Page 49 of Hollow State

"We dove into ORACLE and matched what I learned about the helicopter to any executive flying out of Bellingham within twenty-four hours of that time and it turns out that Finch has made a few trips." Gideon tapped the screen again. "He flew once to Paraguay. And twice to both Ecuador and Colombia."

"We often partner with world aid organizations for medical and disaster relief," Darwin said. "Outside of Finch going that many times in a row, it's not unheard of."

"That and the fact that no supplies or drugs were listed on the manifest," Zadie said. "However, while I was poking around, I noticed an outside server."

"What does that mean?" Coulter asked.

"There's a server that's sitting behind a routing layer built the same way Bralorne was built," Gideon said.

"Did you get in?" Darwin asked.

"No." Gideon shook his head. "We had a few seconds against the front page before the AI started getting a little too close for comfort."

"Did you find anything meaningful?" Coulter asked.

"Comments and a header. Which sounds like nothing." Zadie pulled the tablet to her side of the table. "But I got a glimpse of what's behind it. Gideon and I were able to piece together parts of the code."

"I need you to get to the point," Neve said.

"We found code names for Darwin's compounds," Zadie said. "And they’re being showcased based on what they can do at various levels."

Darwin took off his glasses, and this time he just held them. "Are you talking about to varying degrees in different people? Or at different doses?"

"It's basically a flow chart of how the drug is administered, what dose is used, and what effects are expected based on age, sex, and physicality," Gideon said.

"What you're trying to tell me is that there’s a server out there that has a spreadsheet of my drugs with a value based on what each can do, and Finch has been flying to South America where there’s a known market for shit like this?"

"That's about it," Gideon said.

"How long until you can get back in?" Darwin asked.

"We're watching the AI, which right now is looking for us, so it could be a few hours to a few days," Zadie said.

"Shit." Darwin pressed both hands flat on the table. "I have to get to Liam."

"I still don't think it's a good idea," Neve said.

"I need to see the labs. I need to know what Liam knows." Darwin stood. "Type and screen, gases, a full panel, a lactate, a tox screen. It's in a fridge, on a slide, or a number in a chart, and all of it is sitting inside a system Finch doesn't own."

"That doesn't mean he doesn't have people at the hospital," Neve said.

"She's got a point." Coulter tapped his fingers. "Quinn has a reason to be there. We can funnel questions through him."

"Not to be an asshole," Darwin said. "But Quinn can only ask the questions that make sense for a cop, and he's not personally on the case."

"But at least he can move freely in the hospital," Neve said. "You can't do that."

"Maybe not. But Liam can get behind some closed doors where we can talk, and I can look at charts." Darwin planted his hands on his hips and stared at Wynn. Not for any other reason than she gave him strength. "Prewit died because he was standing in the middle of my work and now Liam and Sarah are standing next to it," Darwin said. "Ask me again whether or not I'm going."

CHAPTER TWELVE

Wynn held the trauma kit on her lap. She'd taken everything out of it twice and matched the items to the checklist. That was standard procedure for her and something she'd been doing for as long as she'd been a combat medic.

Check and double-check—one missing item could be the difference between life and death.

She didn't need to do it a third time. But she needed to occupy her hands, and especially her mind. Going through the kit was one way to stop her from staring at Darwin while he helped pack the SxS. She lifted hemostatic gauze from the kit.

Scout snatched the gauze from her hand. "I believe this is ready to go." She placed it back in the kit, zipped it, and took it. "Thank you." Scout set it in the footwell behind the driver's seat of one of the SxSs. Turning, she put her hand on the armrest. "I appreciate your diligence, and I get that it's hard for you not to be coming, but you're gonna make yourself crazy."