front of Cowan. Josie was glad to see the cream in the coffee. She had known how to fix the drink without asking.
Cowan thanked her and opened a small laptop in front of him. His expression turned grim. “This morning I talked to a contact at the CDC who is quite knowledgeable about radiation diagnosis and treatment. He’s sending us help tomorrow. We need to get a radiation assessment of the body, my lab, and each one of us. We’ll need to include Cassidy and Danny as well.”
Josie and Otto both looked at him in surprise. “What does that mean?” she asked.
Cowan pulled up notes on his computer and read from them. “Here’s the crux of it. From what I was able to provide the CDC this morning, the scientist I spoke with confirmed a strong possibility of acute radiation syndrome. Considering the speed with which Santiago died, there is a chance he was hit with a massive dose.”
Josie broke out in a cold sweat. “We stood right over the body and examined it. Are we in similar danger?”
“We won’t know until we get the proper equipment and get each of us tested. Meanwhile, Sheila, it is imperative that you call immediately if you see any additional cases. At this point, we’re approaching this as an isolated incident. If we find more people are affected, we could have a serious disaster looming.”
“What about the Feed Plant? Couldn’t they get us equipment?” Otto asked.
“The CDC is sending a certified hazardous materials technician. She’ll help us with the equipment, help us assess the situation and come up with a plan. My contact at the CDC suggested as this point that we wait and use CDC equipment, as well as their staff. Beacon Pathways may be very well trained, but then again, they may not be. I’m not willing to take the gamble.”
Josie was struggling not to look down at the picture of the sores lying in front of her on the table. “What do we do in the meantime?”
Cowan sighed heavily. “I know this goes against your grain. This is very unsettling. It is for me too. But I think we wait another half a day.”
“You don’t think a quarantine is in order?” she asked.
“Radiation is its own special kind of beast. Some radiation can be wiped on your skin and nothing will happen. You ingest the same thing and it will eat your insides up like battery acid. Some spreads through the air, others via surfaces. Some particles are radioactive for miles from the source and can be detected by a Geiger counter if a trace amount is on the shoe of a pedestrian that walks by. Other forms are only radioactive within centimeters of the source.”
Josie listened to Cowan, trying to make sense of what he was saying. “I think we call Diego Paiva and get a list of anyone who had contact with the area of the plant Santiago worked in during his last three days there. We recommend they stay at home until we find some answers. I don’t know what it could hurt.”
Otto gave her a skeptical look. “Gossip travels at the speed of light in Artemis. The Hot Tamale would have it broadcast by nightfall. The trauma unit would be full. And what would we tell people?”
Josie looked at Sheila, who nodded in agreement with Otto. Josie finally shrugged. “Okay. We wait.”
* * *
Josie left the meeting feeling numb. It had always been the unseen things in life that caused her the most fear: diseases, plague, nuclear radiation, bacteria, and parasites. She liked police work because the dangers were tangible. She could formulate a plan and attack it. A gun was a comfort. When she rested the palm of her hand on the butt of the gun in her holster she typically felt calm and in control. With this investigation she felt none of that.
She drove to Brent Thyme’s at 4:15. After talking with Sarah that afternoon, Josie opted not to call Brent to tell him she was stopping by. Josie was curious why Santiago’s death was troubling him so much, given that they weren’t close friends. She realized the fact that Santiago had been murdered could be reason enough to upset Brent, but it was worth exploring.
The couple lived in a small beige stucco adobe behind the police station. Brent and his wife Sarah were sitting in lawn chairs just inside the open doors of a two-car garage, staying out of the downpour. Josie pulled