Ian threw his hands in the air. “You know what?” He sputtered for a few seconds and then pointed at her. “You’re fired.”

Susan looked at him sideways. Was he kidding? “You can’t do that.”

“Ian,” Derek said.

Ian jabbed his thumb at Derek. “I can buy two of him to replace one of you,” Ian said to Susan. “You’re not that special.” He smoothed his ponytail back into place. “Pack a box,” he said. “I’m calling HR.” And he walked away.

He was serious.

This wasn’t happening. This was all a Chinese-speed-induced hallucination. This was why people shouldn’t do drugs.

She moved her purse onto her lap and held it there.

“Do you want me to help you find a box?” Derek asked.

Chapter 19

CHAPTER

19

“Tetrodotoxin,” Robbins said.

Archie had no idea what that was, but Robbins had been right—he didn’t like the sound of it. Chief Eaton evidently didn’t, either, because he immediately put a hand on Robbins’s shoulder, motioned for Archie with the other, and steered them both away from the others, back toward the mobile command center. Up close it looked even bigger and newer, not a scratch on its shiny black paint job. Eaton led them around the back of the vehicle. Archie had never been inside. But he imagined rows of flat-screen monitors and red telephones. Lights surrounded the trailer, like it was for sale as part of some showroom display. But at least they could see each other.

Eaton lowered his voice: “Tetro-what?” he asked Robbins.

The truck was idling and diesel fumes were thick in the air. Eaton coughed and loosened his tie.

Bioterrorism. Archie knew that’s what the chief was thinking. It’s where the mind went these days. Archie didn’t know what tetrodotoxin was, and he didn’t care. They’d identified it. They’d found what was poisoning Henry. Now they could help him.

“Tetrodotoxin,” Robbins said. “It’s a neurotoxin produced by a bacteria. TTX for short.”

Neurotoxin. That didn’t sound good.

“What are we talking about here?” Archie asked.

Robbins hesitated, then reached inside his jacket, retrieved a folded piece of paper, unfolded it, and handed it to Archie. Archie recognized the format. It was a Wikipedia page.

Archie scanned the headers: Classification, Behavior, Feeding, Breeding, Venom. An image to the right showed a fleshy spade-shaped creature with soft tentacles. It was beige, and spotted with incredibly bright blue rings. Eaton leaned close, squinting to see the page over Archie’s shoulder.

“What is it?” Eaton asked.

Archie looked up at Robbins. Was this a joke? Robbins met Archie’s gaze without a trace of levity.

“A blue-ringed octopus,” Robbins said.

“An octopus,” Archie repeated. It sounded as ridiculous said aloud as it did when he said it in his head.