― Suzanne Steele
Menacing
Talking with Norm helped. At least I could face the Dean with some sort of strategy.
I still felt vulnerable, however, because I couldn't escape the feeling that Sage had morphed from an Alpha Female Controller to a more toxic, predatory manipulator.
I had no proof she sent me black roses and a death threat but it was a familiar pattern of abuse I knew all too well, except she had taken it a step further.
She was more manipulative and more venomous, but the game was the same―she was predator and I was prey.
I had this disturbing mental image of a black widow spider.
She liked hiding in dark places, spinning webs of deceit and laying traps for the unsuspecting, among whom I was numbered despite my previous bad experiences with her wrath.
I think she exploited my passivity and unwillingness to hold a grudge. That made me weak and an easy target of her rage if I got in the way of something she wanted.
And what she wanted was control of my anti-aging research ,and if she couldn't have that, she'd destroy me in the process.
I couldn't delay contacting the Dean any longer. It had been two hours since he phoned the lab and I had bought as much time as I could, but now had to reply to him.
I punched in his number on my cell and he picked up immediately.
"Dean Edwards, Eve informed me you called. Is anything wrong?"
"I need to confer with you, Eli―are you still on campus?"
"I am. I was having a supper meeting with a friend."
"Could you stop by the office?"
"I'll be there in ten minutes."
He was usually calm but sounded agitated―not a good sign, but I was resolved to follow Norm's strategy and be supportive rather than defensive.
As I approached the administrative wing, It felt surreal seeing his office window lit late into the evening, but nothing about this business seemed normal in any way.
"Come in and sit down, Eli," he said graciously and I noticed he had coffee prepared and was trying hard to maintain a sense of normalcy.
"We've had a serious threat made against one of our professors―Sage Meadows. the Chair of Psychology and we're taking it seriously as you might expect."
"Of course," I replied soberly. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
"Well, I've referred the matter to Len Thompson, Head of Campus Security and he's investigating. It seems Sage received a threatening email just after she mentioned to members of your team that there had been some complaints made to her about bias in the Clinical Screening Trials and certain candidates had been unjustifiably excluded."
"Yes, Eve told me Sage mentioned her concerns and we were looking into them."
The Dean nodded, "That's my understanding too. Were you able to assess the validity of the complaints?"
"We were, and it turned out the complaints were without merit. It's possible that someone might be trying to sabotage the project and delay our clinical trials which have already begun."
"That's a possibility," he agreed. "What do you suggest?"
"I understand you've increased security for Sage and I suggest you do the same for us. If someone is trying to hinder our research, an increased presence of guards will deter them."
He nodded,"An excellent idea and I'll contact Len and see it done immediately. We've gotten good press so far and the project has enhanced the university's stature. I'm glad you're willing to carry on regardless and you have my full support."
The meeting went better than I expected, thanks to Norm, and for the moment it seemed the threat to the project seem diminished.
It was frustrating, however, not to mention Sage's attempts to gain unauthorized access to our CRT protocols, but it was wise not to appear adversarial and hope that Sage would come to her senses and back off.
But if past was any indicator of future actions, not being held to account would only embolden her. My only hope was she'd make a mistake and end up being caught, or this could go on indefinitely.