A Necessary Risk

Chapter Three

Zach sat uncomfortably on the edge of Jessica Parker’s sofa, still angered by the woman’s accusations but thankful for the excuse to speak to her again so soon.

She drew in a slow breath, and for a split second worry clearly shone through her controlled features. She squinted, as if his presence made her terribly uncomfortable.

Zach pinned her with a glare. “It’s not every day I get accused of sending some thug to threaten a woman and break into her apartment.”

“I thought you might have done it to get me to cooperate with you. To get me to pull the data.”

Heat fired in Zach’s face, and he knew he was treading a thin line when it came to control. He might be desperate to get to the truth, but even he wouldn’t go so far as intimidation. Would he?

“Lady, I’m a police officer. The last thing I need to do is scare you into believing me. I’ve got the facts on my side.”

She shook her head. “I’m not so sure you do.” Her eyes locked with his, their intensity shaking him to the core. “Your brother’s name is nowhere to be found in any of the records.” She spoke flatly, her gaze never leaving Zach’s. “Could he have lied about his involvement?”

Zach battled to keep his sudden anger and frustration under control. He shook his head. “My brother was not a liar.”

She gave a quick lift and drop of her shoulders.

“What about the earlier study?” he asked.

Hope simmered inside him as she nodded her head.

“Dr. Van Cleef said an earlier trial did take place, but Whitman pulled the drug out of the approval process.”

He arched one brow. So she’d asked. “My information was right, then.”

Jessica shook her head. “There’s no data. No proof of any adverse reactions.”

Zach shoved a hand through his hair. “Why else would they pull the drug?”

“Competition, insufficient market potential—”

“Someone has to know something, remember something,” Zach interrupted, lifting his gaze to hers, momentarily transfixed by her pale blue eyes. He gave himself a mental shake and refocused. “Have any ideas?”

Jessica sucked in a deep breath, then sighed, turning toward her phone. “I do, actually. Scott McLaughlin. I replaced him as lead researcher on HC0815. He left rather abruptly.”

“Any reason why?”

She shook her head as she flipped through a small spiral book. “We were only told he was gone. He had a terrific reputation, though. Let me try him again.”

“You’ve already tried?”

Zach had to silently admit his surprise. So he’d piqued the woman’s curiosity enough that she’d put out feelers to the former lead researcher.

Jessica nodded. “Before I left work.”

“Anyone else you talked to other than McLaughlin and Van Cleef?”

“No one. And I left a vague message for Scott. No specifics.”

Zach listened as she left another message for McLaughlin. The woman appeared calm and collected, but the slight tremor in her hands gave her away.

The man who’d approached her outside had scared her more deeply than she was willing to admit.

Zach had reached her upscale condominium less than thirty minutes after her call. The odd sense of protectiveness that had surged through his every muscle lingered still, unnerving him, something very few things in life did.

He’d examined the lock on her front door and noted no sign of forced entry, yet he believed her story, believed she’d locked up before she’d gone to work that morning.

If nothing else, hers was not the sort of personality that forgot to lock doors. Far from it.

He studied the condo as she continued to speak into the phone, noting the precise order and lean decorations.

No. Jessica Parker was not a woman who would ever leave a door unlocked. If anything, Zach had been surprised she didn’t have better security.

Whoever had gained entrance was a pro. Of that Zach had no doubt.

“That was his cell phone,” Jessica said as she replaced the receiver, then tucked a stray hair behind her ear. “Maybe he’ll pick up that message.”

“And your earlier call?”

“To his home.” Jessica hesitated momentarily. “At least I think so.

He nodded, standing to face her head-on. “Could anyone have overheard you?”

Could they? Jess wondered. It was a definite possibility.

“I suppose.” She gave a quick shrug. “But I didn’t uncover a thing.”

Zach Thomas’s dark gaze grew steely and intense. “Don’t you think that’s enough? The fact you looked—the fact you asked questions—might be enough to put someone on the defensive.”

“Perhaps.” Jessica took her time, choosing her next words carefully.

She’d pulled the online news archives after she’d called the detective. She’d read the stories about Jim Thomas’s mysterious suicide. According to witnesses, he had been depressed, but based on the data back at the lab, HC0815 would have had nothing to do with it.

“You need to prepare yourself for the very real possibility your brother was not a participant,” she continued.

Thomas’s dark brows snapped together just as the phone rang.

Jess snatched it from the receiver, breathing a sigh of relief when Scott McLaughlin’s voice sounded over the line.

“I have a fairly good idea why you called,” he said.

“Really?” Jess answered, a bit taken aback by the matter-of-fact tone of McLaughlin’s statement.

“Did you find the bogus HC0815 data I coded?”

His words stole her breath away. “Bogus?”

The man’s chuckle filtered through the phone. “Maybe altered is a better term.”

Silence beat between them.

“Look, I thought I’d be able to sleep at night after I quit. I was wrong. I need to come clean, Jess. Any interest in hearing what I have to say?”

Her heart slapped against her ribs, and she nodded, as if Scott could see the move.

“You alone in this?” Scott asked, not waiting for her answer to his previous question.

Jess stared at Detective Thomas, wondering what Scott’s reaction would be to his involvement. “There’s a detective. He’s got a few theories he wants to chase down.”

“Game on.” McLaughlin’s voice dropped low. “Just name the time and the place.”

ZACH WAITED, SITTING in a strategically selected booth at the Bordentown Diner.

Back to wall. Face to diner entrance.

He glanced at his watch.

McLaughlin was already nine minutes late. Not a good sign.

If the guy had chickened out, their chances of uncovering the trade-secret trial results and any altered HC0815 data would fall onto Jessica’s shoulders. Somehow Zach couldn’t picture her hacking into the New Horizon system.

She might be scared right now. She might be intrigued. But was she dedicated enough to the cause to risk her job? Risk the integrity of the company she worked for?

Beyond that, her family had been threatened. There was no telling at what point the woman might bail on the entire investigation.

Zach slid a sideways glance toward the counter across the room from where he sat. Jessica sat with her profile to him, long blond hair swept into a ponytail and tucked into a ball cap.

Even in blue jeans and a faded sweatshirt, she was a beauty. No doubt about it. Yet the severe set of her slender jaw and the intensity of her gaze told anyone who cared to notice that she kept herself protected and closed off.

Zach supposed most scientific types might be the same way, focused solely on their work, but he suspected Jessica Parker’s demons went a bit deeper than a desire to crunch data.

No matter. He wasn’t here to contemplate the woman’s emotional state. He was only here to use her for whatever information she might be able to access regarding HC0815 and the role it had played in Jim’s death.

If Zach could expose New Horizon and Whitman Pharma, he would. He’d make sure no other healthy candidate developed a sudden urge to take a swan dive off a balcony or rooftop.

Jessica looked at him over her shoulder, and he frowned, gesturing with his eyes for her to turn around and concentrate on the coffee cup in front of her, not on him.

The worried glint in her eye was a sharp reminder of reality. She might have her emotional walls soundly in place, yet someone had followed her, threatened her, threatened her family.

Why? Simply because she’d asked questions of Van Cleef? But who? Van Cleef himself? Hardly. The man didn’t look capable of harming a fly. Someone else on the inside? Perhaps whoever had instructed McLaughlin to tamper with trial data and outcomes?

Or had Whitman Pharma stepped in to make sure no one and nothing jeopardized the billions of dollars they stood to earn once HC0815 gained FDA approval and hit the market?

A disheveled man with jet-black hair stepped through the diner entrance, cutting off Zach’s thoughts. Tall and lean, he looked to be no more than thirty years old. And he looked nervous as hell.

McLaughlin, Zach thought. Had to be McLaughlin.

The young man moved slowly through the diner, bypassing the hostess as he did so. He held nothing in his hands. No papers. No folders. No disks.

Damn.

Zach had hoped today’s meeting would provide concrete evidence—physical proof. Unless he had a secret compartment in the battered T-shirt and jeans he wore, McLaughlin had decided otherwise.

He moved toward where Zach sat, and Zach nodded.

McLaughlin stopped next to the table.

“Great day for the race,” Zach said, repeating the line they’d agreed upon.

McLaughlin dropped into the opposite side of the booth and wiped at his upper lip.

If the guy was this nervous due to a simple meeting, he’d never hold up under intense pressure or under questioning.

Zach shook off the thought, signaling to the waitress. Based on the sharp angles of McLaughlin’s face, there might be one way to get him to relax and to earn his trust.

Food.

ZACH WAITED UNTIL McLaughlin had inhaled the plate of eggs and bacon before he launched into his questions on HC0815.

At first mention of the clinical trial, McLaughlin stiffened, yet his bloodshot eyes brightened.

“You know, I loved that job,” he said, features tensing.

“Then why’d you leave?” Zach prodded.

McLaughlin smiled ruefully. “I think you already know that answer or you wouldn’t have had Jess make contact with me.”

“Jess contacted you on her own,” Zach replied.

“Then why isn’t she sitting with us?” McLaughlin asked.

Zach answered only with a frown.

McLaughlin jerked a thumb toward the counter. “She’s pretty hard to miss. I spotted her before I spotted you.”

Damn.

If McLaughlin had spotted her that easily, chances were anyone who might be watching had done the same. They’d have to be far more careful from here on out.

Though, if McLaughlin could provide cold, hard evidence, Zach’s probe might be over much sooner than anticipated.

“She’s already had threats. It’s better this way.”

The genuine surprise that registered on McLaughlin’s face let Zach mentally check the man off the list of possible suspects in Jessica’s break-in and threat.

McLaughlin glanced at the clock on the wall. “Let’s get to it, shall we?”

Zach gave a tight nod.

“There was an earlier trial for a pancreatic cancer indication for HC0815. Whitman pulled the drug from the approval process, but not until after two trial participants died.”

Adrenaline zinged to life in Zach’s veins. So the Little Brother watchdog group’s information had been correct. “Suicide?”

McLaughlin nodded. “With no prior history of mental illness.”

Anger tapped at the base of Zach’s skull. “How can Whitman get away with keeping two deaths quiet?”

“Trade-secret rule.” McLaughlin’s lips thinned. “The big pharmaceutical boys know how to protect themselves.”

“What about the current trial?” Zach asked.

McLaughlin took a sip of his coffee and nodded. “There’s already been trouble.” He tensed. “The powers that be instructed me to eliminate the evidence or else.”

“Do you have proof?”

“Of who was behind the order?” McLaughlin shook his head. “Whoever it was paid me handsomely and anonymously—in cash. I’m not proud of what I did.”

“What about the case report forms?”

McLaughlin nodded. “They’re still in the system, I just protected the access.” He narrowed his gaze. “You act like you already knew about the latest adverse reactions.”

Zach nodded his head, saying nothing.

McLaughlin’s narrow gaze widened. “Thomas. Holy…I should have made the connection. How?”

“Brother,” Zach replied in response to McLaughlin’s verbal shorthand.

McLaughlin blinked. “I’m sorry, man. So sorry.”

Zach leaned forward across the narrow table. “So you understand why proof is so important to me.”

The other man nodded. “For a while there I thought you might be a reporter yanking Jess’s chain, but now I get it. You’re out for revenge.” He smiled as if pleased.

If thinking Zach wanted revenge made the man talk, so be it. Zach could play whatever part the investigation required him to play.

McLaughlin shot a nervous glance around the diner. “You know about the other suicides?”

“You just told me. From the earlier trial.”

McLaughlin leaned forward, disbelief crinkling the skin around his tired-looking eyes. “No. The other suicides from this trial.”

“The current HC0815?” Zach’s pulse kicked up a notch.

“Two other students,” McLaughlin answered. “One, a month before your brother. One, the week I left New Horizon.”

Zach couldn’t believe McLaughlin’s words. So Jim’s hadn’t been the only death? Two others had died, one as recently as three weeks ago, and the media hadn’t gotten wind of it? But how?

“Whitman Pharma.” McLaughlin answered Zach’s unspoken question. “Lots of money and lots of spin control. Don’t think clinical trial data isn’t manipulated every day.” He arched his brows and smiled bitterly. “It is. The almighty dollar is just that—almighty.”

McLaughlin pushed away from the booth. “I’d better get going. I’ll get the codes and access instructions to Jess.”

“Why’d you do it?” Zach asked as the other man stood.

“We all have our vices,” McLaughlin answered, his features going flat. “And our demons.”

Zach shook his hand, then watched him leave, mulling over his parting words.

At first, when Zach spotted the dark van racing down the street, his mind refused to wrap itself around the likelihood of what was about to happen.

But when McLaughlin dodged to get out of the way and the van swerved toward him, reality sank into Zach’s brain.

A split second later McLaughlin was hit.

JESS WATCHED IN HORROR as a dark van came seemingly out of nowhere. The vehicle struck Scott at a high speed, tossing his body onto the hood and against the windshield like a rag doll.

Glass shattered, and Scott’s body fell to the asphalt like a discarded piece of trash as the van sped away.

Horrified passersby rushed to Scott’s side and Jess leaped to her feet, pushing away from the counter. Several other diners rushed toward the door. She could only pray there was a doctor or emergency worker in the group.

Poor Scott was going to need all the medical assistance he could get.

Zach was at her side in an instant, his grip tight on her elbow. She spun on him, struggling to pull her arm free, to get to Scott. “What are you doing?” Fear and anger heavily tinged her tone.

“Stopping you before you do something stupid like run out into the open.”

His dark features seemed even more intense and closed off than usual. Jess hadn’t thought it possible.

“I have to help him.” Her voice wavered with emotion as she choked out the next words. “He’s here because of me. That van came out of nowhere.”

She looked to the scene outside, where one man stooped down, fingers to Scott’s neck. He looked up at the others gathered and shook his head.

Zach kept his grip on her arm yet squeezed gently. The uncharacteristic move sent surprise skittering through her.

“There’s nothing we can do to help him.” Zach’s eyes narrowed, softening at the corners. “I need to get you out of here.”

“But what if—”

Zach pressed his lips into a tight line and shook his head. “He’s gone, Jess. And I intend to make sure whoever did this to Scott doesn’t do the same thing to you.”

Fear edged up against her shock. “Me?”

A look of disbelief washed across Zach’s dark eyes. “You don’t honestly think this was a random accident, do you?”

Did she?

She’d like to think it was, but her logical mind wouldn’t allow her the luxury. Someone had wanted Scott silenced—and they’d succeeded.

If whoever had been behind the wheel of that van had spotted her in the diner, her life might be in danger. If they knew Scott had been meeting with Zach, his life might be in danger. Not to mention the warning she’d been given about her parents.

Jess shifted her focus back to Zach. His stare hadn’t wavered from her face. She did her best to shove the fear she felt from her mind. Similarly, she compartmentalized her shock and sadness at Scott’s brutal death until she could process the emotions later on.

Zach was right. They had to get out of there, had to leave Scott behind. “Let’s go.”

Jess had promised herself she wouldn’t trust Zach Thomas, but at this particular moment, trusting the man appeared to be her only option.

Heaven help her.

Chapter Four

An awkward silence hung heavily in the living room of Zach’s house.

He sat on a battered leather recliner, elbows on knees, face in palms. On occasion, he stole a glance at Jessica, furrowed his brows then returned his stare to the hardwood floor.

A knot of fury hung at the back of his throat, having lodged there the moment he watched McLaughlin get mowed down and eliminated as if he’d never existed.

Guilt assaulted Zach’s every sense. McLaughlin had been at the diner because of his investigation, because of Jessica’s phone call. Had whoever hit McLaughlin followed the man to the restaurant? Or had his killer known he’d be there based on watching—or listening to—Jessica?

Zach refused to let his brain so much as consider the possibility the hit-and-run had been an accident. He’d been around too long to be that naive. He knew a hit when he saw one.

Scott McLaughlin’s death had been murder—a purposeful, well-executed murder.

Someone had wanted the man silenced before he could provide additional information on HC0815. There was no doubt in Zach’s mind.

Zach lifted his gaze once more to watch Jessica. The flush that had colored her cheeks as they’d fled the diner had faded. Her pale complexion and huge blue eyes served as stark reminders of the horror she’d just witnessed.

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