safety equipment.” A shudder went through him. “I’ll be honest. It was creepy. There was something off about those cleaners. You know most teams that work biohazard are usually jokey. I mean it’s all dark stuff, but they usually talk a lot. These guys said nothing. I mean nothing. They were perfectly silent as they worked. At least they were any time someone from our company entered the room.”
She wanted to know the name of that company. Maybe Hutch was right and she did need to be able to bring him in the building. She hated to admit he was right, but she’d had an awful feeling all day every time she passed Madison’s lab. The area was still locked down. “I know she wasn’t a nice person, but I still have questions.”
Pete sighed and put a hand on her shoulder. “Honey, I’m going to give you some advice. Don’t ask those questions. Forget them and do your work. The woman upstairs doesn’t like to be challenged, and this incident is something she wants us all to forget. I am almost positive it’s because she knows Madison’s parents are going to sue. That’s probably why legal worked so fast to get everyone on the same page. She also wants to keep the press off the story. Right now it was reported as a tragic accident and they’ve moved on. If a reporter looks more closely and suddenly we’ve got stories of drug culture at Genedyne, the investors are going to have questions. She’ll pay off Madison’s parents and move on.”
Or she would drag Madison and her family through lawsuit hell. That was the more likely outcome. She was getting all her ducks in a row and then she would shoot them all in neat order, declare victory, and life would move on at Genedyne.
“And if you get in the way of her plans,” Pete continued, “I worry for you. You’re doing a fantastic job with this project. I’ve worked a lot of these. I think in two years you will have everything you need to prove your thesis and your procedures. You’ll write up your research and you’ll be a rock star in this world. You’ll be able to write your own check wherever you want. Sit tight. Focus on your work and you’ll be out of here in the blink of an eye. Hopefully you’ll take your friend Pete with you.”
It was probably good advice, and she would have to think about it. “Thanks. I’ll get this stuff done and go work out before Hutch picks me up.”
There was a nice gym on the seventh floor, and at this time of day it was quiet. Almost everyone worked out in the mornings. By five o’clock she was left with one or two people sharing the space.
“I expect you to introduce me to your boyfriend.” Pete started to back away. “Maybe you two can come out and have dinner with Jimmy and the kids.”
Hutch was good with kids. “Sure. Let me know when.”
He nodded and she decided to finish up her day. She closed down her laptop and grabbed her bag, heading up to the seventh floor. She felt like she was on autopilot as she changed into her gym clothes, locked up her stuff, and hit the treadmill. The news was playing on the screen overhead, but she wasn’t listening. Her mind was on what Pete had told her.
She was still thinking about it when she finished up and walked back into the locker room. She’d lost track of time and was going to have to skip the shower she would usually take. It wouldn’t normally matter. She could simply take a later train to get to her place, but she thought Hutch might worry.
Hutch, who would sleep in her apartment tonight. Who would wake up in her apartment tomorrow. Who would figure out she was going to be a trainee at the club he went to. Would that be weird? He wouldn’t have anything to do with her training class. She wouldn’t have to see him in the club until she’d finished, and that was six weeks away.
By then maybe she’d find out she’d been freaky paranoid about this whole thing and life would go back to normal. It was entirely possible that her computer problems were caused by some weird virus while watching dog rescue videos.
That was when she realized her locker door was slightly ajar.
A chill went through her because she knew she’d locked it. She’d