“Clay, you know I can’t do that,” he responded as he took the ramp on to Harry Hines. He could still hear the radio in the car, so Pam had not been discovered yet.
Tom located the address and made the left turn into the parking lot of what was formerly a 7-11. Pam squirmed in her seat. “This can’t be the place,” she muttered.
“This is the address he gave me,” said Tom as he drove around behind.
Suddenly, Tom slammed on the brakes as a man jumped in front of the car. The passenger door was ripped open and Pam was dragged out of the car just as the other man waved a gun at Tom and signaled him out of the car.
Pam started to scream, but was slapped hard across her face and told, “Shut up.” They both were marched through a door in an old warehouse building. Immediately, they were blindfolded and plastic cuffs secured their arms behind their back and roughly shoved into chairs.
“Ah… Our guests have arrived,” Tony offered, “please, accept my apologies for the rough entrance, but we want our gathering to be rather private. We have you blindfolded only until I am certain that you will not have any untoward panic attacks. So… when you have both recovered from your rather rude welcome, we will remove the blindfolds and our evening can begin.”
Tom spoke, “I don’t know who the hell you are or what you want, but you are making a very bad mistake.” He had just gotten the last word out when he was jerked out of the chair, punched in the stomach and then rudely pushed back in the chair.
As he sat retching and trying not to vomit, Tony was right beside his ear, “I was hoping we would not have to start our evening like this, but I tried to warn you. Are you finished with the bluster so we can begin our new friendship”?
Tom nodded his head. There was a long pause and then the blindfolds were removed. As Pam blinked and tried to orient herself, Tom immediately saw Monk.
“You son of a bitch,” Tom yelled.
Monk just hung his head.
A beefy, tall, broad-shouldered man in a silk suit stood in front of the two bewildered ‘guests.’
"First of all, my name is Tony, and I am your host for the evening. The gentleman you just slandered is Mr. Franklin Carol Monkman. Over there is Billy and these other two gentlemen are my assistants and you, no doubt, are wondering what this is all about.
“Mr. Monkman, …or if you prefer ‘Monk’…and I did some business many years ago after which a large amount of money was to be paid to me. That money never appeared.”
Tony walked over behind Monk’s chair, “Monk here, seemed to have had a memory lapse and neglected to contact me and then he disappeared. As you can imagine, I was not pleased.”
He then walked over to Billy and, slapping him on the back, said, “Now, Billy here had occasion to be contacted by Monk and being the good friend he is, he called me to inform me that Mr. Monkman had resurfaced, whereupon I arranged for us to meet and have a talk.”
He walked back to Monk. “As you can see, he had an unfortunate accident with his face, but he should heal soon, barring any other accidents,” he said, patting Monk on the cheek, which caused Monk to flinch and moan.
“So, I am sure this has all been extremely interesting so far. Now, let’s get to why you are here.”
Tony walked over and stood in front of Tom and Pam. “There are really three pieces of business I hope to transact with you,” he said, looking at both of them.
“Number one: Mr. Chiles, you owe Monk $500,000, which you will pay me tonight. Number two: That does not pay me for my involvement, so we will be negotiating that fee and number three,” he said, looking at Pam, “this young lady had the misfortune to identify Monk under some rather incriminating circumstances and therefore, she has, as we say in my world, become a liability to us all.”
“You can’t be serious,” Tom gasped as Pam burst into tears.
“Oh, believe me, I am deadly serious.”
***
Rob turned off the headlights as he drifted to a stop two doors down from the old 7-11 and drawing his gun, he slunk along the adjoining building until he saw Tom’s car.
Behind the car, he saw some light through a window in the old warehouse. There didn’t appear to be any guard outside, so he raced across the parking area and froze against the building just as the sound of a helicopter began.
***
Tony’s head swung toward the door as he heard the helicopter. “Lucky, go outside and see what that chopper is doing.”
Lucky nonchalantly sauntered to the door and stepped outside, closing the door behind him. He looked up to spot the chopper and that’s when Rob exercised his old military skills and chopped him from behind, instantly rendering Lucky unconscious. Rob dragged him away from the door, then tried to see in the window. The crack gave him a slim view of Tom and Pam, with their hands tied behind and Tony standing in front.
He had to assume there were others, but how many and where? He ran to the other side of the door and tried to see through the other window. He saw the arm of another man.
The chopper was getting louder, so Rob ran back to the other side of the door and took one final look through the crack. Tony was approaching the door. Rob knew this was the moment and drew his gun. He waited until he saw the knob turning and then threw his whole body at the door.
The sudden impact knocked Tony backward off his feet as Rob crashed through on top. Rolling to his left, Rob saw Billy reaching for the gun in his belt and shot him in the middle of his chest, just before he felt the searing pain in his ribs.
One of the other men started to walk toward Rob for the kill shot when Pam bolted out of the chair straight into him, giving Rob time to roll over and get off a shot that caught the man in the leg. He stumbled and fell, but not before he wildly tried another shot.
The din of the helicopter was deafening now and Rob could only hope that the squad was almost there. He painfully rolled over and stared straight into the muzzle of a gun in Tony’s hand.
Tony smiled evilly, “Whoever you are, I am sorry we will never meet.”
Rob saw his finger tightening on the trigger and closed his eyes, waiting. He heard the shot, but felt nothing. He opened his eyes just in time to see Tony’s disbelieving eyes staring at the hole in his chest, then toppled over dead.
Rob looked behind him, and there stood Clay.
“I thought I told you to wait for us,” Clay said, smiling.
Rob tried to smile, but the pain from the rib the bullet had broken was excruciating. Just before he passed out, he heard one of the SS men say, “We have someone down over here.”
Chapter 20
It was mid-morning when the surgeon finally came into the hospital waiting room. He eyed the room full of people in various states of sleeplessness, but all with hopeful looks.
Finally, he spoke, "I am sorry for the delay in getting to you. First of all, we had to stabilize the patient, which took some time and then the operation took much longer than we anticipated.
“However, I am pleased with the results and subject to no unforeseen circumstances, Miss Pam Styles should recover with no major after effects.”
The room broke into cheers and nervous laughter. Kelly and Nancy were hugging and dancing, Rob, with his sling, sat with a drugged smile, Clay looked up from his cell and gave a thumb up, while Marty and Myra just sat, still in shock at the events.
The doctor continued, “The stray bullet entered her back and exited the front just under her ribs, collapsing her lung in the process. She has lost a lot of blood and will not be able to see visitors for a few hours. Thank you for your patience.”
As he turned to leave, a wave of ‘thank you’ rained on him. He nodded and left.
Clay put his cell in his pocket. “Here is an update,” he said, “Tom Chiles has been indicted on conspiracy to commit murder, kidnapping, and other charges that are pending. Derek Maurrel has agreed to assist the investigation. Tony Scaliarie and Billy Clemson died at the scene. One of the unidentified others died at the scene and
the other is in custody.”
***
Kelly, Nancy, and Marty sat in Marty’s office the next day trying to work out the rest of their life. Obviously, their futures had had a severe adjustment that did not jibe with defending Big Pharma. The company, now without the financial sources that had been exposed, was no longer viable.
Nancy reached over to answer the incoming call.
“Cooper consulting.”
“Nancy, this is Norm Arthur from COSM (Council on Safe Medicine). Is Marty in”
Nancy hesitated, then said, “Let me see, Mr. Arthur.”
Marty’s head snapped up when he heard the name. “Oh… great. The timing is perfect!” he said sarcastically. He punched the blinking line. “Norm… how are you?”
“I’m great, but more importantly, how are you?”
Marty sighed, “Well, I have had better times.”
“I’m sure… I’m sure. Have you got a moment to talk?”
Marty hesitated, thinking, What have I got to talk with him about now. “Yes, what can I do for you?”
Norm laughed, “Marty, it’s not what you can do for me… au contraire… it’s what I can do for you. I hope I am not being presumptuous in assuming these developments have not only altered your views philosophically, but materially as well.”
“To say the least!” stated Marty.
“Good,” responded Norm, “I believe we have been presented an opportunity that will benefit both of us.”
“How so?” questioned Marty.
“I don’t think my detailed thinking can be covered in this phone call, but let me give you the basics of my idea. First of all, I understand more about your algorithms than you might think and I am of the opinion they will be more powerful than even you realize. Further, I don’t know if you know, but we are extremely well-financed in this battle and more financing can be had. The long and short of it is that I want to partner with you in a company working on ’my side of the fence, so to speak.”
Marty was stunned. He knew that his views had changed dramatically, but why would Norm have that kind of faith?
“Norm, I don’t understand. You and I have been on opposite sides for years. Why would you trust me as a partner?”
“Because I am a good judge of character. In our differences, there was always courtesy and respect between us and I always knew that someday, you would see my side. …and that day has arrived.”
Marty tried to conjure up some words, but failed.
“Marty, just say we can meet and see where we go from here.”
“OK,” croaked Marty.
“Great,” effused Norm, “how about tomorrow at 10 at my office?”
“Thank you, Norm. I’ll be there.”
“Oh, and by the way, your staff is included in this opportunity.”
Marty hung up the phone and turned to the girls.
“We’re back in business, girls.”
The End
***
“…you could, like me, be unfortunate enough to stumble on a silent war. The trouble is that once you see it, you can’t unsee it. And once you’ve seen it, keeping quiet, saying nothing, becomes as political an act as speaking out. There’s no innocence. Either way, you’re accountable.” – Arundhati Roy
***
Research
The commentaries and references in this fictional novel are made purely as artistic expression and are not intended to represent actual real-life situations.
To demonstrate that some of these conditions may or may not be true, the author has listed below, some website links that may help the reader to further understand the storyline.
The author particularly points out item number II, which, although long, captures many of the concepts in this fictional novel.
Murder by Prescription Page 22