Finding Trust (Centre Games)

by Natalie Gayle

  “In other words, making a potential bio-weapon,” Rihanna almost spat.

  “Oh no, my dear. Far from it. Actually, the research we’re doing here is to try to prevent the virus from becoming used in a potential bio-terrorism event,” he quickly added, clearly unsettled by Rihanna’s heated reaction.

  “But what you’re saying, if I’m getting you correctly, is that you’re actually creating a transportation agent for the virus in order to then determine how to counteract it. Is that it?”

  Go, Minky, he cheered internally. Nothing like getting to the heart of it and putting these pricks in their place at the same time. All the time, Matthews said nothing, not even bothering to hide his lecherous stare as his eyes stayed glued to Rihanna’s chest. It was taking everything Brayden had not to jump up and floor the slimy little prick.

  “Well, I guess you could see it as that,” he agreed quietly. He was clearly disappointed Rihanna was not on board with their work.

  “I’m not going to pretend I agree with your methods, Jerry, but I guess you’d better show me where you’re up to. That’s what my instructions are.”

  Sullivan rose and gestured for them to follow. “Come down to the lab and we’ll go through everything.”

  They rose without further comment and headed back out through the corridor with all the conference rooms and down a further corridor that ended in yet another set of heavy steel doors.

  Sullivan pressed his palm to the biometric reader and the door silently slid open. Bray stepped back slightly, encouraging Matthews through the door in front of both of them.

  He gently pulled Rihanna close to him and whispered in her ear. “Watch Matthews—don’t like him one little bit.”

  She nodded acknowledgement, her eyes not shifting from Sullivan and Matthews in front of her. “He makes my skin crawl.” She shivered uncomfortably as if to emphasise her point.

  Sullivan ushered them around a workbench with an oversized computer monitor taking pride of place. He was in the process of flicking the screen to some program that he wanted to show.

  Matthews turned to Brayden with a cold look in his eye. “You can leave if you like, James. No doubt this won’t be of interest to you.” It was the first comment that the little prick had made.

  “On the contrary, Matthews, I’m very interested. My orders are to remain with Dr Mason at all times, so I look forward to learning something.” He returned the cold look with an even icier smile.

  Matthews ducked his head, clearly recognising that his ruse had been thwarted.

  “So, Rihanna, this is the compound molecular structure we are using to suspend the virus in.” He pointed to a graphical depiction on the left-hand side of the screen. “And over here are the preliminary results of testing.” The second side of the screen held a series of numbers and stats; as Matthew predicted, none of it made any sense to Brayden.

  Rihanna took a few moments to read through the data and then started firing off rapid questions. She was obviously in her element, totally excelling at this sort of work. Her line of questioning was thorough and considered. From what he could tell, she took nothing for granted and offered no leeway. She wanted the exact answers, not estimates or assumptions.

  Sullivan was impressed, too; he was becoming more and more animated at her quick grasp of his work. The computer screen was flashing from view to view as he went through some process that Bray had understood about three words of. Didn’t matter. Rihanna was the one who understood this. His job was to make sure she stayed in one piece without one silky strand of her hair displaced.

  From time to time, Matthews interjected, clearly trying to impress her with his knowledge. Initially, Rihanna politely pointed out the failing of his arguments. Over the last half an hour, she’d got to the point of being blunt, clearly fed up with him breathing the same air she was.

  Bray could feel his interest in her turn to frustration as she beat him down at every opportunity. He didn’t like the vibe coming from the little shit one bit.

  After a very long morning, Sullivan finally deemed it time to break for lunch.

  “Let’s take a break and get started back at two. I want to give you a demonstration of what we’ve actually managed to do.”

  “There’s a coffee shop just down the way, if you’d like to join us, Rihanna,” Matthews put in, clearly hoping Brayden wouldn’t join them.

  “Sorry, mate, I’ve had a text come through and we’re both needed on a conference call in about ten minutes. We’ll do that from the car and grab something while we’re out.”

  Brayden enjoyed the look of grubby disappointment shoot across Matthews’ face.

  He turned and motioned Rihanna in front of him and out of the lab.

  “We’ll see you at two,” called Sullivan, half questioning whether they’d come back.

  “Yes, two,” Rihanna threw over her shoulder as she was almost pushed along by Bray.

  In a matter of a minute, he had her out of the highly secured building and safely back in his car and was peeling out of the car park.

  He knew anger was washing off him in waves.

  She turned and looked at him, questioning his mood.

  “So do we have a conference call or was that an excuse to get out of there for lunch?”

  “A little of both. I can’t stand that lecherous Matthews. What a slimy little fuck. And as for Sullivan, he’s clearly brilliant but incredibly naïve if he thinks his work is going to help prevent bio-terrorism.” Brayden slammed the car into gear and floored it away from the lights, clearly venting his frustration.

  “I need to call the boss and have a chat. I don’t have a good feeling about this at all.” He swiped a hand through his thick hair; fortunately, it seemed to fall directly back into place.

  He pressed a button on the steering wheel and the phone system immediately sounded.

  “Call Tom Anderson mobile.”

  “Calling,” was the automated response.

  Two short rings sounded through the car’s speaker system before the call was taken.

  “Anderson.”

  “Boss, it’s Bray. I’ve got Rihanna Mason with me as well.”

  “What’s up?”

  “We’ve just spent the morning with Drs Sullivan and Matthews and to say that my skin’s prickling is an understatement. Sullivan is clearly brilliant but naïve and Matthews is slimy and I’d say as cunning as a shithouse rat.”

  “And what would your assessment be, Miss Mason?” the man Brayden referred to as boss asked.

  “Well, Mr Anderson, I’d have to agree with Brayden’s appraisal. Technically, Sullivan is brilliant but totally naïve to the fact that in order to potentially stop a terrorist threat, he’s actually creating one. As for Matthews, I have no idea what value he adds.”

  Brayden quietly chuckled at Rihanna’s assessment of Matthews; clearly, she was not impressed.

  “So where are you up to?”

  Rihanna looked to Brayden and he motioned for her to continue.

  “He’s walked us through the technical and testing results data this morning. From what I have seen, it all looks comprehensive, consistent, and very likely producing the transport agent they claim to have been able to isolate. This afternoon, they are going to give a demonstration of the virus in action.”

  “How do you feel about this, Brayden?” The boss’s voice was a low rumble.

  “Nervous as hell, boss. I don’t trust either of them. I’m reluctant to take Rihanna back there, to be totally honest.”

  “When are you due back?”

  “In about thirty minutes, boss.”

  “Well, proceed as planned but be careful. I’m going to check a few things here. Bloody feds told me these guys were a quality outfit and working for us. If this isn’t the case, I won’t be happy.” There was no mistaking just how pissed off the boss was at their news. Being on the boss’s bad side was definitely not a good place to be.

  “Oh, I’ve got no doubt they’re a quality outfit, bos
s. I just question what their motives truly are.” Brayden ran his fingers through his hair again.

  “Right. Let me see what I can dig up before two. I don’t want you walking into anything.”

  Before either of them could respond, the connection was cut.

  “Wow, he sounds pissed.”

  “Boss doesn’t like to be dicked around by anyone, particularly bureaucrats, and I think the feds might have the bull by the wrong horn on this occasion.” Bray spun the wheel and pulled into a fast-food drive thru just a little too quickly.

  “Are you okay with this for lunch? We don’t have time for much else.” He glanced across at her, already in the drive thru lane.

  “Sure. Food is the least of my worries at the moment. Just get me the chicken wrap and a bottle of lemonade, please.”

  Brayden placed their order and drove on to the next window, stopping at the window to pay before heading to the next to pick up the food. He took the bag of food and passed it to her. Brayden drove out of the car park and down a few streets, stopping in a quiet back street under the shade of a tree.

  He turned to Rihanna, who was busy sorting out the food in the bag. He took the large beef hamburger she handed to him and immediately started digging in.

  “So do you think they’ve done it?” he asked around a mouthful of burger.

  “Yeah, I do,” she replied, removing different salad items from her chicken wrap.

  “Fuck. I don’t trust Matthews as far as I can toss him. Little prick is so desperate to impress you, it’s sickening. I’m struggling not to pound him into the ground.” He took another bite, chewed and swallowed quickly.

  “By the way, you clearly sent him the back off vibe.” He lifted his eyebrows at her.

  She laughed out loud at that. “Yeah, I definitely did with him. He makes my skin crawl.”

  “If we go in and anything feels off, I need you to let me know and I’ll get you out of there.” He’d stopped eating and was looking directly at her eyes. “I mean it, Rih. The least little thing feels off and you let me know. I don’t want you anywhere near these guys if they’re dangerous.”

  “I’m sure it will be fine, Bray. I’ve dealt with lots of kooky scientists in my time.”

  “I’m sure you have but I’m not about to risk you for anything.”

  “But if it means I can help stop the virus, I need to be there,” she said, a little frustrated at his need to protect her.

  “Rihanna, if this turns out wrong, we’ll simply find another way. Risking you is not worth it.”

  “But we need to get this thing sorted, Bray,” she said, slamming her hand onto the leather wrapped dash.

  He took her hands in his and looked directly at her. “I won’t lose you to these guys.”

  “They’re probably just two lab kooks.”

  “I hope you’re right,” he said, starting the car and pulling back onto the road.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Brayden pulled the car to a halt farther down the row from where it had been parked before. A few more vehicles were in the car park now. She glanced across at Brayden and he looked twitchy.

  “Are you okay?” she asked.

  “No, I’m not. Obviously the boss hasn’t got anything, otherwise we’d have heard from him by now. Something’s not right.”

  He looked totally on edge. She swore she could see the energy sparking off him.

  “I’m sure you’re worried about nothing.” Her voice was hardly convincing. In fact, she wasn’t convinced at all. Mainly because Bray was so clearly not on board with this plan.

  “Okay, let’s do it. Same rules as before. And if anything feels off, let me know and we get out of there.”

  She moved to gather her things when he leant over and captured her face between his hands.

  “Kiss me, babe.” He closed his lips over hers before he gave her even a chance to answer. His tongue stabbed into her mouth, seeking entry. The kiss was desperate, hungry and she was lost in the moment. He shifted the angle of his head and she moaned as their lips slightly parted. He went to pull away and she grabbed him by the back of the head, pulling him back to her. She needed to feel his passion and desire for just a moment longer.

  This time when they pulled apart, she was breathing heavy.

  “Okay, I’m coming round to get you now,” he said as he opened the door to get out.

  She took a deep breath, trying to get her composure back. He helped her out and stuck close to her side as they moved to the building.

  The security procedure was much easier this time and they were quickly back in the lab with Sullivan and Matthews.

  “Ready to get started?” Sullivan asked.

  “Sure. What’re you going to show us?” She wanted to get this show on the road as quickly as possible and get the hell out of there.

  “Well, I thought we’d show you a release of the virus as a gas and as a liquid. I’m quite proud of the fact that we’ve managed to create both.” She could hear the pride in his voice.

  “How are you going to demo it?”

  “Well, I thought I’d just release it into a containment chamber and then evacuate it.”

  “And what sort of safety procedures have you got in place?”

  “Oh, it’s totally safe, my dear. We’ll watch it all from just over at that viewing window.” He pointed to a long narrow window to the side of the lab. “The containment chamber sits inside the room next door. Should any particles escape, they will be collected in the outer chamber room and sucked through our filtration and disinfecting systems, finally to be returned to a liquid, and disposed of as grey water recycling.”

  “And so how do we know it has been successful?”

  “Well, the scopes inside the chamber will give us a reading on the volumes of the live virus particles in the chamber. The data will be auto routed to the monitor beside the window.”

  “Okay, let’s not drag this out any further. Let’s see it, Jerry.” Rihanna wanted to be out of here as soon as possible. These guys were just a little too scary spooky for her.

  “Of course, Rihanna,” he said, rubbing his hands together as he headed to the window. “Come, come,” he called to them.

  They moved towards the viewing window and Bray leaned into her, whispering, “Is this totally safe?”

  “I think so. I’m guessing they wouldn’t risk their own exposure.”

  “I hope you’re right,” he whispered back as she moved to take up position beside Jerry. She noticed that Brayden stood slightly behind her left shoulder. Outwardly he looked relaxed but she could feel the tension rolling off him.

  “Set the demonstration in motion, will you please, Jeremy?”

  Jeremy reached up and pressed a couple of buttons on the control panel beside the window. They could clearly see a mist of stream of what looked like water enter the Perspex chamber in the middle of the room.

  “Now, look at those readings: virus is at eighty-two percent concentration.” The glee in his voice was undeniable.

  It sent a chill down Rihanna’s spine.

  “Evacuate the chamber, Jeremy, and switch to gas.”

  Jeremy pressed the large red button to the side of the panel and all the water vapour vanished into the compartment at the base of the box. The box then started to fill with a pale pinkish gas. If she didn’t know better, it almost looked like a perfume cloud, only highly deadly.

  “Those readings aren’t quite as good but still significant. Sixty-seven percent concentration.”

  “What’s the lifespan of the virus once exposed to the environment?”

  “Well, that’s the interesting thing. The virus seems to remain stable for around eight hours in the two carrier mechanisms that we have demonstrated this afternoon.”

  “Have you conducted any research or testing into neutralising the liquid or the gas transmission?”

  “Not at this stage. It’s only in the last couple of weeks that we discovered the carrier mechanism.”

  They mov
ed away from the window and headed back to the bench. Rihanna noticed Jeremy checking his watch and looking a little anxious.

  “It’s impressive work, Jerry,” Rihanna offered.

  “Thank you, that means a lot coming from a fellow scientist and researcher. I’ve read some of the papers you and your father have produced. In fact, some of your research around a carrier for the vaccine led me to these breakthroughs.”

  Rihanna was about to ask the question that had been bugging her since this morning when a voice came across the internal speaker system. “Dr Matthews, report to the loading dock. Dr Matthews, loading dock.”

  Matthews turned and headed to the door. “I’ll see you all later,” he threw over his shoulder.

  Rihanna’s skin started to twitch and she had the terrible feeling that something wasn’t right.

  “So why did you do it, Jerry?”

  “Oh, my dear, that’s simple. Because everyone said it couldn’t be done.” The pride in his voice was evident. Clearly, he’d given little thought to what the ramifications were.

  Rihanna felt Brayden move up behind her and put his side against hers.

  “Rih, we need to get out of here now,” he whispered.

  Brayden stepped forward and placed his body between Rihanna and Sullivan. “Jerry, I’m sorry but we seem to have another follow-up call from the one earlier. Rihanna and I need to leave now.”

  “Oh, what a shame. We’ll carry on tomorrow. Bright and early.”

  Rihanna didn’t know what was going on but Bray was in a hell of a hurry to get out of the building and she had to say that the little voice in her head was telling her exactly the same thing.

  They got through the first set of security doors and Brayden grabbed Rihanna’s hand and practically charged down the maze of corridors. He hit the release button with a fist at every set of doors. A sideways glance told her his jaw was set solid and he was totally focused on getting them out of there.

  They came out of the building and hurried towards the car as Rihanna noticed a black sedan come around the side of the building. Bray swooped her up in his arms and sprinted the distance to the car. He flung open the passenger door and dropped her unceremoniously inside, slamming the door and then, placing one hand in the centre of the hood, vaulted over the front of the car.