She of the Sea

44 of 53 - A Perfect Specimen

Razzy Scott slowed the speedboat and drifted into the berth at the Verdanx Pharma facility on Live Oak Key. Danno checked the girl's pulse to make sure she was still okay. She remained asleep during the journey. He worried Claudia may have given her too large a dose of tranquilizer.

Doctor Armando stood at the dock wearing a wide smile. Danno couldn't ever recall seeing a smile on the man's face. As soon as they moored the boat, Armando jumped aboard, a stethoscope around his neck.

He rubbed his hands together in what looked to Danno like a little boy's glee over receiving a favorite Christmas present. "Where is the specimen? Let me see it."

Claudia held open the door to the small interior cabin and motioned for the doctor to step inside. Danno followed behind.

"Oh!" Doctor Armando exclaimed. He held both hands against the sides of his face. "What a perfect specimen. It's young and healthy. Perfect!"

He took a moment to check the girl's heartbeat with his stethoscope. "Bring it in," Armando commanded and ran from the boat back up the ramp to the lab.

With undisguised contempt showing on her face, Claudia asked, "Does anybody else think his attitude is a bit too orgasmic?"

"He's an asshole," Razzy uttered, "but he pays well."

Nico bent over and picked up the girl. "Cut the man some slack. He's patiently waited five years to get his hands on her."

Claudia held the cabin door open for Nico. "Yeah, that's right. Her.  It grates on me when he refers to the girl as an it."

Danno followed behind his team as they walked up a paved ramp into the double doors at the rear of the facility leading directly into Doctor Armando's private lab. He contemplated the big bonus they would all be receiving now that the job was finally done.

Once inside, Armando waited beside a stainless steel operating table with a built-in drip tray. Dials and gadgets attached to sensors connected to the base.

Two male lab assistants stood beside the doctor. One security guard sat on a stool leading from the lab into the front of the facility. The door they had entered leading to the dock was unguarded but heavily secured with a crossbar.

"Lay the specimen here," the doctor barked to Nico.

After Nico did so, the doctor looked at Claudia. "Take off the specimen's clothes."

Claudia scoffed. "Sorry Doc, that's beyond my scope of work."

"With all the money I've been paying you, you're going to quibble over some minor chore?"

"Why? Are you afraid to touch her?"

The doctor's face twisted in rage. "You will damn well do as I tell you."

Claudia jabbed a finger into his chest. "You need to be more racially sensitive. I'm nobody's slave."

Danno stepped between them to defuse the situation. "She's right, Doctor Armando. Our contract is now completed. We're done here."

The doctor grumbled under his breath and told one of his lab assistants to undress the girl.

"Let's go," Danno said. He and his team started for the door.

"Wait," the doctor yelled, sounded frantic. "Where are you going?"

Danno shrugged. "Like I said, we're done here. We brought you the girl as we were contracted to do."

"But...but..." he sputtered and pointed toward the girl. "Do you think anyone will come looking for it? Did anyone track you here?"

Danno gave it some thought. "Bruce Webb will know exactly where she is, and yes, he will come for her."