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Cole burst into the room and suddenly stopped. He stared in silence at Karolina’s body which still lay uncovered on the floor.
‘What the fuck have you done, Godfrey?’ he shouted, marching over to him and grabbing at his surgical robes, attempting to pull him to his feet. ‘Did you not follow the protocol?’
‘What protocol? You mean those vague details in that report? Don’t make me laugh! I must have been out of my mind to go through with this!’ Godfrey was on his feet by now and knocked away Cole’s hands. He walked over to the side of the room, ripped off his sterile robe and started to put on his jacket. He hurriedly collected up his stethoscope and other surgical equipment and stowed them in his bag.
‘Don’t blame me, you’re the medic. Not a very good one I might add, considering how many of your patients seem to die!’
‘Shut up, you bastard. Just think for a moment, although I know it’s not something you are used to doing!’
Cole was fuming and pacing back and forth, rubbing his hair. ‘Get out!,’ he shouted at the assistant, ‘and close the door!’
‘That prototype drug has never been in human patients before. We only had projections in the report. It might have had some impurity, we don’t know. And to cap it all, we had no idea what the medical history of that poor girl was. She could have had a heart problem or some allergy? Do you want me to continue?
Cole continued to glare at his partner in crime.
‘Well, I’m finished with you. I’ve got photos of this girl and if I go down, so do you. I’ve got photos of your assistants, everything. You’ve just as much to lose as me. I’ve written accounts of what you asked me to do and they are lodged in a safe place, to be opened in the event of me dying in suspicious circumstances. It details everything we ever did together. Goodbye Cole,’ and he left the room, leaving Cole with the body of Karolina.
**
Nick checked his data against that of Thierry’s and was delighted to see that he had synthesised the correct material and in good purity. Pat had emerged from the meeting room so Nick went to tell him the good news.
‘Pat, have you got a minute?’ asked Nick.
‘Sure, pull up a seat.’
‘I just wanted to let you know that those conditions I tried for the final step in the sequence look really promising. They give a much cleaner reaction profile,’ and he handed over the data to Pat.
‘Well, that’s great Nick, how about the yield?’
‘Well, it’s a bit better, still not as high as we would like. But I think it might be to do with the way I isolated the stuff. I think I can work on that. Also, it was my first attempt, so we should be able to do some further fine-tuning of the conditions.’
‘High five,’ said Pat, standing up, smiling warmly at Nick.
Nick looked around feeling slightly embarrassed at Pat’s exuberance. He noticed Dan turn around and look rather churlishly in their direction. Nick was keen to play down his input for the time being. He knew it might ruffle people’s feathers coming into a project and making such an impact even though that was the reason he’d been hired. He thought it would be good if some of the development of the reaction could be shared around the team in order that others might share in the success.
‘Do you think it would be worth calling a short meeting tomorrow so we can all discuss the best way forward?’ asked Nick.
‘Great idea, make it late morning as I’ve got another meeting with Matt. He wants to go through some suggestions for an external patent writing company to help out with all the paperwork.’
‘Will do, no problem. I’ll speak to the rest of the guys and work out a time.’
‘Get Erin to book a meeting room as well, it’s hopeless trying to discuss things in the office area,’ suggested Pat.
An encounter with Erin was the last thing Nick wanted. Perhaps he could email her or drop a note on her desk instead. He was pleased that today had gone so well and he would be able to relate this to Polly that evening. They’d had lunch together in her office that day and he’d told her how he was hoping to get this key data this afternoon. She had remarked how nice it was to see him so upbeat and enthusiastic about everything. It was a pity that she was going out for a drink with one of her girlfriends tonight, he would have to wait even longer than usual to tell her his good news.
**
Jessica was aware of a commotion outside of her confined quarters. It was normally very peaceful although she could occasionally overhear some conversations of her captor on his mobile. There also seemed to be more vehicles coming and going outside compared with her previous two days in captivity. She wondered what was going on and had her ear pressed up against the door in the hope that she could get some clues. Her stomach was rumbling with hunger and she only had a drop of water left in her bottle. She felt a complete mess. She was sure she was beginning to smell. She had been so tense that it had made her perspire more than normal. Her blouse felt stiff under the armpits where it had become wet then dried repeatedly. Her teeth felt horrible and she could tell that the plaque was starting to build up on them. She had lain on her sleeping bag scraping at her teeth with her fingernails to remove the plaque from each tooth and swallowing the residue. How she longed to brush them thoroughly. Her hair was starting to feel greasy and her face likewise. She had moistened a corner of her skirt with her bottle of water and given her face a quick wipe over, that had at least given her some relief. To add to her misery and discomfort her period had started and she had no towels or tampons to use. It was now forty-eight hours since she’d taken her contraceptive pill and so her body had started its hormonal bleed. Her pants were soaked with blood and she had taken off her camisole vest and stuffed it in her pants to soak up the discharge. She felt like a baby again wearing a big nappy. Never before had she felt in such a disgusting state and she thought of the poor girls in developing countries who couldn’t go to school when they had their periods. If she ever got out of this ordeal she vowed to give money to a charity which provided sanitary pads to girls in Africa.
She then heard more voices outside. Someone shouted something and she heard her guard answer back but it was slightly muffled. Then she heard another voice.
‘We’re off up to the house now, OK?’
‘Yes, no problem,’ said her guard.
‘Now, you’re on your own for a while, so look after that bitch. Don’t let her give you any trouble. OK?’
Her guard laughed.
‘The food’s there, don’t forget to take it into her.’
They say that eavesdroppers never hear any good about themselves. That may well have been true. However, on this occasion, Jessica had an idea.
