His hot coffee mug held in both hands, Aaron leaned against the worktable staring at what he now called The Situation Board. He looked from one picture to the next ending at the section with the intimate pictures of the directors and their families. How did you get these? What do you want?
He was so engrossed in thought he didn't hear Akerheart walk into his lab. When a hand fell on his shoulder, Aaron jumped, squealed like a frightened little boy, and almost dropped his coffee. "Damn, you don't sneak up on someone like that," he shouted and punched Akerheart in the arm after seeing the man laughing at his expense.
"You're in early even for you, Aaron."
"Yeah, way too much on my mind. Couldn't sleep, so I got dressed and came in. I've been going over the information we have on the Taylor case and I keep coming up with more questions than answers."
"Want to join me in the gym? That usually helps calm my mind enough to see the bigger picture."
"I'll join you, but I won't be up to my normal. Not much sleep last night."
They made their way to the gym in relative quiet. Aaron found himself exhausted when he completed a simpler routine than his normal one. "I have to stop going clubbing mid week. It will be the death of me," said Aaron as he and Akerheart sat in the sauna.
"What got you to go clubbing? I thought you only went on weekends?"
Aaron trusted Akerheart. After the Tameron case, they bonded in a special way only a straight man and gay man could. Akerheart and his wife were into limited BDSM and had friends who were into the leather scene. He taught Aaron some of the intricacies of both worlds. During several of their clandestine visits to the clubs while working the Tameron case, Akerheart witnessed Aaron in leather as well as being naked on one extremely interesting night. His mentorship helped Aaron feel a bit more comfortable in the clubs as he investigated the kidnapping of Ethan Tameron.
Knowing he could trust Akerheart, Aaron opened up about Barry, his desire to be a sub, and his request for Aaron to be his dom. He gave Akerheart the details of the initiation ritual that he witnessed the prior night and that Barry wanted more.
"And you are not sure you want what he wants?" asked Akerheart as they walked from the sauna to the showers.
"It's more like I know I don't want what he wants. I just don't know what I do want and it has me totally confused right now."
As Aaron walked into his lab, Akerheart said, "You know I'm very open minded. Anytime you want to talk," he paused, "about anything, come find me. Got it?"
Aaron nodded. "Thanks, you might regret that offer," he said as he slid his cardkey into the sensor next to his lab door. Just as the lock clicked, he heard his name called from down the hall.
Natalie received the list of researchers and clients from the first Remedcon vaccine trial. She found most unwilling to talk about their experience while in the program. After several phone calls, she found two who would talk to her. "Taylor's people are very convincing with their threats. Remedcon paid the participants to maintain total silence about the vaccine trial program. Everyone seems to be afraid of the potential repercussions if they talk to me," she said as she and Aaron walked into his lab. "We have appointments with two people who said they would talk if their names remained anonymous. Get yourself together and meet me at the front desk."
This was the first break in the case and Aaron was anxious to talk with these people. He closed and locked the lab door and met Natalie near the dispatcher's desk. Maya took one look at Aaron and said, "Wow, you look like you haven't slept in days. Was he that good?"
Natalie laughed at her comment, looked at Aaron and waited for his response. To her surprise Aaron was not the shy one this time. He looked at both of them and said, "I spent several hours in the dungeon at The Underground last night. A friend of mine was going through the initiation ritual. Didn't get home until half past three. So yeah, I'm beat. Anymore questions?"
Both women were in shock. Aaron had never openly talked about his private life in the office. To hear this the first time was a bit unsettling. Maya, however, regained her self-control faster than Natalie and said, "Why bother going home at all? If I'd been in your shoes, I'd have just continued with my sub all night."
"Couldn't. The club has to close every night or the cops will shut it down. Last night was an exception to the rule. They closed the club to the public at one this morning. Only members were allowed to stay after that. But even then, they are required to close at three thirty." Turning to the stunned Natalie, he said, "You ready?"
Natalie drove in silence to the first appointment. They pulled up to a nicely kept row house in south London. "Looks clean enough. Hope we are not on a wild goose chase," said Aaron as he got out of the car.
Mr. and Mrs. Randall were nervous when Natalie and Aaron arrived. "I understand from speaking with Natalie, that you are under a nondisclosure agreement," said Aaron as he sipped the tea that Mrs. Randall provided.
Husband and wife looked at each other and then Mr. Randall said, "They paid us a handsome sum to keep quiet. If they find out we spoke with you they have the right to request all of it back with interest."
"So why talk at all?" asked Natalie.
"Because we can't stay quiet any longer," said Mrs. Randall. "We watched the news broadcast on Channel 1 about what is happening to the people at Remedcon and knew we had to say something."
"Thank you both," said Aaron. "What can you tell us about the trials? I promise your names and the information you share with us will not be revealed."
"We're getting older and have had some health issues. So we felt the vaccine might be a good thing for us, knowing that pneumonia kills quite a few older folks. I was accepted for the trials," said Mr. Randall. "They had a bottle that looked just like those nasal sprays you take when you get the flu. A lab technician sprayed the vaccine into each of my nostrils as I breathed in. That was it. It didn't seem to be much of a trial at all."
"What happened after you took the vaccine?" asked Aaron as he looked to each of the scared couple.
"We had to report back the following day for a check-up. I felt fine, but several others did not. It looked like they had severe colds. They were taken into a different area for more testing. I was given a second dose of the vaccine and told to report back five days later."
"Did you get sick, Mr. Randall," asked Natalie.
"No, I felt fine, but I heard that about half of the people in the trial got very sick after the second dose." He looked at his wife. Aaron noticed a slight nod. "I heard that five people ended up in hospital with severe cases of pneumonia and that two had died from complications. I refused the third dose and left Remedcon."
"What did you do after you left?" asked Aaron.
"I went to my regular doctor and told him what happened. He gave me a full checkup and said I was fine. My wife and I think I was lucky."
"You never got sick then. Do you know what happened to the trial after you left Remedcon that day?" asked Aaron as he watched a very nervous gentleman sip his tea.
"About a month later, two men dressed in expensive suits knocked at our door," said Mrs. Randall. "They had a check and a document with them. If we signed the document promising to keep quiet, we would get the check."
"You took the check then?" asked Natalie.
"Yes we did. I was on a fixed pension and felt the money would help. I didn't get sick and was not going to talk about the trials anyway, so why not get paid to keep quiet," said Mr. Randall.
"May I ask how much they gave you for your silence?" asked Aaron.
Mrs. Randal didn't want to divulge the amount but her husband said, "It doesn’t matter anymore. If they find out we talked to these nice people they'll be after us anyway." He turned to Aaron and said, "The check was for one hundred thousand pounds."
Natalie and Aaron both tried to hide their shock at the revelation of the amount. After a few minutes of general discussion about the trial, Natalie and Aaron stood, thanked the Randall's for their hospitality, and left.
The information given to them, by the Randall's, was confirmed at their next appointment, with one difference. Mrs. Genouski was one of the people who caught pneumonia from the vaccine. She had spent four weeks in and out of hospital. Remedcon had paid all of her medical bills, compensated her for travel expenses and paid two hundred thousand pounds for her silence. In addition, Remedcon agreed to annual checkups to make sure Mrs. Genouski didn't have a relapse.
"Wow, remind me to stay clear of drug trials," said Natalie as she drove back to Andrews. "Now I know why Remedcon kept this quiet. If the press found out, it would not only shut them down, but I bet they'd be charged with a list of crimes, too."
Aaron looked as if he received an electrical shock. He turned in his seat and said, "I bet whoever is doing this is the spouse of one of the people who died."
"But why now? It's been five years since the trials were shut down."
"Not sure how to answer that," said Aaron. "But I know that people mourn in different ways. Maybe he finally had enough of being quiet about his wife's tragic death."
They arrived at Andrews to find Shaun and Joanne waiting for them in the conference room. As soon as they entered, Shaun stood, closed the door and told Joanne to give them an update.