Page 17 of Conspiracies and Chemistry

There was a window at the far end, half-hidden by a stack of lab supply cartons. On the right side was a desk, but its surface held a dusty centrifuge. Even the chair held a box of pipettes. I tested one of the overloaded metal shelves by pressing a shoulder to it, and when it didn’t give, I leaned against it and crossed my arms over my white coat.

He cleared some binders from a corner of the desk and perched a hip on it. He took off his glasses, wiped them with a cloth he pulled from his shirt pocket, and put them back on. He blinked. His eyes were the color of the blooms on the chicory that grew next to the railroad tracks where Dad and I used to camp.

“Look, Tessa, I’m sorry we got off on the wrong foot. I’m protective of this lab and this company. I only want it to succeed. Dr. Perrell tells me that you’re the best person to help us get this test out the door.” He swallowed. “I’d like to hit reset on all this. I’m glad you’re here, and I want to work with you on accelerating the development of the test.”

“Wait. What?” I glanced over my shoulder at the box on the shelf. “Does thermostable DNA ligase have psychoactive effects, or did I actually hear you say you want to work together?”

His mouth tightened at the corners. “I said that. Can we agree to cooperate?” He stuck out his hand like we’d shake on it.

I stared at it. “I have conditions.”

He dropped his hand and rubbed it on his trousers. “Conditions?”

I stood straighter. “I promised Maya we’d get this test to clinical trials by early March. To make that date, we’re going to have to take some risks. So, I need you to agree to do that.”

He grimaced like he’d swallowed something bitter. But he nodded. “I will.”

I knew from experience that saying something and following through were two different things. “Promise me. We’re in this together. Equal partners.”

He dipped his chin. “I promise.”

“Okay, then. Over the weekend, I optimized your test simulation code so it runs forty percent faster. If we use it, we’ll be able to slam through the computer simulations by the end of next week. Since people in this lab apparently only take instructions from you, I need you to tell them to useonlythe new simulation program. Okay?”

He winced like I’d asked him to cross I-280 during rush hour. “You tested the code?”

“Thoroughly. Huong checked it.”

His chest expanded on a big breath, and he sighed. “Okay. I’ll do it. I’ll also tell them your instructions are as valid as mine and they should follow them.”

He’d said all the right words, but I wasn’t sure I believed him. I’d test it the next chance I had. “Okay.”

I didn’t trust him. Despite those irresistibly sad chicory-flower eyes that held mine for a moment before he turned to open the door and those broad shoulders that looked strong enough to carry an entire company, I couldn’t. After everything that went down with Harry, I knew better.

9

Centrifuge

Centrifuge:A machine used to separate the components of blood into layers based on density by spinning a sample at high speeds.

OLIVER

Aweek after I’d agreed to work with Tessa, as I dropped solvent into a microtiter plate, I had an idea I didn’t want to lose. I always had my best ideas while my hands were busy and my phone was in my pocket, inaccessible for a voice note. Once—okay, more than once—when I’d come up with a particularly complicated concept I wanted to capture word for word and Simon was in the lab, I’d asked him to grab my phone out of my back pocket to record a memo, but that was Simon, and he’d groped my ass in a work setting without a second thought. God, I missed him. Usually, one of the techs could stop for a second and write the idea for me on a sticky note.

I looked up from the surface of the biosafety cabinet and blinked to refocus through my prescription safety goggles. The next workstation over, where Sadie usually worked, was empty except for a Starbucks cup. Irritation washed through me.

Not only was eating and drinking in the cabinet forbidden, but it was disgusting. She wasn’t working with volatile chemicals—she’d have used the fume hood for that—but our experiments worked on a cellular scale, and latte cells and cancer cells didn’t mix. I set down the micropipette, peeled off my gloves, and scanned the lab.

“Where’s Sadie?” I asked Yujun as he passed, tapping his tablet.

“They’re having a meeting in Tessa’s office,” he said.

“Who’s having a meeting in her office?” I glanced at the poster Tessa had hung, right under the posted lab rules. It tracked the days until March 1. Today, the number read 83, which might seem like a lot, though I knew it wasn’t enough. Tessa must know it too. Was she laying people off? Was West in there?

“Some people. Aanya and Huong are in there. Need me to tell Sadie you need her?”

“No. I’ll do it myself.” I strode to the door, stabbed my coat onto its peg, and swapped out my goggles for my regular glasses. Ice prickled through my veins. I stomped down the hall to Tessa’s office.

Ice? No, flames blazed through me. What right did Tessa have to take my people away from their duties? I’d followed through on my promise and told everyone to do as she said, but it was common decency to run her instructions past me first.

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