by Brian Myrick
“No, nothing... It’s amazing...” Azreal says.
Emma is still brushing her hair and looking around at the others. “It was your blood, right?” Emma asks Samuel. “How much did I have?”
“A drop, maybe less,” Samuel says. “I think.”
“Well I can tell you a drop will make you feel twenty years younger,” Emma exclaims. “Can I have a mirror please.” Haley walks to the bathroom and gets a mirror that she hands to Emma.
“I am going to guess your cancer free now also,” Azreal says.
Emma looks in the mirror and then looks over at Azreal with a big smile.
“What does this mean?” Haley asks.
“It means that if Emma tests cancer free, we are no longer the enemy of the humans,” Azreal says.
“We have something that can help them,” Samuel says as he smiles and rubs Emma’s shoulder.
“It also means that we have something that they may want to take from us, maybe by force,” Gabriel says.
“We also have something that we could sell,” Haley says, with a smile.
Gabriel smiles back wickedly at Haley.
“It looks like life just changed for us,” Gabriel chuckles.
***
Chapter Five
The Year Is 2018
D
an, Frank and FDA Agent Troy Hanson are in Dan’s office setting around his desk that is cluttered with papers they are looking over with names and addresses of Old World Pharmaceutical’s employees. Frank closes the shutters a little to block the sunlight and so everyone could see the paperwork more easily. The cluttered desk is clearly making Dan’s OCD flare up as he keeps trying to organize the papers as they all shuffle through them.
“This is the newest list you could come up with?” Dan asks frustrated. “These guys have been there forever, they’re not going to talk to us.”
“Yeah this is it,” Frank says and scratches at his head.
“I know they haven’t put out anything new in years, but everyone on this list is my dad’s age or older,” Dan says. “Why are these people even still working, they should be retired somewhere.”
“Most of the people on that list aren’t working there anymore,” Frank says and points at the list.
“Those dates at the end are the last dates they got paid from Old World,” Frank says.
“What about this guy?” Troy asks. “His hire date in only a few weeks ago.”
“I guess, they finally ran out of employees and had to finally replace one,” Dan says.
Dan looks at the name, then shuffles through some folders on the desk. He matches the name with a folder, then hands the folder to Frank.
“Look for an address in there,” Dan says while Frank flips through the file.
“Bingo, I got it,” Frank says.
“It looks like we will be paying Jacob a visit real soon,” Dan says. “Real soon boys.”
Troy and Frank leave Dan’s office and are walking down a hallway to their own offices. Most of the officers’ doors are closed as they walk by them.
“I’m all about doing my job, but since this Old World case got going, Dan has had a hard-on for these guys,” Frank says.
“Can you blame him?” Troy replies.
“What do you mean?” Frank asks.
“He is never going to accept what happened,” Troy says.
“Maybe, I’m missing something here,” Frank says. “What happened?”
“Fucking new guy, it was before your time,” Troy says.
Troy stops at his office and motions Frank to come in. He pushes the door open and flicks the light on, though it does little in the sunlight. Troy sits at his desk and Frank takes a seat across from him.
“Shut the door, fucking new guy, and I’ll enlighten you,” Troy says.
Frank gets back up and shuts the door, then looks back to Tory with anticipation.
“You know, this doesn’t leave this room, right?” Troy says. “I don’t want to be the guy that brings up old shit, plus I really don’t want to get on Dan's bad side.”
“I may be new here, but I’m not a fucking new guy,” Frank says. “Come on spill it.”
“Okay, okay,” Troy says. “You see that pic of Dan and his daughter on his desk?”
“Yeah, I’ve seen it,” Frank says while he imagines the picture in his head. “Old pic, I’m pretty sure he looks my age in it.”
“Look at you, investigator,” Troy says. “That’s right, it’s an old pic, but he doesn’t have a daughter anymore.”
“What the fuck?” Frank asks.
“Dan’s daughter had cancer,” Troy explains, “and she might have made it, but even with him pulling strings here to get on the list for the right doctors that had access to the drugs from Old World, they still only made small batches.”
“What the fuck?” Frank says again. “So, she didn’t get the meds that she needed?”
Troy picks up a pen on his desk and throws it at Frank.
“You’re back to being the fucking idiot,” Troy says. “I told you he doesn’t have a daughter anymore. So, is it Old Worlds fault? I don’t know, but I do know Dan thinks it is and he’s holding a grudge against them that isn’t ever going to go away. I don’t think he’ll stop at anything until he finds his answers.”
“Wow,” Frank says.
***
Chapter Six
The Year Is 2018
G
abriel sits at his desk, working on his computer. Samantha walks in and shuts the door behind her. She sits on the edge of Gabriel’s desktop so close to his keyboard, that it’s impossible for him to work on it.
“How did your meeting with the FDA guys go?” Samantha asks.
Gabriel leans back in his chair and places his hand on Samantha’s calf, slowly rubbing it. She doesn’t object.
“My relationship with Azreal is old, and it is hard for me to imagine life without him, but it might be time for us to part ways soon if they continue with this new drug,” Gabriel says.
“What about Haley and Samuel?” Samantha asks.
“We all know what’s going to happen to Samuel, probably very soon,” Gabriel says. “Haley will go where ever Azreal goes. All I can say for sure is that our future is what we make of it.”
“Well, I hope our future is more like our past!” Samantha growls.
Gabriel and Samantha both look at each other and laugh. Gabriel gets up and walks to the office window to look out at the lights, far off in the distance.
“So, what are we doing this weekend?” Samantha asks. “More of the same? Say yes!”
“That is definitely a bad idea, now that we have our new FDA problems,” Gabriel says. “A guy named Dan.”
Samantha gets up and walks over to Gabriel and rubs his shoulders. “Hasn’t it been fun, though?” Samantha asks. “Like old times again. The thrill of the hunt.”
“I didn’t say it hasn’t been fun,” Gabriel says. “I just said it was a bad idea for now.”
“So, blame me,” Samantha says. “I always make bad decisions.”
“We need to be even more careful now, with this FDA guy looking around,” Gabriel says. “He seems to be the type that is going to cause problems.”
“That’s my boy,” Samantha says. “I’ll be at your house Saturday night.”
Samantha slaps Gabriel on his ass as she walks to the door.
“Hey, I didn’t say we were doing anything this weekend!” Gabriel says.
“But you didn’t say we weren’t doing anything either,” Samantha says with a grin from ear to ear.
***
The scientists in the lab are wrapping up their work for the night, shutting down machines and turning off computers. Steven is looking at more test results with Jacob behind his cluttered desk. Haley pushes the door to the lab open and walks straight over to Steven and Jacob.
“It’s almost quitting time,” Haley says.
“Yeah, we are just finishing up reviewing the results of the last of the tests before we can start our first compounding of XP1,” Steven says. “Just a few more tests, and we’ll be ready, it’s really exciting.”
“Good job, Steven,” Haley says. “Let’s keep this moving along. We need to get those samples soon. We should probably talk about that later, see me in my office before you leave tonight.”
Haley turns to walk away, but Jacob is now standing behind Haley, between her and the exit door for the lab.
“Excuse me, Ma’am,” Jacob says. “I have a few questions for you.”
Haley walks around Jacob and toward the door pretending not to hear the young scientist. As Haley approaches the exit door to the lab, she turns to look over her shoulder and back at Jacob with a cold glance and says, “You can talk to Steven about any questions you have.” The automatically opening door opens and shuts behind her as she leaves the room.
“What are you doing?” an irritated Steven asks. “I told you not to talk to any of the owners unless they have questions for you!”
“I’m sorry, sir,” Jacob says. “I know you helped get me hired here, but these test results just don’t seem right to me. It’s just, that I feel something odd is going on with this new medicine.” Jacob holds the pad of paper he is holding up to show Steven.
Steven looks around to see if anyone else is nearby. Most of the people that had been working in the lab have already left for the night, but there are still a few lab technicians rapping their areas up. Steven grabs Jacob firmly by his arm and pulls him behind some lab equipment.
“Look, Jacob,” Steven says. “I like you, and I want to see you do good here at Old World, but you have to listen to me when I tell you to stop making waves. Just do your job and everything will be fine. I just don’t want to see anything happen to you.”
“What would happen to me?” Jacob asks. “I’m just trying to do my job and there is a certain level of ethics that I would like to maintain.”
Steven clearly frustrated with Jacob says sharply, “Wrap up here, go home, and think about what I told you.” Steven goes back to his area in the lab to organize the lab test papers while Jacob cleans up his station and packs it up for the next day. Steven glances over at Jacob as he leaves the lab.
Haley is sitting at her desk in her office looking at her computer and Azreal is standing next to her looking at the same computer screen, when Steven knocks on the open door to Haley’s office. “Come in Steven.”
“You wanted to see me,” Steven says. “Is this a bad time?”
“No, Steven,” Haley says. “Come in and have a seat.” Steven walks in and sits down, only halfway shutting the office door behind him.
Azreal stops looking at the computer screen and walks over to a chair that is against the adjacent wall and sits down.
The final lab employees are leaving the building for the weekend. Jacob sees Steven walk into Haley’s office, unseen by Steven, Jacob follows him, but stops just outside of Haley’s office and leans against the wall, eavesdropping on the conversation happening in the office.
“Your new hire, Jacob, is a little too curious for his own good,” Haley says.
“Yes, I have noticed that also,” Steven says. “I have talked to him a few times now about focusing more on his work and leaving the business part to management.”
“With our new FDA problems, we can’t have anything slipping out,” Haley says. “You need to get rid of him before the problem develops into something more serious that might require us to take care of ourselves, you understand what I mean Steven.”
“He is a good kid and I don’t want to see anything bad happen to him, so I’ll make sure he understands his place here or I’ll fire him before you need to become part of it,” Steven reassures them.
“It sounds like you like him?” Azreal asks. “Let’s wait on getting rid of him for now, we just need everything to stay moving along without any new problems.”
“I’ll keep a closer eye on him,” Steven says with a slight gulp of the throat. “Thank you, Azreal.”
“We have been reviewing your work and it looks like the first samples are ready to be mixed,” Haley says. “Are you staying this weekend in the basement lab to get them ready?”
“Yes, I was planning on being here all weekend to get that done,” Steven says.
“Okay, I will check back in on you this weekend to see how they are going,” Azreal says.
“If you don’t mind me asking why the rush with this new drug?” Steven says. “Wouldn’t it be better to back off some, maybe take it slow until we have everything right, and it’s not rushed?”
Azreal and Haley look at each other, and then back to Steven with a little glimmer in both of their eyes.
“Tell him, he has been with us long enough to understand,” Azreal says to Haley.
“Tell me what?” Steven asks.
Haley looks back at Steven and says “Okay, we have an old friend that we met around the same time we met you, He helped us get going in the beginning, and now, he is asking for a favor.”
“The new drug?” Steven asks.
“Yes, XP1,” Haley says.
“But why not wait and avoid any problems that might happen with rushing it?” Steven asks. “It still needs more testing, not to mention, it hasn’t been approved for production yet.”
“This friend of ours is being,” Haley stops for a moment thinking about what to say next, “well, a little insistent on timely delivery.”
“So, not really a friend anymore?” Steven says, his insides beginning to grow uneasy with the situation.
Azreal stands and walks over to Steven. “You could say that,” Azreal says and places his hand on Steven’s shoulder and looking deep into Steven’s eyes. “You know time is of the essence with this and I know we can trust you to deliver, Steven.”
“You know, I have always done my best for both of you and this company,” Steven replies, unable to look away from Azreal’s stare.
Jacob quickly walks away from Haley’s office door and heads toward the main exit for the building hoping that nobody sees him. He glances over his shoulder nervously to make sure that Jacob hasn’t left the office yet. As he reaches the exit door and pushes through it and outside into the cold morning air. A feeling of relief fills him. Then as quickly as relief filled him it leaves being replaced with depression and fear as he picks up his pace to a jog toward his car.
***
The sun shines through the window and onto Angela Thomson sitting at her desk in the FDA building, she is on the phone and has multiple papers on her desktop in organized piles.
“Just working mom, still getting used to the new job,” Angela says into the phone.
“That’s good Ang, I just wanted to tell you again how proud I am of you,” Lisa Thomson’s voice comes through the phone.
“Thank you, Mom,” Angela says. “An odd thing happened in a meeting I had. I saw a picture of the owners of a company called Old World Pharmaceuticals. Have you heard of them?”
“Is that the cancer company?” Lisa asks.
“Yeah, that’s them,” Angela says.
“Yes, Ang I’ve heard of them, I think the whole world knows about that company,” Lisa says.
“One of the owners looked so familiar,” Angela says. “When I saw the picture of him, it was more like I knew him personally than just looking at the picture of a stranger.”
“Well, Ang, I have no idea what you’re working on with that company, but from what I’ve heard they do really good things,” Lisa says with sincerity. “So, I wouldn’t waste too much time with them, I’m sure you have more important things to be working on, now that you’re the boss.”
***
A black, four-door sedan pulls up in front of Jacob’s house. Dan gets out of the car on the passenger side, holding a thick brown folder. Frank gets out of the driver’s side and hurries around the car to catch up wi
th Dan, who is already walking toward the front door of Jacob’s house.
“Get a move on, FNG,” Dan yells back over his shoulder.
Dan and Frank knock on the front door of Jacob’s house. The door opens to Martha Ellis, she has the girl next door look, cute but just average looking for a girl in her early twenty’s. Long blonde hair and deep blue eyes. She smiles at the sight of the two men and says, “hello can I help you.”
“Hello, I’m Agent Miller with the FDA,” Dan says. “We have a few questions for Jacob Ellis. Is he home?”
“Yeah he is, I think, I’ll check,” Martha says.
“Who are you?” Franks asks.
“I’m Martha, Jacob’s sister,” Martha says and shuts the door.
A few minutes later Jacob opens the door, looking half asleep with messy hair and groggy eyes. He wipes at his face still trying to wake up before looking at the men.
“Sorry, did we catch you at a bad time?” Dan asks. “You sleeping? It’s the middle of the day.”
Jacob looks at Dan with a glare “No, no, not anymore,” Jacob says. “I work nights. Who are you guys again?”
Dan, quick to grab his wallet out of his pocket and flips out the badge hidden inside of it, then with a snap, flips it back shut. Frank slower to get out his badge shows it to Jacob also.
“We are with the FDA,” Dan says.
“I didn’t know the FDA had cops,” Jacobs says with a smile.
“Yeah, it has cops,” Dan says glaring back at Jacob now. “You mind if we come in? We have some questions for you about Old World Pharmaceuticals.”
Jacob opens the door wider and backs up some, then motions for them to come inside. They enter the house and walk through a cluttered living room and into a kitchen. The three of them sit around a kitchen table. Dan opens his folder and takes some papers out, then neatly places them on the table in front of him, as usual. Dan looks over the papers while he slowly and routinely rolls the fingers of his right hand on the table. Index, middle, ring, pinky finger. Slow gentle thuds on the table, over and over.
