Page 11 of Defending Love
The question I asked Damien and Ella came back to me. Could Dad’s murder be a disgruntled patient or family member of a patient related to our marketed products? My thoughts went to Propanolol.
I officially became a significant part of Sinclair Pharmaceuticals after completing my PhD in pharmacological research. Before that time, I spent any time I could with the Sinclair chemists who created the revolutionary compound. Dr. David Carpenter was our primary researcher. The work with Propanolol was more exciting than anything being done at the university.
In the Sinclair labs, Dr. Carpenter and the other scientists isolated the organic compound propanolamine and mutated it at positions one and three. Prior to coming to Sinclair, Dr. Carpenter had connections to another scientist who had been working on a similar project at a small university. That research was shut down, a funding issue I was told.
Truly, without David’s previous knowledge, Sinclair’s Propanolol wouldn’t exist. Currently, it was the top compound for treating post-traumatic stress disorder. As a treatment for PTSD, many assumed that Propanolol erased memories; it didn’t.
Instead, the compound interrupted the sequence of memories, causing a favorable pairing as opposed to a negative one. What made it remarkable was that not everyone had the same trigger and yet we found success.
During earlier trials, there were military veterans who had different triggers. There was one man who couldn’t watch fireworks. During battle, fireworks were used for communication before an offensive. The different colors told the soldiers what was going to happen. There was another volunteer who suffered serious injuries in a car accident. Simply getting into a car was torture. The formula worked in both cases.
If a consumer didn’t receive the anticipated relief from Propanolol, that should have been observed by the physician and psychiatrist. They would then be able to adjust dosages. Monitoring of patients was crucial in prescribing Propanolol.
How or why would a person hunt down the retired CEO?
It didn’t make sense.
Not that I wanted my brother to be harmed, but Damien was the current CEO and the man responsible for bringing Dr. David Carpenter to Sinclair.
Could the assailant be someone who worked for Dad?
The more I thought, the more questions came to mind.
It was a never-ending cycle.
Forcing myself from the comfortable bed, I stripped out of my black dress and sheer tights before making my way into the bathroom. Dropping my bra and panties on the bathroom floor, I turned the shower’s dial to hot. Under the prickling spray, I lifted my chin, letting the water pelt my face as tears returned.
My life back.
My work.
My family.
My security.
By the time I turned off the shower, my fingertips were pruney, but for the moment, I was out of tears. Wiping the steam from the mirror over the vanity, I stared into my own bloodshot eyes. A few eyedrops and the redness lessened.
After covering my face with moisturizer, I combed my wet long hair. It was as I slipped into a soft pair of shorts and an oversized shirt that I remembered my bodyguard. It wasn’t like I could forget him; I simply needed to say my own goodbye to Dad before I could face the present.
Life needed me to move forward. It was what my father would have wanted.
Another glance in the mirror told me that I should dress more appropriately. My shorts were short, and I wasn’t wearing a bra. I inhaled, noticing the way the shirt tented over my nipples.
To hell with that.
Ella had gotten the bodyguard that made her life less complicated. I got the man that was nothing but complicated.
If Eli Rhodes agreed to infiltrate my life, he’d need to deal with me as I was. And at this moment, this was who I was.
Opening the door to my bedroom, I spotted Eli sitting at the breakfast counter, the one separating the kitchen from the living room. His attention was focused on his tablet, leaving him unaware that I’d reentered the living room.
There was a theory about mind and body memories that surfaced in our research. While both forms of memories were largely based on reality, the human brain had the unique ability to amplify or diminish said memories, much the same as researchers who created gene sequencing to revive previously extinct creatures. When missing all the original DNA, substitute DNA, like that from a frog, could be used to fill in the blanks.
Our memories were similar. We received a stimulus—a sight or a scent—and it had the power to bring back memories, creating projections within our thoughts. If we didn’t recall every detail, our mind filled in the blanks.
Over the last year, I wondered if I’d elaborated my memories of Elijah Rhodes.
Had I made him into more of a man than he was?
