| General Fiction posted March 2, 2025 | Chapters: |
...38 39 -40- 41... 
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Eavesdropping on Spangler and Israel
A chapter in the book The Devil Fights Back
The Devil Fights Back - Ch. 40
by Jim Wile
| Background Three intrepid women team up to conquer medical challenges. |
Recap of Chapter 39: Dana is able to peek at Rudy Spangler’s calendar and discovers he has a lunch meeting scheduled with Peter Israel in three days. She calls Fran with the news and agrees to meet Fran the following day at the restaurant where this will take place to scope it out. Fran brings a parabolic microphone disguised in a basket of sunflowers for Dana to use to eavesdrop on the meeting. Back at Dana’s apartment, Fran shows her how to use it and they practice with it.
Chapter 40
Dana
It was five minutes past noon on Monday when I arrived at Gable’s Restaurant for lunch. I needed to make sure Rudy Spangler and Peter Israel were already seated on the patio and where they were located. I walked along the sidewalk that paralleled the patio at the rear of the restaurant. There was a chest-high hedge that surrounded it, and the wrought iron fence with the flower boxes was inside this. My face would show above the hedge, so I made sure to wear large sunglasses and a wide-brimmed hat to obscure my appearance as I scouted the people seated on the patio. I spotted them at a table on the side, right next to the fence.
I then reversed course and went around the block to the entrance. I requested to be seated on the patio, and when the hostess led me through the door to the outside, I made sure to obscure the view of my face from the side facing Spangler and Israel by holding the flower basket up a little. The hostess began leading me toward a table on the opposite end from where Spangler and Israel were seated, which would be too far to pick up their conversation. I asked her if I could be seated beneath the large tree in the center, claiming that I couldn’t sit in the sun due to a skin condition.
I saw an unoccupied table for two there, which was just on the other side of the tree trunk from the side facing Spangler and Israel. This would be perfect. I asked the hostess if I could sit at this table and told her I would be joined by another person who was running late. This would be fine, she said.
I set the basket of flowers on the table and explained to the hostess that the flowers were for my friend while she began filling the two water glasses. She left the tall carafe of water on the table plus two menus.
Once seated, I moved the table slightly so that I could remain largely obscured behind the tree trunk, but I could position the basket so that it could point directly toward my targets. I estimated I was 30 feet away, which should be close enough.
I adjusted the basket so the dish was facing them now. There weren’t that many customers eating on the patio because the sun was shining brightly, and it was quite warm out, but unfortunately, there was one table directly in the line of sight between my table and my targets. I sighted along the line from the basket to their table, and the view was slightly obstructed by the people at the table. I needed to raise the basket up to gain an unobstructed path.
I grabbed the water carafe, which was probably eight inches tall, and balanced the basket on it. I sighted along it again, and the view was still slightly obstructed, but better. It would have to do.
I turned it on, inserted my earbud, and heard nothing at first except for some rustling sounds. I peeked around the trunk and could see Spangler and Israel’s lips moving, so I adjusted the basket until I could just hear what they were saying. The rustling continued, as someone had stopped to talk to the people at the intervening table and was cutting in and out of the path to the target table.
Spangler and Israel were talking sports at this point. I figured the important talk would come during or after their meals, which hadn’t arrived yet. I took the opportunity to look at my menu and selected a Reuben sandwich with a side of potato salad. When the waitress came, I told her my companion had phoned and wouldn’t be coming after all. She asked me about the basket of sunflowers, and I told her it was a gift for my friend that would now have to wait to be given. I’m sure she wondered why it was sitting atop the water carafe, but fortunately, she didn’t mention it.
Spangler and Israel were well into their meals before I heard anything of importance. It was fairly faint, fainter than their baseball talk, which indicated to me they were using more caution now, but it was still recognizable:
Spangler: Here’s what we’re going to do: I want you to keep up the visits to the house until
they get harassed a few times by the Sheriff’s Department, which will undoubtedly come.
Then I want this letter to go to Kendrick, but put it in a different envelope and remove all
fingerprints that may be on it. Wear gloves. Stick it in their mailbox some night.
Israel: Rudy, you don’t need to give me all these little details. I know how to do my job. Just
give me the big picture and the timing.
Spangler: Yeah, you’re right. Sorry. The letter’s not going to scare him off, so we’ve got to
go … (rustling and static) … at that point. I trust you’ve got surveillance in place to know
when she leaves in her car?
Israel: Of course we do.
Spangler: Alright, then, when it gets picked up that she’s on the move, follow her to
wherever she’s going and threaten her very convincingly … (more rustling) … to
her or her husband. Make sure she knows we mean business and mention the
severity …(continued rustling) … to comply.
Jesus! All the good parts were being blotted out by the activity at that table in the way. Their waitress had come to get their credit card and was moving around in and out of the path to the target table.
Maybe the FBI will be able to extract something from this—hopefully more than I can get from this little earbud.
Spangler: I’m still guessing Kendrick won’t be intimidated enough yet. There’s millions at
stake for him if he can make it through to the end. I think at this point we’ll probably have
to move into our next phase.
Israel: Which is what?
Spangler: (Major rustling and static now) … Who would you use with that sort of
experience?
Israel: You don’t really need those kinds of details, do you? Why don’t you just let me
handle that? I’ll get the right team for it. Sometimes, the less you know, the better.
Spangler: Yeah, you’re right. Plausible deniability.
The waitress at the intervening table had returned with the credit card receipt, and the patrons were preparing to leave, all the while interfering with the path to the target. I’m missing all the good parts!
Finally, the couple was gone, and now that they wouldn’t be blocking the view to my table, I immediately removed the flower basket from the carafe. A minute later, however, the woman was back and grabbed her carryout bag from the table where she’d apparently forgotten to carry it out with her. Ughhh!
By this time, it also seemed like Spangler and Israel had concluded their business and had summoned their waitress for the check. I took the opportunity to start eating my sandwich, but I was too worked up to be very hungry and only took a couple of bites.
I hope we had enough for a wiretap warrant. I wasn’t sure because of all the interference.
After a couple of minutes, Spangler and Israel got up from their table and started heading for the door to the inside. I hoped they wouldn’t notice me. Everything was happening fast now. I turned the basket 180 degrees so that the concave dish side was no longer facing in their direction. I also crumpled up the unused napkin from the opposite side of the table and set it in the middle. Finally, I pulled the earbud from my ear. Jesus, I should have planned all this a little better. It all seemed so hurried now.
Unfortunately, as Spangler opened the door to the inside of the restaurant and stepped to the side to let Israel through first, he spotted me at my table, and he and Israel came over to say hi. My heart began to pound.
“Well, hello, Dana,” said Spangler. “I see you’ve discovered Gable’s too. Nice lunch place, isn’t it?”
“Yes, very, but I think I’m going to have to start sitting inside now that we’re getting into summer. It’s pretty warm out here.”
“Yes, and you’re even in the shade too. Dining alone today?”
“No, my companion went to the ladies room.” God, I wish they would just leave.
“My, that’s a nice gift basket. Is that for you or her?”
“We haven’t seen each other in a while, and she brought it for me.”
“Dana, I don’t know if you’ve met him before, but this is Peter Israel, who works at Gideon with us. Peter, this is Dana Padgett, one of my administrative assistants.”
My heart began beating harder as he started to come around to shake my hand, but his eyes were on the flower basket rather than me. I was afraid he would notice the circle of missing cellophane and the concavity in the side, but right then we all heard what sounded like gunshots nearby. It sounded like three shots were fired at close range, perhaps just outside the fence.
The patrons on the patio began turning toward the sound of the shots, and some began ducking down or getting under tables. Israel excused himself and headed quickly for the door, leaving Rudy and me at the table. In the confusion, I just wanted to get out of there. I hadn’t gotten my bill yet, but I left $20 in cash on the table and stood to leave. I picked up my purse and the sunflower basket with the dish side to my chest and made ready to go.
Rudy took me by the arm and escorted me to the door. We made our way into the restaurant, away from the action. A number of other patrons outside did likewise.
“What do you think that was about?” I asked Rudy, breathlessly.
“I don’t know. Maybe a drive-by shooting. It seemed awfully close. Too close for comfort.”
“Where do you think Mr. Israel went?”
“He’s our security chief, and he’s armed. Maybe he just went out to see what he could do to provide some sort of protection? I don’t really know, though.”
“Well, I’ve got to wait for my friend. Seems like she missed all the action. It was nice seeing you here, Rudy.”
“Quite an adventure as it turned out. I’ll see you back at the office.”
As soon as he left, I began shaking like a leaf now that it was over. I waited a few minutes for Rudy to leave the area before venturing out myself.
Still amped up, I began heading for my car while dwelling on what had just transpired when a voice behind me said, “Had a little excitement there at the end, didn’t we?”
 Recognized |
Fran Pekarsky: One of three narrators of the story. She is an FBI agent from the North Carolina field office in Charlotte.
Dana Padgett: One of three narrators of the story. She is a confidential informant (CI) for Fran and works in Big Pharma.
Brian Kendrick: Fran's younger brother. He is the inventor of Dipraxa and Glyptophan.
Julia Kendrick: Brian's wife. She is a world-class violinist who now plays in a bluegrass band.
Johnny Kendrick: Brian and Julia's baby boy and Marie's grandson.
Dr. Marie Schmidt: Julia's mother. She is the third narrator of the story.
Cedric (aka Cecil): The doorman at the apartment house where Marie lives.
Lou D'Onofrio: Fran's boss at the FBI.
Patty Mattson: A hacker friend of Fran's. The programmer on Brian's project.
Abby Payne (nee St. Claire): A girl from Dana's past, who she used to bully but has befriended during their adulthood. The mathematician on Brian's project.
Leonard Merra: A vice president at the Big Pharma company where Dana works. He is in charge of stopping Glyptophan.
Rudy Spangler: A vice president at Gideon Pharmaceutical. He is in charge of stopping Glyptophan.
Peter Israel: The security chief at Gideon Pharmaceutical. He is in cahoots with Rudy Spangler to stop Glyptophan.
Leigh-Anne Grimsley: Rudy Spangler's secretary at Gideon Pharmaceutical.
Picture courtesy of Fotor
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