CHAPTER 235
Dr. Henry Wu turned towards Dodgson in the shadows of the limo. "You could've saved yourself a lot of trouble if you'd just come directly to me about acquiring the embryos."
Dodgson cracked his knuckles and looked out the window, watching as their vehicle departed the amphitheater. He sighed, "you have your hands full, Henry. The last thing you need is another distraction." Dodgson leaned back in his seat. "The less you're involved with the dirty work the better. I can't have you getting implicated in anything."
"It's all dirty work, Lewis."
Dodgson didn't seem to respond to Dr. Wu's comment. He closed his eyes for a matter of moments and settled so much that he appeared to be falling asleep. He almost had Dr. Wu convinced that he had dozed off when his eyes sprang open, and he shot up in his chair.
"Power nap!" Dodgson punched the car door and then dove his hand into a bucket of ice. When his fist came out it was gripped around what looked like a slender can of soda. He cracked the top and chugged it dry in seconds. Slamming it into a nearby cupholder he was already snatching another one from the ice bucket.
Dr. Wu was giving him an odd look, and Dodgson caught it. "Red Bull." He cracked the second can and quaffed it faster than the first. "This shit is huge in Austria. Big on the slopes."
Dr. Wu had never heard of it, and now Dodgson was opening a third can and passing it to him. The sweet smelling effervescence was sizzling in Henry's face and he felt somewhat queasy at its aroma. "No. Thank you, Lewis." He leaned away.
"Suit yourself." Dodgson shrugged as he pounded the third can.
Wu became stern. "So you're really going to go through with this?"
Through the last gulp Dodgson replied, "hell yes!" He crushed the can in his fist and threw it across the limo. "I really don't see another viable option, do you?"
Dr. Wu remained silent for a moment, examining Lewis Dodgson in the darkness of the limo. "Be careful, Lewis. The genetic modifications I've been sneaking in between the two species of raptor do not fall short of your request. They are stronger, faster, more intelligent… In some ways frighteningly so, especially the utahraptors."
"What are you, my friggin mother? That's god damned great. I look forward to getting my hands on what I paid you to engineer for me." Dodgson could see the concern on Dr. Wu's face was not going away. "I know people, Henry. I have connections for exactly these kinds of situations. There's a team of capable hands being put together as we speak. Plus, I already have a man on the ground. He's been working the inside for quite some time. Full disclosure, he might be dead. From what Peter has told me the situation on Site-B is far more of a shit show than it was on Isla Nublar. But if he is alive, and he's done his job, then we won't even have to put our boots on the ground."
Dr. Wu gave a subtle nod and folded his hands in his lap over crossed knees.
Dodgson rattled a box of Tic Tacs that he retrieved from within a hidden armrest compartment. "Trust me, Henry." He shook a third of the little white mints into his palm. "I've got it all figured out. Besides, I'm overdue for a vacation, and this might make up for that hunting trip to Africa I had to cancel."
Dodgson's face looked a little bitter as he catapulted the Tic Tacs into his mouth, but then he let out a hearty laugh. "Imagine that! A god damned tyrannosaurus rex mounted over my mantle!" He leaned across the limo and clapped Dr. Wu on the arm. Dodgson laughed again, "lighten up, Henry. It's gonna be good. It's gonna be real good."