Lethal Reaction

by Dawn Marsanne

  There was a long queue but he logged his samples all the same. He estimated they would take about an hour on one machine and maybe a bit longer on the other one, but he should have both sets of data by the end of the evening. He would keep going back to check how the queue was progressing every fifteen minutes or so, he needed to be around when the data came off the printer, he didn’t want it lying around for people to see, in particular, Zac, he would have no problem recognising what samples were being run.

  Zac noticed Nick rushing back and forth between the lab and the data room, he suspected what he was up to but the knowledge of the evening ahead meant he wasn’t stressed. It was quite fun to see nosy Nick getting himself all in a lather ignorant of the fact it would all be in vain.

  ‘How’s it going Nick?’ asked Zac casually, ‘is the queue on the machines going down a bit now?’

  ‘Well yes, but there’s still a backlog, but at least they are both up and running now.’

  ‘Oh, that’s good, hopefully, no more hitches or power surges for a while,’ added Zac.

  ‘Yes, it’s been a shit week as far as chemistry is concerned.’

  ‘Certainly has, still, we can forget about it for a bit tonight eh? Meet you at about 8 p.m.?’

  ‘Sure, I’ll be there,’ replied Nick anxiously looking at his watch, it was only about forty-five minutes now until he had to leave, he was getting very worried that he wouldn’t have the data in time. He slipped out of the lab again to see how many samples had been run.

  When he arrived in the data room one of his colleagues Caroline was standing with one of the technicians holding her printout and pointing at it. They both looked puzzled. He went and stood alongside to hear the discussion.

  ‘Well the baseline looks all over the place,’ pointed out Caroline, ‘and the peak shape is odd, something looks very strange. I’m not happy about this, I can’t log this against my experiment as it doesn’t show how pure it is.’

  ‘You’re right, the first few samples which ran after we got it up and running looked fine, but things seem to have been gradually worsening, we’ll have to take another look,’ and the technician took a blank piece of paper and wrote, “Out of order for maintenance,” and placed it against the computer terminal which was used to log in the samples.

  Nick felt like punching the wall. This could not be happening. He went along to the other machine to see how his samples were progressing through the queue and saw that there were still about ten samples ahead of his. How could that be? That meant that only two samples had been run in the last half an hour, normally samples would take five to six minutes to run. He asked the technician if she thought there was a problem, whether she knew why it was running so slowly.

  ‘Oh, no it’s working fine, it’s just that I noticed someone has entered a particular sample which needs a much longer scan time. The chemist said that you usually submit those overnight, but he had to leave early so he’s logged it in now, after all, it’s nearly the end of the day and most people realise their samples will have to run overnight so I don’t suppose it makes any difference this time.’

  ‘OK, well I think I’ll just cancel my samples, then,’ said Nick going over to the computer terminal.

  ‘Oh, that’s not possible I’m afraid, if you do that it will completely mess things up, we are running in standard mode at the moment, if all goes well overnight we’ll switch to the advanced mode with more options.’

  Nick glared at the technician and sighed.

  ‘Sorry, but I don’t understand why that’s a problem? Your sample will run overnight and you’ll have your data in the morning.’

  ‘Well it will just have to be OK I suppose,’ replied Nick, stomping off back to his lab.

  How rude thought the analytical technician, they had done really well to get things working and that was the thanks they got.

  **

  Nick started to finish up for the day, inside he was seething. It was as if at every step of the way he was thwarted. As soon as his goal was in reach someone moved the target slightly further away. He felt like Tantalus reaching for the grapes with the fruit always eluding his grasp. This now meant a really early start tomorrow, he had to retrieve that data before anyone else. He calculated that his samples would probably run sometime between 7.30 and 8 p.m. So there wouldn’t be anyone around to see the printouts, that was at least one positive point. He would just have to trust fate and remind himself that if he was correct it would be someone else who was in serious shit not himself. He should get some sort of recognition for his investigations, his doggedness would save the reputation of the company and prevent misery on the streets of Persford. Those positive thoughts helped to improve his mood somewhat. He switched off his laptop, locked up and put his head around the lab door to say bye to Zac and that he was looking forward to his night out.

  Once Nick was out of earshot, Zac murmured to himself, ‘Not as much as I am, mate,’ a smile breaking out on his lips.

  Chapter 29

  Detective Sergeant Walters had a meeting the following morning with the manager of student support services at the university to highlight to them to the possible influx of illicit drugs into Persford. They also needed to explore whether the illegal lab was on the university campus. Students weren’t quite as bright as they liked to appear and he wondered whether there was a chance that the chemist responsible for the synthesis had been using the computers at the university to research the synthesis. He wanted to find out what sort of monitoring of websites there was at the university, perhaps that could lead them in the right direction. He’d cleared it with the superintendent and also ran it by the drug squad and they thought it was worth a few hours of his day. Tackling the huge number of biotech and chemical companies on the science park was a different matter, they still felt that they would find the perpetrator at the university, possibly some cash-strapped student branching into a new enterprise to supplement their finances.

  **

  Nick alighted from the number seventy-three bus at about 7.45 p.m. and had about a ten-minute walk to The Wheelbarrow. He was using Google maps on his phone, although he kept his phone in his pocket most of the time as the area looked very insalubrious and he thought it best not to have his phone clearly on view. What a down market area this was he thought to himself, graffiti everywhere, litter blowing about in the street, really depressing. It was a huge contrast to the generally smart town of Persford, he never knew this type of area existed here. It was a very strange venue for Zac to choose, perhaps as he was a newcomer to the area he hadn’t been aware of just how rough it was. As he turned the corner he could see the pub in the distance, he hoped Zac had already arrived, he didn’t feel like sitting alone in a pub in this part of town, people might think he was there to do some dodgy deal.

  As he entered the pub he was surprised to see that it looked quite welcoming inside, a lot smarter than the shabby exterior had suggested. He spotted Zac straight away at a small table towards one side. He put up his hand and got up from the table.

  ‘Hi Nick, found it OK, what can I get you?’ asked Zac looking very relaxed and cheerful.

  ‘Oh, well pint of lager please, I feel like a cool drink tonight, quite warm and humid out there isn’t it?’

  ‘Pint of lager coming up, take a seat, and I’ll bring the drinks over.’

  Nick opted for a wooden chair rather than sit on the stained padded banquette seat which went around the edge of the bar area. There were some very dubious marks on the red velour, Nick wasn’t used to frequenting such grotty environments. That meant he was sitting with his back to the door but he managed to move his chair round slightly so he would be sitting at about ninety degrees to Zac, it was a more relaxed arrangement otherwise it felt like one was interviewing the other. There weren’t many punters that evening so Zac returned with the drinks after a couple of minutes. They both took a long draught of their drinks then smiled.

  ‘Just what I needed,’ said Zac, ‘it’s been a pain of a
week.’

  ‘Certainly has, I’m so far behind with my work, still nothing we can do about it.’

  ‘All the fault of the thunderstorm, hope it’s a while before we get another one like that.’

  ‘Anyway, enough of work, how are you enjoying it at BioQex,’ asked Nick.

  ‘I like it very much, although we don’t know how Brett will work out for the company yet, it’s early days. What do you think of Dr Chandler then?’

  ‘Well he’s OK I suppose but he’s a bit smarmy for me. Seems a bit flash and full of himself,’ replied Nick. He wasn’t going to tell Zac about his previous encounter with Brett, he didn’t know enough about Zac at the moment.

  Zac nodded in agreement, ‘I know what you mean. He seems to think it’s a fashion show with his designer gear. Perhaps he has a part-time job as a male model,’ and they both laughed at the suggestion. Nick was surprised how relaxed the evening seemed to be. Perhaps he’d been wrong about Zac’s personality, some people just found it difficult talking to people they didn’t know too well. Despite that, he still knew that Zac was far from this affable persona he was presenting tonight.

  ‘So what do you do in your spare time?’ asked Nick, ‘do you do any sports?’

  ‘Well I used to jog a bit, go to the gym sporadically, I’m not into sport in a big way, but it’s good to get a bit of exercise.’

  ‘Well I’m a keen runner, so if you fancy going for a run sometime we could go together.’

  Zac looked momentarily worried by this last remark and that was because he was hoping that Nick wouldn’t be such a good runner in view of what was in store for him. They arranged to go for a run one day next week after work, now that the evenings were lighter. They continued their relaxed conversation, discussing their families, hobbies, football and the state of the pharmaceutical industry and the time seemed to pass by quite quickly. They’d each had about three pints and Nick was feeling slightly drunk, Zac, on the other hand, appeared completely sober.

  At 9.30 p.m. Zac looked at his watch and remarked that they should be on their way as it was a work day tomorrow. Nick got to his feet and had to hold onto the edge of the table, he felt rather light-headed.

  ‘Oops,’ he said, starting to laugh, ‘I feel a bit pissed, anyway they say a drunk never forgets where he lives!’ and walked carefully over to the door.

  Zac was smiling, not so much at Nick’s inability to hold his beer but at the thought that he wouldn’t be going home at all tonight.

  They stepped into the slightly fresher evening air, and Nick turned left to head back into the town.

  ‘Not this way mate,’ said Zac, ‘I know a shortcut,’

  ‘Oh, well the shorter the better,’ replied Nick, ‘I think I’m going to have to pick up a taxi when we get into town, I don’t feel up to the bus home.’

  They headed down the road away from the town and after a few minutes Nick began to question whether this was really a shortcut, he wasn’t so drunk that he didn’t realise which way he was going.

  ‘Come on mate, trust me, I know it seems we are going out of our way at the moment but once we get on to my shortcut you’ll see it’s worth it.’

  ‘No, I’m not sure, let’s go by the main route,’ said Nick, but Zac had him by the arm and was steering him towards the alleyway, using his size advantage.

  Zac was hoping his “friends” were in place, this was the point of no return.

  Chapter 30

  Nick’s girlfriend Polly switched off the news and decided to go to bed. She’d got a headache today at work, it was all the stress of things being affected by the power cut the other day, she was way behind with her work. She hoped Nick was enjoying his evening, he’d been worried about Zac, his initial coolness, so it was good that they were engaging in a bit of male bonding. She would have to hear about it tomorrow though, she would be asleep when Nick arrived home. She rummaged through her bag to find a post-it note and scribbled a line telling him to come to bed quietly and not disturb her. Stretching and yawning she went off to bed, she was asleep once her head hit the pillow.

  **

  On the other side of Persford Brett poured himself a small nightcap of whisky. He’d been looking through some paperwork and eating a microwave meal at home. He felt shattered, this job was extremely demanding, but somehow he was enjoying it. He decided to turn in for the night, gone were the days when one whisky would have let to another and before you knew it a quarter of the bottle had gone. He checked his emails and his calendar for the next couple of days. He’d a full day of meetings tomorrow but Friday he’d deliberately kept clear of organised meetings. He wanted an easier day as he had his university reunion dinner to look forward to. He didn’t want to be exhausted before it started. He’d got Amanda to book him a train ticket. His train left Persford at 5.35 p.m. and took just over an hour to get to London, so he would have about forty-five minutes to get to the venue. He was quite looking forward to the dinner. He’d searched on Facebook for the alumni dinner at the Hurlingham Club and a couple of people he only vaguely remembered had indicated they were going. One of those was some smug git who was working for an investment bank in London, well he could match that now alright, he’d love to see his face when he told him he was CSO of a biotech company. Brett switched off the stereo and lights in the lounge and put his paperwork in his briefcase for tomorrow. He collected his glass and plate and put them in the dishwasher prior to heading off to brush his teeth. He plugged in his phone to charge, switched it to silent and flopped into bed. He was asleep within minutes.

  **

  With Nick still protesting they arrived at the alleyway and Zac pointed the way. This was a route Nick would never have normally taken at this time of night and he decided he wasn’t going to risk it tonight. He didn’t trust Zac and was only prepared to be with him in public, not in some secluded alleyway. Zac was continuing to insist it was OK but Nick refused and turned around. His path was blocked by two huge guys who had materialised whilst he and Zac had been arguing. Nick tried to remain calm, he was rooted to the spot. Zac appeared equally alarmed. The four men were looking at each other waiting to see who would make the first move. Zac was the first to speak.

  ‘Evening mate,’ he said, ‘sorry to be in your way,’ and he started to sidestep.

  Suddenly one of the blokes grabbed Zac and he shouted out, ‘Hey, get off!’and he struggled. Nick turned and sprinted down the alleyway trying as hard as he could to pick up speed despite his intake of lager. However, his path was blocked by another heavy at the other end of the alleyway. He stopped and turned around, he was trapped.

  Nick whipped out his phone and pressed the emergency button. This was like a red rag to a bull and the heavies in the alleyway, charged towards him, knocking his phone out of his hand and landing a heavy punch to his stomach. Nick cried out as he doubled over and sank to the ground. The other thug set about Zac, although his cuffs to the head were delivered theatrically, lots of show but in fact only making light contact with his face. They made a good play of scuffling, and Zac fought back, kicking and punching the guy who was like a brick wall. Nick was on the ground and was taking a severe beating, his assailant was now delivering a series of blows with his feet. He was wearing a knuckle-duster and set about Nick’s face which was now bleeding profusely.

  Unbeknown to Nick, at the other end of the alleyway, Zac was able to make a run for it, and the thugs let him escape. Zac had a sore face and feeling his ribs he was sure they were severely bruised, and this was supposed to be a light beating he thought. He planned to get to the end of the road and then phone the police, once he saw the getaway car arrive to collect Cole’s men. After all, if he had escaped serious injury and didn’t phone for help it would look strange. The police would wonder why he did nothing to help his friend.

  Just at that point he heard shouting and Cole’s men suddenly ran from the alleyway, one taking out his phone and shouting into it, presumably he was contacting their driver. The shouting continued and
several other young men appeared at the end of the alleyway, they must have been on their way back from town and heard or witnessed what was happening. One was phoning for an ambulance and giving his location.

  ‘Shit, shit, shit,’ said Zac to himself, this was not what was supposed to happen. He’d no idea what state Nick was in but he might well survive this attack. He finished giving his details to the police and realised he had better go back and join the group in the alleyway. Nick wasn’t moving, he was on his side with his knees pulled up to his chest. There was blood all over his face and down his neck, he was almost unrecognisable. One of the rescuers had taken off his jacket and placed it under his head to try to make him more comfortable. They were speaking words of encouragement to the victim, telling him to hang on. From what Zac could tell Nick’s life was hanging by a thread.

  Chapter 31

  PC Dave Martin arrived at Bank Street Police station just before 8 a.m., ready for another day trying to keep the community safe. After greeting his fellow officers he checked the incident log for last night. There were the usual traffic offences and a domestic argument which had got out of control resulting in the arrest of an abusive husband. Some inebriated students down by the river who had to be cautioned for being abusive to some fellow drinkers, and an assault in an alleyway off Allenby Road. Nothing too surprising in that thought Dave Martin, it was in quite a rough area of town. He was scanning the details of the victim and his interest suddenly awakened. A Nick Thomas had been taken into Persford General by ambulance, no arrests had been made. A Mr Zac Milburn had also been assaulted but only sustained minor injuries. Several witnesses saw three or four men, they couldn’t be exactly sure how many beating up the victim. His phone had disappeared along with his wallet, so presumably, it was a robbery and the victim resisted. The name was familiar though, he just couldn’t place it at the moment. Witnesses had seen the men being picked up by a car which sped off too quickly for them to get a number plate. Probably wouldn’t be much use though thought Dave Martin, it would most likely be a stolen car or have stolen or false number plates.