Lethal Reaction

by Dawn Marsanne

  Chapter 15

  Zac’s weekend had improved as it had gone along. He had spent a very useful couple of hours using the computers in Persford library, and he thought he had worked out where he’d gone wrong with his reaction. After that, they’d gone for a sandwich and beers down by the river and Ez reckoned a girl had been looking over with interest at his brother. Zac was certainly quite handsome, some would say with rugged looks, naturally muscular without having to spend ages working out at the gym. But he had previously been reluctant to commit to relationships due to his rather fragile personal life. He felt that a girlfriend might be wary of getting involved with him when he revealed that he had to take responsibility for his brother. Perhaps soon he would feel more financially stable and less emotionally stressed and would actively look to meet someone.

  His main focus of the weekend had been to find some improved experimental conditions which he was now keen to try, but he couldn’t try them straight away, not with beady-eyed Nick hovering around every corner. He felt sure he wasn’t on to him yet, but it might be only a matter of time now. He just couldn’t give up now though, he had a horrible feeling he might be getting bad news about his car today. He’d dropped it round to the garage this morning and they had given him a lift to work, they were going to call him later today with the verdict. He needed to make a sale of the PCP and the proceeds would either pay to repair his car or help him purchase another one. He just needed to keep cool, retain his resolve and just make sure there was nothing for nosy Nick to latch on to.

  Then Caroline and Kirsty arrived at their usual time and seemed in good spirits chatting away about their weekend. They had given up asking Zac what he got up to as they thought he was a bit dull and a workaholic. When Nick returned to the lab they set about questioning him about his day out with Polly, and so that occupied Nick together with his science. He seemed rather glum though, even Zac noticed that, and it wasn’t long before Caroline and Kirsty picked up on it as well.

  ‘Nick, are you OK?’ asked Caroline, ‘you seem a bit stressed.’

  ‘Oh, I’m fine, it’s just I got a bit of a surprise when Amanda phoned up telling me that Brett wants to have a chat with me at eleven.’

  ‘Well I don’t think you’ve anything to worry about, have you?’ asked Caroline reassuringly.

  ‘It’s good that he wants to see you so early on, after all, it’s his first proper full day here, you must be honoured, perhaps he’s heard good things about you?’ said Kirsty smiling.

  ‘What do you think Zac? Don’t you think Nick should feel pleased that Brett wants to speak to him?’

  ‘Oh, I’m sure Nick has nothing to worry about. Unless there are some changes in manning. A reorganisation,’ added Zac, deciding to twist the knife and add to his colleague’s anxiety. It’s not Brett he needs to worry about, he thought to himself.

  This was very good news to Zac’s ears, Nick seemed very worried about his upcoming meeting with Brett, he wasn’t sure why. But it was a bonus as far as he was concerned. As long as he was worried about the big chief he wouldn’t be too concerned about checking up on his reactions. Well there was nothing for him to see at the moment, more’s the pity he thought, as his reaction hadn’t gone well on Friday. Tonight he would try out his new conditions but it would have to be on a small scale as he had used up most of one of his reagents. He would need to check in the storeroom to see whether there was a replacement stock of the necessary reagent, otherwise he would have to order some more. Fortunately, it wasn’t expensive so should escape any scrutiny when the company was billed. The more worrying thing was not knowing exactly when it would be delivered to the lab, he wouldn’t put it past Nick opening up parcels destined for Zac and that would mean he would have to think of an excuse as to why he needed it. None of the actual project plans needed that reagent. Inwardly he groaned, this was becoming a nightmare.

  **

  At 11 a.m. exactly Nick knocked tentatively on Brett’s door and was called in. Brett ushered him over to the small table by the window and sat down opposite him. It was a generally agreed principle that it was better not to sit opposite people, it made them feel uncomfortable. However today this was that was exactly what he wanted Nick to feel, anxious. He was also sure that he could exacerbate his colleague’s anxiety once he started to speak to him.

  ‘So Nick, just thought it would be good to have a little chat,’ said Brett, beaming at Nick who looked very hot and stressed.

  ‘Er, yes, Brett, hi, nice to meet you too, well I saw you last week with Piers of course, but not to speak to I mean, anyway, yes, it’s good, very good, isn’t it, yes, erm...’ and then he petered out to nothing.

  Brett was inwardly enjoying this enormously. The guy was definitely squirming.

  ‘So, how’s your project going then?’ asked Brett.

  Nick felt a bit more comfortable at this point and he relaxed slightly, talking about how things were progressing sounding very enthusiastic about things. Talking about promising results and so on, it all sounded very impressive.

  ‘Well that’s great Nick, pleased to hear you sound so positive about things, but there is obviously quite a way to go with BQ-896 and we need to keep pushing to make sure we have other compounds coming along in case that falls by the wayside.’

  ‘Sure, sure,’ nodded Nick sagely.

  ‘So I want you to make sure you form a really effective team with Billie, you must make sure you direct all your efforts towards the project.’

  Nick was listening carefully, he began to wonder where all this was heading. Had Billie said something unfavourable about him?

  Brett continued. ‘Well now that I’m at the helm it’s like a new phase for the company, Matt did wonders for BioQex but now he’s gone and I will probably want to run things a bit differently than Matt. He was a bit laid back in some aspects, particularly with regard to certain behaviours he had tolerated from staff.’

  What Nick didn’t realise was that Brett had asked Amanda to send him Nick’s file containing his appraisals from the last three years, and in it was clearly stated that Nick had a tendency to spend too much time speculating or gossiping, it meant he could be easily distracted. Brett had thought this was a euphemism for “annoying busybody.” He’d formed that opinion of him when he’d seen him in Bells Wine Bar that fateful night.

  ‘Do you follow me, Nick?’ he asked fixing him with an icy stare.

  ‘Yes, I think so,’ replied Nick extremely quietly.

  ‘There is plenty for you to concentrate on here with your science without spending any time on reading too much into what others are doing. After all, there are plenty of scientists from StourMed looking for jobs at the moment, as I’m sure you know,’ and he smiled again at Nick who was most certainly not smiling. They both sat in silence for a few moments.

  Then suddenly Brett slapped his palms down on the table making Nick jump.

  ‘Well thanks for your time, I’m sure you’ve lots to get on with, I won’t keep you.’

  ‘Thanks,’ replied Nick, standing up and steadying himself with the edge of the table. He started to leave feeling stupefied at the conversation, he was definitely being threatened, the message was clear, any rumours particularly involving Brett and he would be out on his ear on no doubt some trumped up charges of not performing well enough in his job. This was unbelievable.

  ‘Oh, one thing before you go, how do you feel about organising a little social get together, sometime in the next couple of weeks. I’d like to meet all of the staff in more informal surroundings, do you know any nice pubs or bars that would be suitable?’

  Nick was sorely tempted to suggest Bells Wine Bar but held himself in check. He was seething, one minute he was being told to concentrate on his job, the next he was being Brett’s secretary and organising a social get together, what a cheek!

  ‘That sounds a good idea,’ he said with little enthusiasm. ‘I’ll give it some thought.’

  ‘Before you organise anything, check with Am
anda, I’ll let her know when I’m free.’

  So that was the meeting over. Nick wished he’d had the courage to ask why Amanda couldn’t the organise the jolly get together. But he’d got the message. Brett was giving him clear signals but not in so many words that he recognised him from Bells Wine Bar. Perhaps he’d endured some uncomfortable questioning by the police, well good, thought Nick, he deserved it. Dr Chandler you are a two-faced scheming bastard, he thought and I don’t like you one little bit. Despite those words of bravado to himself, Nick was seriously rattled, this could mean that if he put a foot wrong or even if he didn’t his career at BioQex could be over much sooner than he intended. Nick headed to the gents’ toilets with an extreme urgency for the second time that morning.

  Chapter 16

  Nick couldn’t remember much of the rest of the day, he was extremely subdued and his colleagues started to notice. Billie asked him if he was OK, was he feeling unwell, he just said he thought he was coming down with a headache. She told him to go home if it got any worse as he was looking rather pale and drawn. Under normal circumstances when he’d had a bad day at work he normally discussed it with Polly but this was definitely not a subject he could discuss. They’d had loads of arguments recently when Nick mentioned that he thought something strange was going on at work and Polly had urged caution. She had warned Nick that his continued obsession with his ‘conspiracy theories’ as she liked to call them, unfairly he felt, was going to land him in hot water and today that prediction had come true. It was a warning in the starkest possible terms from the head of science. Brett was asserting his authority and Nick was a powerless little worm in the big man’s empire.

  Nick felt a mixture of despair and outrage. There was no one he could discuss things with. He certainly couldn’t chat to the secretive Zac, after all he was someone who seemed to be very devious. He wouldn’t trust him an inch, and Caroline and Kirsty were lovely but naïve, they took everyone at face value. He desperately needed to discuss this with someone to get some perspective.

  That was it, he had it, he nearly jumped out of his chair. Mark from security was the person. He would text him now and arrange to go out with him on Wednesday evening. Mark was sufficiently removed from the world of research to take an objective view of things. He was a sensible guy, pragmatic, family man, just the sort of person to act as devil’s advocate to Nick. He didn’t bother asking Polly if she minded him going out on Wednesday evening, he didn’t care, after all, if she didn’t keep admonishing him about his feelings he wouldn’t need to find a confidant.

  Mark texted back almost immediately, they would meet up Wednesday evening about 7.30 p.m., Mark would let him know the venue in a separate message. Nick felt suddenly much happier, it was a couple of days to wait but at least he’d set something in place. He also needed to send round a message to everyone about this social event Brett wanted. He would make it quite clear he’d been asked by Brett to organise it, otherwise, Billie would think he was wasting time. It was only just 4.30 p.m. but after he’d sent that message he would leave, he did still have a headache, so he had an excuse. He’d had quite enough of today.

  **

  Zac looked over and noticed Nick packing up to leave, well that was a relief, he would be able to start his other work sooner than he’d anticipated, albeit on a small scale as he didn’t have much starting material left. He’d been down to the storeroom but sadly there wasn’t another bottle so he’d put in order which might arrive tomorrow but if not definitely by Wednesday.

  **

  Brett’s day was drawing to a close, the most enjoyable part had been watching Nick Thomas feel really uncomfortable. He wondered at one point whether he was going to pass out. Brett didn’t really care about what had happened in the past with Sarah, it was a chapter closed now. The police had sensibly decided there was no case to investigate, they had also been indulging in some Nick-like speculation. Was the world full of people who had nothing better to do than read intrigue into situations? Just before he left he checked his personal emails, he’d had a receipt for his payment for the alumni dinner, and a reminder of the time and date. He was a bit shocked to see that it was a week on Friday, he hadn’t realised time had advanced so far. It was only ten days away, so that meant that he wouldn’t be free that Friday for a company social event. It would really be best if it was organised sooner rather than later, this Friday would be ideal, otherwise, they would lose the momentum of a fresh beginning. On his way out he asked Amanda to send a message to Nick to try to organise the get together for this coming Friday.

  Chapter 17

  On Wednesday Nick had received replies back from most of the department to say that this coming Friday was OK for drinks in the evening with their new CSO. Obviously, some people couldn’t make it but that would be the case with any date they chose. Now he just needed to decide on a venue, somewhere preferably in the centre of Persford or reasonably near to it. Some people would be able to walk home or if they needed taxis they wouldn’t be too expensive. He decided on Barista Nuovo, which was a bar and also more of a coffee shop during the day. He phoned and asked if he could reserve an area for about twenty to twenty-five people towards one end. They agreed, pleased that they would have the tills ringing on Friday evening. He then sent round another message to everyone letting them know. Having got that job out of the way, perhaps he would be able to concentrate on his work as Brett had so pointedly told him.

  He was feeling generally better about things and tonight he had his drinks with Mark to look forward to. They were meeting in more of a traditional pub, The Tower, in the centre. Mark said he went there frequently and it wasn’t too noisy so they could have a good chat. Polly was busy this evening anyway so she didn’t mind about his meet up with Mark. She just reminded him to go easy on the beers as it was mid-week and he could ill afford to go to work with a hangover.

  He had noticed Brett taking a tour of the building having a casual chat with people. He had taken a break down in the coffee area for a short while and Nick noticed him chatting away merrily to Billie. She had decamped down there mid-morning to read some scientific papers where it was a bit quieter. Brett was clearly very taken with her, you could see that from his body language, how he was sitting opposite her with his knees quite close to hers but not touching. Billie, on the other hand, was subtly recoiling as he advanced, her whole body displaying tension, her physical form appearing to take up less space than normal. She looked a shrunken figure. From time to time Brett leaned back against the chair with his arms along the back, exposing his armpits in a classic macho pose. What a creep thought Nick to himself, he’s not wasted any time trying to muscle in on some attractive female. Nick hoped that Billie was sensible enough not to be tempted by Brett. She had never mentioned a partner and as her supervisee of only a few weeks, it wasn’t a subject Nick felt he could broach at this stage. Perhaps on their company evening out she might start to volunteer some information.

  The rest of the day passed without incident until about 4 p.m. when Nick noticed that Kirsty’s reaction was about to boil dry as she had forgotten to check the water was running through the condenser properly. Kirsty wasn’t around and he had no idea where she had disappeared to. It was yet another example of Kirsty not having her mind on the job. He also noticed the thermostatic cut-out wasn’t set, which meant that if left unattended it could over-heat and turn everything to tar. He attended to her reaction, rendering it safe and went back to his desk. Kirsty was very bright and could solve most of her problems but she lacked focus and Nick was worried there would soon be a serious incident. He was responsible for Kirsty but he couldn’t be her keeper, he had his own work to do and she needed to pay more attention. He made a mental note to speak to her and insist that she showed more engagement. That was potentially another stressful situation. He couldn’t face it today and in any case, he didn’t know where she was, he would leave it until tomorrow when he felt a bit fresher. He returned to his desk to spend some time updatin
g his experimental write-ups.

  At that point he noticed Kevin, the store man, delivery person and general factotum come into the lab and put a parcel down on Zac’s bench. Nick pretended to be engrossed by his laptop. There was no way he was going to get embroiled in a conversation with Kevin at this time of the day. His rambling tales were completely energy sapping. He was conscious of Kevin wandering over to the door of the lab and looking over towards Nick but he kept his eyes firmly on the screen. In his peripheral vision, he could still sense Kevin so he picked up his phone and tapped in some random numbers pretending to make a call. This seemed to do the trick and he sensed the light levels increase, indicating that Kevin had departed to find another unsuspecting victim.

  He waited a couple of minutes then hurried into the lab, there was no sign of Zac and his lab coat was on his peg so he couldn’t be in the room where they ran their data, he must be in a meeting. He quickly went round to find the parcel and had a look inside. The packages were automatically opened by Kevin when they arrived, so he could check the order details and update their online system. He saw the bottle inside and was puzzled. What on earth was Zac ordering this for? He knew what Zac was making and they were all familiar with each other’s plans, and this reagent was definitely not needed. What are you up to Zac, Nick said to himself. It was like a little bell jingling in his head. There was something seriously awry here and he was determined to find out what it was.

  Chapter 18

  Zac returned to the laboratory about 5.30 p.m., he’d been involved in a video conference call in one of the meeting rooms with a company who was going to supply some new analytical equipment and Zac had been asked to be responsible for its installation. He was also going to go over to the company one day for a training session. Unfortunately, they kept having problems with the video link and the meeting dragged on rather later than he had hoped. Also, the guys were doing a really hard sales pitch which wasted a lot of time as well.