Janice Green, so I’ll get that done today,” Nick said as he rifled through the stack in his inbox three times.

“Looking for something in particular?”

“I expected an overnight package to be waiting this morning.”

“When are you going to let me in on what’s going on? For days, you’ve been uncharacteristically distracted, you keep staring at your phone, and now you return from your daydreams looking for a package.”

Before Nick could answer, a young officer approached his desk.

“Morning, Nick. This came yesterday, but since you were out I thought I’d hold on to it and bring it up when you got in this morning. It is addressed only to you, and I thought it might be personal,” the young woman stated as she glared at Devyn.

Devyn grinned smugly in response. Several months ago, the officer had asked Devyn if she’d set her up with Nick. Devyn knew she’d probably laughed too hard and had declined to help in a less than polite manner. The woman left in tears. Since then, Devyn had become more of a pariah than ever with the female population in the building, but it hadn’t stopped them from throwing themselves shamelessly at Nick.

“Thank you,” Nick replied as he grabbed the small box from the officer’s hand and stared at the return address.

“There’s no name in the return address, but since the writing is so elegant, I thought it might be from someone you know.”

“Give me your knife,” he ordered Devyn.

Devyn handed him her pocketknife and gave the disappointed young woman a shrug and smirk. The woman took the hint and stormed off.

Nick slit the box open and held a small vial up to the light. Next, he took out three folded sheets of paper and quickly read through the short messages.

“Nick?” Devyn watched as the color drained from his face.

“You’re back in the Risky Research game. Get this sample analyzed and read these. I have to go talk to Conroy. I’m heading to Arizona. You can drive me to the airport,” Nick stated as he strode out of the room.

Devyn sat for a moment, stunned by Nick’s behavior. She picked up the papers and read through a brief cover note from “M” asking for analysis of the vial and three attached messages. Her eyes froze on the name Dexter Fowler.

How can this be?

She was torn between jumping for joy at getting a break in the case and complete confusion. A million questions swirled through her mind. Where did Nick get this stuff? Why hadn’t he told her about it? He was clearly expecting a package, but apparently surprised by the contents. And who was “M?”

Her first instinct was to chase after Nick and demand answers, but he was obviously shaken by the box’s contents, and he’d asked for her help. She suppressed her urge to go after him, picked up the vial, and headed for the lab.

“What are you doing here,
Sofia
?”
Preston
demanded as he walked into his office and saw her sitting in his over-sized leather chair behind his desk.

He knew exactly why she had come, but he wasn’t happy. He suspected J.R. would send someone, but not his special pet. The fact that J.R. felt the need to call upon her did not bode well for his future.

Sofia
smiled, stood, and extended her hand. “Candace Rogers, your new Healthy and Delicious Foods division plant manager.”

“I told J.R. I had everything under control,”
Preston
hissed through clenched teeth.

“Apparently he didn’t agree.”

At the meeting last week in
Miami
, J.R. was clearly concerned about the way he was handling the situation uncovered by Morgan Hunter. When
Preston
had learned about Stan’s attempt to get a private analysis of MFHG3, Coterie had taken care of everything, so he wasn’t surprised they were here now.
Preston
didn’t know the specifics of what happened to Stan or the analyst Stan sent the sample to, but both men were silenced.

Normally
Preston
was perfectly okay leaving the dirty work to someone else. He didn’t have the stomach for it, but it still was emasculating to have J.R. send a woman in to clean up his mess. When he talked to J.R. yesterday, he could tell that the boss’s confidence in him had slipped even further. Now, damage control was out of his hands.

“And what are you supposed to do?”

“Monitor the situation and trouble-shoot as necessary.”

Preston
rubbed his face with his hands, eyes closed, trying to massage away the headache he felt coming on. How could he have known that hiring Morgan would stir up such a mess? He thought the MFHG3 questions were behind him, but she had stumbled onto information left behind by Stan. This was all Stan’s fault, not Morgan’s, but he feared she would have to pay the ultimate price for her accidental discovery.

If the truth about MFHG3 got out, it would destroy the company he had built, and if the company could be tied to Coterie, it might bring the whole consortium down. That’s what really worried
Preston
. He knew J.R. would stop at nothing to keep his group functioning, even if that meant eliminating a member.

“I suppose there is no point arguing with J.R.’s newest plaything.”

Sofia
had to suppress the urge to demonstrate her most deadly martial arts moves on the man. Unfortunately, she could understand how he had drawn that conclusion, and it was partially her fault. She could have done a better job keeping her distance from J.R., but she had been flattered by his attention.

In a moment of weakness, she had broken her number one rule to never mix business with pleasure. She was drawn in by his romantic gestures, and he was the first man confident enough to try to get close to her. She enjoyed the pursuit, but when they parted and she returned to her daily life, she always doubted his feelings. Men in his position seldom knew how to truly love one woman.

“No, you would be wasting your breath,” she replied, shooting him her most intimidating glare.

“So, what do I do?”

“First, destroy your altered sweetener and return to using the product as it was originally developed and submitted to the Feds for GRAS status.”

“But that will cut the slim profit margin by at least forty percent. Do you know how difficult and expensive it is to get hoodia and monk fruit in sufficient quantities to produce enough MFHG3 for our use?
The only place hoodia grows naturally is the Kalahari Desert in
South Africa
. Monk
fruit has only recently moved from being grown by small family orchards on steep forested mountain slopes to a more organized grower network.
”

“We don’t care how difficult or costly it is. If any law enforcement or regulatory agency tries to obtain a sample, it must be authentic.”

“I’ll do it, but profits will be decimated and the stock will plummet. In fact, I’ll be losing money on the products we produce for other companies that are being sold under their labels.”

Sofia
gave him a measured stare. “Is there any merit to the dangers claimed in those e-mails?”

“As far as any carcinogenic effect, Dr. Chen, GCF’s lead scientist and head of Research and Development, said the quantities a person would have to ingest would need to be substantial and maintained for an extended period of time. Most people go on and off diets regularly, and change health kicks frequently enough, that he felt any potential risk was minimal. As far as being addictive and not curbing the appetite as claimed, so what’s the harm? In fact, from a business stand point, it’s a bonus.”

“The harm, you idiot, is that if the Feds, the media, or consumers find out about your little synthetic substitute for the natural ingredients, your company will collapse. You’ll drown in lawsuits and might even face criminal charges. The worst part, though, is the failed attempts to conceal the problem have only exacerbated the situation and may expose links to Coterie. It’s non-negotiable. Ditch the synthetic product, have only the original all-natural variety in this building, and install me as the plant manager immediately.”

She sat back down, this time in the visitor’s chair, and listened as
Preston
called the head of Research and Development.

“I’m temporarily transferring Wiley Hartman to you. He will be consulting on the new entrees and desserts proposed by Ms. Hunter and the marketing team. We’ll tell him that since there’s a bit of a rush to develop the new line and have it up and running before the next holiday season, we need him to be involved early to make sure the items will be doable from a production standpoint. He doesn’t need to be involved or informed of any other products being worked on or in use. Also, cleanse this facility of all the existing modified MFHG3 and return to using only the original recipe until further notice. Do you understand?”

Preston glared at
Sofia
as he listened to the head scientist’s response.

“Yes, I know the raw products are difficult to obtain and expensive. Do your best. We’ll reduce production of the dessert items containing significant amounts of MFHG3 for the time being so we won’t have to use as much.”

He disconnected the call and punched in another number.

“Wiley, I’m sure Ms. Hunter told you the new holiday inspired entrée and dessert line has been approved. Even though the holidays are quite a few months away, we need to put a rush on development to make sure we don’t need any equipment modifications and we’re ready to go into production on time. I’m temporarily reassigning you to consult with R & D. I need you to report in with them immediately.”

Preston
listened politely for a few minutes and then cut Wiley off. “I’ll inform Ms. Hunter, and I’ve brought in someone to cover for you while you’re assisting with this important new development. You run such a tight ship here, I’m sure Ms. Rogers will have no problem covering for you for a few days or a week at the most, depending on the progress you and the R & D folks make on nailing down the new products. I’ll bring Ms. Rogers down in a few minutes so you can give her a briefing.”

He hung up the phone.
Preston
leaned back in his chair and studied the woman sitting across from him. She was unreadable. The silence made him uncomfortable, so he said the first thing that popped into his mind. “Happy?”

“Not in the slightest. I’d much rather be back in D.C., running my own company, than cleaning up the mess of an incompetent man. But it is what it is. Let’s go transition with Wiley.”

“It shouldn’t have come to this. I expected more out of one of your former employees. I thought you had trained him better. Aaron got sloppy and made a mistake, so I suppose, by association, this is partially your fault,” Preston stated.

“He works for you now, and apparently he is no longer getting the guidance he needs. Clearly, you don’t like to get your hands dirty, but that still gives you no excuse to disengage when the stakes are so high. The buck ultimately stops with you on this one. Do not attempt to throw any blame my way or you will regret it.”

The ice in
Sofia
’s voice made
Preston
stumble. The tone in her delivery felt like a punch to the gut, and he had no doubt she wouldn’t hesitate to back up her threat. He quickly gathered his composure and escorted his reluctant babysitter out of his office.