A/N Sorry it's been a little longer since an update, but life sometimes happens and things got delayed a bit. Hopefully, I'll be back on track now with weekly updates. I still don't own any of these characters. I just put them all together in a story and see what happens between them. Hope you enjoy.
Chapter Seven
Frank POV
The alarm clock went off earlier than I would like. I turned it off with a groan and rubbed my face with my hands. Today was our first day at work posing as lab techs, so we were required to have the same work schedule.
Carlisle said that everything was already set up for us. He briefly informed me last night after we got back from the police station of what our day might look like. Carlisle said that we would first have to go over to the main building and fill out paperwork for human resources. After we filled out the paperwork, we would complete a drug test. Once that's done, we would finally make our way over to the Liquids plant and begin a short training course as well as a tour of the facility.
After questioning Carlisle about how long all of this would take, he informed me that it doesn't take nearly as long as it seems. We should actually be in the lab ready to start working before lunch. I was glad that it wasn't going to take all day because our time in the lab is when Joe and I are going to be able to get the most information out of people and hopefully get to the bottom of what's going on with Jane's murder.
After dragging myself out of bed, I walked out of the room and across the hall to where Joe was sleeping. I knew that a simple knock on the door probably wasn't going to be enough to wake my dear little brother up. I opened the door only to hear what sounded like a freight train coming from his direction on the bed. It really wasn't necessary to sneak up on him while he was asleep, but I did it anyway. Once I was standing next to the head of his bed, I leaned over so that my face was mere inches away from his ear.
"Wake up!" I yelled.
I laughed as Joe jumped up in bed while looking around somewhat disoriented. When he was finally awake enough to see me, he grimaced.
"Man, why did you have to wake me up like that?" Joe said running his hand through his short blonde hair.
"We don't want to be late for our first day of work," I said with a shrug. "So, are you up?"
Joe through a pillow at me in response as I walked back out of his room.
After closing the door to my room, I walked into the bathroom and took a shower. Ten minutes later, I was showered and dressed ready for the day. I wasn't sure what Joe and I were supposed to do about breakfast here. I decided that we would both be ready early enough this morning that we could make a stop at a fast food place for a breakfast biscuit or something.
I opened my bedroom door and headed toward the stairs. I could hear Joe singing in the shower off key on my way. I headed downstairs and into the kitchen only to find everyone else already up.
Nancy was helping Esme make pancakes while Carlisle was filling glasses up with juice. I noticed that Edward was sitting at the counter with a look of sadness in his eyes.
Last night when we arrived back here, Carlisle and Nancy took Edward aside to tell him about what was caught on camera. I can only imagine what an image like that might do to him.
Nancy gave me a brief smile as she put a plate of pancakes in front of me. She turned back around before I could fully thank her for it. I had barely managed to take a couple bites before Joe stepped into the kitchen acting all chipper as if he loved waking up early in the morning.
Everyone ate their breakfast in silence. I'm sure we were all thinking about the past events and what our plans were for the day. Esme started washing up our dishes after we finished eating. Edward hurried out of the kitchen with a muttered goodbye. Carlisle gave Esme a chaste kiss before heading out the door and reminding me and Joe what time we should be at work today. Joe said something about getting our stuff ready and put in the car before he also left the kitchen.
As Nancy left the kitchen, I gently grabbed her arm pulling her to a stop in the living room. There wasn't anyone around so I thought this might be a good place to say what I needed to say to her.
"Nan, I just wanted to apologize to you for yesterday," I told her.
Nancy looked up at me with her beautiful blue eyes before responding, "What got into you yesterday? I've never seen you act like that before."
I couldn't tell her the truth that I was jealous of her and Edward. First of all, I now understand that there was nothing to be jealous over, and second, I just didn't want to admit that much to her right now.
"I guess it was just the last minute trip here," I explained with a shrug.
I could tell that she didn't buy that for a second.
"So, why was Edward so glum this morning?" I asked to change the subject.
Nancy sighed. "You need to brush up on your detective skills, Frank. You're not very perceptive lately. Edward's upset because Bella is still missing and most of the people surrounding him think she's the prime suspect in the murder investigation. He's also upset because she was caught on camera running away with Jacob Black. Apparently, Jacob has had a crush on Bella for a while now. Edward's worried that he might have done something wrong that ended up pushing Bella to Jake."
I expelled a breath at all of that. "How did you find out all of this?"
"I talked to Edward last night when I first noticed how upset he was," Nancy replied simply. "Now, as much as I'd like to stay around here talking, you really need to be getting to work."
"What are your plans for the day?" I asked.
"Well, I'm going to start by trying to get a trace on Bella's cell phone and credit cards so I'll know the minute it's used. From there, I'll just where things lead me," Nancy said.
"Okay, well good luck," I told her.
"You too," Nancy replied before walking away from me and back up the stairs.
I wondered when our relationship with each other had become so awkward, but I realized that it was probably due to me acting like a dominating boyfriend. I decided that I really needed to stand back as much as possible in order to get my Nancy back because I really missed just hanging out with her as a friend.
I headed out the door and was relieved to find Joe already outside and waiting on me. I'd much rather him wait on me than me having to find where he was.
"Do you know where you're heading?" I asked Joe as I slid myself into the passenger seat.
"Carlisle gave me directions," Joe answered. "Although, I can't believe you would doubt me. I never get lost."
I barely contained a snort at that remark.
"Just get us to work," I told him.
Even with the rush hour traffic, it didn't take us long to get to Volturi Pharmaceuticals. Joe pulled up to a gate with a guard shack sitting beside it and waited for one of the security guards to come out of it.
A minute later, an older man with greying hair sauntered out of the building as if he had all day. "Can I help you with something boys?" he asked.
"It's our first day here," Joe told the guard.
"Okay, I'll buzz you through," the guard replied. "Head over to the main building to check in and fill out all of your paperwork. It's the one in the middle if you don't know."
I looked out through the windshield to see which building the guard was pointing to. Volturi Pharmaceuticals was situated on a large plot of land that held three large buildings. The one in the middle was apparently mostly for sales and human resources. The other two buildings on either side of it faced each other and were split into the types of products they made. One building made drugs in tablet form while the other building consisted of both liquids and ointments.
Joe pulled up in front of the building in the middle and we both got out of the vehicle and headed up the front steps. After entering the main lobby, a secretary took down our names and told us to take a seat until someone came to get us.
A few minutes later, a middle-aged woman dressed in a navy suit walked into the lobby.
"You must be Frank and Joe Hardy," she said. "I'm Beth Winters, head of human resources. Why don't you two follow me and we'll get all of your paperwork filled out."
Joe and I trailed after Beth who led us through a large area filled with cubicles. I could tell by the earpieces that everyone was wearing in the cubicles that these people must be part of the sales team at the company. After leaving the large cubicle area, we turned down a smaller hallway that contained offices on either side of it. Beth walked into one of the open offices and we followed in behind her. I closed the door behind us and Joe and I grabbed a seat in the two empty chairs in front of her desk.
I thought that one day I might enjoy getting a regular job doing something I enjoy. Then, I end up getting put undercover in one of those jobs where I actually have to go through the motions of looking like I was going to be working for the company for a while. I think that I've completely lost all interests in getting one of these jobs after hearing Beth drone on and on about the company handbook, which looks to be about five hundred pages long, followed by filling out the endless paperwork that's required to be employed here. Even though I was already warned about it, the thing that really made me against all forms of regular jobs was the drug test.
I lost track of time while we were going over all the policies and filling out paperwork. When we were finished with all of that, I was about to rise out of my chair when Beth told us that we needed to do a quick drug test before we were free to go to the training department in the liquids building. Now, the fact that we had to take a drug test had slipped my mind, but I honestly thought it was going to be something like a little bit of hair they cut off or even a saliva test. As our luck would have it, we had to donate a urine specimen.
The thing that made this all the more embarrassing was that Joe and I couldn't just take our specimen cup into the bathroom and come back out with the sample. Beth actually grabbed a male from human resources to accompany us into the bathroom and make sure we weren't tampering with the test. It's hard enough to do something like that on command, but it's even worse when you're being observed.
Of course, Joe and I passed the drug test with flying colours. Upon seeing that we actually passed, Beth took us over to a guy named Spike that worked in IT. He took a photo of each of us on his digital camera and then printed out our badges that we would have to use each day we worked here as a means of getting through the gate out front where the guard shack was as well as gaining access to the liquids facility.
With our new badges in hand, Joe and I left for the liquids building. We drove the short distance to the building and parked in the already full parking lot. After making a short trek up to the door, Joe used his badge to open it and grinned widely at me making some remark about it being "cool".
I followed Joe inside where we stopped next to the security guard stationed by the door.
"Hi, today's our first day and we were told to meet someone in training. Do you know who we need to see?" I asked the guard, whose badge indicated his name was Embry Call.
Embry was as tall as Joe and I but had a darker complexion like someone from a Native American background might have. He gazed at us calmly with his dark eyes before replying. "You two want to see John Franklin. He's the guy that will give you a tour of the facility."
After Embry pointed the way to John's desk, Joe and I walked up to find John sitting on the computer acting like he was doing some sort of email. In reality, all he was doing was typing some gibberish on the screen before backspacing to delete everything that he had previous typed. I raised an eyebrow at Joe, who just gave a slight shrug.
Joe cleared his throat after we realized that John hadn't noticed us standing there for the past couple minutes. He jumped in his seat at the noise before spinning around to face us.
"Why, you must be Frank and Joe Hardy," John greeted. "I'm John Franklin."
We quickly shook hands with each other before John stood up. "I guess you're ready to have a tour of the building," he said.
We followed alongside him as he started by showing us the office area that was in the front. John told everyone our names as we passed by them. Some welcomed us cheerfully while others just merely nodded and continued on with their work.
We paused a moment as John poked his head into an office at the end of the corridor. John spoke a moment to the person in the office before motioning us forward.
"Frank and Joe, I'd like you to meet the plant manager, Carlisle Cullen," John introduced.
I wasn't sure if I was supposed to know who Carlisle was since we were undercover at the company, so I decided to play it safe. "It's nice to meet you, Mr. Cullen," I said extending my hand for him to shake.
"The pleasure is all mine," Carlisle said playing along as he shook my hand and then Joe's. "I hope you two enjoy working for Volturi Pharmaceuticals."
"I'm sure we will," Joe replied.
John then led us out of the office area and down a long hallway that led to two double doors.
"These doors lead back into our production area. Before you ever go through them, you need to put on scrubs, safety glasses, a hairnet, and shoe covers to prevent any contamination. If one of you ever decides to grow a beard or any other facial hair, we also require a beard cover to be put on," John explained.
He led us into a changing room where we were shown where everything was kept for us to put on before we entered the production area. After changing, we walked back into the hallway and John swiped his badge to open the doors.
We walked into a large area that was separated in multiple hallways with various rooms down the length of them. I could see forklifts moving around carrying pallets filled with bags of something as well as a few that were hauling large drums.
"Well, this is the beginning of our production area," John told us gesturing to the space around us. "These rooms in front of us are used for weighing out the raw materials that we need to make our products."
John gestured toward some double doors that were to our left. "The raw materials are stored out there in the warehouse until they're needed to make a batch. Part of your job as a tech is to come out here on a daily basis to help our Raw Material Chemists sample the new raw materials that get sent in here from our sources."
We followed along as John began walking toward the right. "After the raw materials are weighed out, they are carefully added into a mixer in the order of addition that we need according to the Batch Production Records."
"How long does it take to make a product?" I asked.
"Well, that really depends on what the product is," John answered. "Every product is different and requires different amounts of raw materials, varying mixing times, etc. It could take anywhere from three to twenty hours to make a product."
Joe whistled softly, "Wow, that long?"
John nodded his head. "Yes, it can take that long. Besides, that doesn't even count the amount of time it takes to package the product."
By this time we were passing by some huge tanks where employees were diligently looking at controls and checking off sheets they held on clipboards. We passed this area quickly. The next thing I saw were several packaging lines.
There seemed to be up to six people working on each line. The lines were all automated with the machines automatically filling the bottles, putting caps on them, and wrapping labels on each one.
"So if this process is all automated, why do you need so many people on each line?" I asked John.
"Well, we don't really need that many people. The reason we keep the number that we do on each line is in case it breaks down. Sometimes it might jam up and then they can manually put caps or labels on the bottles to keep everything moving along. It's tedious work when that happens, but also necessary to get the product out the door," John explained to us.
"Well, that's the majority of our production area, so I'm going to take you into the lab where you'll be working," John told us.
We headed back the way we came. After exiting the double doors, we discarded all of the special clothing that we had put on before entering. John led us back down the hallway where we went through a door on the left hand side. We walked a few steps before stopping in front of another office, which happened to be empty at the present time. I could see that it must be a secretary who worked in here because I could see the front lobby of the liquids building facing her desk.
"If you guys ever need any supplies like pens or post-it notes, just tell our secretary, Bree," John informed us.
A few steps further down the hallway led us to another door. John swiped his badge and we entered the lab where we would be working. I watched as people in white lab coats moved quickly throughout the lab. Some were sitting in front of computers while others were working at various machines or at long, black benches.
John led us over to a man in his early thirties with long, blonde hair tied back. "James, this is Frank and Joe Hardy," John spoke. "Frank and Joe, this is James Hunter. He'll be the one in charge of your training in the lab. Hopefully, I didn't take too long with the tour and you'll be able to get in some training before lunch."
James glanced at his watch before nodding. "I'll have plenty of time to teach them how to use the density meter."
John left us to get back to work so we could begin our lab experience.
"Okay, have either of you guys ever used a density meter?" James asked us.
"Based on what I've seen looking around, I'm not sure we've used much of anything in this lab before," Joe said.
"Okay, well don't worry about it because a lot of this stuff you won't be using anyway," James told us. "Most of the machines are for the chemists. We just help out on occasion by doing some of the small stuff. Now, follow me, and I'll show you the density meter."
We followed James toward the middle of the lab. On one of the long benches sat a small machine with a little touch pad. There was tubing that seemed to run all around it connecting things together, but I really wasn't sure what I was looking at.
"This is our density meter. Basically, it measures the specific gravity of our products," James explained. "Production will bring in samples that we call "In-Process", meaning that they've finished making the batch but haven't packaged it yet. We measure the specific gravity of these samples and give them the results so those numbers can be entered into the automated bottling machines."
"Do we use this for any other reason?" I asked.
"Actually, a lot of the chemists need the specific gravities measured on the samples they're testing in order to calculate the results of their assays. If they don't have time to come over here and measure the samples themselves, you'll find that they'll get you to help them by doing it when you're not too busy."
James then walked off for a moment and came back with some samples. "These samples just came in and need to be measured. I'll show you how to do the first one and then watch you guys do the other two to make sure you know what you're doing."
Joe and I watched intently as James used one of the open tubes to suck up some liquid. He pointed out how the liquid ran through the tubing and into a small column inside the machine that would be heated up to twenty-five degrees before taking the measurement. Minutes later, the printer beside the machine spit out a piece of paper that contained a bunch of information on it. James pointed out where the specific gravity measurement was on the bottom of the paper. He then showed us where to write the lot number and sample identification on both the printout and in the logbook that was kept by the machine. Finally, we were shown how to clean the machine.
Once James finished showing us the cleaning process, he stepped back and I began the process of performing the specific gravity on the sample I had. It took me longer than James because I was trying to be careful to remember everything he did and do it right the first time. When my measurement printed out, I labelled it in the same fashion as James.
Joe followed after me and James congratulated us both on getting the hang of the density meter so easily. By this time it was nearing lunch, so James told us that we would do some more stuff afterwards.
Joe and I were pointed toward the breakroom where we could have lunch. The company had a cafeteria set up inside it where people could order what they wanted to eat on a daily basis. Joe and I lined up and looked over the menu that was provided.
Joe ended up ordering a bacon cheeseburger with fries, while I got a grilled chicken wrap. We looked around for a place to sit considering the room was starting to fill up. I noticed a large table that was set for six where a small girl with short, black hair was waving her arm frantically at us.
I nudged Joe with my elbow and nodded my head in their direction. Joe and I carried our food and drinks through the crowd toward the table where four people already sat with their lunches in front of them.
Before I could speak when I reached the table, the girl spoke, "Hey, I know you guys are new here so I thought you might want to sit with us today."
"Thanks," I said politely as we sat down in the two empty chairs.
"I'm Alice Brandon," the girl said. "This is Jasper Hale and his sister, Rosalie. Beside Rose, is Emmett Cullen."
I took in the group around the table as Alice introduced them to us. Jasper was lean with wavy, blonde hair and was sitting next to Alice with his arm around her shoulder. His sister, Rosalie, looked like a model with her perfect facial features and long, blonde hair. The burly guy beside her was Emmett. He had short, dark hair and was apparently dating Rosalie considering the affectionate manner they had between the two of them.
"It's nice to meet all of you," I said. "I'm Frank and this is my brother, Joe."
"Welcome to Volturi," Jasper greeted.
I thought this might be a good chance to gain some insight into the murder investigation. Although, it appeared that Joe was one step ahead of me.
"So what do you guys know of that woman that was murdered here?" Joe asked.
All four of them exchanged looks with each other.
Rosalie was the one to speak up. "I'd say good riddance."
"I take it she wasn't liked?" I prodded.
Emmett snorted. "Jane was barely tolerated. When she first got hired in here, it seemed as if she was going to do such great things for the lab. Over time we all realized that she really threw the wool over someone's head."
"What do you mean?" Joe asked.
"Well, for starters, we do most of our analysis on HPLCs and Gcs, which use a special kind of software to gather the data and integrate it for you in order to get a numerical result with minimal input on your part," Jasper piped up. "Jane acted like she not only knew how to use all of the equipment, but also could use the software just like the rest of us. But when she actually had to do the work, she didn't know her ass from a hole in the ground."
"We pretty much stopped going to her for anything and just tried to solve our own problems when they came up," Alice stated.
"So, I guess considering no one liked her, a lot of people could be suspects for the murder," I said.
Alice shook her head vigorously. "No, I don't believe that anyone in the lab had anything to do with her murder. Each and every one of us might have talked poorly about her and some may even have wished for her death, but nobody here would actually kill her."
"So there's nobody you can think of that might have had anything to do with her death?" Joe questioned.
"Nobody I can think of," Emmett said with a shake of his head.
We ventured into other topics of discussion from that point on. I really wanted to ask if they knew anything about Bella's whereabouts, but they wouldn't know that I knew about her disappearance and I didn't want to blow our cover.
After lunch was over, we walked back into the lab with our lunch group. Alice decided to introduce us to everyone in the lab since no one had done that earlier.
The finished product and stability chemists consisted of Alice, Jared Daniels, Angela Webber, Kate Middleton, and the missing Bella Swan. Raw materials contained Emmett, Paul Stevenson, Mike Newton, and Tyler Crowley. Research and development was made up of Edward Cullen, Rosalie and Jasper Hale, and Ben Cheney. The last group I met was microbiology. Their members included Eric Yorkie, Laurent Barra, Victoria Jackson, and Garrett Masters.
After Joe and I were introduced to everyone in the lab including the two secretaries, Jessica Stanley and Lauren Mallory, we found that several products had been brought in to have the specific gravities taken.
I got to work at the density meter and James took Joe with him. I heard him telling Joe about dumping samples, but I was busy with the density meter by this time so I didn't pay as much attention to what they were talking about.
After I was finished performing all the specific gravities on those samples, I filled out all the paperwork that was necessary. I saw Joe near the back of the lab and walked over to see what he was working on.
"So what did James put you up to?" I asked when I reached Joe.
Joe was standing by a sink with a cart that was piled up with crates. Each crate was filled with samples of various products.
"James took me upstairs to the stability chamber," Joe told me. "I guess that's where they put certain lots when they want to monitor it over the lifetime of the product. We grabbed all of these crates to bring down here and discard because they are all the expired products for the month."
"Do you need any help dumping them?" I offered.
Before Joe could reply, Alice came prancing up to us. "Hey, could one of you do these specific gravities for me?" she asked. "I really need them done today, so that I can get the samples prepared."
"Sure, I'll do it for you," I told her grabbing the samples from her.
I left Joe by the sink and went back to my station by the density meter to run Alice's samples. I was thinking that Alice only had one or two samples for me to run, but when I reached the density meter, she had placed no less than twenty samples beside it. I sighed and pulled up a chair as I got to work.
I realized that one of the nice things about being a lab tech is that the jobs were somewhat mindless. I just repeated the same steps over and over while waiting on the machine to print the result out. It left me with plenty of time to watch what was happening around me in the lab.
I could see Edward sitting at his bench bent over his notebook writing something down. Rosalie was busy examining something in a beaker. Alice kept racing around the lab going back and forth between her bench and computers with vial trays in her hand. I can't imagine how much energy she has to keep that up all day long. Her boyfriend, Jasper, was standing in front of a fume hood burning something inside a crucible.
It was a flurry of activity going on around me. I guess that's why I happened to notice that James was acting a little strangely.
I caught a glimpse of him out of the corner of my eye. He was gazing all around the lab as if he was checking to make sure no one was paying any attention to him. It seemed as if he was convinced no one was watching and he made his way out the back door of the lab. I wouldn't be able to tell where he was headed without walking away from the density meter, and it was a far enough distance from that door that I was pretty sure I would lose him even if I did try to follow him. I was hoping that Joe might have gotten a better look at where he headed since Joe was working closer to the door dumping samples. I checked my watch, noting the time that James left and settled back into my work.
Thirty minutes later, James walked back into the lab from the back door. He was carrying a bottle of a solvent that one of the chemists had apparently requested because he placed it on Emmett's bench.
It seemed as if he might have left for a genuine reason, but I didn't really believe it would take so long just to grab a bottle. I decided to keep this information in the back of my mind and maybe try to look into it further.
The day quickly went by for both Joe and I. In the last fifteen minutes before work was over, we finally got to sit down and take a much needed breather.
"So how did you guys enjoy your first day?" Emmett asked heartedly.
"It sure was busy," Joe said.
"This is actually the slow part of the year," Emmett told us. "Just wait until cold and flu season hits."
Joe groaned at that statement and Emmett laughed before walking off.
"You ready?" Joe asked after looking at the clock.
"Let's go," I replied getting up. "I want to check in with Nancy and see how her day went."
"I'm sure you do," Joe said sarcastically as we walked out of the door and into the darkening skies of the parking lot.