A Necessary Risk. Kathleen Long
They’d celebrated—and how—when Jim graduated from high school and got accepted by New Jersey College. They’d found student loans and Zach had scrimped and saved. He’d done whatever he could to ensure Jim got the education he deserved.
The New Horizon HC0815 trial had seemed too good to be true. High pay for taking a revolutionary and safe drug. Animal testing had shown no side effects. The same was expected in humans.
Zach had actually encouraged Jim’s participation, delighted the kid was so proud of what he was doing.
What a fool he’d been.
If he could spare one other family the loss he’d suffered—save one other kid from a drug-induced suicide—he would.
And Jessica Parker would help. Whether she wanted to or not.
He’d gotten over his surprise at her initial reaction. Of course she’d been defensive. She wouldn’t be a loyal employee if she hadn’t been. But once she dug into the New Horizon database and found out he was telling the truth, she’d come around. She had a light in her eyes that hinted at ethics, and ethics were exactly what he needed right now.
He’d tipped his hand by offering the information on the previous trial—a withdrawn application by Whitman Pharma for the treatment of pancreatic cancer. The law protected the company, allowing them to claim whatever information the trial had provided as a trade secret.
Yet, even if there had been a cover-up, the data must exist somewhere.
Finding that data was Zach’s next step.
If he could provide concrete evidence Jim’s suicide hadn’t been the only one linked to taking the drug, he’d be on his way to putting an end to the testing.
He pulled out of the New Horizon parking lot and into the midday Princeton traffic.
Jessica Parker.
Her image flashed across Zach’s mind. All buttoned up and drop-dead gorgeous.
Something stirred deep inside him, but he tamped down the sensation, shoving it far, far away.
He couldn’t remember the last time a woman had turned his head, but he wasn’t about to let Jessica Parker do so now.
He had to focus on Jim, on clearing Jim’s name and on shutting down HC0815. For that, he needed Jessica Parker the scientist.
Zach had to ignore any unwanted thoughts about Jessica Parker, the woman.
And he would.
JESS DROPPED HER FOCUS to the name on the card.
Detective Zachary Thomas.
She lifted her attention to the man’s retreating back, dread dancing up and down her spine.
Suicide?
During the current HC0815 trial?
And during a past trial she’d never heard about?
As Zach Thomas rounded the corner and disappeared from her sight, Jess turned, not toward the media showcase tour but toward a different section of the facility. The section no one but security-cleared staff could access.
She had questions that needed answers and ghosts that needed exorcising.
HC0815 was now her baby, her responsibility, and she intended to make sure nothing stopped the revolutionary drug from making it to the public.
Especially not random allegations tossed around by a grief-stricken detective.
How dare he crash the media showcase by impersonating a reporter? The nerve of the man. Yet sympathy tugged at her heart, twisting ever so slowly. The man had lost his brother. She needed to remember that, as much as she wanted to wring his neck for voicing such lies about their work.
But were they lies?
She swiped her ID badge through the panel outside the lab, pushing the door open once the buzzer sounded.
If Thomas’s allegations weren’t lies, then she’d been kept completely in the dark about the existence of a previous trial, one that had been stopped for an unknown reason. She’d known Miles Van Cleef long enough to know he was a forthright and honest man. He’d never do such a thing. But what if he had been kept in the dark, as well?
Was it possible?
And what about the current trial?
Her predecessor, Scott McLaughlin, had beaten a hasty departure from his position as head of the HC0815 trial. At the time, Jess had written off his action as an aggressive career move, but now she wondered.
Had he stumbled upon something and been forced out?
Jess settled in front of her computer terminal and pulled up the list of archived databases, refocusing on the possibility of a previous study. There were none. But then, the trial may very well have been run under a different name.
She searched on Whitman Pharma and came up with three previous trials, all for drugs which had successfully made it to market and not one with an indication for pancreatic cancer.
She blew out a sigh and sank back against her chair, relief easing the tension that had gripped her every muscle since she’d met Detective Thomas.
Someone had given the man bad information about prior suicides. But what about that of his brother?
She pulled up the current study, knowing full well each participant’s identity would be coded and anonymous, but any adverse reactions should be logged, especially one involving psychosis. She carefully scanned the list of participant numbers and results, tracing her finger along the column for implications.
No suicides.
Not one.
No depressions.
No anxiety or panic disorders.
HC0815 truly was the wonder drug they’d all pinned their hopes on, completely free of psychological side effects.
She needed a list of participant names to put her mind at ease and she knew just where to start.
The file of hard-copy applications from potential candidates.
Jess moved toward the opposite side of the lab, using her key to open the locked file drawer. It was company policy to retain all applications, even for those individuals not selected.
The data was also computerized, but—call her old-fashioned—Jess wanted to review the actual forms on the off chance Jim Thomas’s information hadn’t been entered into the system.
Several minutes later she’d flipped through every single form, scanning each applicant’s name.
No Jim Thomas.
Detective Thomas had been certain his brother had taken part in the trial. Perhaps he’d misunderstood or perhaps his brother had lied.
She slipped his business card from her pocket and studied it. He deserved to know he was operating on false assumptions.
Jess reached for the lab phone but stopped. She needed to speak with Miles Van Cleef before she made any contact with Thomas.
Knowing the media showcase should be long over, she pushed out of her seat and headed for the man’s office, more than ready to put this entire episode behind her.
“I CAN ONLY GIVE YOU A minute, I’m afraid.” Van Cleef spoke without looking up from the jumbled mess of papers on top of his desk.
Jess never ceased to be amazed someone so brilliant could be so unorganized, even though the man was able to put his fingertips to whatever he needed without a second thought. Perhaps his clutter was actually a physical manifestation of his brilliance.
Jess shook off the random thought and refocused on the reason she’d asked Van Cleef for the meeting. She stood behind the chair opposite his desk rather than sitting.
“I