Free VIABLE by R. A. Hakok Page B

Except for the CSAR candidates of course. To them he’s just Master Chief. I haven’t heard anyone call him Carl in years.’
    Lars flipped back in his notebook to find where he had first written Gant’s name and then scribbled Cody next to it in the margin. Then he explained to the base commander that traces of a fast acting sedative had also been found in Gant’s blood, and at least one of the other men in the van had been ex-military. Fingerprints had been taken from the man in the morgue and a match had already been found. Vincent Keogh had served with the 10 th Special Forces in the Gulf. He had left the army shortly afterwards, but the report showed nothing about his activities in the sixteen years since. Lars asked a few more questions, jotting the answers down in his notebook. He was about to end the call when it occurred to him to ask why Gant might have chosen to break out of the hospital and why he hadn’t contacted his base. 
    ‘Well, Sheriff, I’m guessing he broke out of the hospital because he didn’t feel safe there. I mean, if he could overpower your guard and leave without anyone noticing, in the state he was in, why then I suspect he’d also figured out it wouldn’t be difficult for someone else to get to him. As to why he hasn’t got in touch with anyone here, I honestly have no idea. However, we’re just as keen as you are to find him, so just let us know what we can do to help.’
    Lars replaced the receiver and leaned back in his chair.  What Fitzpatrick had told him tied in with what he had already suspected. But if Gant wasn’t a terrorist, what had he been doing in the back of that van?
     

 
    10
     
     
     
     
    ALISONWASKNEELING on the floor sorting through a stack of periodicals when Lars walked in. She was wearing faded jeans and an old Harvard sweatshirt, a rubber band holding her hair back in a loose ponytail. The sheriff placed the cooler box he was carrying on one of the lab benches, removing his hat before holding out his hand.
    ‘Much obliged you could find time to meet with me on such short notice, Doctor Stone.’
    Alison got to her feet. In truth she had been a little annoyed when she had found out that her assistant had committed her to the meeting. She had a flight to catch that evening and there was still a lot she needed to do around the lab. And Rutherford had been on her mind. She had explained to him outside the restaurant that she was only interested in a professional relationship and he had been offended, claiming that she had misunderstood. She hadn’t seen him since, which was unusual; in recent months he had been a frequent visitor to the lab. Had she over-reacted, reading something into what he had said? She didn’t think so - she had replayed the conversation in her head a thousand times. Not that that would ultimately matter; if the dean decided to make life difficult for her she would have no way to prove he had suggested anything inappropriate. The man certainly had a reputation, but then she had been spending a lot of time with him since she had arrived. Her colleagues at the faculty might be just as likely to believe she had led him on. More than anything she just wanted to forget the whole incident. She had half hoped to finish up early, grab an earlier flight and surprise her mother; seeing her might take her mind off Rutherford for a few days. Well, she could forget about that idea now.
    ‘So, Sheriff, what is it that brings you all the way out to California just before Christmas?’
    ‘Well, Doctor Stone, I’m not sure how much you’ve been told, but we’ve had an interesting few days in Hawthorne. Far more excitement than we’re accustomed to.’
    She nodded towards one of the lab stools.
    ‘Why don’t you start at the beginning, and I’ll see what I can do to help.’
    Alison listened as the sheriff explained the events of the last few days, starting with a van that had crashed in his town, and ending with the sudden disappearance of a