actually believe it.
“Anything else? Because I need to speak to Seth alone before I go to class.”
And I wasn’t about to discuss my mother with Cathy DeWeese.
~~~~~
Alone in my new office, I powered on my computer. My hands shook, and my stomach reeled thinking of Ms. Long. According to her, she and I had been the only two who’d known the exact terms of my inheritance. She’d also had hinted at measures put in place in case anything happened to her or me. But what measures? And what information did she have that might have resulted in her murder?
Seth entered and closed the door behind him. “Nicely done in there. Equal parts snarky and mind-your-own-business attitude.”
“A woman was murdered, Seth.”
“I know.” His lips thinned into a straight line. “I’m sorry.”
I brought up my email; I had to focus forward. Sure enough, just as Maya promised, there was an email waiting for me from an unknown address with an attached video. “Any leads on where Sandra and John DeWeese may have gone?” I asked without looking up. Even I was starting to notice a change in my demeanor as I addressed Seth, a doctor twice my age and arguably twice my level of maturity. “Have they set up a new lab?”
“There’s no question they’ve set up a new lab. They would have had to have. Or, more likely, they had a lab in place well before coming here.”
I lifted my eyes. “So UK was just a stopover on their way to another place. They never had any intention of staying there?”
“Definitely. Remember, Sandra’s main reason for coming to Kentucky was to try to bring you, and others from the original seven, on to her team. And from what Jack and Jonas have told me, the lab at the university showed no real evidence of having bred any new clones, only developing the ones she already had into weapons for the IIA.”
Sandra had verified that she needed me for her research. And the IIA was obviously willing to help Sandra in exchange for the work she did for the military. But why did the IIA care so much about me? Or was I just the means to keep Sandra working on the projects she did for the government? That made much more sense. “So you have no idea where she would have moved to?”
“No, not yet. But Coach Williams has discovered where they may have been before they came to Kentucky.”
I clicked on the email and brought up the video, pausing it so that I could get my headphones out and untangled. “Where?”
“Auburn, Alabama.”
“Auburn University, maybe?” He nodded. “Why there? And why another university?” I tried to recall anything I knew about Auburn from the materials I received while accumulating college brochures over the last year and a half. “Because it has the top veterinarian school, possibly? Would she have been cloning animals again and needed their facilities?”
“That’s an idea, but a hunch tells me it’s more than that. A lot of stem cell research and therapeutic cloning studies are done inside animal science labs. However, I’m working to draw some correlations between the two places.”
I squinted at him. “How did Coach discover this?”
Seth narrowed his eyes. “Your mother told him.”
That was just perfect.
Redirecting my attention to the computer in front of me, I held up a finger. I had decided I wanted to view the video first before allowing Sandra’s brother to see her latest message. “Give me just a minute.” After placing the earbuds in my ears, I pushed play.
Sandra appeared on screen. Her hair blew in a breeze, and a palm tree stood in the background, reminding me that she had told me I would like the “beach location” of the next lab. “Hi, Lexi. I hope this video finds you well. That was a nice stunt you pulled back at the labs. I was impressed, and I don’t impress easily.”
My heart rate began a slow climb. I didn’t chance a look at Seth, who had to be wondering what I was watching.
“I trust you received my messages,” Sandra
“Anything else? Because I need to speak to Seth alone before I go to class.”
And I wasn’t about to discuss my mother with Cathy DeWeese.
~~~~~
Alone in my new office, I powered on my computer. My hands shook, and my stomach reeled thinking of Ms. Long. According to her, she and I had been the only two who’d known the exact terms of my inheritance. She’d also had hinted at measures put in place in case anything happened to her or me. But what measures? And what information did she have that might have resulted in her murder?
Seth entered and closed the door behind him. “Nicely done in there. Equal parts snarky and mind-your-own-business attitude.”
“A woman was murdered, Seth.”
“I know.” His lips thinned into a straight line. “I’m sorry.”
I brought up my email; I had to focus forward. Sure enough, just as Maya promised, there was an email waiting for me from an unknown address with an attached video. “Any leads on where Sandra and John DeWeese may have gone?” I asked without looking up. Even I was starting to notice a change in my demeanor as I addressed Seth, a doctor twice my age and arguably twice my level of maturity. “Have they set up a new lab?”
“There’s no question they’ve set up a new lab. They would have had to have. Or, more likely, they had a lab in place well before coming here.”
I lifted my eyes. “So UK was just a stopover on their way to another place. They never had any intention of staying there?”
“Definitely. Remember, Sandra’s main reason for coming to Kentucky was to try to bring you, and others from the original seven, on to her team. And from what Jack and Jonas have told me, the lab at the university showed no real evidence of having bred any new clones, only developing the ones she already had into weapons for the IIA.”
Sandra had verified that she needed me for her research. And the IIA was obviously willing to help Sandra in exchange for the work she did for the military. But why did the IIA care so much about me? Or was I just the means to keep Sandra working on the projects she did for the government? That made much more sense. “So you have no idea where she would have moved to?”
“No, not yet. But Coach Williams has discovered where they may have been before they came to Kentucky.”
I clicked on the email and brought up the video, pausing it so that I could get my headphones out and untangled. “Where?”
“Auburn, Alabama.”
“Auburn University, maybe?” He nodded. “Why there? And why another university?” I tried to recall anything I knew about Auburn from the materials I received while accumulating college brochures over the last year and a half. “Because it has the top veterinarian school, possibly? Would she have been cloning animals again and needed their facilities?”
“That’s an idea, but a hunch tells me it’s more than that. A lot of stem cell research and therapeutic cloning studies are done inside animal science labs. However, I’m working to draw some correlations between the two places.”
I squinted at him. “How did Coach discover this?”
Seth narrowed his eyes. “Your mother told him.”
That was just perfect.
Redirecting my attention to the computer in front of me, I held up a finger. I had decided I wanted to view the video first before allowing Sandra’s brother to see her latest message. “Give me just a minute.” After placing the earbuds in my ears, I pushed play.
Sandra appeared on screen. Her hair blew in a breeze, and a palm tree stood in the background, reminding me that she had told me I would like the “beach location” of the next lab. “Hi, Lexi. I hope this video finds you well. That was a nice stunt you pulled back at the labs. I was impressed, and I don’t impress easily.”
My heart rate began a slow climb. I didn’t chance a look at Seth, who had to be wondering what I was watching.
“I trust you received my messages,” Sandra
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