Captive Reaction

by Dawn Marsanne

  ‘Karolina, hi, good to see you,’ he said hurrying towards her, offering to take her bag.

  ‘Is it?’ she said coldly.

  ‘It’s always good to see you,’ he said, ‘you look gorgeous tonight.’

  ‘No I don’t,’ she said, ‘it is pouring in the outside, I am completely wetted,’ and she gestured to her hair.

  ‘You still look lovely to me,’ replied Lee, trying once again to help her with her bag.

  ‘Leave me alone,’ she spat, ‘I am tired of you following me, what do you want?’

  ‘Well, I wondered whether we could go out for a drink sometime, you know, just me and you?’

  ‘Ha, you are giving me a joke! What? You and me, ha, that is so funny! I’ve seen you with your hands all over the other girls. You disgust me.’

  ‘Don’t speak to me like that, you bitch,’ shouted Lee. ‘I can make things very difficult for you, I’ll have a word with someone.’

  ‘Do that, why don’t you? I bring in more customers than the rest. The boss will not get rid of me,’ and she ran off to the changing rooms.

  Lee was seething. How dare that tart speak to him like that. He looked round to check whether many people had overheard the exchange but fortunately it was quiet in the reception area. He thought back to his earlier conversation with Cole. Karolina could just have made a big mistake.

  **

  Matt was trying to finish off a few emails and messages before heading off to bed. Although he was extremely busy with his new consultancy job he seemed to be thriving. He was feeling a real buzz and excitement. It was so good to be involved with cutting-edge science again and also to feel he was using his MBA to good effect. For him, this seemed to be the perfect combination of his skills.

  He was delighted to have Nick Thomas on board again and had every confidence that he could be the boost they needed over in the chemistry team at the university. Working in industry gave you a broad experience of making all different classes of molecules whereas doctoral and postdoctoral research could be very focused in one particular area. Nick had a pleasant personality and he would be sure to fit in well with the team. He’d just sent Nick a text to say that he was hoping to set up a meeting the day after tomorrow at the university to introduce him to the team and for him to sign a confidentiality agreement. Nick could then take away the notes on the project and get to grips with the science before starting properly at the beginning of the following week.

  He’d also managed to post brief information on some financial bulletin boards to solicit interest from venture capitalists. The fledgling company would need to plan ahead and ensure continued funding, not just in the form of grants but from the city and wealthy individuals. Venture capital was an attractive investment for high net worth individuals due to the favourable tax position. If he received any responses this would be another task to manage, perhaps he would offload this aspect to Brett. His personality might be more suited to dealing with city types.

  He saw that it was now after 11 p.m., so he switched his phone to silent, turned off the lights in the lounge and went to get a glass of water from the kitchen. He crept upstairs to bed, peeping into Toby’s bedroom to see him fast asleep on his back, his arms thrown out wide and uncovered. He gently straightened the duvet and pulled it up higher over the sleeping form. He was overcome with love for his son and bent down to plant a gentle kiss on his forehead before stealing out of the room silently.

  **

  Nick’s slumber was less peaceful. After falling asleep quickly he’d dreamt vividly and had woken thrashing about and shouting. Polly had managed to calm him and he was now back asleep and breathing softly. She had been delighted to see Nick so enthusiastic about this proposition from Matt. He’d been so down lately and she sensed he really missed the field of research. It had just been so unfortunate that he’d been involved in two dangerous incidents recently which could so easily have ended in tragedy. She loved Nick dearly and couldn’t contemplate losing him. She just hoped that this time it would be a straightforward contract of employment with none of the side issues which had proved so hazardous. She turned on her side and carefully put her arm around Nick. Snuggling up close to him she tried to banish all negative thoughts from her mind. Still, the anxiety loomed. She began to relax her muscles in turn, starting with her toes, then her ankles and focused her attention slowly up her body. Before she reached her neck muscles, sleep overcame her and she drifted away into a dreamless world.

  Chapter 14

  The next day, Dan Lythgoe was the last to arrive in the laboratory. He told his colleagues that there had been an accident on the way in and he was held up in traffic. In fact, he’d not gone to bed until after 2 a.m. as he’d been too wired after his line of coke the previous evening. The atmosphere between him and his girlfriend had been strained due to the argument about their finances. The money he’d withdrawn would fund another repeat supply from Wayne but after that he was going to have trouble financing his habit and he just didn’t know how he would cope without the extra help that his trusty white powder gave him.

  For the time being, he needed to concentrate on the matter in hand. He didn’t want anyone to suspect he was a drug user with a habit which was escalating out of control, otherwise, he might lose his postdoctoral position. He also remembered that he’d stupidly told Wayne that he was at the university in a chemistry laboratory. His annoyance and desperation to get his hands on the coke had made him careless. That morning he was also in a foul mood as he had caught his jacket on the door latch and there was an ugly tear down the right sleeve. He always wore the same jacket, a leather biker style one, with the word REBEL, down the sleeves in a distinctive red colour and on the back a logo of The Stars and Stripes. The jacket had belonged to his brother, Joshua or Josh as his family called him. His life had been tragically cut short following a road traffic accident and Dan had decided to carry on wearing his brother’s jacket in memory of him. They were almost the same size, so apart from the sleeves being slightly too long, it fitted well. Dan usually teamed it with a baseball cap to cover his now thinning hairline.

  He arrived to find a note from Dr Phil Sweetman to say that they needed to ensure that there was a supply of about a gram of the front-runner compound UP-627-TK available for shipping to a company which was to perform some further metabolism studies. They must also ensure that there was always a supply of a few grams available in case any was needed quickly for any further studies. Hopefully, once the scale-up was underway and the poor yielding steps were ironed out they would have a plentiful stock. Dan also needed to catalogue the intermediates and samples left behind by Thierry du Bois who had now returned to France. That was going to be a bit of a nuisance thought Dan, Thierry might have been an able scientist but his record keeping left a lot to be desired. Fortunately, as they were repeating most of the steps in the synthesis the remaining team could ensure that good data was obtained for publication purposes.

  He yawned and looked over towards the lab. His eyes met with Pat’s who was looking over at him with a hostile expression. Pat was always the first to arrive and being the senior chemist wanted to set a good example. Dan had been hoping to start the morning with a strong coffee but decided that he should postpone that until he had made a start. He shrugged off his jacket and headed into the laboratory, collecting his lab coat from the hooks inside the door. He would be staying late tonight as there was also a message to tell them to prepare to host Nick Thomas tomorrow morning. Their new colleague was coming in to familiarise himself with the project and to collect some reports. Let’s hope he’s a decent bloke, thought Dan, we don’t want anybody to start rocking the boat.

  **

  Lee had left the club at around 5 a.m. and after a quick shower and a brief rest at home watching some mindless TV, was now on his way to have breakfast with Scott Briggs in a greasy diner, named simply “Terry’s”. They had some business to discuss following his meeting with Cole who had decided that extra manning was needed fo
r a particular job in the near future. Lee had managed to persuade Cole that Scott possessed the necessary attributes and was keen to make a good impression, hence would be happy with minimal payment. The job would be a type of work-experience for Scott, an initiation which could lead to bigger and more lucrative employment.

  ‘Wotcha, Lee!’ said Scott, as he entered the steamy atmosphere of the cafe.

  ‘Alright, Scott? Glad you’ve chosen a table towards the back, we need a bit of privacy.’

  Lee sat down and waited. There was no way he was going to pay for his breakfast. Scott was the one who wanted the job so he could get his wallet out. After a few seconds of them staring at each other, Scott took the initiative. ‘So, what do you fancy? Foodwise, I mean,’ and he laughed uproariously.

  Lee thought this a rather lame joke and his expression remained deadpan.

  ‘Full English, with some toast, and make it white bread, none of that mucky brown healthy stuff.’

  ‘Right, coming up!’

  ‘And a mug of tea as well!’ shouted Lee, as he headed off to the counter.

  Whilst they waited for their order they could discuss what was required of Scott.

  ‘Right, listen up. First of all, how are you with vehicles? Specifically vans?’

  ‘What, driving, you mean? Well, I’ve not got a van but I can drive one.’

  ‘Well that’s good, but if you’ve not got one, can you acquire one?’

  ‘My mate’s got one, I can ask him.’

  Lee sighed, this was proving a bit tortuous, he was beginning to wonder whether Scott was cut out for this. He seemed a bit slow to catch on.

  ‘Well that would be fine but he might not be getting it back,’ and he stared levelly at Scott. ‘Are you following me?’

  ‘Oh, got you, mate,’ said Scott, grinning.

  ‘You want me to nick one!’

  ‘For fuck’s sake! Keep your voice down,’ and Lee looked around anxiously.

  ‘Yes, we will need a van and you will only get approximately a day’s notice. So there’s no room for messing this up. Don’t acquire one until just before it’s needed, we don’t want it reported and then the plod to be on the lookout.’

  ‘OK, got it, Then what do I do?’

  ‘You wait for instructions, that’s what you do. And get yourself some dark clothing, OK? And a knife, OK?’

  Scott started to look a bit worried at this point.

  ‘Losing your bottle are you?’

  ‘No, it’s fine, you can rely on me,’ replied Scott, wiping a slight sheen of sweat off his top lip.

  The cafe owner brought over their breakfasts and Lee started to tuck into his food. Scott picked up his knife and fork and made a start on the greasy offering. His appetite had started to wane, he could hardly back out now but he was seriously worried whether he had made a misjudgement. Should he really get involved with Lee and his associates?

  **

  Doctor Godfrey Clancy was in the middle of morning surgery at the Marshside Medical Centre in Persford. He was the longest serving GP in the practice and for the moment the senior partner. At sixty-five years old he was coming to the end of his tenure in the NHS, it would soon be time to hand over the reins to a colleague. He’d not yet decided whether to set up a private practice to continue to support his, or more accurately his wife’s extravagant lifestyle. Persford was a reasonably affluent area and he had quite a proportion of elderly patients who had been seeing him for quite some time. They trusted him and he’d gone above and beyond the call of duty on some occasions.

  This morning he was measuring the blood pressure of Mrs Eileen Blowers when he was momentarily distracted by the display on his mobile lighting up and the phone beginning to vibrate. He looked over and was suddenly paralysed. After a couple of seconds, the paralysis faded and he continued to pump the bulb on the blood pressure manometer. Dr Clancy still preferred the manual type of blood pressure apparatus rather than the automatic electronic sort, the old-fashioned equipment was in his opinion much more accurate.

  His patient squealed out in pain as Godfrey had continued to inflate the blood pressure cuff much more than was required and Mrs Blowers arm was now being painfully constricted. He came to his senses and immediately apologised, releasing the pressure and fussing over his patient.

  ‘Oh, Mrs Blowers, I’m so sorry,’ he exclaimed.

  ‘You were looking at your phone,’ she said sternly. ‘My arm hurts, I hope it won’t be bruised. You know how easily I bruise. It’s those steroids you prescribed me.’

  ‘Your steroids are necessary for your arthritis, you know that,’ he said with his solicitous tone.

  ‘Yes, but you keep increasing them, and my son looked it up on that internet thing and he said it’s a very high dose. And look, my eyes keep haemorrhaging!’ She pulled down her lower eyelids to reveal her bloodshot eyes.

  ‘Nothing to worry about, it’s quite common at your age,’ he advised.

  ‘Well, I’m not sure,’ she murmured.

  ‘Well, if that’s all, I’ll just give you a repeat blood pressure medication, I’ll increase the dose to twenty milligrams from ten.’

  ‘But you’ve not measured it today! You had to stop and didn’t repeat it.’

  ‘Oh, didn’t I? Well, I’ll do it again for you if you insist,’ and he began again, trying this time not to put his patient in pain.

  There were some minor protests from his patient but he quickly completed the task, announcing that her blood pressure was a little higher than normal but acceptable, for someone of her age he added cruelly.

  ‘Right, well, see you in a couple of months,’ he said, offering her the prescription. Mrs Blowers took what seemed like an age collecting her possessions. He would postpone the arrival of the next patient. He needed to return his missed call, otherwise, he would be unable to concentrate for the rest of the morning. Holding open the door for his patient he followed her out through reception and went to sit in his car. There he would be guaranteed the privacy he sought. He wanted to return the call rather than be hassled all morning. This way it made him look like he was confident and in control rather than being the puppet at the mercy of his master.

  He made the call which connected. He was greeted with the familiar response, ‘Hello, Godfrey, good to hear from you. Now there’s something I need your help with.’

  Chapter 15

  The morning of Nick’s meeting at the university arrived and he awoke before 6 a.m., unable to sleep any longer. He quietly slipped out of bed and went to make some breakfast rather than having a shower as he didn’t want to wake Polly too early. It was still dark outside and it was strange to be up at this hour, recently he’d been able to look out on the garden whilst eating his breakfast. Over the summer he had made a start on a general tidy-up in the garden, removing the weeds and overgrown shrubs which had been allowed to take over when the previous occupant had been in residence. Their two young children had kept them too busy to pay much attention to the outside space and they had moved to a larger property to accommodate their growing children who each wanted a separate bedroom. As it was now autumn and with winter approaching, Nick was quite pleased that the drop in temperatures would slow down the growth in the garden. He had lost count of the number of trips he’d made to the tip with garden waste.

  He shivered. They would soon have to put the heating on as the mornings were getting chillier. He went to draw the curtains in the lounge and checked that his car was still parked outside. Last night he had decided to move it off the drive-way and park it on the road. He simply could not face being blocked in by Ryan next door. He didn’t want anything to affect his mood prior to his meeting with the chemistry team this morning. He checked his phone and saw that Matt had sent him a text late last night to say that he was looking forward to seeing him again and to report to the main reception and someone would come down and meet him.

  He heard Polly moving about upstairs and headed up to finish getting ready. He really felt excited abou
t today. It would also mean that he and Polly could meet up some lunchtimes on the campus. He wasn’t sure whether Brett would be there today but it would be good to make his acquaintance again. A couple of years ago he would have been dreading the prospect but so much had happened at BioQex and against all the odds, events sometimes served to change personalities immeasurably. He heard Polly calling to him from upstairs and headed up to speak to her.

  **

  Dan Lythgoe was also an early riser and was the first to arrive in the laboratory. He felt pleased that Pat would see him putting in the hours. This morning he had to complete the paperwork in order to send a sample of UP-627-TK off-site for another toxicology screen in rats. This took all the supply he’d made recently, leaving only a few grams made by Thierry before he went back to France. Thus it made it even more urgent that they synthesised some more. Phil would not be happy if they had no samples of the promising compound available. Fortunately, Seth was bringing through a batch and had completed the first three steps. Although the plan was to improve the poor yielding steps they might just have to continue with the current route just to ensure they had some material, albeit a small amount, rather than concentrate on improving the yields.

  They were expecting their new recruit Nick to arrive at around 9 a.m. Dan wondered what his new co-worker would be like and whether he would live up to expectations. He’d googled his name but couldn’t see any published papers by him, however his name was included on a couple of patents for compounds to treat chronic pain. There were also some details on the local Persford news website reporting that he had been involved in an assault about two years ago. Dan had cleared some bench space and a fume-hood for Nick to work in and had explained to Hannah and Seth about the importance of upholding all the safety rules. They were reasonably tidy and safe workers but he didn’t want them being embarrassed by someone from industry getting on his high horse about health and safety. If that were the case he might have to remind Nick that BioQex had not entirely escaped from chemical incidents in the past.