“He didn’t elaborate on Brady’s condition?”

“‘Heart’s gone wonky.’ That’s all Wilson could tell him.” He paused. “Did you hear the rest of it, Brynn?”

“Goliad and Timmy. Wilson and Rawlins. All after little ol’ me. I never wanted to be this popular.”

“The deputies are on the wrong track, but at least they’re doing their job. Everybody else is after the drug.” He resettled, turning toward her slightly. “Can I toss out one thought?”

“Will it be helpful?”

“It might crystalize your thinking.”

“Then, please.”

“Okay, say you deliver the drug to the Hunts. Humble yourself. Make nice. All that stuff you said. What happens after you give it to him?”

“His disease goes into remission, doesn’t recur, he’ll live a longer and healthier life.”

“But will you?”

“What?”

“Are you sure they’ll call the dogs off?”

“Once the GX-42 is in his system, what would they hold against me?”

“Betrayal. You would have given it to Violet if they hadn’t gone out of their way to prevent it. They don’t strike me as forgiving types, Brynn. And since your plan to give it to Violet was foiled, what’s to keep you from blowing the whistle on the whole thing?”

“I couldn’t do that without admitting my own culpability.”

“But Senator and Mrs. Hunt would have a whole lot farther to fall. Talk about a spotlight. You could shine it right on them, and that isn’t the glare they would want to be caught in.”

Her eyes seemed to plumb his. He held steady. This had to be her decision.

In a quiet voice, she said, “What you’re intimating is that, no matter which patient gets the drug, I face exposure, censure, possible peril.”

“Those are bigger words than I would use, but, basically, yeah.”

“So it comes down to—”

“You know what it comes down to, Brynn. You already said. Worst-case scenario? You had the means to try to save Violet and didn’t.” He touched the pocket of her coat that contained the vial. “As long as you’re in possession of the game ball, you’re winning.”

She looked at him for a few seconds longer, then said in a rushed voice, “If I could get on a flight to Knoxville tonight, I could be on the Griffins’ doorstep first thing in the morning.”

“Amidst media.”

“But the Griffins would welcome me with open arms. I’m sure of that. I could lay it all out to them. They may say no to the GX-42, but at least they’ll have been given a choice. If they agree, we’ll devise a way for me to do the infusion.”

“If they say no?”

“I’ll bring it back to Richard Hunt.”

“By eight p.m.?”

“I bet they would cancel their flight crew’s weekend off.”

He checked his watch. “With the mess the airlines are in, there probably won’t be a flight tonight.”

“I’ll rent a car.”

“Are you up to making that drive?”

“How long will it take?”

“However long, you were up all night last night and only got a short nap today.”

“One way or another, I’m going.” She leaned forward and said to the driver, “Take us to the airport, please.”

The driver grimaced into the rearview mirror. “Traffic on both interstates is going nowhere fast. If you’re trying to make a flight—”

“Do your best,” Rye said.

The driver shot him a resentful look. “This thing doesn’t have wings, you know.”

Rye huffed a laugh. “Yeah, I know. But I’ve got a twenty in my pocket that can be yours on top of the fare, plus the expected fifteen percent, if you stopping bitching and drive. But don’t take the exit to the main terminals. Take the one just before it.”

Brynn said, “Back way?”

“Back alley.”

“What’s there?”

“Lots of porn.”

Chapter 22

8:58 p.m.

Delores ended the call with a decisive tap on her phone screen. “They missed them by minutes.”

Nate, still seated at the desk where she had assigned him a place, ran his hand over the top of his head. Richard gripped the rolled armrests of the easy chair in which he sat, an evident attempt to keep himself from flying into a rage.

Only by an act of will did Delores keep her voice steady as she recounted for them everything Goliad had told her. “According to him, they must have used an emergency exit. It’s the only way they could have gotten out of the building unseen. He doesn’t know if they left the premises on foot, or if they have transportation now, but either way, they disappeared. He’s spent the past twenty minutes cruising through the complex in search of them.”

“Did you give Goliad her home address?”

“He’s on his way there now. But she would be a fool to go home, and she’s no fool, which has become all too obvious.” She turned to Nate. “How could you have let her out of your sight before checking the box to be certain that the vial was in there?”