Chapter 20! Declan Mackenzie's Decision!

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Checking his monitor screen for the situation in TS lab Sixteen, Mr Q gave a wicked smile when he saw the unconscious Avon and said to no one in particular "that's what I call being put to good use."

He then started pondering about which particular experiment Avon will be perfect for. He thought long and hard but still couldn't make a choice. "Too many experiments with too few test subjects." There's still time for further arrangements but for now, Avon must be kept conscious. He wouldn't be allowed to escape into unconsciousness so soon. He definitely must pay his due for messing up everything and still daring to show his face.

The idea then dawned on Mr Q to use Avon as a test subject for his new drug on mental health. Anyway, this can wait as there are more pressing issues at hand. It's not like the guy is going anywhere.

After putting the whole Avon case behind him, Mr Q called for Pearce. "Time for serious business," so he thought.

Pearce entered and awaited his boss' orders. After staring at the light-skinned mixed race who has been at his beck and call for the past five years, Mr Q asked in a voice laced with suspicion "Who is the mole?"

Pearce could swear his heart nearly jumped out of his chest but braced himself and said "It could be the scientist, sir..." Mr Q looked at Pearce standing before him and wondered if it would be a bad idea to open that head of his and see what's in place of his brain. How could the overly enthusiastic money grabber with enough greed to collapse his organisation ever tell on them! Shaking his head, he said to Pearce "does he look like someone who will snitch on us?"

Pearce scratched his head in awkwardness and said "I'll look into it, sir." He then hesitated for a while and asked "what do we do with the scientist sir?" Mr Q looked at Pearce again as though he was an idiot and said "keep him conscious of course. I need him conscious and counting his losses" "yes sir" was all Pearce could muster as he kept hoping he would be dismissed from the monster's presence soon enough.

Seeing the agitation and impatience written all over his face, Mr Q turned towards his monitoring system and asked in a teasing tone "what do you think about the interview?" This time, Pearce was tempted to play dumb but he knew very well how that would turn out. His sister would end up paying the price for his stubbornness, as her drug supply for the coming week could be denied and she ends up going through a whole month of agonising pain without any hope of relief. He was not willing to risk his sister's health for anything in this world. He might end up being a stooge all these years for nothing. "I believe it spells hope for various people and families with sickle cell anaemia all over the globe sir." 

Mr Q chuckled in response and asked him tauntingly "including your family?" Pearce raised his head to look into Mr Q's eyes briefly before averting his gaze to the floor as he would rather look anywhere else but Mr Q's wicked face. Mr Q didn't mind because this would not be the first time Pearce ignores him and he is very sure it definitely wouldn't be the last.

On the brighter side, the guy does his job perfectly and up until now, there has been no opponent too difficult for him to handle except the mysterious programmer of GlobeCo. However, there will be no need to alert an enemy they are unsure of defeating.

Maybe it is time to pay better attention to Pope Industries. "Find out what Jeremy Pope was doing at Price Pharmaceuticals. I want to know if Pope Industries wants to become a thorn in my flesh or if they seek to make my dreams come through faster than I thought. Pearce could swear he saw panic in Mr Q's eyes. "Interesting! Things are moving in a direction even I couldn't have imagined." 

Recovering from his short moment of inspiration, Pearce heard Mr Q say "you may leave." Though looking a little dazed, he still made his way to the door when Mr Q suddenly spoke "while you are at it, find out what Kimberley Price is up to"

Pearce noticed another foreign emotion in his boss' voice but he ignored it and proceeded to perform the tasks assigned to him while thinking it was all in his imagination.

Mr Q on the other hand showed a rare smile when he realised he was alone "you will soon come to me for help when you run out of options Kim. At that point, you will become mine and mine alone"

So many hours after the explosion broadcast, Declan Mackenzie could still not find any traces of Paige Norton anywhere in Europe. After searching for traces for so long without any success, Declan was tempted to think that the person he saw on Television was just a figment of his imagination. However, the video he saved and replayed for the umpteenth time made him aware of his situation. Paige is in Europe and he must find her. Becoming an emotional wreck after seeing Paige on Television, Declan concluded that, there is only one acceptable outcome in his situation and that is getting Paige back at all costs, no matter how difficult it may be. Who cares about the consequences? It's not like he was going to tell Paige about the unpalatable relationship between his family and the death of her parents. He is tight-lipped enough to take it to his grave. Even if she accidentally finds out, they may have married with kids already. The Paige Norton he knew would not neglect her family in such circumstances.

Declan chose to study the site of the collapsed Price Pharmaceuticals building for a start. Something just kept pushing him to the scene and he wasn't going to stay put while wallowing in self-blame anymore. In his own words, "it's time for action"

Meanwhile, Kimberley Price suddenly realized she was holding Jeremy Pope too tightly and attempted to release her grip on his hands when Jeremy beat her to it and held her hands in the same tight grip. Both individuals looked into each other's eyes and felt so much peace doing such mundane things as holding hands.