Chapter 8

Becky and Faber raced along the desert highway toward the lab. They were in Faber’s pickup truck. It was a little beaten up; it was in full use at the sanctuary, but it was clean. Faber was a careful driver. Not macho, not careless, fast enough to not drive people crazy, but not fast enough to be a menace. Despite his seemingly dangerous lifestyle, he did not take unnecessary risks.

It was still early morning and they were driving into the rising sun. Becky’s felt wired. Too much caffeine and too little sleep, and now the mystery of the blood. She felt like the inside of her head was dusty and eyes were sandy and dry.

The blood. The lab. That place had always been a place of menace. Hope, dreams, love…and menace. Becky looked over at Faber. Such a large and handsome man, long arms, long legs, deeply tanned skin. Intelligent, successful and kind. Becky’s heart filled with pride, and just as quickly the fear rose up in her. Why was motherly pride always followed by motherly fear?

She looked at the spot on her sleeve and thought about Faber’s tasting it to determine it was blood. She wanted to scold him, but he’d been careful and no one had seen him. She tried to be worried that he might have exposed himself to HIV or Hepatitis C, but as a scientist she knew those diseases were caused by blood-to-blood contact and that he was not in any realistic danger. But what if it had been a toxic substance on her sleeve? He couldn’t just going around tasting unknown substances. What if it were lead or mercury or some other poison. She turned to him and started to speak, then turned away. That wasn’t what she was worried.

Why did she let Faber drive her to the lab to investigate a stupid bloodspot? She shouldn’t have worked all night. The lack of sleep had decimated her judgment. She looked at the bloodspot again. Whatever caused it was no minor thing. She knew that. The terrible, decades long menace of that laboratory told her that. She had a feeling that something was happening, something that had been in the works for a very long time. But whatever it was, whatever danger there was, did not compare to the harm that might come to Faber at the laboratory. Not physical harm, but mental harm. They say knowledge is power, but there is some knowledge a mother will do anything to prevent her child from acquiring.