Page 7 of Under Pressure

“Ah, so this is a case study?” Lily offered. “An example, just to test on? That’s good timing, since we have just received a brand-new PCR microchip and I’ve been itching to take it for a test drive on something not case-related. I’ve heard enough about this thing’s high throughput and small footprint.”

As Kendra nodded in approval, Lily moved to prepare her station and get a scraping of the dried blood into the PCR. Lily’s slight frame—surprisingly thin given the amount of ramen noodles she consumed—rustled as she worked. Her enthusiasm for fluorescence-based quantitative polymerase chain reactions never failed, something Kendra truly admired. Their shared love of science had bridged the cop-civilian divide, bonding them over the years.

After a few minutes, Lily carefully took the plate holding the glove over to her work area. Kendra watched as Lily began zoning in on Delta’s dried blood, humming along to the latest pop song that was quietly playing on the radio at the back of the lab.

“I might be able to get a little bit more here,” Lily mumbled, her hands as deft as a surgeon’s. “This shouldn’t be an issue for the microchip. Thank God we convinced the inspector to fund us an updated version.”

Though Lily’s words were reassuring, Kendra leaned back against the bench, questioning the ethics of what she was doing. Lily worked quickly, preparing a strip of eight PCR tubes for the thermal cycler.

Despite the fact that Kendra had seized the glove in the morning, she’d taken the day to justify putting it on the lab plate, oscillating between the argument that she wasn’t doing anything wrong and that she was in violation of every professional creed she claimed to adhere to. On top of that, then there was the issue of…what did she hope to do with the information she found?

“Weird,” Lily interrupted as she reviewed the extraction.

“What?” Kendra grilled, lunging closer.

Lily continued mumbling to herself, shaking her head. “This can’t be right. Oh, this can’t be human blood.”

“Not human blood?” Kendra said, leaning over Lily’s shoulder to see for herself. “I didn’t think that was—”

“Sorry… I should say—not normal human blood.”

“I don’t understand,” Kendra jumped in, her brows snapping together in concern. “What do you mean?”

Lily shook her head slowly, backtracking. “Perhaps I spoke too soon. This is a brand-new machine. It’s not calibrated correctly yet. How old did you say this evidence is?”

“I just seized it this morning.”

“I see,” Lily said. “I’d like to take a little more time to sequence this properly before I jump to conclusions. We’ve barely scratched the surface.”

Kendra gripped the lab counter before her for balance. A rush ran through her head, and she bit her lip. Not normal human blood? What’s wrong with it? Despite Lily’s correction, the original comment stuck. Kendra reminded herself that Lily was right. It was a new machine, fresh out of the box.

But then again, something isn’t sitting right, she thought as she eyed the extraction.

What the hell is on that glove?

Lily turned around, apparently sensing Kendra’s unease. “Hey, are you okay? I just need a bit more time with this substance and I’ll get you a full analysis.”

The young woman’s bright brown eyes opened empathetically as she assessed Kendra. They both knew something was wrong. Alarm bells were going off in Kendra’s head. I shouldn’t be doing this.

“Forget it.” Kendra lunged forward and snapped up the glove, throwing it into a plastic evidence bag.

She urgently stuffed Delta’s glove in her tote bag, nearly rushing to the lab’s door. She turned back to Lily, explaining, “Please, do me a favor, and forget all about this. Dump the extraction. I have to go. It’s getting late.”

Lily shot a look at her in obvious confusion. She very clearly had questions she wasn’t articulating. Kendra tried to give her some sort of explanation, but an interruption came.

A bell sounded at the lab door—and Kendra shot a guilty look back and forth from Lily to the door. Typically, they didn’t receive visitors, and Kendra wasn’t about to wait around and let Lily get in trouble. Hoisting her tote on her shoulder, Kendra rushed out of the lab door, finding Hunter standing in the hallway. Dread coiled up her throat as she stopped in front of him, letting the door lock behind her. Unwilling to showcase her anxiety, Kendra wasted no time, pushing onward down the long, quiet hallway.

“Staff.” She cordially addressed her boss by his rank as she slipped past.

Hunter narrowed his eyes, smoothing back his brownish hair. Kendra wondered if he knew what she’d been up to, and for the umpteenth time that day, self-reproach flooded through her mind. Leveraging police resources for personal ends was deeply unethical, a fireable offense.

“Calling it a day?” Hunter grilled, following her as she distanced herself.

“Yes,” Kendra replied, trying to keep it casual.

“We need to debrief,” he remarked, “about this morning.”

“I can’t stay late. I have to get home,” she replied, a soft ‘no’.

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