Tuesday Tales: From the Word PICKY

Welcome to this week’s Tuesday Tales. The month of March is almost over and nothing has improved. This week the Tuesday Tales’ authors are writing their 400 word scenes to the word prompt PICKY. I’m continuing with The White Dahlia. I’m working solely on this book now, so the story has moved ahead. Beth is bringing Al up to date on the Harvester cases.

There was very little in the reports about the last case, the one where you caught him.”

She licked her lips. She would have to be very careful here, because a slip of the tongue could have her charged with treason or endangering national security.

“One of Duncan Lucius’s sons, Adam, was a doctor in charge of a cancer clinic run by White Iris Pharmaceuticals. It was the place that blew up in Nevada six years ago, killing over a hundred people.”

“I read about that.” Al’s eyes widened. “You mean that had something to do with the Prophet?”

She nodded. “Adam used Hamilton Enterprise’s White Iris Clinic and White Iris Pharmaceutical for his own agenda. He created a series of dangerous drugs he gave the cancer patients, using them as human guinea pigs. He was working on approval for a drug that would activate the immune system and spent time at the CDC in Atlanta.”

“That’s why you called the file The White Iris, but why keep all this quiet? I seem to recall Hamilton Holdings took a real beating in the market.”

“They did, and we didn’t want word getting out that the company was in any way connected to the Prophet because Adam did more than make new drugs. While at the CDC, he stole samples of some of the deadliest viruses humanity has ever faced. He used them to create a virus of his own and a vaccine for it that he tested on patients.”

“He bioengineered a virus? You’re talking sci-fi again.”

“I wish I were, but this was the real deal and he tested it several times with terrifying results. The Prophet intended to release the virus in the United States, decimating the population, not picky about who or how many he killed. Once a significant portion had succumbed, he would announce that a vaccine had been created. It would raise his profile, make him some kind of hero and then, with the vaccine at hand, he could take over the country and bend it to his will.”

“I knew the man was crazy, but this information brings that to a whole new level of insane.”

Beth nodded. “We managed to stop them in time, and it was a good thing we did because the virus was unstable and the vaccine didn’t work. Things could’ve been so much worse. When we trapped the Prophet—well, he didn’t survive.”

“Suicide by cop. Happens all the time.”

That’s it. Stay safe and don’t forget to check out the other Tuesday Tales