“Are you looking for me?” she inquired.
“Yes,” grumbled Tom, “where have you been?”
Pam flushed slightly, “I was getting some documents at Kelly’s desk…”
Tom interrupted, “Come in…” and wheeled back into his office. “I want Derek, Kelly, you, Marty, and Nancy in my office tomorrow morning at 9. We will be doing a complete review of everyone’s operations.”
Pam stayed at the doorway. “Will that be all?” she asked.
Damn this woman. Does nothing rattle her, thought Tom. “…and I want a written report from you and Marty on the cruise. I want to know if anything positive at all came out of that fiasco.”
“Yes sir” answered Pam as she turned closing the door behind her. ‘Just what I need’ she thought ‘more balls in the air’
***
Monk’s first problem developed when he noticed there seemed to be protection around Pam. Seeing the same man on successive days was what tipped him off. Fortunately, he had worn a different disguise each day, and wasn’t noticed.
His only conclusion was that she ‘had’ seen him on the street with Chiles and this was probably secret service. In the past, he had gone up against strong opposition, but the secret service was quite another matter.
He pondered the situation for a long time. Her protection posed several questions. One: If they already knew who he was, should he take the risk of continuing? Why not just disappear? Two: If he was caught, what evidence could they have without her testimony? Would it be the deciding factor? Three: What about the other girl? Could she identify him?
The dilemma raged. Ultimately, his ego and the money swayed the decision. This had been his first mistake and to leave a ‘loose end’ like this was not acceptable. If he walked away, he would never again have a peaceful moment. The risk was worth his future peace of mind.
On another front, what about Chiles? Had he been discovered or coopted? He quickly discarded that. If Chiles had been discovered, the secret service would probably have had him try to contact Monk for some reason and set a meet. He had time to deal with Chiles later. He would wait two more days to see if the payment was made.
***
Marty had called Myra to let her know he would not be home for dinner because of his 7 o’clock meeting.
Myra immediately detected a tone in his voice.
“Are you OK,” she inquired.
“Yes. I am just tired,” he said, hoping it would mollify his intuitive wife.
“Who’s the meeting with?”
Marty sighed, “It’s with the secret service people.”
Myra continued, “What do they want?”
Marty exploded, “Myra… please. I don’t know. We can go into this when I get home.” Immediately, he regretted losing his cool. He listened to the silence and finally, continued, “I’m sorry, I have just had a horrific day. Let’s talk when I get home. OK?”
“Of course. See you in a little while. I love you.”
“Me too.”
***
Kelly took the back stairs from her office to the 14th floor and opened the door to Cooper Consulting just as Nancy was exiting the ladies’ room. She noticed that Nancy looked a little shaken.
“Hi, Nancy. Can we talk for a minute?”
Nancy looked kind of dazedly at Kelly, “…uh …Sure.”
“Are you alright?” queried Kelly.
“Yeah… I’m just a little rattled.”
“Is there anything I can do?”
Nancy shook her head, “No, I’m fine. What can I do for you?”
“This is kind of strange, but I need you to come to a meeting with me tonight at 7 with…”
“…the secret service? Right?”
It was Kelly’s turn to be dazed. “How could you possibly know that?” she asked, looking around to make sure nobody heard them.
“I was just in a meeting with Rob Shafers and it seems he is joining our happy little family”
“Rob Shafers!” Kelly exclaimed, “what? …I don’t understand.”
“Neither do I, but I just finished meeting with him and we are all going to the same place. I was about to call you, so we could ride together.”
“Great. I’m meeting Pam at Mariano’s at 6 and we can try and make sense out of all this.”
Nancy nodded, “Sounds good. I’ll see you there is a couple of hours.”
***
Tom was about to send the wire for the second payment to Monk when his cell beeped.
“Yes, Derek?”
“What the hell is going on with our stock?”
“What do you mean?” replied Tom.
Derek groaned, “Look at the ticker on the financial site and you’ll see.”
“Let me get off the phone and I’ll look,” Tom clicked on the financial ticker app. He blanched, “…What the ….” And then he read the banner: ‘Big Pharm Ripping Off: President.’1 With a sinking feeling, he read the headline again and then the video came on.
The new President’s comments about the pharmaceutical industry’s glutinous pricing policies had, in the last twenty minutes, caused collective stock prices to plunge twenty-five billion dollars.
He had quickly reversed his destination and was back entering his office when Pam interrupted to say that a national television broadcast reporter was on the line.
“I’m not available for anyone,” he shouted.
Finally, Chiles Arken’s price scrolled across. He plopped down to his chair and closed his eyes; panic rushed through his body. They had lost 15% of their value. He picked up his cell again.
“Derek… Get Marty and come here right now.”
As Derek raced up the stairs to Tom’s office, he punched up Marty’s number to no avail. It immediately went to ‘answering.’
Pam stared at him as he rushed past her and threw open Tom’s door. She could see Tom at his desk with his head in his hands. Derek rushed across the room without closing the door and Pam heard him say, “What the hell are we going to do?”
“I don’t know yet,” countered Tom, “have you reached Marty?”
“No… I left a message.”
“Well, keep trying,” said Tom as he stood up on wobbly legs and looked out the window. “We need to get out ahead of this ‘now.’”
“Pam,” he shouted, “get Dr. Kenmore on the line.”
“Yes, sir,” she responded.
Tom and Derek were both silent as they pondered their next move. Obviously, there would have to immediately be an emergency meeting of the pharmaceutical companies and right on cue, Pam interrupted their thoughts.
“I have Frank Morrison, CEO of Brinkly Salsman on the line.”
Tom grabbed the phone, “Frank… where and when are we meeting?”
“I just spoke with some of the other guys and we are going to have a video conference meeting in the boardroom of the Petroleum Club in an hour. Come to the back entrance.”
“OK. See you shortly.”
Derek was just hanging up from trying Marty again.
Tom said, “If you can’t reach him before tonight, we have our meeting in the morning and I may have a game plan by then. Have you got any thoughts?”
Before he could answer, Pam called through the door, “I have Dr. Kenmore on the line.”
“Arthur. Have you been watching the news?”
“Well… hello to you too, Tom.”
“Arthur, we don’t have time for niceties. Our stock price has just lost 15% and we need to stop the bleeding. Get on the financial news channel and bring yourself up to date. Then draft a response statement and send a copy to Derek. You’ll be getting calls from the media. You know what to do. Cover all the bases.” *How dare the President trample on our rights… this will affect the quality of health care… Government intervention in free enterprise… children health… Blah… blah… blah.“*”We need to get you out there ‘now’ before COSM takes this and runs with it."
“Tom… what has happened…?”
>
“Never mind, just watch the news and then do what I just said. This is your moment of glory, not to mention that you have just lost a couple of million dollars.” He slammed the phone down.
Tom looked up at Derek, “Stay on him until we see him on TV and send me his statement when it arrives.”
It was now 5:15pm and Kelly was in the middle of redoing a document when her phone buzzed.
“Kelly… It’s Pam. Derek is on his way down and he is going to need you, so pack up ‘now’ and go out the back way and don’t answer your phone. I’ll explain later.”
Derek was leaving Tom’s office when Pam intercepted him, “Mr. Maurrel… I need a minute.”
“What is it, Pam…? I am very busy.”
She hesitated for a moment and then answered, “…uh …I couldn’t help overhearing Mr. Chiles asking Dr. Kenmore to send over a statement he is preparing. If it comes to me, should I call you or just bring it down.”
Tom was a little confused. “I guess bring it down. Is that all?”
“One more thing…” stuttered Pam, “will you be needing me to make copies of his statement for our files.”
“Pam… I don’t… I guess so… whatever you need. Now I need to run.”
Pam had done the best she could in delaying Derek and hoped it was enough. She quickly grabbed her purse and headed for the elevator.
Derek was looking at the stock news on his cell as he walked toward his office and didn’t notice the hall door closing. “Kelly, I am going to need you…”
He stopped, looking at her desk, then glanced at his watch. Dammit! Just when he needed her. He called her cell and left a message.
***
Tom buzzed Pam on the intercom. There was no answer, so after trying her on her cell, he left a message to please be available tonight on her cell as he may need her.
Pam looked at Tom’s name on her cell as she was pulling out of her parking space. I’ll listen to that later, she thought. Her thinking was on what she had heard in the office. Something had caused a stock crisis and she wanted to have that information when she went into her meeting at 7. Once she got settled at Mariano’s, she would find it on her cell.
Monk was sitting in his car when the signal activated that Pam’s car was on the move. He had installed the tracker earlier in the day so that he could continue his surveillance. He had anticipated she would be working late with the news of the stock drop. She pulled out into the traffic and headed toward the tollway. He followed her under the tollway onto the access road and after half a mile, turned into a strip mall and parked in front of Mariano’s.
Monk hung back while he made some notes about her driving habits and the location of Mariano’s. Was this a regular haunt or just a ‘one time?’
His assumption that she was protected proved correct when, after a minute or so, another car parked and a man followed her into the restaurant.
Settling in a booth, Pam pulled out her cell and started catching up on the stock news. ‘Wow!’ Not only was this news having a huge impact today, but it would be disastrous tomorrow, not to mention the long term. The further she read, another realization hit home! The President’s words were the opening salvo of a war with Big Pharma.
Kelly and Nancy arrived right at 6 and the three of them huddled in the booth, sipping on their drinks and exchanging the events of the day.
Pam’s news of the stock drop was very unsettling for Kelly, as she was in a stock option program, while Nancy wondered how this was going to impact Cooper Consulting.
After a couple of minutes, none of them noticed the stooped over bearded man with the Fedora that quietly slipped into an adjoining booth. He opened his newspaper and ordered a coffee.
Kelly was speaking, “So, what do you think this meeting is about?”
“I’m guessing they are verifying all the bits of information they have collected and forming some sort of a picture,” ventured Pam.
“Well, it makes me very nervous. I have never been involved with the secret service before.”
Monk’s head popped up when he heard ‘secret service.’ What meeting were they talking about and why would they be invited?
This confirmed for him that he did not have much time before he would have to go back to deep cover for an extended period. I better check on the payment when I am done here, after which I can’t afford any further involvement with Chiles.
However, the immediate problem was this Pam woman. She could identify him.
The girls engaged in some more innocuous discussion and then got up to leave. As they passed by the adjoining booth, Pam happened to glance toward the man holding the newspaper and panic engulfed her. She stumbled and Kelly grabbed her.
“Are you OK?” enquired Kelly.
Pam nodded and hurried forward. She was ashen.
“Pam… what is it?” asked Nancy.
“Just get us out of here fast,” squeaked Pam.
Kelly threw $20 on the counter and they ran out the door. When they arrived at the car, Pam jerked open the door and scrambled in, followed by the other two. She started the car and even before the girls had closed the doors, she rammed the car into gear and squealed the tires out of the parking space. As she made the turn to enter the tollway, she glanced up at the mirror and thought she saw a man staring at the car.
Kelly turned to Pam, “What was that all about?”
Pam was trying to catch her breath. She took a few deep heaves, “Nancy, I haven’t told you about being beside the congressman when he had his supposed ‘heart attack.’ Prior to his attack, a man at an adjoining table had stumbled and fallen against Chet…er… Congressman Barnes. As he was getting up, I noticed he had a very unusual ring.” She paused.
“…and…?” asked Kelly.
“The man in the booth behind us just now had the same ring!”
Kelly gasped. “It was him!” she shrieked.
“Who?” shouted Nancy.
“The man in the street,” said Kelly, looking at Pam, “right?”
“I think so,” offered Pam, “I want to talk to Dr. Dearsome.”
Meantime, Monk was cursing himself as he climbed into his car. Whatever had spooked the girls. Their sudden departure had left him ‘in the dust.’ He couldn’t imagine what had happened. He hadn’t even pulled the paper down, so she couldn’t have seen him. …Hmmm.
With the device on her car, he could follow, but it was pointless. Besides, with the secret service following, it was a waste of time. He needed to get a plan, carry it out, and ‘go to ground’ as quick as possible.
***
Rob and Marty pulled up to the security gate at the secret service entrance and showed their ID. A check on the list, a quick phone call, and the attendant opened the gate just as the girls arrived behind them. Rob and Marty waited for the girls to park and they all started toward the elevator.
Kelly started to snicker, “I feel like we are going to a funeral or something.”
“Maybe we are,” quipped Rob. They all looked at him.
Marty said, “Whose?”
Rob smiled, “That’s the reason for the meeting.”
The welcoming committee of Dr. Clay Dearsome and Agent Richard Guy were waiting in front of the elevator as the group exited.
“Good evening, folks,” greeted Clay, “I think we all know each other.”
They walked down a long hall and entered a room labelled Room C. It was a sparsely furnished mini board room with a table that seated twelve, dry erase board, video screens, credenza with glasses, cups, water, soft drinks, and coffee.
"Richard and I are sitting here by the dry board, the rest of you can sit wherever.
"You need to understand that bringing you all together like this is highly unusual. Normally, we would interview you separately, and we will, later, but because of some of the unusual and wide sweeping paths this investigation is taking, we decided this is the best way to quickly get the beginning of a total picture.
"First, the rules: We
are the secret service and have powers that are different than other enforcement agencies. As of now, you are sworn to secrecy and nothing that is spoken in this room tonight can be discussed with anyone.
“Marty, in your case, because your wife was on the cruise and you, no doubt, have talked about the events, you have a pass with her, but she is under the same restriction.”
“Good,” responded Marty.
“After this meeting, if anything occurs to you that we have not discussed tonight, or you notice anything unusual or odd, you will notify us immediately.”
Clay looked around the table. “Everyone on board?” he asked.
All heads nodded.
“Good… then let’s get started with Miss Styles. First of all, …Why were you on the cruise?”
“Mr. Chiles suggested that I would be a good addition to the pro Big Pharma team as a… schmoozer, I guess.”
“Please, run through your experience right from the boarding incident to the death of the congressman.”
For the next fifteen minutes, Pam relayed her experiences interspersed with questions from Clay and Richard. Everyone else stared in rapt silence.
“Thanks, Pam. Now, Marty. We haven’t talked and I don’t know if you have any observations from the cruise.”
Marty squirmed a little, “Not really. I was so totally focused on delivering our message.”
“Did you notice anything about the man who stumbled into the congressman?” asked Richard.
“No. I was on the other side of the table, talking with Dr. Kenmore.”
Clay looked around the table, “OK… those are the only eye witnesses, so to speak, from the cruise. Now, let’s move to some circumstantial situations. Kelly, please, tell us about your events back in Dallas.”
Kelly revealed her overhearing Mr. Chiles’ response to a cellphone call saying ‘I just heard. It will be wired shortly.’
“Was that call on his normal cell?” asked Richard.
“No,” responded Kelly, “I saw him reach into his desk drawer and answer it and then, when he was done, he dropped the phone into the trash. After he was gone, I put on some plastic gloves and opened the back of the phone and copied all the numbers from both inside and outside, then I noticed a fingerprint on the phone so I took some scotch tape and copied the fingerprint. I don’t know if that is even useful, but I have the numbers and the tape with me.”
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