Night Watch (Kendra Michaels #4)(87)
Biers moistened his lips. “I heard Charles Waldridge is missing.”
“And you heard right. He hired me before he went missing.”
Biers looked at her doubtfully. He then glanced around as if still planning his escape route.
Kendra climbed out of the car. “Dr. Biers … Do you know who I am?”
He studied her, then nodded. “Kendra Michaels?”
She nodded. “Were you on my medical team?”
“No. I joined Night Watch a couple of years later. But of course I studied you and your case. To meet you under these circumstances is…”
She stepped closer to him. “I’m trying to find Charles. I’m terribly worried about him. We could really use your help.”
“It’s all I can do to help myself.” Biers slumped in his seat. He was in his early forties with a full head of red hair and a matching, close-cropped beard. Kendra was surprised that he didn’t speak with a British accent. Canadian, she guessed, probably near Vancouver. “I’m not good at this running. I knew I was taking a chance by coming back here.”
“We can help you,” Jessie said.
“Help me wind up like Shaw? Or maybe Waldridge?”
Kendra felt a bolt of panic that he’d linked the dead man with Waldridge. “Of course not. We just need to talk to you.”
He glanced around again. “Whatever we do, we can’t stay here. If you found me, so can they.”
“Who’s ‘they?’” Kendra asked.
“Not here.”
“How about my office?” Jessie said. “It’s just a few miles down the Pacific Coast Highway in Santa Monica.”
Biers thought about it and shook his head. “No offense to either of you, but I’d prefer to stay in slightly more public locations right now.”
“No offense taken,” Kendra said. “Name a spot where you’d feel comfortable. We’ll talk there.”
“How about … the Redondo Beach Pier. You can’t get much more public than that.”
Jessie nodded. “Fine. You lead the way.”
*
“WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON, Dr. Biers?” Jessie asked with her customary bluntness.
Jessie had only waited until she, Kendra, and Biers had staked out a relatively quiet spot toward the end of the pier before she had turned to confront the doctor.
“It’s a long story.”
Jessie shrugged. “It’s why we’re here. Start with where you’ve been.”
“Hiding.”
“That I figured. But where? And why?”
“I’ve been in San Clemente. I was sure I’d been found out here, so I immediately took off. I destroyed the disposable phone I’d been using and left without even going back to my apartment. Then when Waldridge disappeared, and Shaw turned up dead, I knew I’d done the right thing.”
“But you came back anyway,” Kendra said.
“There are some things in my apartment I really wanted to get my hands on. I left with barely the clothes on my back. I broke in through a back window. I thought I could get in and out without anyone’s knowing about it. I really didn’t think anyone would have twenty-four-hour surveillance on that place.”
Jessie smiled. “Two hundred dollars at Best Buy will get you all the surveillance you need. I stashed some motion-activated webcams there. I received a texted photo the second you walked in there.”
Biers looked out at the ocean. “Of course. Technology is making us both safer and less safe at the same time. I’m glad I insisted on getting out of there quickly. Someone else might have done the same thing.”
“Possibly. But it hadn’t been done when I installed my webcams.”
“Please. We need to know what’s going on, Doctor,” Kendra said.
He turned back toward her. “I’m sorry, but it’s hard to know whom to trust. Shaw died trying to protect this project.”
“But you know who I am,” Kendra said. “You can trust me.”
Biers stared at her for a long moment. “Charles Waldridge does think the world of you.”
“I feel the same about him. But I can’t help him unless I get some answers.”
Biers hesitated, then nodded. “How much did Waldridge tell you?”
That Waldridge hadn’t trusted her with information would only make him less likely to do so. “I need to hear it from you.”
“Everything,” Jessie said. “We can’t help you if we’re stumbling around in the dark.”
Biers took a deep breath. “But you’ll find a way to keep me safe?”
“I give you my word,” Jessie said.
He was silent. “Okay. As you know, the Night Watch Project began with Waldridge and his cornea-regeneration treatment. It was wildly successful, obviously, but the team was soon exploring new frontiers, pushing even more exciting boundaries.”
“I don’t know, getting my eyesight was pretty exciting for me,” Kendra said.
“Of course it was. And it’s something that has always been a constant source of inspiration to Waldridge and the team. But just imagine … if we could replace any organ in the body at any time. Not just transplants, but perfect genetic replacements.”