"Mr. Kensington?" Sue says, and I realize I'm still standing in the hall.
"Yes. Sorry, my mind drifted for a moment."
"It's no problem. I unlocked William's office so it's all ready for you."
"Thank you."
"Can I get you anything?"
"No, I'm fine."
She smiles and walks back to her desk. I go down to William's office. It's messier than before, with stacks of paper piled up on his desk and folders strewn on the various side tables. William is usually very organized so this is odd for him, but he's probably too ill right now to concern himself with a tidy office.
"I was going to clean this up," Sue says, appearing at the door. "But Mr. Sinclair asked me to leave it as is. If it bothers you, I can at least put things in neater piles so you can more easily work."
"I don't mind. But thank you for offering."
She's a very nice woman but her constant interruptions are a bit much. The last time I was here, I had to politely ask her to stop checking on me every hour. I might have to remind her of that again.
It's late afternoon so I only have a few hours to review the material for tomorrow's meeting. I shut the door and get a glass of water and begin going through the information.
These cross-country trips must tire me because by six I'm so exhausted I can't do any more. I return to William's house and have dinner with him and Meredith, then William and I meet in his study.
"Any news from the committee?" I ask.
"They're still planning to approve Dean," he says. "Phillip told them Dean completed his assignment successfully."
"So Phillip made up a fake assignment to hide the real one."
"He hid the real one, but it wasn't a fake assignment. Phillip gave Dean another one. To kill an associate. We'd proven that she told our secrets to more than one person so she'd already been slated for punishment."
"You mean death," I say, anger in my tone.
"Pearce, you know how this works. I've tried to stop it but I can't. I'm only one person working against a league of men who feel differently than I do. And if I push too hard, I'll be the one being killed."
He's right. But it still infuriates me that we have such barbaric rules for punishment. There has to be a better way.
"And you're sure Dean did this?"
"That's what I was told. And I confirmed it with someone at my level."
So Dean is capable of murder. It's just like I thought. He's not as innocent as he tries to come across. He has an evil side, which is why I don't want him anywhere near my daughter. Although I, too, have an evil side, I've worked long and hard to control it and keep it from overtaking me. But not everyone can do that. In fact, very few people can, which is why my fellow members have no problem killing an associate, or anyone else who gets in their way or tells our secrets.
Lilly needs to stay far away from Dean. And she needs to end things with Reed, sooner rather than later. If she doesn't, I'll be doing it for her.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Pearce
By Wednesday afternoon, I've attended all the meetings William needed me to attend. It was two full days of meetings and I'm so tired I can barely keep my eyes open. Back when I was running my company, I was never this tired, even after working over a hundred hours a week. My semi-retirement must have me trained to not work this hard. Either that or I'm tired from the stress of what happened last weekend.
Since being out here, I've been checking in with Lilly and Rachel throughout the day and in the evenings. They're both fine but Lilly doesn't sound like herself. She's upset about Reed but Garret said as far as he knows, she hasn't talked to him yet. Going this many days without talking, I'm sure Reed suspects something's wrong
At five, Sue appears at my door. "Mr. Kensington, I was going to head home. Do you need anything before I go?"
"No, I'm fine. Have a good night."
She walks into the office. "Are you not feeling well?"
"I'm a bit tired."
"You don't look well. Maybe you should go home."
"I will shortly. I just need to type up some notes from the meeting."
"I could stay and help."
"No. I can do it." I smile. "Go ahead and go home."
Once she's gone, I get a glass of water, then locate the bottle of aspirin in William's desk and take out three. I have a pounding headache that has come and gone for two days now. Maybe I need to eat something, although I haven't had much of an appetite either. I'm probably coming down with something. Sue said she was out with the flu last week. I hope that's not what I'm getting. I haven't had the flu since I was a child.
As I type the meeting notes into the computer, the words on the screen fade in and out. I'm feeling dizzy and lightheaded, like I might pass out. This happened this morning too. And yesterday.
What the hell is going on with me? Exhaustion? Headaches? Dizziness? No appetite? Is it the flu or something else?
I pause to think, and realize that William has had similar symptoms. Actually, he's had the exact same symptoms, only more severe than mine.
What does this mean? Is it this building? The office? Is there something in here that's making us sick? But nobody else seems to have these symptoms. Sue seemed fine and so did everyone else.
Another wave of lightheadedness hits me and my eyes drift lazily over the desk, then stop suddenly on my glass.
The water.
I shoot up from my chair and race over to the cooler. Only William drinks this water. And now I'm drinking it and have the same symptoms as William. There has to be a connection.
I get out my phone and call Logan.
"Logan, we need to talk," I say when he answers. I check the label on the water cooler and see it's from a company based in New Jersey.
"Pearce, what's wrong? Is it William?"
"William's condition hasn't changed. But mine has."
"What do you mean?"
"I have the same symptoms. Fatigue. Headaches. Dizziness."
"Have you seen a doctor? Where are you right now?"
"In New York. In William's office. I've been filling in for him all week and I've felt this way since I arrived. I thought it would go away but it hasn't."
"I'm not nearby but if you told me more about your symptoms maybe I could diagnose you over the phone."
"That won't be necessary."
"What do you mean?"
"How soon can you get here? To Sinclair Pharmaceuticals?"
"It would probably take me an hour."
"Leave right now. I'll be waiting for you."
"Pearce, what is this about?"
"I think I've just discovered what's causing this. Not just my symptoms, but William's as well."
"I'll be there shortly."
While I wait for Logan, I go down to the lab on the third floor and give them a sample of the water. I tell them to test for every possible contaminate and report back to me with the results.
When Logan arrives, I tell him my theory. He doesn't seem that surprised, knowing William is surrounded by enemies, but he's disappointed he didn't piece this together himself.
"Did you call the company that supplied the water?" he asks.
"Yes. The woman I spoke with said the water is bottled in New Hampshire. It comes straight from a spring and is sealed after bottling. She said any contamination would have to occur once the seal was broken, meaning it was likely done by whoever replaces the bottles on the cooler."
"Do you know who that is?"
"I called Sue, William's assistant, and she said the maintenance men usually switch them out. They've all gone home for the day but if the results show the water is contaminated, we'll find out which of those men was responsible for replacing the water and go from there."
"Mr. Kensington." Sylvia appears at the door. She's the woman in charge of the lab. "We found something."
"Please. Come in." I motion her to the chair across from my desk. Logan sits beside her.
"I think you'll want to
keep this confidential," she says, glancing at Logan.
"Pardon me," I say. "I should've introduced you. This is Dr. Cunningham, Mr. Sinclair's personal physician. He's here to find out the results. You can speak candidly around him."
She offers him her hand. "Sylvia Greenway. Director of Research and Development. I oversee the lab as well as the chemists on our product development teams."
"Nice to meet you." Logan shakes her hand.
"I'm terribly sorry," I say to her. "I meant to introduce you as well. I'm just not thinking straight right now."
"No need to apologize, Mr. Kensington. It makes sense you're not feeling yourself after ingesting that water."
"What do you mean?"
"We found one of our drugs in the water. It's one intended to lower blood pressure in those with hypertension. If given to someone without hypertension it can cause numerous side effects. Fatigue. Dizziness. Feeling lightheaded. Nausea. Blurry vision."
Logan nods. "Classic symptoms of hypotension."
"Low blood pressure," I say. "So that's why I feel this way?"
"Most likely, yes," Sylvia says. "Obviously I don't know your medical history but if you had normal blood pressure before, then I'm guessing it's quite low right now."
Logan gets up and goes over to the leather bag he brought that's sitting on the floor. "I have a portable monitor. I should've tested you when I got here."
He didn't because we were too busy talking. He brings the monitor to my desk and secures the cuff around my arm.
"It's low," he says, removing the cuff. "Very low." He sighs and rubs his forehead. "Why didn't I put this together? I knew William's blood pressure was low. I just couldn't find the cause. I should've known it was something here. He always felt worse when he was at the office."
"But who would do this?" Sylvia asks. "Why would someone do this to Mr. Sinclair?"
Logan and I look at her, quickly realizing she knows something she shouldn't. Something that could get her killed if the people I assume are behind this are indeed my fellow members.
"Sylvia." I lean across the desk and look her in the eye. "I need you to keep this information strictly confidential. The conversation we're having right now must never leave this room. Is that clear?"
Her eyes go to Logan, then back to me. "Mr. Kensington, with all due respect, we need to report this to the police. Someone was obviously trying to do harm to Mr. Sinclair and—"
"Mr. Sinclair does not want this information getting out. I could have him call you and tell you that himself if you feel that's necessary."
She pauses, nervously running her hand over her short dark hair, then fiddling with her glasses. "I don't understand. Why wouldn't you tell the police? The person responsible could be working in this building. We'd be putting the other employees in danger."
"The person responsible will be found, and if this person is an employee, he or she will be fired. Now I'm telling you once again, the information that was shared in this room just now will never be told to anyone else, including your family. Do you understand?" I use a threatening tone, my eyes like daggers piercing her with a stare that leaves no room for interpretation.
It frightens her and she rears back in her chair, gripping the sides of it. "Mr. Kensington." Her voice trembles. "I don't like the manner in which you're speaking to me."
"And I regret that I have to do so. But unfortunately, this a very serious matter that must remain completely confidential. If you utter even a word of what you know to anyone else, you'll be putting yourself at risk."
She sucks in a breath and her hand covers her chest, just over her heart. "You're threatening me?"
"It's not a threat. It's a warning. Now do we have an understanding?"
She nods, quickly, several times. "Yes."
"Does anyone else know about this?" Logan asks her. "Maybe someone in the lab?"
"No. The woman who ran the tests knew what she found, but she didn't know the source of the water or why we were testing it."
"Good." I stand up. "Sylvia, thank you for your assistance in this matter. I'm sure Mr. Sinclair will reward you with a generous bonus when he returns." I walk over to the door and open it.
She seems surprised at the abrupt end to our conversation but I don't have time to waste. Things need to happen and she needs to leave so those things can begin.
"It was nice meeting you," Logan tells her.
She's silent as she rises up from her chair and walks slowly to the door.
"Goodbye, Sylvia," I say as she leaves, then I shut the door.
"Do you think she'll keep quiet?" Logan asks as I walk back to the desk.
"I think I made it clear what will happen if she doesn't."
"Yes." Logan laughs a little. "You even had me scared for a moment there."
"Techniques I learned from my father. He was a master at putting fear in people." I pick my phone up, then set it down. "I need to make some calls but we need to go somewhere more private. Let's go back to William's estate. We'll tell him what we found, then I'll get to work finding out who's responsible."
"Do you have any ideas?"
"I have several. I just don't know if I'm correct."
Later that night, William and I work together to figure this out. He wasn't surprised he'd been drugged, but he never suspected the water cooler was the source. Since feeling ill, he's been very careful about what he eats and where it came from and who made it. He was equally diligent about his beverages, yet he hadn't considered the water cooler.
As soon as I left the office, I called one of my freelancers to track down the maintenance man who was responsible for replacing the water. It's a five gallon jug and had been replaced three times since William started having symptoms. The cameras in the office showed the maintenance man bringing the water in and leaving with the empty jugs, so we knew it was him.
The freelancer questioned the man an hour ago and the man spoke freely about what happened, indicating he had nothing to hide. He said he'd been instructed to add a vitamin powder to the water, but the instructions were given via a note that was left on the bottle, not in person, so he didn't know who wrote the note or who provided the powder.
"I think it was Phillip," I say to William as we sit in his study. He's looking and feeling much better now that he's gone almost a week without drinking that water.
"He didn't want me finding out what he was up to in regards to his plans for Lilly. He knew I'd tell you so he had to make sure I couldn't attend the meetings."
"Yes. But the fact that he's allowed this to continue, even after we discovered what he did, tells me that he's vying for your position, hoping they'll decide you're too ill to be an upper level member and must be replaced by someone else, specifically him."
William sighs. "As much as I dislike Phillip, I have to admit, it was a brilliant plan. Making me just ill enough that I have to take a leave of absence from the organization? Causing me to have symptoms that aren't easily diagnosed? Drugging me with something that wouldn't be tested for in the typical rundown of blood tests? And using my own pills to do it? It's very clever."
"Are you going to report him?"
"Not until I have proof that he did it."
"We won't be able to prove it. He covered his tracks. There's no evidence that proves who left the note, and the blood pressure drug could've been obtained from a physician using a fake patient name. Or maybe he bribed a pharmacist to give it to him."
"We could do some research to find out, but I doubt it will lead anywhere."
A thought crosses my mind. "What if I paid him a visit? Perhaps during one of his tennis matches when he's in need of some water?"
William chuckles. "I suppose you could do that. He plays tennis with Albert on Thursdays at noon."
Albert is one of the higher level members. He's retired so spends his days at the country club. Phillip is obviously trying to befriend him, hoping it will help him secure William's position should William need to be replaced.
&n
bsp; I smile. "Then I guess I'll be going to the country club."
"I'd like to come with," William says. "But I won't show my face until after he's admitted it. We'll wire you so I can hear what he's saying."
"Excellent." I stand up. "I'm looking forward to it. Now if you don't mind, I'd like to get some rest. Give my body time to purge this drug from my system."
"Certainly. Go ahead."
I had planned to fly home tomorrow but I need to settle this issue with Phillip. I also need to pay a visit to Katherine. I was going to wait until I'd thought about this some more, but there's no need to wait. My mind is made up.
Tomorrow I'll deal with Phillip. Friday I'll deal with Katherine.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Pearce
The next day, William and I drive to Connecticut to the country club where Phillip is playing tennis with Albert. It's twelve-thirty so the two men have been playing long enough to build up a thirst. William remains in the clubhouse while I go out to the tennis courts. I wait until they finish the match, then walk over to the court.
"Pearce," Albert says when he sees me. "What are you doing here?"
"Playing a round of golf. I had some time to kill and I've always liked this course."
"But why are you here in Connecticut?"
Phillip approaches us, dabbing his neck with a small white towel. He glares at me. "Yes, Pearce. Why are you here?"
From the side of my eye, I see the attendant removing the water bottles from the bench on the other end of the tennis court. I hired the boy to do it.
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