Lethal Reaction

by Dawn Marsanne

  Zac went off to the room where they ran their data and tampered with one of the printers, disconnecting one of the cables partially. He then came to find Nick and told him he was having trouble thus Nick had to leave his office desk unattended. He knew that Nick regarded Zac as very much the newcomer and loved to be able to sort out his problems. Once he had Nick in the data room, he found a reason to have to rush out, saying that he realised he’d left something running in their lab. But instead, he hurried through the lab and into the office area. As he rushed passed Nick’s desk with some papers of his own, he stumbled and knocked a few of them off the desk. Whilst picking them up he managed to filch a council tax bill and a bank statement.

  Armed with his prize, Zac had popped off-site that lunchtime into town and opened his library account, he’d asked for computer access as well and they’d given him a PIN number. He didn’t have time to check out that he could access the system though as he was desperate to get back to work and return the documents. He had to be vigilant not to be observed, so he waited until Nick and Billie went off for a meeting and then put the documents back on Nick’s desk along with some copies of an interesting research paper from a journal. That way Nick would just think everything had got mixed up in the disarray.

  Whilst formulating his plan he’d engaged Nick in conversation about the amenities in Persford and said how he had noticed a really big well equipped public library. Nick said he’d never been in, didn’t have an account, and didn’t really have much time for reading books. If he did want any books he downloaded them on Polly’s Kindle. It was essential to know this as he didn’t want the embarrassment of trying to open a library account in Nick’s name if he already had one. Thus Nick had been identified as the prime candidate for Zac’s subterfuge.

  That Saturday morning Zac planned to adopt Nick’s identity and head down to the library to find a solution to his uncooperative chemistry. At about 9 a.m. on Saturday morning, Zac was just having a quick bowl of cereal when his brother emerged from the shower and came into the kitchen to get himself breakfast.

  ‘So bro,’ Ez said to Zac, ‘fancy doing anything today?

  Zac shook his head and spoke whilst eating, ‘Oh, sorry Ez, I’m busy this morning,’

  ‘What you up to then?’ enquired Ez, ‘got a hot date?’

  ‘Ha, very funny, as you might have noticed I’ve not had time for that recently, nor enough money either. No, I’ve got a few things to do in town, perhaps see you later?’

  ‘Well if you wait ten minutes I’ll come with you, I want to get some fresh air, I think I’ll see if there are any trainers in the sales. Where are you going in town?’

  Zac hated lying to his brother so he told him he was going to pop into the main library see what it was like. So far he’d managed to keep his illicit syntheses secret and he was determined to continue in that vein.

  ‘The library? Seriously? Don’t you spend enough time reading your scientific journals and books during the week?’ said Ez, shaking his head and rummaging around in the cupboard for his cereal.

  ‘I just thought I’d see what it’s like, someone at work told me it’s really excellent.’ Zac hadn’t told Ez that he’d already been to Persford library and had used the computers on a previous occasion. Ez had been at work on that occasion.

  ‘Well, it’s too nice a day for sitting in some stuffy library as far as I’m concerned.’

  ‘Well you’re going to spend it in stuffy shops so what’s the difference?’ said Zac, conscious his tone was becoming rather petulant. He was getting a bit annoyed at his brother questioning his movements, it was bad enough being at work and under scrutiny.

  ‘Keep your hair on, do what you want, it doesn’t matter to me,’ replied his brother equally tetchily, slamming the cupboard door shut.

  Zac realised this conversation was becoming childish and had the potential to escalate to the point where they were each shouting at each other. Ez wasn’t the most even-tempered of people and his mental illness in the past had left him quick to anger. He’d done well to get his life back together again so Zac needed to be careful how he handled him.

  ‘Sorry Ez, I’m just a bit tired after a long week. How about we each do our separate things this morning, if you hurry up and get ready we can walk into town together and then we could meet up for a beer and a sandwich? Are there any good matches on today, we could find a pub which is showing one, take it easy this afternoon, how does that sound?’

  ‘Well it sounds good, I’ll check what’s being shown and where and I’ll text you later. Good plan.’

  So Zac was pleased he had diffused that situation. Hopefully, he could work out a better plan for his reactions next week and also have some downtime with his brother. He was doing this for Ez, but he must be protected, he must never know what his brother was up to, that could tip him over into another crisis.

  Chapter 13

  It was now Monday morning, the start of a new week and the beginning of Brett’s career at BioQEx completely in charge of the science. His mood was a mixture of eager anticipation and apprehension that morning. He arrived early, just before 8 a.m. Parking across two spaces he strutted confidently into the building, introducing himself to the security guard who was manning the desk until the receptionist arrived at 8 a.m. They exchanged pleasantries although Brett wasn’t really listening, he was feigning interest, his sole aim to make a good impression with the ‘lower rungs of society’ as he thought of them.

  ‘Cocky bastard,’ muttered Mark under his breath as Brett rounded the corner heading for the lift. Typical he thought to himself, he could take the stairs instead of behaving like an invalid.

  Brett was pleased to see Amanda already present and looking radiant. She seemed a lot more efficient than the hapless Sally, her predecessor whom he had spoken to on a couple of occasions and actually met on a brief visit over to BioQex. She had the memory of a goldfish, had particular trouble remembering people’s names, not a good attribute in a secretary.

  First up he had another meeting with Bob McKewan, Head of Biology, what a way to start Monday he thought. He’d been introduced to him before and he didn’t feel they were going to hit it off. Bob was so ‘old school’, always starting a sentence “when I was at..followed by the name of his previous company,” which just at the moment escaped Brett’s memory. He would try and stop him saying that all the time, the important thing was what was happening here and now. He had to keep Bob on his side though, he knew a lot more about the area of pain biology than he did. They had their prototype BQ-561 in which a lot of interest was being shown by a large company but they were carrying on in the therapeutic area in order to hopefully increase potency and duration of action of the next potential drug candidate.

  He could see Bob hovering around outside his office, chatting to Amanda, so Brett got up and called Bob in. Better get it over with, he thought, then perhaps the rest of the day would be a bit more cheery.

  Bob sat down at the small table in Brett’s office, it was more conducive to a good discussion to sit at a separate table rather than face each other across a desk.

  ‘Right, anything you wanted to discuss in particular this morning Brett, I’m a bit busy you know,’ asked Bob his face showing no trace of emotion.

  ‘Well, it’s good to hear you are busy,’ said Brett rather pointedly, ‘I would expect nothing less of you Bob.’

  This elicited no response from Bob, merely a hard stare.

  ‘Well I just want you to take me through your plans for progressing BQ, let me see, BQ-896, that’s the number isn’t it. The follow-on compound from the prototype. Just remind me where we are at with this and what we need to do.’

  ‘Sure, no problem, I’ve got it all here for you, I can email you a copy later.’ And Bob continued to talk quickly and enthusiastically of what needed to be done, time-scales, costings etc. When he was talking science his mood changed completely. It was obviously the social niceties he had trouble with.

  ‘Well
that all sounds great Bob, how long do you think it will take to get through all that lot assuming we don’t have any problems along the way?’

  ‘Well, I’ll have to get back to you with a firm answer on that if you don’t mind. But I just wanted to point something out. I don’t want to be told to get on with it and then told to hold back on some studies just because we want to keep the investors happy,’ Bob was getting a bit agitated now, his colour in his face heightened somewhat.

  ‘Bob, I’m not sure what you are driving at can you enlighten me?’

  ‘Well, yes, I don’t want to malign your predecessor, Matt, but he really got me annoyed one time as he wanted me to stall on the study to check whether 561 affected the DNA in cells just so we could ensure our funding from the venture capitalists,’ Bob was really agitated now, he loosened his collar. ‘It really got up my nose, that sort of thing.’

  ‘Well Bob, I can’t comment on what went on before my time, but I can assure you I plan to operate to the highest ethical standards. I believe in being open and honest and above board, it’s really important to me, you can sleep easily.’

  ‘Mmm, well, I’m pleased to hear it,’ said Bob, sounding less than convinced. ‘Well best get on, lots to do,’ and with that, he walked with a heavy tread out of the office.

  Brett got up and went to look out of the window. Well, that was an interesting conversation, Matt you old bugger he thought, you were up to some slightly dodgy practices weren’t you, as well as that other little business of yours I got involved in. I wish I’d known about that information from Bob a couple of months ago, it might have given me a bit more ammunition. Despite that, Bob seemed to be missing the point that they were working for a commercial organisation that continually had to strive for funding. It was all very well having principles but if you stuck to them so rigidly you could end up shooting yourself in the foot. There was no harm in just deferring some studies for a few weeks, it wasn’t the same as actually covering up information. Bob seemed reasonably happy with Brett’s little speech about being all above board but in truth, he would have done the same as Matt. However that little conversation with Bob had been useful, it had marked Bob down as a troublemaker, and Brett would make sure he stayed one step ahead of principled Bob.

  Brett checked his watch and saw that it was now time for a coffee. He had brought in a cafetière and some nice ground coffee today, he would go and hand them over to Amanda and tell her how he liked his coffee made. That would have to suffice until he put in an order for a coffee pod machine, he would try to get on to that this week. Although it wasn’t scheduled in his diary he thought it was time he had a little word with Nick Thomas today, he had learned his name from his meeting with gorgeous Billie last week. Nick wasn’t expecting a meeting so it would be good to catch him on the hop. After he’d had some rejuvenating coffee he would get Amanda to phone Nick and tell him he wanted a chat with him at 11 a.m. Let him stew a bit for an hour before I see him, thought Brett to himself, smiling.

  Chapter 14

  Nick and Polly had enjoyed a pleasant Saturday visiting a National Trust house and gardens nearby. There had been sufficient distraction for them to keep off the subject of work and his theories. They had spent all day together, enjoying a film at home in the evening, a perfect day really, just like every weekend used to be before the unfortunate incident of Sarah’s accident a few months ago. On Sunday they caught up with some chores and Nick went for a run whilst Polly went out for coffee with one of her girlfriends. So when Monday morning arrived Nick felt positively energised and ready for a week at work. He was hoping to stay in a positive frame of mind all week, he would focus solely on his chemistry and ignore all the distractions around him.

  As he pulled into the car park at about 8.15 a.m. he spotted Mark from security leaving the building, yawning and looking rather drained. He sounded his horn at him lightly and Mark stopped in his tracks waiting for Nick to select a space then walked over to his car.

  ‘Hey, Mark, good morning!’ said Nick cheerfully.

  ‘Oh, hi Nick,’ yawned Mark, ‘sorry, been a bit of a long night. Caught some yobs trying to graffiti round the back of one of the other buildings last night, so had to get the police etc. Will be ready for my bed when I get home.’ He stretched his arm above his head and exhaled loudly. ‘Anyway, you seem to be in a good mood this morning, nice weekend was it?’

  ‘Oh, yes, lovely thanks, I had to patch things up with Polly a bit, we’ve been having a few difficulties recently.’

  ‘Sorry to hear that mate, hope things are back to normal and you’re not sleeping on the sofa!’ and he punched Nick playfully on the arm, giving him a cheeky wink.

  ‘Er, well we never quite got to that stage thankfully, let’s just say normal service is now resumed,’ and they both laughed.

  ‘Well I hope your colleague is in a better mood than he was on Friday, otherwise, you might be in for a miserable day.’

  ‘I assume you mean grumpy Zac,’ said Nick, his mood darkening somewhat.

  ‘Yes, Zac, he was here very late again on Friday, in fact, I went up to tell him at quarter to eight to remind him of the time. I arrived at your lab to hear him swearing profusely and he said his reaction had just gone horribly wrong. He was really down.’

  ‘Really?’ said Nick frowning, ‘well as you say, let’s hope he’s got over it this morning.’

  They started to say goodbye, then Mark turned back.

  ‘Say, how do you fancy a few beers one night this week, I’m not working nights on Wednesday, got some time owing to me, are you free?’

  ‘Well I think so, just let me clear it with Polly, but should be OK, I’ll text you by the end of today, sound OK?’

  ‘Great, I’ll look forward to it, we’ve not had a proper chat in ages, I can give you a bit of advice on how to deal with Polly if she misbehaves!’ and he winked again at Nick.

  Nick gave a subtle acknowledgement and smiled. It was obvious Mark found Polly very attractive, most men did. She had that vulnerable waif-like look which appealed to the male protective instinct. ‘OK, see you soon, Mark, hope you get a good sleep,’ he said and raised his hand.

  Nick walked into work wondering what sort of mood Zac would indeed be in this morning. He normally arrived about half eight, quarter to nine. Nick sat down at his desk, noticed Billie was in early, she gave him a friendly hello, well she seemed to have had a good weekend thought Nick.

  He was quite interested in what Mark had just said about Zac’s chemistry going horribly wrong. He would check in the electronic notebook just to see if he’d made a note of it failing or giving a poor yield or something. Nick was a bit worried as he was hoping for some of that intermediate which Zac was making, and if he’d not managed to make it then it meant Nick’s plans would need modification. He opened up Zac’s electronic notebook from his laptop and found the relevant page. He read through it, all seemed to be in order, Zac had reported it had gone quite well, a good yield of seventy percent. He clicked on the attached data, that looked good, he couldn’t see any problems with it. He went a few reactions further back, they were all OK as well, he’d made quite a few compounds for biological screening, he was getting through his work efficiently. However, there was one thing which puzzled Nick, when he looked at the dates the reactions had been started and he thought back to the number of hours Zac was putting in, he would have thought he might have made more progress. He made a mental note of the page number of the intermediate which Zac was making for the whole project and popped into the lab to have a look in his fume-hood. There in plain sight was a large flask containing what looked like a considerable amount of white powder, the page number matched the one he’d just been looking at, so as far as he could see he had made a nice amount of material for project use.

  Well, it’s all a bit odd thought Nick, unless Mark had been mistaken, although it’s not easy to mistake someone who’s cursing because their reaction has failed. Also from what Mark said it sounded as though they’
d had a conversation. Nick’s cheerful and positive mood suddenly evaporated, it wasn’t yet 9 a.m. on a Monday and already he felt that horrible creeping feeling start to envelop him, something was clearly wrong. He just didn’t know what it was.

  He was brought back to reality by the lab door opening and the arrival of Zac, his face set in an angry grimace.

  ‘Good Morning Nicholas, were you looking for something?’ asked Zac, his voice containing a slight menace.

  ‘Oh, hi Zac,’ said Nick, his voice suddenly consumed by an annoying frog in his throat. He coughed a couple of times.

  ‘I just wondered how your reaction had gone on Friday?’

  ‘Oh, so I report to you know, do I?’ asked Zac sarcastically.

  ‘No, and there’s no need for that, thank you,’ said Nick his confidence returning. ‘After all, you are making an intermediate which I need to use and I just wondered if it had gone OK, otherwise, I’ll have to change my plans.’

  ‘Well it’s here, right in front of you,’ said Zac, pointing. It just needs drying a bit more. So when I’ve done that you can have some, happy now?’ and flashed a fake grin at Nick, holding his gaze determinedly.

  ‘Thanks, that’s great,’ and Nick looked over to his desk to see his phone flashing.

  I’d better go and answer that!’ he said, rushing out of the lab, quite relieved he’d had an excuse to flee.

  ‘Nick Thomas,’ he answered, his voice displaying a slight tremor.

  ‘Nick, it’s Amanda here. Just a call to ask you to pop along to see Brett at 11 o’clock for about 15 minutes, is that OK?’

  ‘Brett wants to see me? Did he say what it’s about specifically?’

  ‘No, I guess it’s just a chat to get to know you.’

  ‘Right, 11 did you say, yes, thanks, Amanda,’ and Nick put the phone down.

  ‘Shit,’ he muttered to himself. What an awful start to the week, first that encounter with Zac and now Mr Slimy. He suddenly felt a bit unwell, his bowels loosening and he walked swiftly in the direction of the gents’ toilets.