Eclipsed by Kathryn Hoff

Author:Kathryn Hoff [Hoff, Kathryn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-03-14T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 17

Conspiracy theory

Molly the hero, locked up in the red zone.

My job caring for her, gone.

Delinquent: hoodlum, miscreant. That’s what Quinn thought of me.

Ambitious: determined, eager, zealous, avid. That’s what I thought of him.

The next morning, I was good and sore, but able to do my job if I didn’t move too quick.

My first job was to help Paula dress for the red zone—for real, this time.

As Paula selected her white suit from the wall hooks, Molly hooted plaintively from behind locked doors.

“Poor thing,” I said. “She must be lonely.” Maybe she thought she was being punished for wandering the halls.

“Ignore Molly and concentrate,” Paula said. “Take your time and follow the steps.”

“You sure you trust me to do this?” I slipped the helmet over her head.

“If I didn’t, you wouldn’t be here.” Her voice cackled through the air filter.

Once she was suited up, I checked all the seams twice, and then once more, just to be sure. “All set.”

Paula held up a gloved thumb. She used her badge—clipped to her left sleeve—to enter the decon room. I watched through the window as, a moment later, she entered the red zone, calling, “Good girl, nice Molly.”

The chimp’s screeches nearly drowned out Paula’s robot-voice. Was Molly angry at being locked up? Relieved at seeing a person, even if that person was covered in a white suit? Afraid of whatever medical procedure might come next? Usually, I could understand Molly’s reactions, but this time I just didn’t know.

Feeling blue, I went to the primate lab. Barney was pathetically glad to see me. “Sorry, boy, are you missing your roommate? I miss Molly too.” Someone had cleared away the smashed computer, but the floor still showed traces of blood and crap and glimmers of broken glass. After taking Barney out to his run, I came back to give the place a proper clean. It felt strange to be there with no Molly and no reason for safety precautions.

I’d cleaned Molly’s—now Barney’s—cage and mopped the floor with disinfectant and was coiling the hose when Rico walked in.

“They should have fired you,” he said.

“Go to hell.” I was mighty sick of people thinking I was to blame. “The cage was locked when I left Christmas night. You’ve seen me, tugging on the locks to be sure they’re closed. And even if the key was left in the lock, Molly wouldn’t be able to open the cage by herself.”

“So you say.” He folded his arms, judging.

“Paula says so, too, and she told Westerly.”

“And Westerly believed it?”

“I’m still here, aren’t I?” I hung the hose on its hook and stowed the bucket. “Besides, Molly’s escape isn’t the only suspicious thing that’s happened around here. Think about it—Quinn’s samples messed up, a fire in the men’s room, someone broke into Westerly’s office, graffiti painted on the wall. And the babies being sick all the time? And some of those things happened before I even got here. It makes a pattern, doesn’t it? Like someone’s out to screw with the lab.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.