Chapter Four
Melinda loved this part of her work. Showing the data she’d collected and the logical hypothesis based on that information. And when the other person really understood it, that made it so much more fun.
On her laptop, she brought up the slide of the blood samples. She turned the screen so she and Hamel could both see it. In her excitement, she’d forgotten her body’s reaction to his. She’d have to ignore it because if she moved away, he’d know she was somewhat attracted to him. Which she totally wasn’t. Just her stupid body.
“Look at this first blood sample on the left.” She tapped the screen with a pen. “You see the erythrocytes, leukocytes, right?”
“Absolutely, all right there, plain as day.”
She clicked the mouse pad and another image came up on the right side of the screen. She watched his reaction. His brows drew down. He asked, “What are all those squiggly things floating around?”
“Those squiggly things, Dr. Hamel, are the virus. This is the infected blood sample compared to a similar, normal blood sample.” She turned toward the screen. “Interesting thing with this virus, like several Zika cases, is that the carrier doesn’t appear to have any physical symptoms. No sickness or tiredness or anything else we would associate with a virus.
“Seems the effect is only to the offspring, advanced brain development giving sensory abilities beyond normal scope. I’ve dubbed it Espee.”
Hamel shifted around. “That’s appropriate. ESP as in extrasensory perception.”
“No. As in Emily, Steven, and Paul,” she said. She sighed at his baffled look. “Those are the three baby monkeys who died with this virus. I could’ve called it SEP, but that’s too close to ‘septic.’ The only other option is PES and we couldn’t have kids walking around saying ‘pes,’ too similar to ‘piss.’ But doesn’t matter what I call it. The powers that be will name it when we release the data to the WHO.”
“To who?” he asked.
“Yes,” she said, pulling a small flash drive from her laptop’s side and sliding it into a pocket. “We do the grunt work and they take the credit. Which is fine by me. I don’t need my name in lights. Just pay me a fair wage. I love what I do, so it’s not really work.”
They had both relaxed a little, being together for a while now. With nothing to say, she looked at him a bit shyly, realizing she was getting into the personal side of things.
Hamel cleared his throat and shoved his hands into his pockets. “So, the mother carried the strain with no obvious signs of sickness, and the children had special connections. Could the children be the answer to the weird things the medical facility mentioned?”
She shrugged. “Could be, but it sounds more like they have someone playing tricks on them. Halloween is this weekend. They’re getting an early start on their scaring.”
“They have Halloween in Uganda?” Hamel asked, his brows snapping up.
“It’s just another reason to stay up late and drink beer for most of the population. Lots of clubs have costume contests and fun stuff. Nothing big.”
“Do you like Halloween?”
She frowned and thought about it for a second. “I love paranormal movies and over-the-top scares. I do have a hard time believing any of it, but it’s all for the fun of it, you know?”
He grinned. “So you don’t believe in ghosts, vampires, werewolves, or anything paranormal?”
She raised a brow. “Come on, Dr. Hamel. I’ve spent my life studying facts. I believe what I see, not what anyone else tells me. I learned long ago that people have wild imaginations. So, no, I don’t believe in ghosts, vampires, werewolves, or anything that goes bump in the night. I’m sure there is an explanation for everything.”
“I guess that means you won’t be watching The Exorcist on Halloween, huh?”
His smile made her blink and realize he was kidding with her.
“Maybe. I do like that movie. The creepy factor is out of this world. It was one of the first movies I watched when my parents let me go to a sleepover. Let me just say, there was little sleeping and lots of lights on for the rest of the night.”
He chuckled and nodded. “Back to the virus strain. What did you do after you discovered the wiggly lines in the blood?”
Wiggly lines? “I isolated the virus to create a serum for testing with the mice. We stumbled upon the clairvoyance accidentally when we were separating and running the maze.”
“Running the maze?” he asked. “Is that for the mice to find the end?”
She hiked a hand onto her hip. “Dr. Hamel, I’m so glad they’re teaching you something over there. It surely isn’t hematology.”
His eyes narrowed. She might have pissed him off. Darn. Maybe he’d leave. “My job isn’t to know—” He cut off abruptly and she waited for him to finish, but he didn’t. She decided to help.
“Your job isn’t what?” She held his eyes, refusing to back down. She would not be intimidated by this or any man. She’d grown up cowering to those stronger than her, those who yelled at her. In college, her BS degree wasn’t only a Bachelor of Science, it was also Balls of Steel. In a male-dominated laboratory, she’d learned to hold her own or get run over.
Hamel sighed and leaned against a cabinet. “Look, Melinda. I’m not here as a threat to you or anyone. I just need to get the lay of the land and an idea of what we’re dealing with. I won’t get in your way. In fact, I’ll even bring you coffee in the morning. How about that?”
Her own personal secretary with a body she bet would make any pair of undies shrivel into nothing, at her beck and call? Sounded too good, but she’d take it for now. “Okay, but I don’t drink coffee. I’ll show you how I make tea.” Then take all your clothes off, she wanted to add.
She pulled a beaker from the sink and partially filled it with water from the filtered tap. From her coat pocket, she pulled out a six-inch packet, ripped the top off, then poured the powder contents into the beaker. She shook it, making a brown liquid. “Voila. Tea. Now we just need sugar.” She dug through her lab coat pockets, pulling items out then shoving them back in.
“Melinda,” Hamel started, “why is there a label with ‘ESP’ on the beaker you have your tea in?”
Oh, she’d forgotten about that. “Long story.”
“I’ve got time,” he said, the corner of his mouth quirking up.
“It’s not a big deal. I’m the only one with access in here.”
“What’s not a big deal?” Amusement shone brightly in his eyes.
Fine. He was going to make her admit to being an idiot. “I set up everything for the serum last week, including putting a label on the beaker with the virus name I gave it. Well, when it came time to need it, I couldn’t find it. Somehow it walked away. I don’t know. But the beaker was too big anyway, so I pulled a test tube and used it.
“Then when I went to make tea for the day, I found the beaker next to the sink, so I used it instead. I tried to peel the label off, but as you can see, it kept tearing in slivers, so I said forget it.” True enough, it looked like the label had been unsuccessfully picked at from both ends. She pulled a precarious handful of sugar packets from her side pocket and lifted them for Hamel to see.
“I like to use real sugar—” A couple packets came loose and fell through her fingers. She heard a plop and her tea showed a round wave moving outward from the center. When she looked down to see what she dropped, her heart stopped.
“SHIT.” She dumped the beaker upside down on the countertop. Liquid spilled in all directions. She scooped her thumb-sized flash drive from the mess and shook it vigorously while looking in all directions for something to save it. She wiped it on her coat then ran for the ladies’ room. Inside, her hand slammed on the button to the blow dryer. “Please, please, please.”
Everything pertaining to the virus was on that drive. A lot was on her laptop, but the final solution for the serum was on the flash. Fortunately, this wasn’t a disaster to end all disasters or her career. Her eidetic memory could re-create the serum, if needed. But some of the paperwork Mr. Kintu spoke about needing to prove discovery was gone.
She heard a knock on the bathroom door. “Melinda,” a deep voice said, “everything okay?”
“Yeah, Hamel, sorry. I dropped my flash drive into my tea.” She greeted him at the door and he held it open for her to exit. “It’s not too big of a deal. I’ll plug it in to see if it will work.” Not likely.
At her laptop, the machine recognized the drive, but nothing showed in the directory for files. She pulled the piece out and shoved it into her pocket. Maybe one of the computer gurus could get something out of it.
She glanced at her watch. Thank god it was time for lunch. “Do you have plans for lunch? I bring mine and sit in the lunchroom with the others. You’re welcome to join us.”
His expression turned thoughtful. “Thank you, but I have plans with Mr. Kintu. I may not see you again until tomorrow.”
She was surprised how disappointed she was at the possibility of not seeing him later. Damn, she was pathetic. No, not pathetic, just highly interested in a new man who made her girl parts take notice. Okay, yeah, pathetic. She knew better than that. Hamel was here for work. Not like he was going to up and offer to make all her sexual daydreams come true. She spent the rest of day with the techy guys trying to get data off her flash.
Late in the afternoon, she had a headache and was ready to toss her flash and laptop from the roof of the building. Giving it a good heave might make her feel better, but wouldn’t improve the situation any.
She put the remainder of her second beaker of tea in her lab’s fridge in front of several beakers, then locked it. She gathered her laptop and useless thumb drive and locked them in a cabinet along with anything else that could walk off. Theft wasn’t a problem, but she hated to dangle an irresistible opportunity.
As soon as she stepped out of the building, she felt eyes on her. She looked around, but everything seemed as it always did. She hurried to her car and headed home.