Typhoon Fury (Oregon Files 12)

“The Magellan Sun. Locsin thou

ght it was better to buy his own ship after one he’d chartered was confiscated.”

“Do you know where I can find this ship?”

Lynch shook his head, then blurted out, “But I know where the warehouse is. I can give you the address.” He recited an address, which Van Der Waal entered into his phone. “Now, please. Please, can I have my dose?”

Brekker studied Lynch, but he couldn’t detect any deceit. “Let me make a phone call first. Just to check your story.”

He pocketed the pills and stepped outside while, behind him, Lynch cried for him not to go.

The hut sat in the middle of a vast grid of flooded rice paddies, and the rising sun reflected off the still water. Mist rose around Brekker, obscuring the nearest building, another shack a mile away in the distance. He took out his phone and called his current employer.

Greg Polten answered on the second ring. “I’m in L.A. about to get on a flight to Bangkok. Did you get any info?”

“You might want to change your flight plans. Lynch cracked when I held back the Typhoon pill that was on him when we took him, just as you predicted. Perhaps it’s time you told me what this drug does.”

“That’s not important for you to know,” Polten said, the air of superiority in the American chemist’s voice oozing through the phone. “I’m paying you to retrieve that pill for me and find more of it if you can. That’s it.”

The tone convinced Brekker that he was holding something far more valuable than the contract he’d taken.

“All right” was all he said.

“So can you find more of it?”

“Yes, I think we can. We’re going to Manila next.”

“Good. I’ll meet you there.”

“You will?”

“Yes,” Polten said. “I need to test the pill you have before we go any further, just to make sure you have the real thing.”

After seeing Lynch’s behavior, Brekker had no doubt that it was.

“And Lynch?” he asked. “What should I do with him? Eliminate him?”

“No. Bring him with you.”

“With us? Why?” Transporting him would bring extra security risks, though he thought Lynch would do anything he asked as long as he dangled the prospect of his dose in front of him.

“I want to see the effects of his withdrawal in person. It will give me a lot of useful data for my analysis of the drug.”

“It’ll be expensive to move him.”

“I can cover the expense,” Polten said.

“Very well,” Brekker said. “When can you be there?”

“I’ll get the next flight out to Manila. My colleague and I will be there by tonight.”

“You’re paying the bills, so whatever you say. We’ll see you there.”

Brekker hung up and went back inside the shack.

“No commercial flight for us this time, boys,” he announced. “We’re going to hire a charter so we can take Mr. Lynch with us.”

“Can I have my Typhoon now?” Lynch pleaded.