Page 123 of Broken Wheels

“As I said, these are very credible sources, and they confirm that the person suspected of being the mastermind behind the most recent poisonings, as well as being linked to several others in the past, is Dr. Joshua Malone.”

“What the fuck?” Chalmers gasped. Behind him, Grady gaped at the screen, open-mouthed.

The report switched back into the studio, with Doc’s face staring back at them.

Dix wanted to throw up.

“The authorities have informed us that a taskforce has been assembled to bring Dr. Malone in for questioning.” The anchorman looked directly into the camera. “These proceedings are highly irregular, but when questioned, Mr. Spencer said, ‘We’ve spoken to the President and presented him with the evidence. He agrees with the relevant authorities that bringing Malone in for questioning has to be priority one.’” The anchorman’s expression was grave. “There have been calls for an inquiry into the Stutton tragedy. Maybe now the American people will finally get the answers they’ve been demanding.”

Dix snapped the TV off, feeling hollow. Doc had said they were going to blame him.

Goddamn him for being right. Again.

From the drone’s speakers came Doc’s voice.

“You have got to be fucking kidding.”

Chapter 37

Fear twisted Dix’s gut, and he had to vent before he exploded.

“What the fuck is this?” he bellowed. “This isn’t how we do things in this fucking country.”

“Apparently it is now.” Grady’s voice quaked.

“Private citizens aren’t part of a taskforce like this, and no one mentions a suspect on the television in that way,” Dix raged. “This wasn’t some BOLO report. Spencer put a fucking price on his head.”

Kathy cleared her throat. “For whatever reason, Dr. Malone is on Spencer’s list. I think the original plan was to have him killed and then present the evidence Spencer had made up to prove his complicity in the attacks.”

What the fuck?

Dixon stared at her. “You knew this whole time that Dr. Malone was being targeted, and you let it happen? And then you fucking waltz in here and tell us to protect you? Bitch, get the fuck out of here. I hope Spencer puts a bullet in your goddamn brain.”

“Dixon, calm down.” Doc’s gentle voice came from the speaker. “We can hate her all we want, but we need her right now. Who knows? Maybe later we’ll get lucky and someone will kill her for us, but for now? We need to protect her.” He chuckled. “Okay, I’m mostly kidding about someone killing her, but you know what I mean.”

Michael cleared his throat. “We’ll have our tech guys check the laptop. If this stuff is as good as you say, we’ll talk some more. Until then, Ms. Robertson, consider yourself CrossBow’s guest. We’ll make you comfortable.”

“Don’t make her too comfortable,” Doc interjected.

Michael bit back a smile, then met Dix’s gaze. “Go deal with this latest development. I’ll take over from here.” He gave a cool smile. “And if anyone comes knocking on our front door in the hopes of taking Josh into custody, well, they’re going to be disappointed, aren’t they?”

Dix forced himself to think clearly. Michael was right about one thing—he needed to get the fuck out of that room. He didn’t even want to breathe the same fucking air as Kathy Robertson, let alone see her. He turned to find Chalmers and Grady still focused on the TV, the sound muted. He inclined his head toward the door. “Let’s take this outside.”

Once they were in the hallway, he called Doc’s number. “Still with us?”

“I know I predicted this, but oh my God, this is insane. Did you see? The people on the screen didn’t even question the validity of the report. They simply accepted that I had something to do with this whole… clusterfuck.” Before Dix could respond, Doc blurted, “We’re coming back.”

“Like hell you are.” The words came out as a snarl. “Your instincts are what took you and Gary out of here. Trust them. You two stay right where you are. Michael and I are the only ones who know your location, and I think it’s best to keep it that way. Because no way are you going in for questioning. That’s a target on you, no matter what you do. If he kills you, then there’s no denying the reports and stopping him becomes infinitely more difficult. Even if we deny them, we still need evidence. And where you are? You can get a lot more done there than you could behind bars.”

There was a pause before Doc spoke, and Dix figured Gary was doing his best to make him see sense.

“Fine, you’re right,” Doc said in a resigned tone. He softened his voice. “Coby misses her daddy. Well, her other daddy.”

Dix was missing her too, but it hadn’t made sense for her to stay at CrossBow. He had no idea where he’d be the next few days, and there was no way he’d leave her alone.

“You give her a cuddle from me, okay? Take care of her. And when you get back here, I’m going to take care of both of you,” Dix promised. “But Doc? I need you to hack like you’ve never hacked before.”

“We need this to be over with. Especially since I have to be back at the hospital next week so they can remove this tube.”

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