Marissa tapped her fingers nervously against the arm of her chair. She thought again of those men tossing chum over the side. If they were so innocent, why did they flee the instant she called out to them? She could assume Tristan Williams had committed professional hara-kiri on a whim. She could talk herself into believing that those two on the Oz had not realized what they were doing. But the whole weird thing was beginning to remind her of the way she felt in the early days of the Ebola outbreaks when she’d been with the CDC. Back then, Marissa had begun to suspect a sinister force at work long before her colleagues did. Despite setbacks, she clung to her beliefs, ultimately proving the existence of a cabal even more diabolic than she had ever imagined. Now, as then, she was beginning to think it was time to go with her instincts.

Even if she didn’t have much more than a hunch that there was more to these events than met the eye, she had to dig deeper. Impulsively she went back inside and called Robert back. She woke him a second time.

“I need you here, Robert,” Marissa said. “The more I think about Wendy’s death, the more I think it was caused deliberately.”

“Please, Marissa. You’re overreacting. You’ve had a tremendous shock. Shouldn’t you just get on a plane and come home?”

“But I think I should stay.”

“I cannot come to Australia,” Robert said. “I told you business is—”

Even though she realized she was being unreasonable, Marissa hung up on him before he could finish his sentence. Then she realized there was something he could do. Snatching up the phone, she dialed Robert yet again.

“I’m glad you called back,” Robert said. “I was hoping you’d come to your senses.”

“I want you to find out something for me,” Marissa said, ignoring Robert’s comments. “I want to know if there is any business connection between the Women’s Clinic in the States and Female Care Australia.”

“I can check in the morning,” Robert said.

“I want you to do it now,” Marissa said. She knew Robert’s computer was hooked up to several business data banks.

“If I do this,” Robert said, “will you come home and stop asking me to come to Australia?”

“I’ll stop asking you to come to Australia,” Marissa said.

“Give me your number and I’ll call you back.”

Five minutes later Marissa’s phone rang. Robert had been faster than she’d expected.

“You were right if you guessed they were associated,” Robert said. “Both the Women’s Clinic, Inc., and Female Care Australia Limited are controlled by an Australian holding company by the name of Fertility, Limited. I found it out by reading the back page on a prospectus on the Women’s Clinic.”