“You think she was experimenting with her own drug?”
“I don’t know what I’m saying, but she was different, Mac.”
I let it go. It was just too close to my own memories of Jilly’s visit the previous February. “Where is Molinas? Has he met with Jilly and Paul? Has he showed up at their house or at the Tardier house?”
“No. But there’s just no getting around the fact that it was Alyssum Tarcher who got Paul and Jilly back to Edgerton. He bought Jilly the Porsche, gave Paul and Jilly the house. I’m sorry, Mac, but you just don’t do that for no reason.
“Our assumption is that Paul and Jilly are working on this drug, that they’re trying to make it less toxic or more addictive, and then it’ll be mass-produced and sold on the street.”
“For argument’s sake, let’s say you’re right about all of it. To get people hooked, a drug has to produce a high that will knock the user’s socks off. Does this drug do that?”
“We don’t know, but we think it has to do with sex.”
No, I thought. Jilly and all her talk about sex to both Laura and me. No.
“You mean the user shoots up and just lies there in a semi-stupor having orgasms?”
“Maybe. We don’t know. Some of the VioTech data showed some very significant changes in lab animals’ sexual drive. It went off the charts and frequently showed itself by intense sexual aggression. There’s got to be more to it than that, of course. Jilly and Paul probably took some of their records with them.
“My boss told me to lie low, but I just can’t do that. I don’t know how close they are to perfecting the drug. If I can help it, that drug isn’t going to make it to the streets. I just don’t know how to go about that anymore.”
“I’m not going to stop looking for my sister, Laura. I guess I don’t see any other choice but to join forces with you.”
“You could get in big trouble with your people too, Mac. But more than that, I don’t want you in any more danger. You’ve been an innocent bystander in all of this and it nearly got you killed. I couldn’t bear that.”
I gave her a crooked grin. “We’ve known each other for two days.”
“That’s strange, isn’t it?”
“Look, Laura, you know as well as I do that if you don’t get on a phone and tell your boss you’ve been fired at in a car on a public highway, you can forget about your long-term career in the DEA. You’re the one in jeopardy. You’ve got to think about covering your butt, driving to a motel on Bainbridge Island or somewhere and hiding until it’s all over. That’s what’s safest.”
“I don’t want to call in the cavalry,” she said. “I want to find Jilly. I can’t just head off to parts unknown and forget about this. If I call my boss, I’ll be out of here for sure and the DBA will be all over town. These people are too smart. The DBA won’t find a thing that way.”
“And Jilly and Paul might get railroaded. I want to find out whether Jilly and Paul are up to their necks in this, or if they’re just innocent bystanders, like I was two days ago.”
Laura’s eyes sheened, and her hands curled into fists.
“Laura-”
“No, this has to be my decision, Mac. I can’t turn my back on Jilly. Or on you. I’m in this with you, for the long haul.”
I smiled over at her. “All right. We’re both professionals. We both know the risks we’re taking.” I took her hand, slowly smoothing away the fist. “You want to come to Edgerton with me?”
“Yes. I don’t see anything else to do.”
I took the last drink of my coffee. It was cold. I gave her a sideways look. “Did Paul really put the moves on you last Tuesday night?”
“Yes he did.”
I sighed. “I thought so. Paul’s not as good a liar as you are.”
“That’s because he’s a scientist and not a federal agent. It’s in our genes. I’ve had to weave so many lies in with the truth on this case that it’s sometimes confused me. Mac, if we go to Edgerton, we’re thumbing our nose at them.”