Cole, very suspicious now, answered reservedly, “Yah, for the rabbits, who had a pretty posh life goin’ in the lab. Not a care in the world.”
“Well, I’m afraid Pele will go rogue on us and not follow that part of the procedure,” continued Radi.
“What are you talking about ‘going rogue’? And why?” asked Cole cautiously.
“I think we’re going to have to force him into putting his kids through a hardship,” explained Radi
“That sounds downright ridiculous. How could we possibly do that? And why? Do you really think this hardship stuff is a pre-req?” asked Cole, concerned at this point, as to what Radi could possibly be thinking.
Radi went on. He clearly had given the idea a great deal of thought. “I think we need to set Pele up for embezzlement.”
“What?! Embezzlement!” exclaimed Cole, “Are you nuts? That’s horrible! How could you even think of that?”
Radi continued quickly before Cole could go on. “We’ll set him up for embezzlement, but we’ll return the funds before he goes to trial, so they won’t be able to convict him. It’s an easy way to make him seem like a criminal, shock the kids, so they feel hardship, but then it can be easily unwound.”
“Easily unwound?! That is a crazyass scheme. And how are we possibly going to pull that off?” Cole responded, even more concerned now.
Radi, answered confidently, “I’ve got it all figured out. You know how he’s always going back into his office when he’s leaving because he forgot something?”
“Yes, of course,” said Cole. This was a well-known quality of Pele’s. He was always going back into his house or office to get whatever he forgot the first time. Sometimes it took two or three trips back before he had everything he needed. They all laughed about this, or cried, depending on how annoyed they got with him making them late every time!
“Well, one of the times he goes back into his office, I’ll follow him and copy his identity symbol so I can get in another time. Then I’ll go in and access his medical budgets, misappropriate the funds, and then return them later,” Radi stated smugly.
“You can’t do that?” asked Cole, worried now that Radi had even thought of the scheme.
“Of course I can. It will be easy. I’ve watched him access his office files hundreds of times. I’m sure it will take no time at all to get into the medical funds and make the transfer,” replied Radi, sounding very impatient that Cole would even doubt his ability to figure this out.
“What makes you think you can just as easily return them? What if something goes wrong?” Cole was not comfortable at all with the plan, but Pele was typically the one who could stop some of Radi’s more harebrained schemes. Cole was more of the easygoing, agreeable one. Any plots or schemes were rarely his ideas, but he often let the other two lead him into or out of trouble. He was at a loss on what to do. Radi made it seem very simple and harmless, but Cole still felt like it was a bad idea. “What about Pele’s reputation? He could be ruined!” he continued.
“That’s the point! How could it be a hardship if Pele doesn’t suffer?” Radi answered impatiently, strongly inferring with his tone that this was a stupid question.
“But it’s the kids who are supposed to experience hardship, not Pele,” Cole responded, almost muttering under his breath.
Radi, getting more impatient and ignoring Cole’s last comment, asked, “Well? What do you think?”
Cole, feeling a bit bamboozled and annoyed, answered slowly, “I’m not game. Are you sure we need to do this at all? Can’t his kids just get a bad grade, or maybe suffer a little bullying? You know all that goes on these days. Seems like navigating adolescence is already a minefield of hardships.”
“Don’t be ridiculous Cole. This needs to be a real hardship to have the desired effect,” stated Radi confidently. “Remember? The hardship factor was the big differentiator in our experiment. There were plenty of successful genetics tests, but none showed the multiplier effect of the hardship like ours did. It’s the most important part of the CodeY results.”
“Why?” asked Cole, playing devil’s advocate. “This is all one big secret. Right? So, who’s ever going to see these results?”
Radi, clearly in a huff now, “I don’t know. You never know, maybe someday the rules will loosen and we’ll be able to publish them, anonymously, of course, no names, so our kids’ privacy is protected. But you never know.”
Before Cole could even respond, Radi pushed, “Are you in?”
Cole, not convinced, answered hesitantly, “Let’s just think about it some more. There’s no rush.” Cole hoped Radi might rethink it and let it go if he stalled him.
“We can’t wait. We have to strike while we have the opportunity,” exclaimed Radi vehemently.
“Dude, I’m sorry. I am just not on board with the plan yet. There’s got to be a better way.” Cole answered.
Radi responded curtly, “Yes, you think about it.” Then he hung up abruptly, clearly annoyed.
Cole hung up with an uncomfortable feeling.
Unbeknownst to Cole, over the next few weeks, Radi’s simple embezzlement plot got even more complicated. Radi was resolute in his conviction that Pele’s family had to endure real, atypical hardship to prove the CodeY findings. Radi was not willing to risk that, if ever disclosed, his research findings could be invalidated by someone questioning the assumptions. The children needed to go through a real hardship to prove his hypothesis. If not, the research would be just like many other geneticists’ work. Not the breakthrough research he was sure this would be if the hardship factor was validated. Once the government standards were loosened and the work could be exposed, still of course keeping the children’s identities secret, he knew his work would be a surprise but also garner respect in his field. He would finally be recognized for the outstanding scientist he was. He was sure his father would be proud. And even Pele might be envious for a change, he thought to himself.
To ensure success, Radi added layers to the plot. He decided Pele needed a motive to make it believable, so he invented a mistress that Pele was “running away with.” Radi also decided they had to “embezzle” Pele and Keece’s personal funds as well so that Pele’s plan of running away with his mistress was more plausible. Radi would not actually take Pele and Keece’s funds but would simply create a new email to send the reports to, then send Keece fake reports showing her account was empty. Radi had already stolen one of Pele’s thumbprints in order to access their account from his computer. No funds would be missing, so the investment manager would not suspect anything. Radi would communicate with the investor as if he was Keece. Radi decided he would tell Cole the whole plan once he got the ball rolling, and there was no way to stop it. He set a date at the beginning of summer to execute. He did have a twinge of doubt about what he was doing to his best friend, but the experiment was just so important. He was sure Pele would one day understand, the means simply justified the end.
After Cole’s visit, Pele was feeling guilty about falling out of touch with his buddies. Yes, he had been busy with his orthopedic and government work. In fact, recently, he and Johann had made a few significant breakthroughs. It was exciting; they had finally, after numerous setbacks, succeeded in getting the hand tools to interact with a person’s real muscles and nervous system. As a result, when someone wore their hand enhancer tool they could throw farther and punch harder than they could naturally. The enhancements were still only in the 20% range, but both Johann and Pele felt they could magnify a person’s ability up to 100% with more testing and adjustments.
The only problem was that the more progress they made, the more eager the military was to see further advancements. The military was willing to dedicate as many resources as they could use, but there was only so much Johann and Pele could do without simply taking the time themselves for the detailed testing and manipulating needed.
However, despite being swamped with his work, Pele had tried to be available. Several times their regular CodeY me
etings had been postponed or canceled. Pele did not much care about the experiment, but he missed hearing all that was going on with Radi and Cole.
He saw Radi a couple of times at soccer or school activities, but there never seemed to be a moment to really catch up at these events.
Radi had picked him up from work one time, so they had at least had one short car ride to talk. During the ride, Pele wasn’t sure, but he sensed a little distance from Radi. He knew his relationship with Radi had never been as natural or easy as with Cole, but he still appreciated their friendship and long-term bond. He wondered if his friend was trying to create some space. Pele knew his own happy family life was a topic Radi tried to avoid. Maybe that was especially difficult for Radi now, while he was still adjusting to being single again. It was not like it was all roses all the time with Keece. They did have their differences and occasionally fought about things like disciplining the kids, where Pele left his clothes, how he had forgotten they had a dinner scheduled. Maybe none of it was too momentous, but they still worked at communicating and solving their problems. Although Pele had to admit, their issues did seem insignificant compared to having your spouse decide she preferred the opposite sex. Maybe he should reach out more to Radi. Sometimes it was important to make the extra effort.
“Hey Radi.”
“Hi Pele. How are you?”
“Good. I thought I’d check-in and see how you were doing. It seems like it’s been forever since we’ve had a proper catch-up. Any time for a drink this week?”
Radi seemed to hesitate, then answered, “Yah, good idea, except I have the kids most of the week. Sophie has some work thing that is taking up her time.”
Pele was a little puzzled. Radi usually wasn’t hesitant to get away, even when he had the kids. His parents were usually more than willing to watch them. But Pele responded pleasantly, “How about coming over one night with the kids? They can play with ours, and you and I can catch up while they entertain each other.”
Pele couldn’t tell if Radi hesitated again, or if he was simply distracted. It was not unlike Radi to be semi-lost in some research paper while trying to take a call.
“Sure. How about this Friday?” Radi replied in a fairly even tone.
He didn’t sound too eager or enthusiastic, but Pele thought maybe he was reading too much into it. He let it go. He would get a better read when he saw Radi in person. They sorted out the details on time and hung up with a plan.
That Friday, Radi and his children arrived. Devan immediately disappeared in search of Rane. The twins and Radi’s two youngest were soon off to play a virtual reality game while Keece finished prepping dinner. She volunteered to cook that night to give Radi and Pele space. The two of them moseyed into the living room for a pre-dinner cocktail, Pele giving a full description of a new concoction he recommended Radi try. Neither were big drinkers, but both appreciated a nuanced taste profile when they did. Pele’s latest edition was a new twist on one of their favorites, a Bees Knees–gin served over ice with simple syrup, honey, and lemon juice. This version added a splash of bourbon to give it a bit more punch, reminiscent of a Gold Rush shot. The combination over ice was still refreshing, but more complex and smokier. Radi approved, and the two settled into comfortable chairs to catch up, sharing the latest medical news, kids’ activities and Radi’s dating escapades.
Shortly thereafter they joined Keece and the children for dinner. After the meal, the kids scattered again, and the adults continued the conversation. Pele tried a few times to find out if Radi had caught up with Cole, but the conversation kept getting diverted, so Pele never heard any more on Cole.
As it was getting late, Radi went to collect Devan. He assumed Devan and Rane were on the computer downstairs. He was gone so long Pele finally went to check. When Pele looked downstairs, he could see Radi in front of the computer, the glow from the screen lighting his face.
“Radi?” asked Pele, a little confused.
Radi quickly closed up the screen and headed for the stairs. “Sorry. I was checking to see if I could tell what they had been working on. You know Devan, he can get himself into trouble online, especially when he has an audience.”
Radi was referring to the time Devan had decided he wanted to change the way his Gmail looked, so he basically broke into Google’s systems to try to rearrange it. Google quickly shut down all access. It took Radi weeks, and a great deal of time with customer service, to figure out why all his Gmail accounts had been closed.
Pele laughed. “Yes, I understand and would not want to experience the same rigmarole you went through the last time!”
“Did you see the kids?” Pele thought Radi looked a little guilty, but maybe he simply got on the computer and then got distracted.
“No, I didn’t see them, but maybe they went to watch the movie with the others,” answered Radi.
They wrapped up the evening pleasantly enough, but Pele still had a sense something was off. He sighed. He would try to be patient. Hopefully, Radi would feel comfortable enough to share in time.
Later that night, Pele opened the computer to finish up some work. Radi must have closed his browser. When he opened it back up and restored his previous session, his and Keece’s personal investment accounts came up. A feeling of tingling discomfort immediately shot down Pele’s spine. Why would these come up? I don’t think I had that open. Why would Radi be looking at our personal investment accounts? Or was it the kids? Pele was pretty sure he had not had them open. The children did not even know where Keece and Pele had their investment accounts, so it was not likely their doing. Radi did know. They had many discussions over the years about different investment advisors. If Radi had wanted to know the name of their advisor or how their investments were performing, he could have simply asked. Pele would have been happy to share, but there was no reason for Radi to be accessing their accounts. It certainly left Pele with an uncomfortable feeling. Should he ask Radi?
Pele debated telling Keece. He decided instead to wait and confront Radi first. Could this have something to do with CodeY? How could that possibly be related?
Chapter 5
“Hello,” Keece answered the phone, wondering why the call was coming from Pele’s hospital. He would surely call her on his cell phone, not his office line if he needed to reach her.
“Hello, Keece?”
“Yes? Josie?” Keece recognized Pele’s assistant’s voice.
“Yes, Keece. I thought I should call. Some officers just came in and arrested Dr. Rosen. They took him away in handcuffs,” Josie was clearly crying and very upset.
Keece could not believe what she was hearing. “What? How can that be? What on earth could they possibly think he’s done?”
Josie, sobbing now, barely managed to get out, “They said something about embezzlement. How could he possibly be guilty? What’s going on? I’m sorry, I’m so upset. I just don’t understand.”
“It’s okay Josie. I’m sure it’s some kind of mistake. Where did they take him? Do you know?” Keece tried to sound calm and comforting, but her heart sank. What could possibly have happened?
Keece arrived at the police station flustered and shaken, only showing a fraction of the concern she felt. After several inquiries, they let her in to see Pele.
She burst into tears as soon as she saw him. Pele held her, trying to be comforting, although he was as upset and confused as she was.
“Easy, I’m sure we’ll figure this out,” he said softly, sounding unconvincing even to himself.
She studied his face, questioning, “Do you have any idea what is going on?”
Pele shaking his head, clearly upset and confused. “I wish I had some idea, but no, I haven’t got a clue. You know I would never do anything like this. It’s horrible! Even if we were desperate for cash I wouldn’t steal! And we definitely don’t need the money!”
Keece nodded, tears still streaming down her face. She knew he was referring to their ample savings. Between his healthy salary and her selling h
er business a few years ago, they had managed to set aside a good amount of savings. It was not a fortune, but it was more than enough for them to live comfortably.
“It must be some kind of mistake? Maybe they mixed up your records with someone else? Or it was some kind of bank error?” she asked hopefully.
Pele answered, “It has to be. I don’t know what else it could be,” he answered adamantly.
He held Keece again, trying to comfort her when he felt anything but comfortable himself. His whole life was based on trust and his stellar reputation. How could this be anything but a mistake? He prayed it would somehow all blow over and right itself without doing too much harm to Keece and the children.
The officer soon came to break them up and sent Keece home. Assuring her there was nothing she could do at this point.
As she left the station her phone was blowing up. It seemed like every close friend she had was texting and calling her. The only call she took was from her brother, Pax.
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