Page 12 of The Beachside Cafe
Alex took it from her and examined it while they walked. They reached the double doors and he stepped to the side to enter a keycode in the lockpad. Then he pressed a small red button, which opened a little panel above the lockpad. He leaned forward and a beam scanned his eye.
Jaymee had never seen anything like it. When he turned and saw the look on her face, he grinned. “My uncle was really into security. He didn’t even wait for this kind of technology to be invented. He just did it himself. Come on, let’s go in the lab.”
He held out one hand to the doors, which were still closed. Jaymee was momentarily confused until Alex pressed another button she hadn’t even seen on the wall. The doors began to swing open by themselves.
“I almost expected them to slide into the walls like on those space tv shows,” Jaymee said with a laugh.
Alex joined her, saying through his chuckles, “Uncle Max never perfected warp speed or teleportation unfortunately. That might have been an interesting legacy to ride the coat tails of. Let’s take this and see what it is.”
Jaymee and Cameron stood to the side watching as he placed the vial on one of the tables near Bunsen burners, other vials, plates, equipment, microscopes, and other tools of his trade. They stayed silent while he prepared a sample and looked at it through the microscope.
“Hmmm.” He stood up straight, removing the sample and taking it to another table where he used swabs to add the liquid to various chemicals and elements.
After about twenty minutes, he spoke while he was moving through the lab. “I think I know what this is but I’m not comfortable telling you until I have proof. This test is going to take some time though, it will need to sit overnight for the best results.” He glanced at them as he prepared the test he was talking about. “Is that going to be all right with you? I know you must be anxious.”
“I can wait,” Jaymee said, trying to sound positive, though she wasn’t.
“I’ll take you for some coffee and we can talk,” Cameron said. “Maybe it will relax you and you can get some sleep.”
Jaymee nodded. “I’m wide awake, that’s true. I’d like that, thank you.”
“We’re gonna take off then, Alex. Thanks for doing this for me. I owe ya one.”
Jaymee looked back when Alex said, “Oh you owe me more than one, my friend.” He laughed and continued, “Don’t worry about it. You two go have fun while I work my butt off here, slaving behind these tests.”
“You’re letting it sit overnight,” Cameron pointed out, amused by his friend’s sarcasm.
“I know. Hard work.” Alex shrugged and then laughed with Cameron and Jaymee.
Cameron escorted Jaymee out of the building and back to the car.
“I like him,” she said over the top as she pulled the door open. He smiled at her before he got in.
“Me too.”
They slid into the car and he started it.
“How long have you known him?”
“A while. Nine, ten years, something like that. Always has been a straight up kinda guy. Real outgoing and friendly but has a good head on his shoulders that keeps him from doing stupid things. And that’s hard to do at his age. He’s only 26, you know. Can you imagine taking on a scientific lab at the age of 23? Because that’s what happened to him. His uncle was a friend of mine. That’s how I met him. Met his uncle first, of course.”
They arrived at a nearby all-night diner made out of a railroad train car.
“This looks interesting,” Cameron said as they got out.
“Hope they have good coffee.” Jaymee hurried to go inside. Cameron was beside her and then slightly in front of her. He was holding the door open before she got there. She thanked him with a nod and a smile.
They were seated a few minutes later and had ordered their coffees. Jaymee leaned over the table and gave him an intense look.”
“You said you met him through his uncle. So you’ve know about the lab that long, too?”
He chuckled. “Of course. Knew his uncle for twenty years before the man passed. We went to college together. Max was a good man, smart as a whip. You couldn’t get anything past him and believe me with all the pranks we pulled on each other in high school and college, I’m telling you, I tried.”
They both laughed. The coffee came and they ordered light food.
“So he was a good scientist, huh?”
“One of the best.”
