Abject Fear by Carro Paul

Author:Carro, Paul
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tether Falls Press
Published: 2023-10-20T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 22

Gillian leaped when the room went dark. With a wave of her hand, the lights flickered back to life. She reached for her phone, the same one with the mysterious voice at Mitch’s crime scene. She considered listening to it again but remained too freaked out. Gillian felt she should have long ago regained control of her senses, but apparently not, and she could not fathom why.

Raising her hands, she noticed subtle tremors. Attempts to still them failed. Calories. Lack of calories combined with too much caffeine. Already a bad combination but throw in video files of everyone’s personal scares, and it made sense why she was nervous. She had yet to watch all the interviews because she took took extensive notes during and after each viewing. While taking notes on the last watched video, the motion sensors decided she was no longer in the room.

It was only when the lights turned back on that Gillian noticed how dirty the conference table was. She entered the restroom, wet some paper towels, and came back out to wash the table. The wad was filthy when done. She kept her house immaculate, and while she slept in many a cheap hotel for her job, the griminess of the old building had her longing for the ferry on Monday. But it was not only the dirt that had her eager to leave. Her inability to focus bothered her.

Dumping the wet paper in the trash, she struggled to remember what she had just been doing. Notes! Yes, notes on the last interview. She shook her head as she tried to understand her fuzzy headedness. The unexpected stay on the island played some part. But a gnawing doubt about why she was even there contributed to her confusion. Gillian was unmoored, sitting in an office watching videos with no known purpose. The tapes were very interesting and intimate, but why watch them? Would they even be used in a story? Would her editor care?

She needed to determine her reason for being on the island. She came to interview Mitch, so why did she allow her subject of interest, well, change the subject? What story was more relevant than the five-year anniversary of a tragic unsolved murder? Rogue scientists playing God? Rogue scientists saving mankind? She struggled to settle on a headline or an angle to the story.

A fear inducing drug was newsworthy, but it was stopped before ever going to market. Depending on who the financiers were, there could be a David versus Goliath angle. A rag-tag team of scientists taking on big pharma and finishing work designed to benefit citizens rather than shareholders. That begged the question of why a company would shut down something serving the common good? On its face, a drug designed to temper fear could bring in huge money. Heck, Gillian would use such a product herself.

Foomp!

The air turning back on startled Gillian. It cycled on and off frequently and brought with it the dust she had just cleaned off the table.

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