The hospital wing attached to the back of the main section of the building offered the most advanced modern medical facilities available. No expense had been spared on providing whatever Sonderheim and his medical team had needed.
The sixty individual hospital rooms were more like luxury apartments, providing the ultimate in comfort for those who would be attending the clinic. Sonderheim and his team of doctors and nurses would be paying host to some of the most influential people in America, and it was going to be their duty to provide the best medical care available. In fact, the 'Orlando Clinic', as he had christened the hospital, was the only place this treatment was going to be available.
Phase Two of the trials of the Orlando Treatment had just begun and they were now three days into the schedule. Already there were some signs that the patients were beginning to respond, something which they had not anticipated so soon.
Unfortunately, there had been one death, but it had been unavoidable. The patient in question was already in the final stages of lung cancer when he had arrived at the clinic, and he could hardly breathe: it had only been a matter of time. Unfortunately the treatment had been too late to save him.
Trevor Simons and Colonel Packard, the two most important patients to be treated in Phase Two, were thankfully also amongst those who were being the most responsive to the treatment. Both were important executive directors in the Chymera Corporation, and strategically it was important that both experienced impressive results from the trials.
Their rooms were on the third floor of the clinic, with the best views overlooking the bay. Sonderheim had personally made sure that everything about their treatment received the best attention and focus.
In spite of the personal animosity that he had immediately felt towards Trevor Simons, Sonderheim could not help but marvel at his determination and bravery, and at the progress he was making. It had taken a lot of courage for Simons to abandon the conventional treatment he had been undergoing in Los Angeles, and agree to participate in the programme. Sonderheim knew that the man was a gambler, and had taken enormous risks throughout his life. Well, it looked like this was one gamble that was going to pay off.
When Simons had first arrived at the clinic, they had put him through a number of physical and medical examinations, to ensure they could chart his progress at every stage of the procedure. The journey down to Purlington Bay had taken a lot more out of him than Simons had admitted. It was typical of the man not to tell anyone that he was in the final stages of leukaemia. His T-cell blood count could drop through the floor at any moment, and he could be dead within twenty four hours. Regardless of the risk, Simons had come to Sonderheim's clinic in the hope of demonstrating some sort of cure.
David Sonderheim had explained at length to Nigel Small, the director of the Western Seaboard Cell, who would possibly benefit from the Orlando Treatment. They knew that the Orlando Treatment worked. The only question they had, was how well?
He had explained clearly that leukaemia was not one of the conditions that the treatment had been designed to treat. That said, he had also confessed that there was a good possibility that the disease could respond to their new procedure…but, in reality, he just didn't know.
The fact was that the effects of the Orlando Treatment went far beyond everything they had initially predicted. Just how far, they didn’t know. And that was exactly why these trials were so important.
They needed to know. They needed to find out.
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Day Thirteen
Washington D.C.
She waved at him excitedly as he walked through into the Arrivals Hall at the airport. As soon as she spotted him she spun her wheelchair around and rolled it towards him.
"Dana…Hi!" Kerrin bent down towards her, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and hugging his wife passionately. "I told you not to bother…I said I’d catch a taxi!"
"Sshhh…I missed you…" And she threw him one of her fantastic smiles. He couldn't bring himself to be angry with her. Truth was, he loved it that she had made all that effort to come to meet him.
He kissed her once more, and putting his small suitcase across the lap of her wheelchair, he pushed her out to the parking lot. Kerrin helped her into the passenger side of the car, and then switched over the especially designed controls to 'normal' driving. The disabled controls on the car had been a godsend for Dana, enabling her to drive the automatic car safely, and just as well as any other person.
"Darling…you look stressed. And you've lost some weight! Tell me what's going on?" Dana asked Kerrin as they drove back from the airport to the suburb where they lived, on the outskirts of Washington D.C.
He wanted to tell her everything, but he wondered if he should. He didn't want to worry her unduly, and until he knew more about what was going on, perhaps he should keep it to himself.
But how was he going to tell her that now he had just got back, that he would be leaving to go to South Africa the very next day? He would leave that one for a few hours. It would be best to choose the right moment…if there was one for something like that.
He knew she would be disappointed. South Africa was the place that they had always planned to visit together. It was their dream destination. Dana loved animals, and she had spent most of her adult life planning to go on safari, 'hunting' the Big Five with a camera and a pair of binoculars, and sleeping out under the stars on warm, summer nights.
Then Dana's accident had temporarily put a halt to their dream. Afterwards they had promised themselves that they would still go together, but somehow, although they knew they would be able to cope, they just never got round to booking the trip. The wheelchair had taken away the spontaneity which had once made life so much fun for them.
"Oh, by the way, your big friendly boss called. Wants you to check in with him as soon as you get back. Told me to tell you that you still worked for him,…just in case you forgot! Oh…and he wants to know who's paying for your tickets to Cape Town tomorrow,…and why you're going?"
"Oops…"
"Exactly. Care to explain, Mr Husband-of-mine?"
"Where do I begin?"
"The beginning?…It's usually the best place."
"Can you remember Alex Swinton? A friend and work colleague of Martin's?"
"Vaguely…"
"Well, out of all of the core team that Martin worked with, Alex is the only one left alive. He's in South Africa. I need to get to him and tell him about the others…and to warn him that whoever killed the others will be after him too. Dana, I need to speak to him: he could be the only person alive who knows why Martin and the others died!"
"But South Africa is our special place……" Dana choked for a second, and Kerrin noticed her visibly fighting to regain her composure. "No…forget that…that's just being childish. Okay, so I can see why you have to go, but if he's the only person left alive from that group, has it not occurred to you and that little brain of yours that perhaps he's the one that killed the others, and that's maybe why he's in hiding?"
Kerrin looked at his wife, taking his eyes off the road ahead for just a second.
"You're the second person to say that in twenty four hours. Maybe you're right…but I've got no choice. I'm pretty sure he didn't do it though. Elizabeth said he and Martin were good friends,…I don’t believe that Alex could have killed him."
"Aha! So you're pretty sure that Martin was killed then, and that it wasn't just an accident?"
His wife didn’t miss a trick. It was obvious, that despite his misgivings, the easiest thing was going to be to tell her everything. Otherwise it would probably all just come out in dribs-and-drabs anyway. So he started to tell her exactly what had happened over the past week. They were just pulling up into their driveway when he finished. Dana had remained pretty silent throughout, but as Kerrin switched off the car and turned to face her, she whistled.
"Wow…are you sure you're not just making this all up? Because if you're not, this would make a
brilliant book. Maybe when it's all done, you could write a bestseller, and we can retire! If you're still alive, that is." A tear grew in the corner of her eye and started to roll down her cheek.
"Kerrin, I'm scared. Promise me you'll be careful?"
"Yes, I promise."
He leant over to her, and gently kissed her cheek, catching her salty tear on the edge of his lips.
"And when it's all over…I promise I'll take you to South Africa, just as we’ve always planned."
Dana had a point though. The whole thing was just beginning to sound like the plot to a best-selling thriller. If only he could just flick to the last chapter and find out who'd done it. Instead, he was going to jump on a plane and fly half way round the world to meet someone who could very well be the killer who had just murdered all his work-colleagues and could somehow be responsible for the death of Kerrin's own brother-in-law. In which case, Kerrin could end up just as dead as the others, and Dana would become just another widow with a nice house.
It didn’t bear thinking about it.
--------------------
"So what's the deal, pal? I hear South Africa is beautiful this time of the year? Should I come too, or would I just be intruding on your holidays?" Paul, Kerrin's boss bellowed down the phone. It was seven o'clock in the evening, and Kerrin was half hoping that by the time he called, his boss would have gone home and he would have been able to just leave a voice message. No such luck.
"Sure. If you want to. And if you don't mind a little bit of danger. I could do with a man of your great experience, and girth, to act as a body shield from any stray bullets that may come my way."
Kerrin knew that although his boss was a tiger in the newspaper office, in spite of his harsh words and aggressive business style, in the world outside his office door he was really a closet coward.
"Perhaps not then…Can't leave the office and all that! But seriously pal, what the hell is going on? Vicki brought in a pile of invoices to sign, and top of the list is a business class flight down to Cape Town! Is there any particular reason why you’re going to South Africa?"
"Paul, suffice it to say there are several. But, and I'm not kidding when I say this…I can't talk to you over the phone…I think it's bugged." He said, half in truth, and half as an excuse not to talk to him just now.
"Well, how about stopping by the office tomorrow morning and explaining to me why I should pay for all of this?"
"Sorry boss, no-can-do. First flight out and all that…just no time…Trust me on this one. Something strange is going down…I'll make it worth your while!"
"Trust you? You're a newspaper man. I can’t trust you! Okay kiddo, enjoy yourself in Nelson-Mandela-land, but go easy on the champagne…and it would be nice to see some decent copy from this one day. For what this is costing me, it had better be front page stuff!"
"How's Ed Harper doing with my work?" Kerrin asked, but immediately wished he hadn't.
"Brilliantly. The guy's good. He could be a little competition for you. If I were you I'd make sure this thing you're working on is great stuff…just in case…"
"I'm glad he's doing so well. The paper needs good people."
"Like you, I suppose?"
"Exactly. And while we're talking about good people Paul, can you pop your head round your door and see if Fiona is still there? I need her to do some stuff for me."
Fiona was one of the researchers at the paper, who had helped Kerrin out in the past by chasing down material for some of his articles. There was a few moments silence before his boss returned to the phone.
"She's still here. I'll transfer you. Take it easy, Kerrin, And if there is anything dangerous happening down there, just make sure you get back in one piece…I can't afford any insurance or liability claims, okay?"
"…And for a second I thought you cared," Kerrin replied, smiling.
There was the sound of electronic pulses down the line, as Paul redialled and transferred his call to Fiona.
"Kerrin? Long time no see. How's tricks?" Fiona bubbled. She was one of the liveliest people in the office.
"Excellent. Listen, I need you to do a few things for me over the next few days. I'll be out of the office till next week, but it would be great if you could give me some of your time to help track down some information?"
"Sure thing. What sort of stuff are you after?" Kerrin could already hear her gearing up for the challenge of the search. She seemed to thrive in finding out information about the most obscure things. The people in the office had nicknamed her the 'Wunderkind' because she could seemingly work miracles and find information that no one else could.
"I want you to check out a company called Gen8tyx. Until last month it was based in Orlando in Florida, but it's moved to somewhere in California now. I want anything you can get on it. They're a genetics company. Try to find out what they were doing, if they have printed any white papers or scientific articles…"
"Okay, anything else?"
"Yes, can you talk to your friends in Wall Street, and find out what the buzz is on the Gen8tyx stock? Although, it could be a private company, so maybe it's not listed…And can you check the company records to see who the directors are? And if it is public, then look at their internal share dealings, the sales and purchases of the directors etc?"
"No problem, I've got that…anything more?"
Kerrin could hear her champing at the bit, rearing and ready to gallop off into the archives to find out everything there was to be found.
"That's all for now…but use your initiative…anything that strikes you as odd, check it out. Okay?"
"Like I said…'no problemo'. I'll get right down to it!"
As Kerrin thanked her and hung up, he was already beginning to wonder what the wunderkind would dig up on Gen8tyx. Whatever she found, he was sure it would be good.
Chapter 18
Day Thirteen
Purlington Bay
California