Free Shock Point by April Henry Page B

uncertainly.
    Without answering, she came over and sat at their table, tucking her long legs under her chair. Her blue eyes were framed by black-rimmed glasses. Glasses that would have made anyone else look nerdy but just made her look efficient, no-nonsense, and even more beautiful by contrast.
    “All right. What’s this about? Drug dealing on campus?”
    Cassie looked around, hoping no one was listening. She leaned forward. “No. It’s about legal drugs that aren’t on the market yet. They’re in the testing process, but three kids have died.”
    “Died?” The reporter raised one eyebrow, managing to look both skeptical and interested.
    Cassie launched into an explanation of what she had found in Rick’s files, as well as what he had said about Socom’s side effects. Thatcher interrupted, trying to explain about the probabilities, but Cassie could tell she wasn’t following.
    “Why would any doctor give his patients fatal drugs?” Michelle was sitting back in her chair now, tapping the eraser end of her pencil on the table, looking dubious. “And why wouldn’t someone else have figured it out?”
    “For most people, the drugs work. They only make a few people have delusions. And they’re working on trying to tweak it so it won’t happen again. But they’re covering the problems up so they can still get approval.”
    “What proof do you have? Your boyfriend said something about you having the files?”
    Boyfriend? Cassie shot a quick glance at Thatcher, who shrugged, two spots of color burning in his cheeks.
    “I looked at the files and even took pictures of them. But when I tried to get them last night to show you, they had been altered. Now there’s no mention of these kids being on the drug at all. And the memory card from my digital camera is gone.”
    “So you’ve got nothing.” Cassie couldn’t tell if Michelle’s words were a challenge or a dismissal.
    “No!” The word burst out of Cassie louder than she had intended. Two people waiting at the counter turned around. She lowered her voice. “The proof is these kids. Three kids died. Three kids who were taking Socom. Three kids who were patients of Dr. Wheeler.”
    “And Dr. Wheeler is your—” Michelle looked at Cassie, her blue eyes expressionless.
    “Stepfather.”
    “And how well do you get along with him?”
    “What does that have to do with anything?” Thatcher said, his voice angry, but Cassie laid a hand on his arm.
    “It’s no secret that we don’t get along that well. But that doesn’t change the fact that three kids died. Three kids who had the same doctor!”
    “I’ve written about medical research before,” Michelle said. “So I know there are safeguards to prevent this kind of thing. The FDA has a bunch of hoops. Research has to be reviewed by outside monitors. The drug companies themselves have rules the doctors have to follow. If these deaths were related to this drug, then someone should have figured it out a long time ago.”
    “But those things only work if everyone tells the truth,” Cassie said. “What if the doctor lies to the kids about what kind of shot he’s giving them? What if the doctor lies to the drug company about whether someone meets the criteria because he gets ten thousand dollars for every kid he enrolls? What if the drug company doesn’t look too closely because the only way they’re going to make money is if the drug gets on the market?”
    Thatcher played what would have been their trump card, if they still had it. “And when it comes to these three kids—the parent signatures were all made by the same person.”
    Michelle’s brows drew together. “These three kids are brothers and sisters?”
    “No—I don’t think their families even knew each other,” Cassie said. “But if you look at the parental signatures side by side, they all look the same. Like the same person signed these three different names. The letters are shaped the same way, slant the same way, have the same