Pam stopped at home to freshen up a bit before going to dinner. She’d bought the Beacon Street condo two years ago, when her divorce was finally settled. It was close to the lab, on the top floor of a Back Bay brownstone built in the 1890s. The renovations had preserved most of the original Victorian character, and Pam delighted in the high ceilings, her marble fireplace, and the French doors with their original moldings.

She poured a glass of wine and took it over to her favorite overstuffed chair in the living room, next to the bay window with its view of the Charles River. What a day. A drug with the potential to treat early stage Alzheimer’s changed everything. This would bring her not only tenure and a full professorship, but recognition as a leader in her field, maybe even a Nobel Prize.

She felt a warm glow imagining the paper they’d send to Nature, one of the world’s top journals. It would announce a groundbreaking discovery that could change millions of lives. George would be first author and Holly second, as they’d all agreed. It would be an enormous boost to both of their careers. And she’d be the last author, the senior position as head of the lab. Her years of work vindicated.

And now a special dinner with Jake to top it off. She remembered when her divorce attorney had introduced them. Jake Lawrence, the private investigator, who was going to track down her husband’s hidden assets. He had, but that had been just the beginning. There was something special about him, maybe a mix of tough mindedness and empathy that she hadn’t expected in an ex-FBI agent. They’d spent most nights together for the last year, either here or at his townhouse in Gloucester. Neither place was big enough for both of them on a permanent basis and she knew the time for buying a house was coming soon. But after years of suffering through a disastrous marriage, it felt good to have her own space for a while. No need to rush.

She grabbed her coat and went out into the cold but clear March evening, walking the ten minutes to their favorite restaurant, a cozy French bistro in an old Beacon Hill townhouse on Charles Street. She got there a little before seven and waited in the lounge, eager for Jake to arrive. She’d told him that tonight’s dinner was a special celebration, but not what it was about. Now she was anxious to share the news.

She watched with a small smile as he ducked his head and squeezed through the narrow below-street-level entrance. It was a tight fit for a six-foot, three-inch former football player, topped with close-cropped black hair just starting to turn gray at the temples.

He greeted her with a kiss and the hostess led them through a small dining room with dark paneled walls decorated by oil paintings hanging in gold frames. Pam did a double take when they reached a table in the back corner. A vase filled with multicolored roses was set up as the centerpiece, and a waiter stood ready to pour champagne from a bottle waiting in an ice bucket.

“Did you do this?” she gasped. “I mean, of course you did. Thank you!” She stretched to reach his face and give him a kiss.

Jake returned the kiss and stroked her hair. “Well, you said there was something to celebrate. So I thought we should go for it.”

They sat down and the waiter poured the champagne. Jake raised his glass in a toast. “Congratulations! On whatever it is.”

“Ah, you’d like to know why we’re here. Don’t worry, I really do have something worthy of your preparations.” She paused for effect. “We got a hit in my Alzheimer’s screen.”

Jake’s jaw dropped. “Pam, that’s terrific! You’ve been after this for years. No wonder we’re celebrating. It changes a lot, doesn’t it?”

Pam smiled and took a sip of champagne. “It’s what I’ve been trying to do for a long time. And yes, it changes a lot of things. With luck, it’s going to mean new hope for millions of people.”

“That’s great. And it’s important for you too, right? Like tossing out that stupid mid-tenure review for a start.”

“Yes, it’s certainly the end of my worries about tenure. This’ll put me at the top of my field.”

They were interrupted by the waiter coming over to recite the night’s specials and take their orders. Pam chose filet of sole while Jake went with his favorite, the lamb loin.

“So what’s next?” Jake asked. “I gather you just saw the results today?”

Pam nodded. “Holly had her experiments all lined up to show me. She’s apparently had the results for at least a couple of weeks and has already repeated it several times, so it looks solid.”

“Sounds good.”

“It is good. But it’s odd that she kept the results to herself until now, rather than telling me or the other postdoc working on the project. I can understand why she was excited and wanted to do it all herself, but it’s really been counterproductive. George has wasted time screening more drugs, instead of working with Holly to confirm her results and move the project forward. I wasn’t about to be angry at Holly when she showed me her experiments, but it’s irritating, like she’s gone rogue or something. Now I have to get everyone working together to get things finished up and ready for publication.”

“So are there more experiments that still have to be done?”

“Yes, I want to make this a high impact paper that nobody can question. It has to be as strong as possible when it comes out.”

“But you’re feeling confident the rest of the experiments will work out?”

“You can never be sure in science, but I think we’ve got a good shot. There’s still a lot to do, but the big thing’s nailed. Finding the drug.”

Jake raised his glass again. “To your years of hard work paying off. A lot more exciting than my day.”

“What’ve you been up to?” Pam asked.

“Nothing special. I was in court most of the day testifying in a divorce case.”

“You don’t like those much, do you? Do days like this make you miss being with the FBI?”

Jake smiled. “Well, I’m certainly glad I got to work your divorce. But seriously, being private is a mixed bag. There was a lot I liked about being with the Bureau. The work was interesting, and I felt like I was doing something important. But I wasn’t so good at dealing with all the bureaucracy. In some ways, it was like the hoops you’ve had to jump through at the Langmere.”

“How do you mean?”

“Well, like your mid-tenure review. They wanted you to switch your research to publish more papers, rather than take the chance of pushing the envelope to do something important. Which you’ve now done, so they can shove it.”

Pam laughed. “Okay, thanks. But how is that like the Bureau?”

“Just that I sometimes bent the rules a bit too much. Like the time I roughed up a gang member to get the information we needed to pull an undercover cop out of a bad situation. The boss thought I went too far and jeopardized the case.”

“You mean following the rules was more important to them than saving your agent?”

Jake shrugged. “They’d never say it that way, but yes, that’s what it felt like. Being private gives me more flexibility, and I like having only myself to answer to.”

He paused and took a bite of lamb. “But tonight’s not about me. You said it seems odd that your postdoc kept her results from you and the others for a couple of weeks. Do you think something funny’s going on?”

“Is that detective’s intuition? I’m not sure. She said she just wanted to make sure of everything before she told me about it. But it was a strange thing for her to do. Anyway, I’m having a lab meeting tomorrow morning where she’ll present her results to the group and I’m going to get them all back on the same page again. I need them working as a team to verify her experiments and finish up everything we still have to do.”

“Is that going to be a problem?” Jake asked.

“I don’t know. It could be if she’s intent on doing this on her own. But nothing I can’t handle.” Pam reached across the table to take his hand. “Anyway, that’s tomorrow. In the meantime, how about continuing this party at my place?”