“We recovered some very interesting data,” Randall said. He helped himself at the bar, pouring a large drink. The agency was paying for it, so Taylor didn’t say anything. He waited as his former boss took a long swallow, made a face, and turned to look at the two of them. After a moment he shook his head and finished the drink, going back to pour another. “All it was the ramblings of a madwoman, of course.”

“Of course,” Angelica said.

Taylor just raised an eyebrow. There really wasn’t anything he could add to that.

“Do you know that she was so obsessed with this fantasy of hers that she even altered film to make it look like people changed into large cats?” He looked at Taylor quite meaningfully as he said that last part.

“Shocking,” Taylor murmured, placing a hand on Angelica’s shoulder.

“Unprofessional. And horrible,” Angelica echoed, her fingers wrapping around his as she leaned back in her chair.

“Yeah.” Randall finished his second drink and poured another. “She even doctored footage to make the two of you look like you shifted. Of course, it’s all nonsense, and anyone caught spreading such fanciful delusions will be thoroughly investigated.”

“Thank you.” Angelica smiled and looked away.

“Not many have seen the tapes, so we were able to contain it. As for me... I have a nephew who is fifteen. He made a movie where he attached his father to a horse and created a centaur. Moved and everything. It was the most disturbing thing I ever saw.”

“It was that realistic?” Angelica asked, her eyebrow raised.

“No, I can’t stand my brother-in-law. Ask me, he stapled the face to the wrong end of the horse. But that’s neither here nor there. The point is, the video is faked, something anyone with a computer could do, so it’s been destroyed as useless. The doctor’s notes, too, have been shredded as the ramblings of a genuine mad scientist. You don’t hear about them too often.” He took a sip and swirled his glass. “I suppose, though, that if there were something... medical that might prevent you from doing your job, I would think you’re under obligation to inform me about it.”

“If there ever was anything that would interfere with my work,” Taylor said carefully, “I would tell you right away.”

Randall started into his glass for a long moment and nodded. “Fair enough.” He set the glass down on the table and shrugged into his suit jacket. “Just so you know, you’re no longer fired.”

Taylor put out his hand to stop him. “But the general?”

“Disappeared when he found out the slave trade ring here was busted. I assume that when we follow the right thread, we’ll find him again.”

“Randall.” Angelica rose from her chair and crossed over to the man. She hugged him and kissed his cheek.

“You see that, Taylor?” Randall’s face was red, but he was smiling. “That’s how you show respect to your boss.”

Taylor snorted. “You’re not my type.”

“There’s something else I should tell you. We tracked down the financials of that little lab she was running. We found a large private investment company calling itself Shifter Research. It was harder to track that through the dummy companies, but we finally were able to pin a name to it. It’s your old friend, Griselda.”

“The drug cartel Griselda?” Angelica went pale. “She’s alive? I could have sworn... I mean...”

“Apparently. It seems she has her finger in a whole lot of pies. She was behind the slave trade, too, funneling funds through Melinda. She sponsored the whole operation.”

“Despite what Melinda said,” Angelica murmured, shaking her head, “it did seem rather coincidental that two different groups were using the refugees to their own benefit. Oh!”

“What?” Taylor looked at her in concern.

“Something that Dr. Johns said when we were captured: ‘I was told about you, but I didn’t believe it.’”

Randall nodded. “It seems you weren’t as random as you thought. Melinda was already beginning research on the village she found when you arrived, and Griselda found out. She contacted Melinda and told her about a similar experience and they began comparing notes. Griselda funded the lab from the slave trade, and when you showed up at the clinic Griselda made sure that one of Melinda’s test subjects would show up during your shift.”

“So I would call Taylor,” she said in a quiet voice, wrapping her arms around her middle as though cold. “We’ve been manipulated from day one.”

“You have a powerful enemy,” Randall said. His tone was apologetic. “You both do now.”

“Those poor people...” Angelica murmured, and shook her head. “All those refugees ever wanted was a safe place to go. And the one place where they should have been safe, they weren’t.”

“But Meadowlark and several other international organizations are stepping in now, to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” Taylor reminded her, putting an arm around her shoulders and drawing her close.

She nodded.

Randall grabbed his coat from where it had been draped over a chair by the door. “Just keep out of trouble, please. I expect you back in the States inside of a week. Vacation’s over then, and we need you back on active duty.”

“Some vacation.” Taylor shook his head. “And Randall? Thanks for the warning.”

Randall snorted and headed for the door. “You need some down time,” he called over his shoulder. “You both do. Keep the room—I’ve paid for the week.” He reached into his jacket and pulled out a packet of papers which he dropped on the table by the door.

“Randall?” Angelica called after him. “What about the clinic? They don’t have any doctors now.”

Randall paused and shrugged. “That isn’t our call, Angelica. You have to ask Meadowlark.” He turned at the door and gave Taylor a knowing look before turning back to Angelica. “And, Doctor, if you’re looking for work... I think the two of you make a great team.”

She blinked at him in surprise. “Thank you, Randall. I-I’ll consider it.”

“Don’t I get a say?” Taylor lifted an eyebrow and pulled her against him in a tight embrace.

“No,” Randall and Angelica said at the same time.

“Didn’t think so.”