Rising Pressure, page 19
“Again, you don’t even know that they have it. What if you find a way to somehow get it back and it turns out to not be what you think it is? And what if you get caught trying to get it back? What then?”
“I already sent graphs to Addison showing her how well everything worked yesterday. She’s going to be suspicious.”
“She has no reason to suspect foul play. This student of hers, Anthony, is a loose cannon. She knows that he makes mistakes and is sloppy. I’m sure she is not in any way thinking that we’ve been trying to hide something from her. Relax.”
“I think we need to get ahead of this, Emmitt.”
“We’re ahead of it by being aware that it could be an issue. We cannot overreact. Stay cool, Laina. Do not do anything rash. Understand?”
“Fine. We’ll do it your way for now. I’ll keep you updated.” She ended the call even though she knew he was wrong. She had seen the exact response in her own experiment that Anthony had put up on the screen. What were the odds that he didn’t take her channel?
CHAPTER 56
Addison thought Eleanor seemed more relaxed as they walked from the elevator to the café. Maybe she just had something going on at home that had been distracting her and now it had resolved. Addison hoped that her cheery personality would come back soon.
“It’s been way too long since we’ve gotten lunch together.” She said to Eleanor.
“It has been a few months. We’ve both been fairly busy with getting Laina settled and everything else. Thanks for inviting me out. I really like this café too.”
A waitress came over and took their orders. Both women had eaten there enough times that they knew what they wanted without looking at the menu. Addison wouldn’t really consider herself a regular at the restaurant, but she knew several PIs who ate there almost daily for lunch.
“I never followed up with you about Gary’s DNA screening. Did anything come from that?”
“Well, sort of. Just this week he was contacted about a new drug trial for people with mutations like his. Of course, he wouldn’t find out if he was getting the placebo or the real thing until it was over.”
“That’s exciting! Did he say who was conducting the trial?”
“He did, but I can’t remember. I’ll have to ask him and let you know. I think he was pretty set on doing it.”
“Good for him. He’s really proactive about his health. I admire that.”
Eleanor smiled. “He is. He loves to tell people about our lab and what we do even though he doesn’t completely understand it.”
“We should make him a shirt or a hat that says number one fan or something like that.” She laughed. “How is everything else going? I’ve talked your ear off about the kids, but haven’t gotten to hear about your own family. Anything else new?”
Eleanor picked up her napkin and fiddled with the hem. “Oh, not much really. Everyone is doing well and staying busy.”
Addison noticed that Eleanor’s mood had shifted and wondered if she was still bothered by something. “Sometimes boring is nice, right?”
Eleanor looked up, but didn’t seem relaxed. “Yes,” she said slowly.
“Is everything okay, Eleanor? I feel like I upset you somehow.”
“Oh, it’s nothing. Really. I’m just…distracted.”
“Is someone bothering you in the lab? You can talk to me. I don’t want you to be unhappy at work. We’re friends. Please, how can I help?”
Eleanor continued to fiddle with the hem of the napkin. She looked around the dining area and chewed on her lower lip. “It’s not that. It’s just---” she stopped speaking. Addison waited, trying to keep from interrupting Eleanor’s thoughts.
“It’s just that…well, I have been getting these notes.” She grabbed her purse and pulled out some scraps of paper. Addison instantly thought of the weird note she had received weeks earlier. She took the notes from Eleanor to read them.
Don’t trust the Strydent people.
The Strydent lab has skeletons in their closet. You’ve been warned.
Watch your new postdoc like a hawk.
“Oh Eleanor! This must have felt very threatening. When did you get these?”
“I have been getting one every few days or so in my mailbox since the week that Dr. Hibber, um, Laina, arrived. At first, I thought that someone was just trying to stir up drama, but then I kept getting them. I know you knew Dr. Strydent from high school and that you trusted him, so I didn’t want to concern you about it. Why shouldn’t we trust them, though?”
“I can’t think of a reason, Eleanor, but I didn’t stay in touch with Emmitt after high school graduation. Do you have any idea who could be leaving the notes?”
“I don’t. I was hoping that whoever it was would talk to me directly, but no one has. I’ve just been collecting them in my purse. I didn’t know what else to do. I’m sorry.”
“There’s no reason to be sorry, Eleanor. You have done nothing wrong. I got a note too, right after I submitted the paperwork for the collaboration, but I haven’t gotten any since then. I’m not sure what to make of it either. Like you said, we have no reason not to trust Emmitt and Laina. Thank you for telling me. I’m not sure what the best course of action is. I suppose I will have to lend a more critical eye to anything unusual that happens from this point.”
Eleanor nodded. “I should have told you sooner. It feels much better to talk about it than to hide it from you. I will let you know if I get any more notes.”
They finished eating their sandwiches and then split the check. Addison was glad that Eleanor had opened up to her, but the news that she was receiving warning notes too was troubling. She wished whoever was sending them would stop being so clandestine and just talk to them. Her mind flashed back to the secretary’s face when Addison submitted the request to collaborate with Emmitt. It couldn’t be Sheila, though. The handwriting wasn’t at all close to anything she had seen the woman write. Until she could figure out who it was, she needed to think about what would make someone be so wary of Emmitt’s lab. She would have to get some input from Ryan. He was good at critical thinking and problem solving.
CHAPTER 57
When Addison and Eleanor got off the elevator, they saw Anthony carrying a gel back into the main lab. Addison wondered if the gel had revealed any answers to his experimental struggles. He hadn’t seen them step off the elevator, so she followed him over to his lab bench. No one else was back from lunch yet.
“Anything interesting?” She asked when she caught up to him.
“No. It looks just like it should.” He showed her the photo he had taken of the gel. She had looked at the same image enough times to know that it was correct.
“It’s possible that a mutation incorporated somewhere other than the places we check with this test. You know, we have a DNA sequencer in the lab. We could run it through that and see if there is a mutation. If it comes back as the wild type, then we’ll have to look elsewhere.”
“I haven’t used the sequencer before. Is it straightforward?”
“More or less. I think Eleanor can probably help walk you through it.”
“I would be happy to, dear,” Eleanor said from her desk. “Just let me get my things put away and I’ll meet you over at the common bench.”
“Thank you. I’ll go get the construct from my box. How long does it take to get the sequence?”
Addison looked at her watch. “We probably won’t get a sequence until we come back on Monday. Eleanor, can you remind me where the primers for the channel are?”
Eleanor met her gaze. “Sure. They’re in the lab freezer.” She pointed to the regular refrigerator by Juan’s desk. Anthony left the room to get his sample from the deep freezer next door.
“Eleanor, I know that the grant we used to pay for the sequencer requires that we submit any sequence to the public database, but let me analyze it first before we do that. I don’t want to put an errant sequence in that system without understanding where it came from.”
“I understand. Should I email it to you?”
“Just save it in your folder on the network. I can access it from there on Monday. I might try to look at it over the weekend if I get a chance.”
Before they could discuss it further, Anthony came back with his ice bucket. Addison locked eyes with Eleanor for a moment before walking towards the door.
“I’ll leave you both to it. If anyone hears from Laina, let me know. I just realized that I don’t have her phone number. I guess I can check with Emmitt and see if she’s okay or if she needs anything. At the very least, he can get us her number.”
“Oh, I have her number,” Anthony said. “I can shoot her a text.”
Addison blinked to conceal her shock. “Thank you, Anthony. Let me know if she needs anything.” She turned to go back to her office, passing Becky who was probably on her way back to the lab after lunch. Addison wished that they could get a sequence back before the end of the day, but the sodium channel was too big to finish by then. She wondered if Anthony had just gotten unlucky and ended up in a random mutation or if something else was happening. Laina kept all of her DNA constructs locked in that freezer, so it seemed rather unlikely that Anthony would have been able to get his hands on it. Still, even if he had taken her construct, it should still be the wild type. It didn’t make any sense that it would have a different response than they were used to seeing. Plus, Laina’s experiment was normal, so it couldn’t be the construct. She texted Ryan when she got back to the office.
Today has been a crazy day. Even more bizarre than last week.
Is everything okay?
Yes. Just…weird.
Addison spent the rest of the afternoon trying to concentrate on her upcoming grant renewal, but her mind was constantly going back over various scenarios that could explain Anthony’s results. Whenever she had a new idea that they could check, she jotted it down on her notepad. Hopefully, the sequence would shed some light on the mystery. She didn’t have many other ideas to fall back on if it didn’t.
CHAPTER 58
Ryan had dinner ready when Addison got home. Joe’s football season had ended the previous weekend when they lost in the divisional round. Even though she knew Joe was disappointed about the loss, Addison was ready for a break from weekly football games. Of course, basketball practice had already started, so it wouldn’t be long before he had games twice a week. Martin was spending the night at Joel’s house to celebrate the start of Thanksgiving break and their older kids had both made plans to see a new movie at the local theater.
“So, tell me about this crazy day.”
“You wouldn’t believe it. I’m not sure where to start. Anthony’s experiment still bombed, but Laina’s didn’t. Eleanor is getting borderline threatening notes from some mystery person—assumably someone in the department, and Laina had some sort of family emergency right when lab meeting ended. She never came back, but Anthony heard from her that she was fine. She’ll be back at work on Monday.”
“Eleanor is being threatened?! Did you report it?”
“Let me clarify. Someone has been leaving notes in her mailbox warning her not to trust people from Emmitt’s lab. I told you about the note that was slid under my office door a few weeks ago, right?”
“Yes, but when you didn’t get any more, I just assumed it was somebody trying to play a dumb joke. Did Eleanor show you the notes she received?”
“She gave them to me.” Addison pulled them from her bag to show Ryan. “I mean, no one is threatening any kind of bodily harm or anything.”
Ryan looked through the notes and shook his head. “They are strange. Does Emmitt have history with anyone besides Dr. Watt?”
“I mean, not that I know of, but that doesn’t mean that he hasn’t worked with someone else. It’s a big department. Who knows?”
“I think we can assume that if Dr. Watt had an issue with Emmitt or his lab, he wouldn’t have approved the collaboration.”
“Agreed. I wonder if there is anyone still with his staff that had interactions with Emmitt back then. Maybe a long-time technician or research professor?”
“Could be. Do you think Eleanor should ask some of the other techs and see if they know more about the people that came to the department with Watt?”
“I’m not sure if she would do it. The notes really put her on edge. Zenia might know. I’ll ask her next time I see her.”
“What do you think is going on with Anthony? It seemed like he’d really gotten back on track.”
“It really did. I’m fairly puzzled. We’re sequencing the DNA of the sodium channel construct that he has been using the last two weeks. If it comes back normal, then I’m not sure what to test. Laina’s experiment looked just as it should. It wasn’t even an experiment; she was just repeating our controls to make sure that she had the process figured out. It looked completely normal.”
“I’m sure you’ll figure it out. Let’s watch a movie and see if you can distract your mind from all of this for an evening. The lab will still be there on Monday.”
“I guess I’m off the hook for biking tomorrow morning since Martin is over at Joel’s. Maybe we can actually sleep in on a Saturday.”
“I’m going to hold you to that.”
“Wait, are your parents still coming on Tuesday?”
“Oh, yeah, they are. Guess we’ve got a house to clean this weekend.” Ryan sighed and turned on the TV.
CHAPTER 59
Emmitt continued to stew about his conversation with Laina over the weekend. She had already overstepped by putting the tracker bug things—what did she call them—keys on the Fischer lab’s computers. He wasn’t very knowledgeable regarding technology, but she even admitted that they were illegal. He felt like she was repeatedly making snap decisions that would get them into trouble if he didn’t get her under control again. He had always been very methodical and deliberate with his decisions regarding the lab and his project. He picked up the phone to call her again.
“Yes, Emmitt?”
“I need to make sure that you understand that we are not going to act on any of your thoughts or opinions about Anthony’s results. We are walking a tight line here, Laina, and you’re really making it a challenge.”
“I’m making it a challenge? Unbelievable. I’m just trying to keep you from writing your own death warrant. You started this charade.”
“You need to tell me before you formulate any plans or chase some wild hare idea that you don’t even have proof exists!”
“I do have proof! I saw his data.”
“No actions, Laina. If we overreact, we will never get through this.”
“I still think we need to be proactive, but I guess this is still your circus, so we’ll do it your way.” She ended the call.
Emmitt didn’t feel any better. He tried to think of a reason to call Laina back to California, but that would just slow things down with Apothecom. He couldn’t send anyone else because no one else was good enough. He picked up his stress ball and tried to will a good idea into his mind.
CHAPTER 60
Laina rolled her eyes as she went over her conversation with Emmitt. She could almost guarantee that he was wrong. He was always so arrogant, so unable to see or hear anyone else’s opinion. Anthony took her sample and she knew it. Maybe she could ask him for it back in an innocent way. She could tell him that she hadn’t amplified her own construct yet, and ask to borrow whatever he was using. She wondered if that would make him suspicious that she was suspicious. If he gave her some of his own sample, that wouldn’t get her anywhere either.
She drummed her fingers on the table and kicked her foot trying to figure out a solution. Emmitt didn’t believe her that the kid took the reagent, but she knew in her heart that he did. The only way she could convince him that he took it would be to get it back and sequence it. Emmitt would never allow that. It would just be more evidence of his deceit. Laina knew they would start to inspect each of his reagents to troubleshoot his struggles and eventually land on the channel construct. She needed to get it back before they could do any more tests with it. This was going to require some outside assistance and Emmitt just didn’t need to know about it.
CHAPTER 61
Addison got to work early on Monday with Martin in tow. She let him bring his iPad to play some video games while he was at work with her. After getting him set up in her office, she walked over to the lab to see if Eleanor was in yet. She was really anxious to get a look at the sequence to see if it solved the mystery of Anthony’s lab troubles.
Eleanor was already at her desk and working at the computer. She had some purchase orders in a stack that she was logging into her filing system. The lab had several standing orders for frequently used materials, especially solutions that they used in tissue culture with their cells. Addison noticed that Laina was also in early. She wasn’t at her desk, but her messenger bag was draped over her chair. Addison guessed that she was already setting up her cells for the week.
“Hi, Dr. Fischer! How was your weekend?”
“It kind of drug on. Martin spent the night at a friend’s house on Friday, so we didn’t get to do our weekly biking adventure at the park. Ryan’s parents are coming on Tuesday, so we spent most of Saturday cleaning up the house to their standards. I am really ready to be back here.” She laughed. “Have you pulled up the sequence yet?”
“I haven’t. I was just entering all of our recent purchase orders into the system so that they could get paid. I can take a break and look at that now.”
“I don’t want to interrupt your process. I’ll check the folder later this morning. Thanks.” She left the main lab to go back to her office. Martin was supposed to be reading his book for half an hour before he did any gaming, so she hoped he had listened to her instructions. While he had several games on his iPad that he enjoyed, he also liked playing some of the older games on her desktop computer. She had promised to take him to lunch for hamburgers since he had to hang out in her office all day rather than be outside with his friends.
