Make Your Move by Samantha Hunter Page A

worked?
    Password protected, of course. But he had to have some hard evidence somewhere, some lab reports or something indicating what he’d found when he had analyzed the cookie icing—that had to be the evidence he was showing the Sun-Times.
    The way Jodie’s face had fallen when she heard that news had broken Dan’s heart, and he was determined to protect her in any way he could. Still, his plan to find the evidence in Jason’s office wasn’t bearing much fruit, he thought in frustration, searching through papers and drawers.
    “Yes!” he said aloud to the empty room as he finally found a stack of lab reports, not completed here at the university, but tests conducted at an outside lab, off site. Dan scanned the report, nodding. This was his formula, all right.
    Just as he was folding the report and putting it back in his jacket, the door opened.
    “Kravitz,” he said, sounding calm, though he had obviously been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
    “What are you doing in my office?” Kravitz said, his eyes narrowing to slits as he closed the door a little too hard. “Never mind, I can guess. Find what you were looking for?”
    “I did, actually. Might be interesting for the police to find you in possession of lab reports on the items stolen from the bakery—and how much do I have to stretch to guess you’re the one who contacted the paper, trying to ruin Jodie’s business? What’s your deal, Kravitz? Do you always react to rejection this way?”
    Jason stood, as if pondering, and pursed his lips. “Well, I’m not rejected very often, but no. And I have no idea what you’re talking about. I didn’t steal anything. I could probably produce a credit card charge for cookies I bought from the bakery, and then I asked an outside lab to look at the composition of the icing, that’s true—but my intention was never to hurt Jodie’s business, only to help.”
    “Help? How exactly are you helping?”
    “It’s clear you never did extensive testing on the formula—what of side effects, allergies or other problems? Could your flimsy little pheromone formula interfere with people’s normal hormone ratios? This is very concerning to me as a bio engineer. The public has great worries about how we alter their food. All fair questions, you must admit,” Jason said equitably, making Dan seethe. “When Jodie told me about her cookies, I thought to double-check for any problems, and make sure her product was sound.”
    “I ran adequate tests, and the formula is completely innocuous, as you well know. However, you also know how to make it sound like more than it is, and scare people into not visiting her store, so who do you think you’re fooling?”
    “I can’t be held responsible for people’s response tothe facts, Dr. Ellison. The public has a right to know—the cookies don’t even come with an ingredients list. Customers don’t know what they are ingesting, and what of random effects?”
    “Such as?”
    “Well, the sexual side effects could be dangerous all on their own. What if someone is attacked or worse?”
    Dan rolled his eyes. “Jason, you know as well as I do that nothing in that formula will cause that response. There is a very mild increase in estrogen and a few other hormone levels that isn’t any more pronounced than what happens when someone has a couple of oysters or consumes soy.”
    Kravitz shrugged. “And I’m sure you could tell that to the reporter, as well, and make sure he has your version of the facts, but—” Jason paused for effect, and Dan really wanted to hit him “—I guess that would mean admitting in print that your formula really doesn’t do much of anything, that it’s all marketing and a placebo effect?”
    Dan didn’t say a word.
    “So, I guess you have a mess to work out here, but somehow I don’t think your girlfriend would appreciate you revealing that her cookies are lies, hmm? That could cool your relationship significantly, I would think,”