Master No (Masters and Mercenaries, #9)(42)

And people could die, but Faith knew where to focus. “Let’s stay calm. We don’t know anything yet and I doubt they’re stealing drugs meant for the States. It’s too easy to detect. It was really only the Ebola outbreak that made it possible to even check. I would have gone through those vaccines in no time at all if the clinic hadn’t become ground zero. They would have been gone long before we started losing patients, and I wouldn’t have been able to prove anything. I want to know what’s in there. I don’t think it’s simply a placebo because a few people had some odd side effects.”

“Like what?” Hope asked. “You have to tell me because we could be looking at lawsuits.”

“From Liberia? I doubt it. But I will tell you because you need to know. I didn’t put it together until later but a couple of my patients had memory issues.”

“How could you tell if it was babies and the elderly? One has no memory and the other is kind of known for forgetting stuff.”

Ah, but flu vaccines went to everyone. “I gave out those vaccines to almost two hundred people. Twenty-five of them showed back up complaining of weird memory loss. Like they were dreaming and couldn’t tell what was dream or reality for a few days.”

“Odd. Did anyone present with fever?”

Faith shook her head. “Not enough to be statistically important. These were healthy people with the same complaint. Some of them thought it was years later and they’d only slept for a night. But they insisted it had been longer.”

“That doesn’t make a lick of sense. They must have had some form of dementia. Were any of them Ebola patients?”

“Two ended up dying, but that was later. And the effect was temporary.” She could still remember one man. His eyes had been haunted. He’d claimed to have lived years in a single night.

“Sounds like a psych problem to me. What about the other doc? Don’t you have another one with you?”

“Yes,” Faith replied. “Nate Harrison. He’s a GP out of California. I’ve done a couple of tours with him. Nice guy. He gave out another two hundred vaccines, but he didn’t have the same problems with his patients that I did.”

“So are you still known as the pushover doc?”

It was something that other doctors had called her all through her residency. She’d been the doc to come to if you wanted someone to listen to your problems and give you attention. She wasn’t going to apologize for giving a shit. “They weren’t asking for attention. And not a one of them asked for meds. I don’t think this is a psych issue and I’m going to get to the bottom of it.”

Hope finally sat back, shaking her head. “Well, let me know what you find out. I need to let the PR people get ahead of this. Can you give me that much?”

Her sister had been good to her. Despite her desperate need to enrich her own bank account, Hope had tried to help out with Faith’s clinic in the only real way she knew how. “Yes. I’ll let you know what the lab says. I’ll even keep my mouth quiet if it turns out I’m wrong and it’s a placebo. But I’ll expect at least twice as many doses next year and Kronberg has to find the criminals.”

Hope sighed. “You drive a hard bargain, sister.”

She so rarely did. She usually just busted her ass to try to make things work. “I do try.”

A loud laugh came from the other room. Masculine. Sexy. It sounded a bit like Theo. She wondered how it would sound if Master T made it. He chuckled from time to time, but never let loose a full-throated laugh.

Hope looked toward the door, the sound catching her as well. “So you’re bringing Theo with you when you come out to the islands for your birthday?”

“Yes, but I’m serious about you keeping your hands to yourself. Erin won’t take it kindly if you’re pawing her boyfriend.”

Hope’s eyes turned thoughtful. “I don’t paw anyone. I’m quite polite. And if I decide I want that soldier, I’ll take him.”

“Really? You’re not exactly the most charming woman in the world. I’ve never seen you try to seduce anyone.”

“Seduce?” Hope huffed. “That’s a silly word. And I can be very persuasive when I want to be.”

The door to her room opened and Ten was standing there. “Darlin’, we’ve got someplace to be this evening and I need to prep for that. Theo’s going to bring you along and we’ll talk when you get there, all right?”

He needed to leave, but he wasn’t going to take her away from her sister.

“Should I pack?”

His eyes heated. He hadn’t liked being interrupted earlier. “Yes. You should pack. Take care. I want you safe and happy when I see you tonight.”

When he would take her to Sanctum and no one and nothing would interrupt them.

There was one thing she needed to know. She stood up and walked to him. They hadn’t had a chance to talk, but this wasn’t a question she wanted to ask in the open. She walked straight into his arms, loving the way they went around her, the strength of the man holding her. She went on her toes and whispered in his ear. “Should I stay inside?”

His hands found her hair, masking his voice. “The attacker was a man known to have a beef with your father. He was a lone crazy, so I’m certain it won’t happen again, but don’t you leave here without Erin or Theo. I want you safe. Do you understand?”