If you want to blow any chance I have, he said dryly. This may be a small southern town, but they do have television sets and newspapers. Stay here. I may be a while.
She watched him walk briskly into the building. His step was eager, vigoroushellip; young. Ivanhoe going into the fray against the Black Knight, she thought apprehensively.
Easy. Logan gently pried her clenched fingers from the steering wheel. Hes not going to face any-thing more than rejection in there.
Right now. We should never have let him come.
I doubt if we could have stopped him. He leaned back in the seat. Whats the process? You said it might take days even if Kessler can persuade him to accelerate. Why does DNA identification take so long?
Its the radioactive probe.
Probe?
She raised a brow. Are you trying to distract me, Logan?
Yes, but I really dont know the process. He shrugged. Except what I learned in the 0.J. Simpson trial. And that courtroom hardly provided a definitive, unbiased course on DNA.
The DNA strand we took from Ben will be dis-solved in a solution of enzymes that target specific points on the strand and cut it into fragments. A small amount of DNA is put in a tray with a special gel, then a current of electricity is sent through the gel. The current pulls the fragments along and arranges them by length and weight.
And where does the probe come in?
The technician transfers the fragments to a nylon membrane and the radioactive probe is applied to it. The probe seeks out and marks specific points on the DNA. X-ray film is placed over it for several days to develop. When thats done, the DNA will ap-pear as dark bands on the X-ray film.
And thats the DNA print?
She nodded. Thats the DNA profile and theres only a one-in-a-million chance that anyone else might have the same profile.
And theres no way of accelerating the probe?
Theres one method Ive been hearing about lately, but its been slow to catch on in the laborato-ries. Its called chemiluminescence. The radioactive probe is replaced by a chemically activated probe that interacts with chemical reagents that then release light in the form of photons.
What are photons?
Particles of light. Whichever area of the X-ray film they strike will be exposed, and the result is the same dark bands of DNA youd see with the ra-dioactive probe method. Most of the big labs have started using chemiluminescence, but I dont know if this small lab has. Gary will tell us. Keep your fingers crossed.
I hoped
I told you it might not be overnight.
Several dayshellip;
Stop repeating that, she said sharply. I know we dont have that much time. Maybe Gary will have good news.
I hope so. He paused. Youre clenching again.
She deliberately loosened her grip on the steering wheel. And youre not helping.
Im trying, he said quietly. Ill do anything I can. Do you want me to go into the lab and send Kessler away? Ill do it. Hell, Im aching to do some-thing, anything. Im tired of standing aside and let-ting everyone else take the risks.
Oh, God, another Ivanhoe. She would never have thought it of Logan. But maybe she should have, con-sidering that year of agonized frustration hed spent with his dying wife. He was not a man who would easily accept or recognize defeat.
Well?
He was trying to hide his eagerness, but it was there. Beneath that cool, tough exterior lay a desire to smash something.
Jesus, men were idiots.
Dont you dare. Ive no desire to end up in jail or some loony bin because youre bored and want to loose all your Neanderthal instincts.
She could see he was disappointed, but he shrugged philosophically. I dont believe Neanderthals were ever bored. Their brains were too undeveloped, their life span too short, and they spent most of their time just keeping alive.
The comparison is close enough to be apt.
He made a face. Ouch. Which part?
He was no Neanderthal. He was smart and charismatic and she was learning that the code guiding his life was as inflexible as the one that guided hers. She looked away from him. You were telling me the truth, werent you? It really wasnt politics. Youre doing this because you think youre saving the world.
Hell, no. Im doing it because Im afraid not to do it. Because theres a chance that the sky could fall and I dont want to look back and know I stood aside and let it happen. He took her chin in his hand and turned her head to look into her eyes. Id feel re-sponsible. Like you, Eve.
