“Well…” Juan took a deep breath. “He explained how the MS treatment he was working on used chemotherapy as part of the treatment process, so I guess maybe I stitched two things together that didn’t belong together. And when I asked if that cancer trial was part of what he was working on, he said he couldn’t say—which at the time made perfect sense. I’d just been told to stay mum about my work, and I figured he’d received the same instructions.”

Winslow’s eyes narrowed and he shook his head. “There’s no way he’d be working on a phase-2 trial I didn’t know about. Regardless, it doesn’t explain why he’d let his research lapse, nor why he wouldn’t submit himself to a polygraph.” He wore a sour expression. He turned to Paul. “What do you think?”

The head of security frowned. “It’s curious. Let’s set the Chalmers case aside for now.”

A chill ran down Juan’s back.

What was his friend up to?

###

A woman answered Juan’s call. “Hello?”

“Kathy?” Juan said.

“No, this is her mother. Who may I say is calling?”

“Oh.” Juan laughed nervously. “You guys sound exactly alike. This is Dr.—uh, Juan Gutierrez.”

“One second. Let me go get her.”

Even though the voices were muffled, Juan heard Kathy’s mom yelling for her. Moments later, Kathy’s voice came through. “Juan? It’s so good to hear from you. I’m sorry I didn’t call earlier, but I was packing, getting ready to go back to school.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that. I was just wondering how your father is doing.”

“It’s so nice of you to ask. He’s actually doing great.” Her voice lowered to a whisper as she said, “At first I worried he might be getting a placebo, and, you know, he only thought he was getting better. But I swear—it’s only been a month, and I can tell that he’s not in nearly as much pain as he was before.”

“That’s really great. What did the doctors say about his progress? Did they do more scans to see how the tumors are reacting?”

Kathy huffed. “Dad’s a stubborn mule. He claims he tried calling the trial folks and left them a message. He keeps saying that since he feels fine, and since the VA isn’t harassing him for a follow-up, he’s not interested in going all that way. Mom’s going to work on getting him back for there for an office visit, but that’ll be after I’m back at school.”

Juan frowned into the phone. Any trial patient should be closely monitored. “I just hope things keep going on an upswing for him.”

“I hope so too. I really owe you big. I hope you’ll let me thank you, somehow.”