Read Patient Darkness: Brooding City Series Book 2 for Free Online Page A

to much hope. “Meanwhile, I have a new drug under development that shows promise. Trial testing starts in a month, and if those results are promising, we should be able to go ahead with human test subjects by year’s end.”
    Alex sipped quietly at her drink. She and her father both knew that her mother wouldn’t survive to see Christmas at the rate she was going. “Is there any way to accelerate the process?”
    “Not legally,” he said simply.
    There was no sense in hiding it; everyone in the market was culpable of some wrongdoing, and Alex would have known about it regardless. She reconciled it with the fact that he was producing medicine that saved people. If that meant going through backchannels to bypass red tape, she fully supported him.
    “When we were still a separate entity,” he continued, “it would have just been a matter of depositing the right amount into the right people’s bank accounts.” His expression soured, and he bit violently into the other half of his sandwich. “Now that we’re merged with SymbioTech, though…No, there’s too much oversight, too much risk involved.”
    “So you work for them now?”
    “They would never phrase it that way. Significant downsizing from my own company, and all of their executives are now our executives.”
    “If it’s such a raw deal, why did you agree to sell to them?”
    James sighed. “If it were up to me, we wouldn’t have. But the board of trustees decides what’s best for the company, and with the direction the market was moving, SymbioTech seemed the way to go. We couldn’t beat them, so we joined them.”
    “At least you live to fight another day,” Alex said, giving a false smile. “And now you get to use their resources to get what you want.”
    Her father smirked. “That is one over-simplified, naively optimistic way of looking at it.” Thank you . She could feel the royal blue feel-good emotions that accompanied the thought, and she felt truly happy for the first time all day.
    “Speaking of work,” she prompted.
    “I’ve been working out of the home office today,” he said, gesturing to the library.
    “Ah, I see.”
    “But if you need to go for some reason, by all means, don’t let me keep you.”
    Alex frowned as he said that. She thought the monthly visits had been enough, but the emotions carried in her father’s words indicated that he missed her far more than he let on. Whenever I leave, he’s only left with her.
    “I’m sorry, Dad,” she said. “Something came up recently that I really do need to attend to.”
    James nodded. “Of course, I understand. I do hope you get to visit us again soon.” He leaned in to kiss her on both cheeks, and then brought her in for another hug.
    “I’ll be back as soon as I can,” she promised.
    I love you.
    “Love you too, Dad.” Alex slowly disengaged from her father and started walking toward the front door. As she left, James returned to his study and closed its two doors behind him. The family photos stared down at her as Alex made her way to the foyer. At some point, Kern had appeared just a step ahead of her, and he accompanied her the rest of the way.
    “I took the liberty of calling a taxi for you,” Kern informed her.
    She looked out the door to where a gray-and-yellow car waited in the roundabout driveway, its engine purring while it idled. “Kern,” she said, suddenly rounding on him. “Do you think you could tell the driver to wait a few more minutes? There’s somebody I forgot to visit.”
    Kern’s one good eye twinkled approvingly as he nodded. “Of course, Miss Alexis.”
    “Just Alex,” she corrected. Alex left him and proceeded down one of the first-floor hallways. The hardwood floor had been worn down over the years by many passing feet. She took care to avoid the floorboards that creaked, keeping mostly up against the wall. She flinched as one board groaned loudly in protest beneath her foot; she could have sworn it was one of the more solid