Claws

by Ricky Sides

  Claws

  By Ricky Sides

  Copyright © 2010

  Cover art by Jason Merrick

  Edited by Frankie Sutton

  Disclaimer

  No animals or people were harmed during the writing of this book. The author does not hate cats, dogs, women and children, animal rights activists, homeless people, hunters, runners, truck drivers, maintenance men, chicken farmers, police officers, sheriff’s deputies, women who text while driving SUVs, or the elderly.

  A few graphically portrayed adult situation scenes, while not explicit, come close enough that they will probably be offensive to some readers, but they were important character development scenes. The author realizes that the portrayal of criminally deviant sexual acts is offensive to most people. It also offends him. However, some deviants do exist, who engage in such acts, and the scenes are there for a reason, which will become obvious to the reader. They are not gratuitous and are central to the plot of the book.

  The author is a cat lover, but he is also a writer. This book started with the basic premise of what if. What would happen if pet food were tampered with in such a way as to make the animals abnormally large and aggressive? Writing this book was, at times, painful for the author who feeds and pets a feral cat on a regular basis. However, as a writer, the author felt the storyline was too good not to write, just because it made him uncomfortable.

  The setting of this story is in Athens, Alabama, which is where the author resides. Athens was chosen because of his intimate knowledge of the city and the surrounding area. To the best of the author’s knowledge, there are currently no homeless people in Athens. The depiction in this book of such an individual is the product of the author’s imagination and is there for storyline purposes only. Although there is indeed an animal food production facility in Athens, Alcorn Pet Food Corporation only exists in the author’s imagination. The author used that location, because of the surrounding terrain, but the name of the real facility is not Alcorn. The animal food, which is produced by the real company is safe. His research on the fictitious name found no connection to the pet food industry.

  The personalities, traits, and decisions made by government officials in portions of this book are not based on actual individuals currently holding those offices, or any who have held them in the past. This is a work of fiction and does not depict any real or living person.

  Chapter 1

  “Just who the hell do you think you are?” demanded Rusty Talbot, the company President of Alcorn Pet Food Corporation.

  Surprised by the anger in his tone, Patricia hesitated a moment before she responded, but when she spoke, she replied with self-confidence. “I’m the head of our research division and I’m simply reporting that there is a problem with the formula. The test animals are too aggressive.”

  “Need I remind you that you signed off on the formula last month? Have you any idea how much of the new pet food has been produced since you signed that document?” he asked angrily.

  “I’m sorry, Mr. Talbot. There was no way I could anticipate this reaction from the test animals. It took longer than expected for the cats to manifest their more aggressive behavior, and for the record, I didn’t sign off on the formula that’s being used. Two additional additives are present in the foods that weren’t mentioned in the paperwork I signed. Someone deliberately omitted them. Probably because they knew I’d refuse to sign the documents if I had known those ingredients were in the formula.”

  “Yes, yes. I read your report before calling you in for this meeting,” he said stiffly. “It was a clerical error. I have a new set for you to sign,” he said in a calmer tone of voice.

  He opened a folder on his desk, pulled out a sheaf of papers, and slid them across the desk toward Patricia.

  Patricia picked up the papers, which had been stapled together. She quickly scanned the cover page, and then she turned to the next page. That page contained a list of ingredients, which documented the presence of the growth hormone and the appetite enhancer. However, when she saw the date on the document, she stopped reading and quickly looked up at the company president who was staring at her.

  “This document is backdated,” she said. “I can’t sign this. I would never have agreed to this formula. In my view, it’s dangerous.”

  “You’ve been a valuable asset to this company in the past, Patricia, so I’ll forget you just said that. Sign it, now,” Rusty said in a no nonsense tone of voice.

  “I can’t do that,” Patricia said.

  Rusty angrily reached to the intercom button on his desk and activated it. “Clarisse, get Robert Woodfin in here,” he said in a calm voice.

  “Right away, Mr. Talbot,” his secretary responded promptly.

  Patricia felt numb as she realized she was about to be terminated. For just an instant, she almost changed her mind and signed the document. Then she noted the smug expression of self-confidence on Rusty’s face. She knew that he expected her to sign the document rather than lose her job.

  Her face flushed with anger. The thirty-two year old woman waited quietly in the chair across the desk from the company executive. It wasn’t a long wait. In seconds, the door to the office opened and closed and a man approached the desk.

  “Ah, Robert, please escort Miss Reese to her locker and her workstation. Permit her to gather her personal belongings, but under no circumstances is she to remove any company property or paperwork from this facility. Seize her laptop. I want your security people to make certain there are no company files of a sensitive nature on it. Check her cell phone. If it has a camera, check for any images. You know the drill. Escort her to her vehicle and see her out the gate. Make certain to take her security card, warn the guards at the gate that she is not to be admitted under any circumstances, and revoke her admittance to our computer systems.”

  “Right away, sir,” replied the chief of security.

  “That’s my laptop. I want it back,” Patricia said angrily.

  “You’ll get it back after security removes any sensitive company material,” Rusty responded coldly.

  “I’m surprised you didn’t order me strip searched,” she responded bitterly.

  “Don’t tempt me,” he replied, with an appraising look in his eyes.

  Patricia felt a cold stab of fear for the first time. Noticing the fear on her face, Rusty laughed and said, “Get her out of here.”

  “Let’s go, Miss Reese,” Robert said politely.

  “You can’t get away with this. You know you need to do a recall. That food is dangerous,” Patricia argued as she got to her feet.

  “A recall would cost this company its quarterly profits. That’s not going to happen. We’re talking about cats for god’s sake. What’s the worst that can happen with cats?”

  “Mr. Talbot,” Patricia began in the faint hope of retaining her employment, “pound for pound, cats are the most deadly pet mankind has domesticated on a large scale. Have you ever seen a victim of a cat attack? I ask, because when cats attack, it can be done in a frenzy that’s almost too fast to follow with the naked eye. When they attack, they do it with their claws and fangs. Their claws can shred a human’s skin as efficiently as a razor. Incidents of cat attacks have been reported where the cat worked its way up a human’s body, shredding skin as it went, until it reached the neck, face, and scalp. Some victims have required hundreds of stitches, and that was an ordinary housecat. Compare that to the cats who’ve been fed a steady diet of this food. They will quickly bulk up. At the same time the rest of their body is growing, their claws will become longer and stronger and so will their teeth and fangs. Take a look at the specimens in our research center if you don’t believe me,” she said in a reasonable tone of voice.

  “But such attacks are an anomaly, aren’t they?” he res
ponded smugly.

  “For the average housecat, yes, and even for feral cats, but these cats have been tampered with, sir. They are abnormally aggressive. When they began to put on weight at an alarming rate, we took them off that food, but that led to increased aggressive behavior, culminating in the attack on my assistant.”

  “It was your mismanagement of the study animals that led to the attack, and not the food. I’ve heard enough from you. Get her out of here,” Rusty said with an angry jerk of his head.

  “You can’t get away with this. I’ll report you to the food and drug administration. I’ll give this story to the press,” Patricia threatened.

  “You can do that, but if you do, you’ll be in violation of the nondisclosure agreement. We’ll sue you for irreparable damage to our reputation. You can’t prove a thing, so we’ll win. Oh, we may have to spend more than we win from you in legal fees, but we’ll win and you’ll be ruined.”

  “Let’s go, Miss Reese,” said the chief of security impatiently.

  Patricia followed the man out of the office. She saw two security personnel waiting to accompany them. Before they could leave the outer office, Clarisse’s intercom activated and Robert was summoned to return to the company president’s office. He instructed the two security men to wait with Patricia and then left them to consult with Rusty.

  Moments later, Robert returned. He gave the two security men a set of detailed instructions and ordered them to escort Patricia to her locker. He added that he’d join them as soon as he’d completed a task he’d just been given.

  The guards escorted Patricia to her locker, which was adjacent to the women’s restroom. They watched closely as she cleaned out her locker. When she had completed the task, she informed the guards that she needed to go to the bathroom. They were hesitant, but she didn’t give them time to think about the matter. She handed her bag to one of the guards and said, “Hold this, I’ll only be a minute.” She was inside the door to the women’s bathroom, before either of the men could think of a response.

  Patricia entered the nearest stall, closed the door and secured the latch. She removed her cell phone from her pocket and sent her assistant a text message telling her about being fired and that she was cleaning out her belongings. Almost immediately, she received a reply from Jennifer. Her assistant responded that a security team was in her lab seizing her records and her laptop. Patricia silently cursed her luck. She’d hoped to get her assistant to hide her laptop, but it was too late. Now, that was not going to happen. She turned off her phone, just as an insistent pounding began at the door leading to the hall.

  She left the stall, jerked open the door, and said, “Geez, guys, can’t a girl take a bathroom break without you going all to pieces?”

  The two men looked sheepish, but one of them said, “You heard Robert. We’re supposed to stay with you at all times.”

  “Then come on in, because I’m not leaving until I wash my hands,” Patricia said, playing the part of a woman who’d just finished using the toilet, and was therefore determined to wash her hands. Letting go of the door, she turned to the sink and took her time washing her hands, smiling when she noticed that neither of the men entered the restroom. She assumed they were afraid another woman was in the facility.

  “Alright, let’s get this over with, gentlemen. I’m as eager to finish up here, as you are to be rid of me,” she stated as she exited the restroom.

  “I’m actually sorry to see you go, Ma’am,” responded Jerry, the guard who usually worked her floor. Jerry was a divorced man in his early forties, but he was in good physical condition.

  “You always were a sweetheart,” Patricia said with a smile.

  “I almost asked you out once, but lost the nerve,” Jerry replied.

  Patricia nodded soberly. “A girl knows when a man’s interested. I thought you might ask someday. You should have. I’d have said yes to a date,” Patricia responded.

  “Even though I’m a good ten years older than you?” Jerry asked.

  “What does age have to do with mutual attraction?” Patricia responded.

  Jerry nodded sadly, knowing that it was too late now. By company rules, it would be impossible for him to associate with a terminated employee.

  “If you two are finished with your mutual admiration, let’s get to the rest of our instructions,” the other guard complained.

  “There’s no need to be an ass about this, Barney,” Jerry stated.

  “Yeah, well, this assignment’s going to make us late for lunch and I’m hungry,” he muttered.

  Jerry grunted in disgust. He turned and led Patricia down the hall to the elevator. They descended from the second floor of the five-story building to the basement level, where the animal testing center was located.

  They found the security chief waiting for them. “I expected you here earlier. Was there a problem?” he asked.

  “I had to use the bathroom,” Patricia explained.

  Robert nodded his understanding, and then he said, “We’ve already taken possession of your laptop and notebook. I need to search the bag of contents from your locker. Give it to me. I’ll go through it while you’re gathering the rest of your personal possessions.”

  Patricia handed the security chief her bag and turned to her desk. She could tell that the contents of her desk had been rifled and it was obvious that the security team had been thorough.

  While Patricia was cleaning out her desk, her former assistant, Jennifer, approached her. “I’m sorry about what happened to you,” the young woman said. She gave her a hug, and Patricia felt a faint tug as the woman deftly slipped something small and hard inside her left pants pocket. The guards, stationed to their right, missed the exchange.

  “Please stay away from her, Jennifer. We’re trying to make certain no unauthorized information leaves this facility with her and your close proximity to her is a security violation,” the chief of security stated.

  “It is?” asked Jennifer, affecting an air of innocence.

  “It is indeed. Another thing, remember it is a violation for you to maintain contact with a terminated employee. That’s an immediate dismissal offense,” the man reminded her.

  “You were a good boss, Patricia. I’d better get back, before they give me the axe, too,” Jennifer said.

  “You were a fine assistant. Take care of those scratches,” Patricia responded. She was referring to the claw wounds the woman had received while attempting to stop one of the cats from killing another.

  “Thanks, I will. I’m just glad it wasn’t one of the bigger specimens, or the wounds would’ve been considerably more serious.”

  “Don’t trust them,” Patricia said with a serious tone of voice. “And don’t go into the containment section alone.”

  “That’s not something I’d do, no matter what the cause. Those animals are dangerous, and they are getting worse every day. You don’t normally think of cats as a threat to people, but these are. I can sense it,” she said with a visible shudder. “Personally, I’m glad they’re going to be terminated tomorrow.”

  “Jennifer! I think you’d better leave until Patricia has vacated the building. Go take an early lunch break,” Robert said sternly.

  “I can’t leave. Fred and George are in the containment section, feeding the animals. It’s against protocol for me to leave while they’re in there. I have to be available to open the door in case they get in trouble in there.”

  “In that case, go to your desk, sit down, and stop talking to her. Otherwise, I’m going to have to report you,” Robert said in a tone that told her he was rapidly running out of patience.

  “Alright, alright, no need to get nasty,” Jennifer replied. She smiled and winked at Patricia, and then she returned to her desk where she stared at the monitor, which displayed the interior of the animal containment room. She saw the multiple layers of cages, each containing one of the test subjects. The cats represented a wide variety of divergent species, which was necessary in order to test the
food on a large variety of animals.

  As she watched the men watering and feeding the cats, she noted the voracious manner in which they attacked their food. Frowning, she made a note on the notepad beside her right hand, referring to their continued insatiable appetite. It was as if they couldn’t get enough food. In the beginning, this had caused her to believe that the food didn’t contain an appropriate amount of nutritional value, but their obvious weight gain and growth was proof positive that this wasn’t the case. Now, of course, she knew the appetite-enhancing ingredient the company had added to the experimental feed was responsible for their unnatural hunger.

  Under the watchful eyes of the guards, Patricia finished packing the contents of her desk in two white boxes that the guards sealed with tape. Thus sealed, nothing could be placed inside the boxes without breaking the seals.

  Patricia took a moment to look around the lab one last time. Finally, she turned to face the chief of security. “I’m ready whenever you are,” she stated.

  “I need your phone,” the man responded.

  “Frowning, Patricia fished her cell phone from her pocket. She handed it to Robert, who pulled up her pictures and examined them. He deleted three pictures that had been taken in the lab. They were photos of her coworkers.

  Handing her phone back to Patricia, Robert said, “Alright, let’s go.”

  Patricia followed the security chief to the elevator with the two guards close on her heels. However, when he pressed the button to the fifth floor instead of the first, she frowned. “What’s going on, Robert?” she asked.

  “You really shouldn’t have made that crack about the strip search. I don’t think Mr. Talbot would have ordered it if you hadn’t,” the security chief replied.

  “You can forget that! You men aren’t going to strip search me!” Patricia stated emphatically.

  “No we aren’t going to do it, but Clarisse Woods is. I’m sorry, but we don’t have a female security officer on duty, so it’s got to be Clarisse. I know there’s bad blood between you two. I’d have selected another woman if possible, but Talbot suggested her, because he knows there’s no love lost between you two, so he trusts her to do the job.”