nucleotide sequences. “Do you want me to go on?”
“I don’t think that’s necessary,” said Victor. “I think I’ve seen enough. Would you mind leaving that floppy disk you’ve used to bring these files up? I’ll bring it to Chimera on Monday.”
“Not at all,” Louis said. “In fact, this is just a copy.
You can keep it if you want. I have the original at home.”
Victor saw Louis off, holding the front door ajar until the man got in his van and drove off. Victor waved and then shut the door. Going upstairs, he made sure that VJ was not around. Back in the study, he called Marsha’s office but got the service. They didn’t know where she was, although she’d been at the hospital earlier.
Victor put the phone down. Then he got the idea of contacting Able Protection. Maybe they could get in touch with their operative. If so, then Victor could find out where VJ was.
But a call to Able Protection only yielded the recording.
Victor was forced to leave his name and number with the request that he be called as soon as possible.
For the next half hour, Victor paced back and forth in the upstairs study. For the life of him, he could not understand what it was all about.
The phone rang and Victor grabbed it. It was the grating voice of the man from Able Protection. Victor asked if it were possible to contact the man accompanying VJ.
“All our people carry pagers,” the man told him.
“I want to know where my son is,” Victor said.
“I’ll call you right back.” With that, the man hung up.
Five minutes later, the phone rang again. “Your son is at Chimera, Inc.,” the man said. “Pedro is at the security gate this minute if you want to talk to him.”
Victor thanked the man. He hung up the phone and went downstairs for his coat. A few minutes later he was cutting his wheels sharply to do a U-turn in front of the house.
After a quick drive, Victor made an acute turn into the entrance to the Chimera compound and came to an abrupt halt inches from the gatehouse barrier. He drummed his fingers expectantly on the steering wheel, waiting for the guard to raise the black and white striped gate. Instead, the man came out of the office in spite of the rain and bent down next to Victor’s window. Without hiding his irritation at being detained, Victor lowered his window.
“Afternoon, Dr. Frank!” the guard said. He touched the brim of his hat in some kind of salute. “If you’re looking for that special security man, he’s here in the guardhouse.”
“You mean the man from Able Protection?” Victor asked.
“That I don’t know,” the guard said. He straightened up.
“Hey, Pedro, you from Able Protection?”
A handsome young man came to the door of the guardhouse.
His hair was coal black and he sported a narrow mustache. He looked about twenty.
“Who wants to know?” he asked.
“Your boss here, Dr. Frank.”
Pedro came out of the guardhouse and over to Victor’s car.
He stuck out his hand. “Nice to meet you, Dr. Frank. I’m Pedro Gonzales from Able Protection.”
Victor shook hands with him. He wasn’t happy. “Why aren’t you with my boy?” Victor asked brusquely.
“I was,” Pedro explained, “but when we got here, he said he was safe inside the compound at Chimera and that I was supposed to wait in the guardhouse.”
“I think your orders were pretty clear to stay with the boy at all times,” Victor said.
“Yes, sir,” Pedro answered, realizing he’d made a mistake.
“It won’t happen again. Your son was quite convincing. He said you’d wanted it this way. I’m sorry.”
“Where is he?” Victor asked.
“That I can’t say,” Pedro answered. “He and Philip are on the grounds here someplace. They haven’t left if that is what you’re concerned about.”
“That’s not what I’m concerned about,” Victor snapped.
“I’m concerned that I hired Able Protection to watch over him and the job’s not being done.”
“I understand,” Pedro said.
Victor looked up at the gate operator. “Is Sheldon working today?”
“Hey, Sheldon!” the guard yelled.
Sheldon appeared at the doorway. Victor asked if he had any idea where VJ was.
“Nope,” Sheldon said, “but when he arrived this morning, he and Philip headed that way.” He pointed west.
“Toward the river?” Victor asked.
“Could have been,” Sheldon said. “But he could have gone to the cafeteria, too.”
“Would you like me to come with you and help find him?”
Pedro asked.
Victor shook his head no as he put his car in gear. “You wait here until I find him.” Then, to the guard, who was blankly listening to the conversation, he said, “I’d appreciate it if you could raise this gate before I drive through it.”
The guard jumped and ran back inside to activate the gate mechanism.
Victor floored the accelerator and sped onto the Chimera lot. Forsaking his reserved parking space, he drove to the building that housed his lab and parked in front of the entrance. It said no parking but he didn’t care. He pulled his coat collar up and hunched over, running for the door.
Robert was the only one still there. He was as busy as usual, again working with the gel electrophoresis unit. That was where the bits and pieces of the cleaved DNA were separated.
“Have you seen VJ?” Victor asked, shaking off some of the rainwater.
“Haven’t seen him,” Robert said. He rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands. “But I have something else to show you.” He picked up two strips of film which had dark bands in exactly the same location and held them out for Victor to take. “That second tumor sample you gave me had the same extra piece of DNA as your son’s. But the sample was from a different person.”
“It was from our live-in nanny,” Victor said. “Are you positive that the moiety was the same in both samples?”
“Quite sure,” Robert said.
“That’s astounding,” Victor said, forgetting VJ for a moment.
“I thought you’d find it interesting,” Robert said with pride. “It’s the kind of finding that cancer researchers have been seeking. It could even be the breakthrough that medicine has been waiting for.”
“You’ve got to sequence it,” Victor said impatiently.
“Immediately.”
“That’s what I’ve been doing,” Robert said. “I’ve got a number of other runs with the electrophoresis unit and then I’ll let the computer have a go at it.”
“If it turns out to be a retro virus or something like that . . .” Victor said, letting his sentence trail off. It was just one more unexpected finding to be added to a growing list.
“If VJ shows up, tell him I’m looking for him,” Victor said. Then he turned and left the lab.
In the cafeteria, Victor went straight to the manager.
“Have you seen VJ?”
“He was in here for an early lunch. Philip was with him along with one of the guards.”
“One of the guards?” Victor questioned. He wondered why Sheldon hadn’t told him that. Victor asked the manager to call his lab if VJ showed up. The manager nodded.
There were a handful of people in the library. Most of them were reading, a few were asleep. The librarian told Victor that VJ had not been around.
Victor got the same response at the fitness center and the day-care center. Except at the cafeteria, no one had seen VJ
