Lethal Reaction Page 8

  ‘Right,’ said Billie, looking at the time on her phone, ‘I’m going to wait outside on the pavement, my partner’s going to come and collect me, I said about 10.30 p.m.’

  ‘Oh, I see, I was going to suggest we shared a taxi,’ smiled Brett, ‘but I see you’ve planned ahead.’

  ‘Yes, well bye now, the evening was a really good idea, I feel I’ve got to know people much better now,’ she added, which was a complete lie as she’d had trouble escaping from Brett all evening. ‘See you on Monday, have a good weekend,’ and she raised her hand and headed for the door.

  ‘Wait,’ called Brett, ‘I’ll wait with you outside, there are some dodgy people around this time of night.’

  ‘Oh, there’s no need, I’ll just wait by the door and then I can see the car coming, Sam can pull in just up there. Oh, I think that’s my lift now, bye,’ and she skipped off down the pavement and got in the car. As the door opened the courtesy light came on and whilst Billie was fastening her seatbelt Sam leaned across and kissed Billie full on the lips, lingering and holding her head with one hand.

  Brett couldn’t believe his eyes, Sam was mid-thirties, had long blond hair and was clearly a woman.

  Chapter 20

  After a fairly uneventful weekend for everyone, Monday morning arrived more quickly than anybody wanted. Brett was still feeling rather sore after Friday evening when his hopes of more than a working relationship with Billie had suddenly been dashed. He felt like a fool and he guessed they had been having a quiet laugh about him together. He was beginning to doubt himself and his ability to spot women who would have no interest in him, his software must need an update. He hadn’t been able to read the signals at all. He was hoping not to bump into Billie for a few days until something else had occurred to wipe the embarrassing episode of Friday evening from both their memories.

  He arrived at work just after 8 a.m., that way he could avoid Mark who he instinctively felt had taken a dislike to him. As he rounded the corner to his office his heart sank. Bob McKewan was hovering, chatting to Amanda and looking at his watch.

  ‘Oh here he is, at last,’ he heard Bob say.

  Cheeky sod thought Brett, was he expected to sleep overnight at the company.

  ‘Bob, hi, good to see you,’ enthused Brett, ‘come in, come in, how was your weekend?’

  ‘Fine, thanks,’ replied Bob without emotion. ‘Got some news about 896.’

  ‘Excellent, shall we sit down, would you like a coffee from my new machine?’ asked Brett.

  ‘No ta, I’m a tea man myself, had my breakfast before I arrived,’ he said glaring at Brett.

  ‘Well I’ll just get one for myself then I’ll be able to concentrate on what you’ve got to say.’ God that guy was miserable, thought Brett, as he was waiting for his coffee to drip through.

  ‘Now, let’s hear it,’ said Brett.

  ‘Well, last week’s results were even better than we expected. Duration of action is much better than our prototype and we predict the dose size to be smaller. If we can formulate it OK, that is solubility and so on isn’t a problem, we could be on to a real winner. It could be so good for the company.’

  Bob was starting to show some enthusiasm now, he was very comfortable talking the science, it was just things like good morning and how are you he had trouble with.

  ‘Well that’s great, remind me again when we might have the full package of data.’

  ‘I think about two weeks, possibly three, but it’s all looking very positive. We won’t make anything public until we are absolutely sure but this can only be good for our share price.’

  ‘Well you just brightened my morning, I have a good feeling about this, make sure you send me an updated report and summary, also what studies are outstanding, but it’s really promising. Congratulate your team from me as well,’ said Brett,

  ‘Will do, now best get on,’ said Bob and he stepped rather heavy footed as usual out of Brett’s office.

  Brett couldn’t believe how well things were turning out for him at BioQex, to have another compound as a back-up to the one that had already shown such promise was indeed good news. They might even be able to do a follow-on deal with the same company that was showing such interest and circling around BQ-561. He sat back in his chair sipping his coffee, life is good he thought. Never mind a relationship with Billie, this is what he needed to get off to a really good start here. Of course, all the donkey work had been done before he started but he could take the credit now, he was CSO.

  **

  Down in Nick’s lab, the mood was pleasant but less buoyant. Monday mornings were always a bit of a struggle after a nice weekend. Kirsty and Caroline were chatting away about Friday evening, they’d had a good time, although Kirsty admitted to feeling rather rough on Saturday morning. Nick was hardly surprised in view of the way she was putting it away. He would have been worried about sharing a taxi with her in case she’d been sick on the way home. It seemed that Caroline had taken Kirsty home and stayed over just to check she was OK overnight. That was very decent of here thought Nick, he wasn’t sure he would have done the same. Billie seemed more cheerful than usual, he thought she might have been a bit annoyed at the way Brett had devoted himself to her that evening but she said she’d had a nice time and it was really good to meet everyone.

  Zac passed no comment on Friday and Nick didn’t really want to speak to him, he’d been rather brusque with him in the wine bar. Despite the success of the social event Nick still had the knotty issue of finding a way to investigate Zac. He desperately wanted to find out if he was making illicit substances. He’d given it some thought over the weekend and he needed to get the data on all those samples in his fume-hood to work out which were the rogue ones. Over the weekend whilst he was looking in his diary for the week ahead he realised that he may have the opportunity. That afternoon there was a lecture arranged by a visiting speaker from the University of Persford. It was important to try to keep up with research and once every couple of months they had a scientific talk in one of the larger meeting rooms. The tables were removed so they could get about twenty chairs in there, though they rarely got full attendance. Nick thought that if Zac decided to go to the lecture he would have about an hour to get the data and make a start on working out what Zac had synthesised. Of course, it would be no good if Zac thought Nick wasn’t going to attend, he would probably stay behind as well. So Nick thought he would wait and see if Zac went along then slip in at the last minute making sure Zac noticed he was there. Then about ten minutes into the lecture he would slip out feigning a coughing fit hoping that Zac felt too embarrassed to leave the meeting room as well. It was only a small room so it would look really bad if too many people left midway through the lecture. Nick would hot foot it back to the lab, take the samples and put them in little vials. If he had the time he would make the solutions up and run the data, if not he would hide the samples, in amongst his own collection of little vials and wait for an opportune moment.

  By the time lunchtime arrived Nick was already feeling very tense about this afternoon’s plan. He found it quite difficult to concentrate on his own work. He made a point of reminding everyone about the lecture, saying how good the visiting speakers normally were and that he’d looked up today’s lecturer’s work and it looked really interesting and relevant, it did actually, so he wasn’t lying, All his colleagues said they would make sure they went along. At about five minutes to two, they all started to go along to the meeting room, Nick was last to leave his desk, saying he would be along, he just needed to save something on his pc and the network was being a bit slow.

  Exactly on the dot of 2 p.m. he went along and went into the room just as the introduction was being made, he took a seat near to the door and noticed Zac was in the middle of the front row, excellent he thought, stage one of the plan accomplished. After ten minutes, he started with his tickly cough, he managed to suppress it at first, then kept quiet for a few minutes, then he started coughing again, a bit worse than bef
ore and again suppressed it. The third time he stood up and slipped quietly out of the door, he remembered to carry on coughing for a while as he went down the corridor towards the lab.

  He rushed into the lab to start stage three of his plan, his heart was racing by this time. He already had his vials marked up for the samples, he’d put one of his page numbers on but then used identifiers A to E to help distinguish them. He quickly went over to Zac’s fume-hood, took small samples of the white powders out with his spatula, taking care not to contaminate each batch. He quickly took them over to his own area and hid them. This simple task was so much more difficult than usual, he kept fumbling with the vials, then he had trouble fastening the lids on. All this was done with frequent checks over his shoulder desperately hoping that Zac wouldn’t appear. He was beginning to sweat by now, he removed his disposable gloves as they were now hot and sweaty inside and wiped his hands on a paper towel. He tried to breathe normally as he realised he was over breathing and starting to feel a bit light headed. He had obtained all that he needed? Suddenly he realised he’d not checked the cupboard under Zac’s fume-hood, was there time? He looked at his watch, it was still only 2.30 p.m., the lecture would surely last for another half an hour. He went over to the cupboard and searched. Right at the back, he could see an amber coloured glass jar inside another plastic container. He cursed himself, why didn’t he look here first. He took out the container, removed the jar, it contained another white powder. Taking another small vial he took a sample. He was shaking so much he almost dropped it whilst screwing the cap back on. Then he placed the jar back in the plastic container and stowed it in the cupboard hoping he’d got it back in the correct place. He scribbled a code number on the vial with his marker pen and hid it along with the others. He was so stressed by now he had to go and sit down.

  He put his head in his hands and breathed in and out deeply a few times, wiping his forehead with a tissue. It was approaching 3 p.m., there was no way he would have time to run the data today, Zac could come into the analytical data room at any time, he would try to get in extra early tomorrow to run the samples. He remembered that he needed to be coughing when they all came back from the lecture. He had better go and make himself a coffee so he could be drinking it when they came back, that would make his cough look more convincing. God, he thought to himself, this is so stressful it’s going to damage my health. But there was concurrent satisfaction, at last, I feel I’m making progress he thought, I am getting closer to you Zac, you are not going to get away with this.

  Chapter 21

  Zac returned from the lecture and observed Nick alternately sipping his coffee and coughing. It didn’t look very convincing. He’d noticed him slipping out of the lecture after about ten minutes and from that moment on he’d found it difficult to concentrate on what the speaker was saying. He kept hoping he would hear the door open again signalling Nick’s return, but he didn’t and Zac’s mind naturally began to wonder what he was up to. It was only a small room and it would have looked really bad for someone else to get up and leave, so Zac spent an excruciating forty-five minutes willing the lecture to finish. At the end, there were usually questions for the lecturer and as one of the more experienced chemists he often tried to ask something, but today as he’d hardly been listening he had no questions and besides he didn’t want the embarrassment of asking something which might well have been covered. Fortunately, Billie had been listening so was able to raise some interesting points which saved them all from looking either stupid or uninterested.

  Zac quickly went back to the lab and scanned the collection of flasks and dishes in his fume-hood and could see nothing that had obviously been moved. He had a particular spatial awareness, his mind formed a mental map of his possessions and surroundings. His brother had often surreptitiously been in his room looking to borrow something and had later replaced it carefully or so he thought. However, his diligence hadn’t been thorough enough to fool Zac and Ez had then been amazed that his brother had spotted his clandestine actions. Nick was no idiot though so he would have been careful not to leave anything obviously or slightly out of place.

  However, Zac was one step ahead of Nick. He looked in his cupboard and retrieved the plastic container containing the amber glass jar with its prized material. He looked carefully at the black lid and the neck of the jar. It was barely visible but Zac knew what he was looking for. The black line he had drawn on the lid and down on to the jar was no longer aligned. The bottle had been opened and there could be only one person who had done that.

  **

  On Monday evening Polly noticed that Nick seemed unusually animated, he was normally quite tired and subdued after the start of the working week. On several occasions when she returned from her Zumba class he had been getting ready for bed, claiming he was tired. But this evening he was working away on his laptop, the TV wasn’t on and the remnants of his meal were still on the side in the kitchen.

  ‘Hi Nick, busy working away on something are you?’asked Polly, flopping down on to the sofa.

  ‘Oh, nothing, just needed to look up a few things,’ said Nick, quickly closing down the web pages he’d had open.

  ‘Well I think it’s time you left that, and what’s all this mess in the kitchen?’ asked Polly waving the TV remote in the direction of the kitchen which was through an alcove off the lounge.

  ‘Don’t expect me to clear up all that debris,’ she said firmly.

  ‘Oh, sorry, I didn’t notice what time it was, I’ll go and clear up now,’ and he rushed off to start washing up and making the place look a bit more tidy.

  ‘Well I’m off to dry my hair and then I’ll be going to bed, are you turning in soon?’ she shouted.

  ‘Er, no, not yet, I’ve not finished what I’m doing yet,’ replied Nick.

  ‘Well don’t work too hard, it’s only the beginning of the week,’ shouted Polly, ‘and don’t disturb me when you come to bed, I’m shattered.’

  ‘OK, good night,’ shouted Nick.

  He quickly finished clearing up and left the plates and pans to dry on the rack and resumed his research on his laptop. He was searching for the commonest street drugs and if possible their chemical structures and syntheses. He’d not got any data so far, that was his job for tomorrow morning but if he had an idea what he was looking at it would make identification a whole lot easier. Some of the drugs he crossed off the list immediately as it would be too difficult to get hold of the starting chemicals unless someone had supplied him with those and he’d brought them on to the BioQex site. That was a possibility, of course, he didn’t know at this point how big an enterprise Zac was involved with. However, he thought back to the chemical he’d found on Zac’s bench and the fact that it didn’t seem to fit the project plans so it seemed likely he was using things which could be ordered without restrictions. He scanned through the papers he’d found on the web, and one particular drug involved starting with the chemical he’d found the other day. It was looking increasingly likely that this had been ordered for Zac’s illicit drugs lab and he now had a very good idea of what he was making. Nick’s research pointed to angel dust, one of many street names for phencyclidine. The effects varied depending on the dose and method of administration and ranged from euphoria and detachment after a few milligrams, to amnesia and more seriously psychosis and paranoia when using doses above ten milligrams. The list of effects was horrendous, users could become violent, suffer breathing problems, high or low blood pressure depending on how much was taken. Nick began to feel quite ill just reading about it. He felt convinced he’d worked out Zac’s illicit manufacturing racket, however, this supposition was all well and good but he needed proof.

  ‘Then my good friend, you can wave goodbye to your career at BioQex, you will be looking at a stay at Her Majesty’s pleasure’, Nick said quietly to himself.

  Chapter 22

  At 10.30 p.m. that same Monday evening, PC Dave Martin of Persford Constabulary along with his colleague PC Stefanie Billings
were making their way to a disturbance in the centre of town. A fight had broken out in a side street between some youths. Despite Persford being a relatively low crime area, it wasn’t devoid of a reasonable number of public order offences aided by too much drink. Friday and Saturday nights were the busiest for the uniformed police, Monday evenings being relatively quiet. By the time they arrived the fight had dispersed but there was a victim lying on the pavement. Witnesses informed the officers that they had requested an ambulance as well as police and PC Martin told them his radio had informed them that it was on its way. The victim was a young man in his twenties and immediately recognisable as Wayne Roberts a drug user with a record for possession and small-time drug dealing.

  ‘Hello Wayne, fancy meeting you again,’ said PC Martin crouching down next to him.

  ‘I was set upon, I did nothing,’ moaned Wayne, holding his stomach. His head was bleeding below the hairline and he looked like he’d taken a blow to his face, he would have a nasty black eye tomorrow.

  ‘Oh, just taking a stroll were you and someone jumped you, that right?’ asked Dave Martin.

  ‘Yes, minding my own business, just out for a quiet drink, you know?’

  ‘A quiet drink and a bit of dealing no doubt, that’s more like it.’

  ‘You’re barking up the wrong tree, I’m the innocent victim here.’

  PC Martin’s colleague Stef showed him a couple of foil squares which she’d just picked up from behind a dustbin in the alleyway. Wayne had probably thrown them away when he heard the police sirens arriving.

  ‘Nothing to do with me,’ muttered Wayne.

  ‘Well we’ll just put them in an evidence bag so we can check them for fingerprints, but I think you will be coming down to the nick for a little chat once we’ve got you checked out. We can see if your usual interview room is free,’ he added sarcastically, smiling at his colleague Stef.