I had a little playtime with Tyler waiting for Anna, and then showered and dressed. When Jerry came in, I gave him a big hug. I knew he appreciated it by the way he gave his body to me.
“I’m sorry you had a tough day,” I said, still holding him.
He gave me a peck on my forehead. “A recalcitrant client.”
“I hope my call interruption didn’t make things worse.”
He squeezed me. “To the contrary, you brought me back from the brink.” He hugged me harder. “Does the governor being here . . . are things moving along?”
“We’ll see. I suggested a good legal brain could be very helpful.”
“Oh?” he asked gently, pushing back from me to look into my eyes. “We’ve never done this before . . . a team. Do I see a Nick and Nora Charles in the future?”
A chill of excitement went through me. “You better get ready. We need to go.”
We arrived at Roanne Dalton’s door at 6:05. She hadn’t changed, but Rufus was wearing slacks and a polo shirt with his country club’s logo prominently displayed. Michael had removed his jacket and tie.
“Dad, this is Jerry Fields.”
“Glad to meet you, Jer.” Rufus gave my husband a hearty handshake. A little testosterone test. Jerry’s no slouch, having done a lot of manual work in his life, and sports a strong grip.
“Governor.”
“Can we make it Rufus and Ro, at least for tonight?”
I looked at Michael for a reaction. He liked formalities, but he didn’t react.
I jumped in. “It’s not always easy, when you have a working relationship. I promise to think casual, even if it doesn’t always come out that way.”
Rufus smiled and shrugged what the heck. “I understand.”
Roanne announced the food was ready in the kitchen. “Pick out your drink?”
Jerry and Rufus got a beer. Ro and Michael wine. I had water. We spent the next half hour consuming a light repast, while being regaled by Rufus.
I could see in his manner he loved being back in the game. I liked that Michael was relaxing and enjoying himself.
Ro finally broke in. “Before you get all storied out Dad, let’s hear about Harley Rogers.”
“All right. For starters, Harley is not one to be caught unawares. He knew way back that the FDA would capitulate to the pharmas, and if he didn’t come up with a plan to save his drug, he’d be out of luck. Now, along with being an inventor, strategic planning has always been one of Harley’s long suits.
“Three years back, a medical trade journal published pirated results of early Tutox testing that touted remarkable findings, far better than other cancer drugs had at that same stage in their development. The pharma lobby then approached him about the drug. Its potential was daily gossip, and Rogers’s stock price was inching up. Not ones to beg, those rustlers just flat made him an offer: concentrate on a cure for only one of the cancers, and they’d make it worth his while.”
I hoped this background was leading someplace. All I was getting so far was that Rufus had been involved with Harley Rogers longer than he’d originally owned up to.
“Harley and Sherman said to hell with the pharmas privately, but to delay any immediate pressure from them, Harley publicly went along. He set up some scientists to work on the single cure, as a subterfuge for the pharmas, while at the same time, hidden away from outsiders, he continued to develop the real Tutoxtamen.
“Harley was well schooled in the art of diversion and disinformation, and he allowed things to leak out about the singular drug. I believe it was around then when Sherman began working on a plan to manufacture Tutox outside of the good old US of A.”
I couldn’t resist sticking in my two cents. “So they used Puerto Rico as a jumping off point, while making people think they were going to the clinic they built outside San Juan.”
Rufus looked at me quizzically. “You learn that on your own?”
I nodded. “It was easy. Sherman went there and came back from there, and no airline showed he ever took a flight anywhere else. But he did.”
Rufus shook his head. “She’s a good one, Ro. You’re right, Laura. Another former Ranger had his own air charter service in the Caribbean following WWII, which is now run by one of his sons. Their little airline goes to all the islands, except Cuba and Haiti. They file flight plans that get changed, it’s very casual, and they don’t publish a manifest. Sherman became an expert of disguises. No casual observer would have known the passenger was Sherman.”
“The Rogers’s corporate jet never went beyond Puerto Rico?” Jerry asked.
“Right. Sherman found a poor island group that was ripe for his proposal. I can’t say more about that, but you get the picture.”
I wanted to know more. “So, Harley’s people and equipment are on an island. Does it have a name?”
“I’m not at liberty to say more, Laura. But I will tell you that Sherman worked out a deal on an island, and that’s when Harley called me. He needed help with security. He wanted a combat outfit like what we were in the Rangers. He worried he might have to fight off an invasion some day. I thought Harley’s age had finally caught up with him, you know,” and he gave the typical finger move that people use to describe a whacko.
“How long ago was that?” I asked.
“Two-and-a-half years ago, before H.T. was killed and Ro went to the Senate. There wasn’t anything political in what I did. I was helping out an old friend, that’s all. I knew Gary Graves of B&G through a mutual friend, that’s why I used them to watch over Ro. His people aren’t Delta or Rangers, but he recommended an outfit that does stuff for the Department of Defense. I’ve visited Harley’s island a couple of times. It’s a sweet arrangement with all sorts of geography working in their favor. Johnny and I are going there in a few days. With the type of detection devices available to us, shoot, nobody’ll be able to get near them without—”
“You think Harley believes—” Laura began.
“He knows these cutthroats, Laura,” Rufus responded before she could finish. “Look at what happened to Stroble. And oh yes, I do believe the pharmas were behind that boy’s death.”
“So do I, gov—uh, Rufus,” I concurred.
His face lit up with a big smile. “I would have bet you did, Laura. I’d bet you even know more than you’re saying.” Ro’s eyebrows went up. “Is that true, Laura?”
The old boy surprised me, but I couldn’t go covert. “Okay, there’s a lot of trust in this room. MPD knows the identity of one of the two suspects. He’s a hit man who flew in from Miami two days before the killing, the evening Michael and I had drinks with Tyrell and Mort.”
I saw Michael’s eyes widened to saucers.
“But how . . . I mean that was purely social,” he stammered.
“I know. But maybe the pharmas were already watching Mort because of his extramarital activities. Maybe they worried about loose, drunken lips,” I suggested.
“Dad told me the cover story for the construction is that the island’s new facility needs privacy while researching oceanic life, to improve the world’s understanding of how undersea life can benefit mankind. Rogers’s name is no place to be seen or heard.”
“Right, I forgot about that,” Rufus said, moving back in. “This place is an investment in Rogers’s future.”