Lethal Reaction
Page 26
**
Giles Wentworth checked the BioQex share price and it was doing very nicely again, not surprisingly as there had been good volumes traded again today. He’d just had an alert arrive regarding the company. It was a press release concerning the murder of one of their employees who’d turned out to be rather a rogue one. Well, that was always a risk thought Giles, poor Brett he must be feeling the heat. This could be bad news for the share price if it knocked confidence but for him. it would be a win-win situation, time to make some serious purchases. After all. there was soon to be some good news coming out from the company and that should give the shares some significant upside.
Chapter 60
Two weeks later...
Nick was apprehensive about returning to work, it held some bad memories and he felt he had lost some of his confidence. However, he’d had lots of messages of support over the last few weeks and people were saying they looked forward to his return. A couple of colleagues, Billie and Kirsty had called into his flat to bring him a get well card and some chocolates from them all. Billie told him that for the first couple of weeks they wanted him to ease himself in gently, just to do short days and only desk work. His ribs were still sore and his head sometimes ached. Amanda had phoned to say that as a gesture of goodwill the company was going to pay for a taxi for him to and from work as he couldn’t drive. They would definitely do this for two weeks and then review how he was feeling.
So at 9.30 a.m. on Monday morning Nick was waiting in the sunshine outside his flat waiting for a taxi from Ace Cars to arrive. He just wanted to get it over with and feel he was getting back to normal. Billie had told him that after he’d settled in back at his desk for an hour or so Brett wanted him to go up for a chat. Nick wasn’t exactly looking forward to that but he kept reminding himself that his efforts had saved the company lots of money and he had managed to root out a seriously bad apple.
**
At 11 a.m. Nick knocked on Brett’s door and heard a cheery “come in” from within.
At Nick’s arrival, Brett rose from his desk and came round to greet Nick, shook his hand and steered him over to the small table and chairs in the corner of the room.
‘Nick, good to see you,’ he said, ‘can I get you a coffee?’ and he marched over to his fancy pod coffee machine.
‘Oh, yes, thank you, no sugar,’ said Nick, finding Brett’s friendliness rather overwhelming, it was such a reversal of attitude from their encounter a few weeks ago. He waited whilst Brett officiated, adding some milk from a small fridge.
‘Thank you, looks great, we’re thinking of getting one of those machines,’ said Nick, sipping his drink.
‘Oh they’re great, don’t know how I managed before,’ and they both savoured their refreshments. ‘Anyway, it’s so good to see you back and recovering. I’ve got some news which will hopefully help your recovery even more!’ said Brett effusively. He passed over a couple of sheets of paper to Nick.
Nick looked confused, managing merely to say, ‘oh,’ as he took the papers.
‘We wanted to thank you for weeding out a rogue employee,’ said Brett his tone becoming more serious. ‘As you know finances are rather tight here, so instead of a cash payment we are offering you some shares and also some share options.’
Nick was stunned, he hadn’t expected any sort of reward, he was wondering if he was going to get another bollocking for spending his time investigating Zac rather than reporting him straight away.
‘Oh, well, thanks, I’m just surprised. But a nice surprise,’ added Nick, feeling rather embarrassed.
‘I’m not sure how much you know about share options but they will only be worth something if the share price rises a bit more.’
‘Oh, well thank you, I’ll read up on share options,’ added Nick.
‘I’ve been looking at the share price this morning and it’s got off to another good start this week,’ added Brett. ‘Anyone who bought shares about a month ago will be looking at a tidy profit. ‘It’s a pity that as employees we are only allowed to buy shares through an official programme and what’s awarded through options,’ said Brett with slight regret.
They shook hands and Nick wandered back to his desk. Polly would be delighted with his news tonight, he couldn’t wait to tell her.
**
Brett wasn’t the only person thinking about the rise in BioQex’s share price. In London Giles Wentworth felt a warm glow as he watched the share price rise, what a good investment those shares had been, and will continue to be, he thought. Brett, you are such a good friend to have.
THE END
Author’s note
Lethal Reaction is entirely a work of fiction. The novel is set in the fictitious university town of Persford which I imagined to be in the south of England about an hour away from London by train. Names, characters, businesses, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination. Certain real institutions and places are mentioned but the events surrounding them are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, or actual events is entirely coincidental.
Thanks go to family and friends who have encouraged me to pursue this venture, for their comments on the plot and for pointing out mistakes. Particular thanks go to my husband for endless discussions regarding the plot, characters and his suggestions for improvement.
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Did you love Lethal Reaction? Then you should read Terminal Reaction by Dawn Marsanne!
The story continues in the world of research at BioQex. Fraud threatens to engulf the company, will it survive? Emotions are running high as grief becomes overwhelming for some characters and affects their ability to act rationally. Nick is once again on a quest to unearth the truth about suspicious activities in the workplace. He and Polly both become victims of intimidation. Lives are once more at stake, will it all end in disaster?
Also by Dawn Marsanne
The Persford Series
Adverse Reaction
Lethal Reaction
Terminal Reaction
About the Author
Having worked in the pharmaceutical industry for almost twenty-five years I wanted to write a novel which explored some of the serious issues in the field. The reproducibility of scientific data is a common problem which has recently been highlighted in the news and this forms the basis of my first book Adverse Reaction.
I particularly enjoy reading thrillers and suspense novels and I have tried to create a fast paced story which holds the reader's attention. Many of the themes of the book occur in everyday life and I have used the backdrop of research to illustrate them. There are relatively few novels which are set in the laboratory environment so I saw this as an undeveloped area but at the same time scientific details are kept to a minimum to allow the work to be accessible to readers of a non-technical background.
As I finished the novel I became sufficiently interested in the characters I had created to develop them further and so have produced two further novels in the Persford Reaction series which I intend to release shortly.
Follow me on twitter @dawn_marsanne