Chemical Attraction Deleted Scenes: Part 2
In Part 1, I shared the doctor’s and assassin’s points of view in the first half of the novel. Here are a few more from the second half.
At the end of Chapter 7 after their night trip to the dead vet’s office, Matt and Eva thought they escaped the assassin undetected. They didn’t. He followed them home:
A shadow peeked through the Connor’s backyard slider. He chuckled. He actually fell for the rock trick. He wouldn’t again. He had kept an eye on the chief most of the afternoon. He had watched him and his wife sneak off after dark. Curious, he had followed but lost them. They headed in the direction of the vet’s office, so he pulled into the lot. He sensed they were there immediately. He would have killed them and left them to rot in the forest.
He could easily shoot them now, but the death of the Police Chief and his family in their home would have every law enforcement agency in the state investigating. He couldn’t afford the added attention. He had a better idea to keep Chief Matt Connor in line.
At the end of Chapter 9, Joe and Madeline drove David and Sylvia to the municipal airport while the assassin worked on damage control:
The assassin loosened his red tie and stretched out in his recliner. “I think he’s more than her boyfriend. Dr. Pierce is friends with the chief’s wife…Yeah, I heard they have Murphy in the county jail…No, I don’t know how she got away from our guy in Three Rivers…Calm down. I still have control over this irritation. After the BennTech meeting, I’ll tie up the loose ends, and we’ll be back on track…No, we continue as planned.”
He dialed another number and kicked off his black dress shoes. “Did you hear about Murphy getting arrested? I know it’s risky, but you’ll have to chance it…All you have to do is sit in the hospital’s parking lot. You’ll be close enough to the sheriff’s department…That thing works from a distance, doesn’t it?…Listen, I told you I would have abducted her. Having Murphy do it was your idea…Yeah, well, next time, listen to me. You don’t know everything.”
After laying his phone on the side table, he leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes. He liked to visualize what needed to be done down to the detail. He’d start at the hospital after dinner. Then, he’d continue his clean-up project tomorrow.
In Chapter 10, as promised, the assassin continued his clean-up project:
Parking at the Shell Station across from her apartment, he hoped she was alone. The meeting finished early thanks to Dr. Pierce. He had looked for her afterward, but her assistant said she was working on time-sensitive data. He chuckled and refocused on the building. It’s too bad he couldn’t take his time, but orders were orders. After checking the empty street, he easily picked the lock and stepped through the Main Street entrance. He heard a door open upstairs.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
He met her at the top. “I needed to talk to you. The door was unlocked.”
“Really? It shouldn’t be. We’re careful.”
Invading her personal space, he pointed his gun and silencer at her. “You know too much.”
“Please don’t,” she begged, holding up her hands as if to magically stop him. Thud! Thud! She dropped to the floor. After checking the front and back apartments, he chuckled all the way to the bar to toast his hefty paycheck and jobs well done.
In Chapter 11 in Madeline’s lab at BennTech, she and Joe tested the serum and realized how dangerous it was. In a hurry to leave, they didn’t see that someone followed them to the parking lot:
The assassin entered the elevator as Dr. Pierce and her boyfriend flew out of the stairwell. They were up to something, he thought, as he stopped the elevator door from closing. Using the side entrance, he hurried to his car. Keeping a keen eye on the two of them, he sat down behind the wheel.
After tucking his red tie between the buttons of his shirt, he reached under his seat for his gun and silencer. Dr. Pierce stood beside the passenger side door. Saddened that he couldn’t have her first, he took aim.
He felt movement in the backseat. Clammy hands grabbed the sides of his neck and wrenched it as he pulled the trigger. He turned his gun and fired twice more before the pressure partially crushed his windpipe.
Paralyzed, he gasped for breaths. Simon reached over and turned off the car. As Joe and Dr. Pierce left the lot, that bastard doctor opened the back door of his Lincoln while he struggled for that one last breath.
“I no like doing that,” Simon said, rubbing his head.
“You didn’t want him to hurt those people, did you?” the doctor replied.
Simon shook his head and climbed into the trunk of the car next to his. The last thing he heard before he blacked out was the bastard laugh and say, “I do know everything.”
In Chapter 13, Joe and his agents found Sheriff Benton already dead inside MAP Chemical’s compound. This scene from the night before was left out:
In the darkness, Sheriff Benton drove down the private dirt road with his headlights off. He parked in a clearing. Staring at the floodlight between the trees, he smoked his cigar and contemplated his next move. Snuffing it out, he stumbled through the underbrush avoiding the electric fence. He swore at each branch slap.
As the doctor typed on his keyboard, a hidden camera zoomed in on Benton’s large gut. “He’s been useful. It’s too bad he won’t enjoy his retirement. It’s time to tie up this loose end. Let’s bait the trap for this rat,” the doctor said.
The small gate unlocked and powered down. The lack of hum in the air surprised Benton as he lumbered to the gate. Gingerly, he touched the handle. The gate opened to a worn dirt path that led him toward the lights.
The crickets stopped chirping as a wide body shrieked in rage and slammed him into a tree. Dazed, Sheriff Benton reached for his gun. The next blow whacked his head into the trunk. The freakish horror in front of him barely registered as human. The monster screamed as it repeatedly smashed the sheriff’s head against the tree. Bones cracked. Mush dripped down the bark.
The story ends with Joe and Madeline at his sister Taylor’s house. I wrote this last scene as a teaser for the sequel. The editor thought this scene would be better as a prologue in the sequel. That’s why the editor and publisher are paid the big bucks. Go Team 48fourteen!
Norman Sanderson loaded his gear and a red Rubbermaid cooler into the galley of his new Sea Ray Sundancer. He cast off his lines from the South Haven Marina and headed north on Lake Michigan. After an hour, he popped off the cooler lid and gently placed the tainted case of vaccine into his small refrigerator. Pulling out a bottle of vodka from his cupboard, he poured a tumbler full and stepped back on deck. He held up the glass to toast the sunset.
“To you, Dr. Ellis, your faithful assistant will carry on your plan for ultimate power and wealth.” He downed his drink and smiled.
What do you think? Do these scenes tie up loose ends? Does it entice you for more? Well, Joe, Madeline, Matt, Eva, and David will be returning soon and, boy, do they have their work cut out for them. The decisions they make will change their lives forever.
Thank you for your continuing support. I can’t wait to share with you the sequel, Chemical Reaction.