“I know.” She took a slow breath. “Give us just a bit longer, Nelson. Once we find Forbes, and more importantly his employers, we’ll call the big guns in.”

“I don’t like it, Lina.” He sighed heavily. “Okay. It’ll take a day or two for the CDC lab to confirm that MRGAS has been genetically tampered.” His tone hardened. “The moment we have confirmation, we’re taking it to the highest levels of law enforcement. Am I clear?”

“Crystal. Thanks.” Hanging up, Lopez realized that Amar, as much as giving her leeway, was covering his own butt. He would look foolish for jumping the gun on results that were subsequently proven wrong—always a risk with early lab findings.

Feeling buzzed from Amar’s grudging validation and her date with Seth, Lopez sprang out of bed. She showered, dressed, clipped back her hair, and headed for the lobby. Approaching the hotel restaurant, she noticed that Cohen and Kilburn were already seated at a table with coffees in front of them. When they saw her, Kilburn waved and Cohen smiled. As she approached, she felt unexpectedly awkward. She struggled to dismiss the thought that Cohen might have told Kilburn something of their evening together.

She sat down between them, returned Kilburn’s friendly hello, and then glanced at Seth with a shy smile, relieved to recognize the glowing warmth in his eyes. Wanting to avoid fawning like a schoolgirl in front of Kilburn, she launched directly into a recap of her conversation with Amar.

Cohen frowned. “So we have less than forty-eight hours before the feds descend en masse?”

Kilburn put down his coffee. “Do you think they’re the ones who should handle this?”

“If anyone official contacts SeptoMed, they’ll know immediately that someone suspects them,” said Cohen. “Maybe that doesn’t matter. Nevertheless, we’re the only ones who can approach them without putting their guard up.”

“Really?” Kilburn said. “What makes you think they won’t be leery of us?”

Cohen pointed to Kilburn. “Because you’re the champion of their wonder drug. You came to celebrate with your friend and then found out about her suicide. And Lina came to discuss the CDC’s distribution plans for Oraloxin.”

Lopez met Cohen’s eyes. “And you, Seth?”

“That’s a problem,” Cohen said. “They can’t know I’m a cop. And they certainly can’t know that we know about Forbes.” He broke into a slight grin. “One of you mind lending me a medical degree this morning? My masters in criminology won’t quite cut it on this occasion.”

Outside, waiting for a cab under cloudy skies, even Lopez was thankful the temperature had cooled. Their cab dropped them off at the entrance to SeptoMed’s modern and massive glass edifice on Walnut Street. An armed security guard kept them waiting in the lobby before granting them clearance to take the elevator to the forty-sixth floor.