Vaccine Nation by David Lender Read Free Book Online Page B

the point. He admitted to himself that his original reason for going into pharma, eradicating a whole generation of diseases, some grand scale notion he’d had in his 20s, wasn’t the point anymore, either. But since then the deals in his life had worked out perfectly. They brought him to Pharma International, the largest vaccine maker in the world. And he was sitting on top of it. Maybe the point now was about winning. He wasn’t sure, but this wasn’t the time to get into some soul-searching. One thing he was sure of: he wasn’t going to let some filmmaker take all he’d accomplished away from him. With his main man, Steve Stiles, on top of the situation, it wouldn’t be long before he had Maguire and his bullshit cause buttoned up. He glanced at the prepaid cell phone on his desk. Stiles finds her, the contractor takes care of her, and the data gets buried forever.

    When Dani got upstairs to John McCloskey’s apartment, it was the first time since walking Gabe to school that morning she felt any sense of peace. After seeing Maguire murdered, her neardeath experience at her apartment and arguing with her own mother about what she should do, she was in the company of a friend. McCloskey was a dignified man in his early 60s, tall and lanky, with a graying head of hair and a demeanor like a college professor. His eyes twinkled as he greeted Dani with a handshake. His apartment was small, modestly furnished, with books and periodicals stacked on every horizontal surface. She remembered the cushy upholstered chair she’d sat in to interview him here in his living room as he guided her to it.
    “Thanks for seeing me, John. I’m sorry I didn’t call but I’m sure you’ve heard the news about David Maguire.”
    “Yes, quite a tragedy. I understand he was shot right in front of you. I saw it on the news.”
    Dani’s neck went cold as he said it. She wondered if she’d ever stop having that reaction. “It was horrible. I don’t see how I can ever forget it. But I don’t know if you’ve heard what’s happened since then.”
    McCloskey shook his head. Dani thought he seemed more subdued than usual, even guarded.
    “After the police finished questioning me I went back to my apartment. A cop—he may or may not have been a real cop—came to my apartment and tried to kill me. I was able to escape. Then I saw on the news that another cop was killed in my apartment.”
    McCloskey was listening, not responding.
    Dani wondered how to bring up the USB flash drive, then just blurted out, “Maguire gave me something just before the man shot him.” Dani pulled the USB flash drive out of her blazer pocket. McCloskey arched his neck back and squeezed the arm of the sofa, in visible discomfort.
    “Please don’t do that,” he said.
    “What? Why not?”
    “You’re in danger.”
    “No kidding. Just before the man tried to shoot me in my apartment he said, ‘where is it?’ It must be what’s on this flash drive. The cops are after me now, too, because they think I may be involved in the murder of the cop in my apartment. Maybe even with Maguire’s murder.”
    “It’s probably a setup,” McCloskey said.
    Dani got an uncomfortable sensation in her chest. “I came here to have you help me look at this flash drive on your computer, see what’s on it. Maybe you can help me interpret it.”
    “I don’t think I can be helpful.”
    What? “What do you mean?”
    “David and I were friends for years. I knew he was working on something, compiling data that Pharma International probably didn’t want to get out. And the fact he contacted you and brought it with him meant he had something that was probably explosive. We’re on the eve of the Senate hearings on vaccine safety and immunity for the pharmaceutical industry. The timing of David’s visit to you can’t be a coincidence.”
    “Then help me get whatever’s on this USB memory drive publicized. You were in the same position when you blew the whistle on