| General Fiction posted March 5, 2025 | Chapters: |
...39 40 -41- 42... 
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Brian is anxious as he fills Fran in about the harassment
A chapter in the book The Devil Fights Back
The Devil Fights Back - Ch. 41
by Jim Wile
The author has placed a warning on this post for language.| Background Three intrepid women team up to conquer medical challenges. |
Recap of Chapter 40: Dana arrives at Gable’s Restaurant, where Spangler and Israel are conducting their secret meeting on the patio, and Dana gets seated at a table 30 feet away, where she sets up her flower gift basket to point at their table. It contains a parabolic microphone that will pick up and record their conversation in hopes it will provide justification to get a warrant for a wiretap on Israel’s phone.
Although there is a lot of interference from an intervening table, Dana hears a great deal of threatening talk concerning Brian and Julia, although much of it is garbled. As Spangler and Israel are leaving, they notice Dana at a table by herself and come over to talk to her. When Israel is about to discover the secret of the flower basket, three shots ring out from outside the restaurant, and everyone scatters. A few minutes later, when Dana leaves, someone comes up to her from behind and speaks.
Ending of previous chapter (Dana):
As soon as Rudy left, I began shaking like a leaf now that it was over. I waited a few minutes for him 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?”
Chapter 41
Fran
“Jesus, Fran,” said Dana. “You scared the shit out of me! What are you doing here? I thought you left Saturday afternoon?”
“There was a potential for danger here, Dana. I wanted to see how you did on your own, but I wanted to have your back in case it started going south. I’d always planned to stick around.”
“Well, I’m glad you did. I take it you fired those shots?”
“Yeah. They were just blanks, but they sound pretty much like the real thing.”
“Where were you?”
“I was standing outside the far corner of the patio, peeking over the hedge and watching. From what I could tell, it looked like you were doing a great job, but when Israel started to come around the table to shake your hand or whatever, I saw that his eyes weren’t on you, but the sunflower basket. That’s when I decided he needed a distraction.”
“Well, it worked. I didn’t know what I was going to say if he noticed the hole in the cellophane and looked closely at the interior. Being a security guy, he probably would have known about parabolic mics.”
“That’s what I figured. So, did you hear anything of interest?”
“Yes, but a lot of it was garbled because of interference in the line of sight. People kept moving in and out of the path to their table.”
“We have very sophisticated equipment that should be able to filter out a lot of the background noise and amplify most things that you might not have heard through your earbud. We should be able to make sense out of most of it.”
“I hope it’s enough to take to a judge for a warrant.”
“We’ll find out soon enough. I’ll let you know after it’s been examined just what we were able to get from it. You did great, Dana.”
“I just wish I could have pulled it off without having to need your help.”
“Hey, you’re part of a team now. Your contribution was terrific. There’s no shame in getting help. That’s why police and FBI agents typically work in pairs. I always have a partner for any potentially dangerous mission.”
“Well… thanks. Want to stay for lunch before you head back? I’m suddenly starved now that it’s over. I only had about two bites of my sandwich in there.”
“That sounds great.”
The following morning, I brought the sunflower basket to the audio forensics lab for analysis.
Two days later, they had the transcription ready. Dana had been right about the significant interference from people moving in and out of the field because some of it they couldn’t transcribe. This is what they could get:
Spangler: Yeah, you’re right. Sorry. The letter’s not going to scare him off, so we’ve got to go after the wife 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 of bodily harm to her or her husband. Make sure she knows we mean business, and mention the severity of the punishment should they fail to comply.
Parts of the second long section that were garbled were irrecoverable. The surrounding parts indicated the contracting of a team of experts who specialize in some sort of intimidation. I wish we knew what, but at least with the amount we were able to transcribe, I was fairly confident a judge at the U.S. District Court in Atlanta would grant us a warrant to tap Israel’s phone. I called to set up a meeting with a judge ASAP.
This evening, before I had a chance to call Brian with the news, he called me first.
In a rush, he said, “Fran, I’m getting really scared now. They can’t just… I mean, God damn it; those fuckers can’t go—”
“Wait a minute. Slow down. Take a breath, and tell me exactly what happened.”
It sounded like he actually took a deep breath before continuing. “Okay, sorry, it’s just so shitty what they’re doing. I never thought it would come to this.”
Brian didn’t typically use a lot of profanity, just the occasional swear word, so I could tell he was seriously rattled. “Alright, start at the beginning and tell me everything.”
“This car—looks like an older model Chevy Impala—just sits across the street. We call the Sheriff’s Office, and they’ll send a deputy out who gets it to leave, but several days later, it’s back again. Jules doesn’t want to play with Johnny out in the yard anymore.
“That’s just for starters. Then I get that letter you told me to expect last week. Want me to read it to you?”
“Yeah, read it.”
“Okay, it says:
Brian Kendrick,
Call off your phase-2 drug trials of Glyptophan or else. We don’t care what you give for a reason; just do it, or suffer the consequences. These may consist of physical harm or worse to one or more family members.
This will be your first and last warning.
Cooperate, or you will rue the day you ever set out to market this drug.
“What the hell is this, Fran? Is this for real or some bluff?”
“I would say 90:10 it’s for real. We know who’s behind it. That would be Rudy Spangler, a vice president at Gideon Pharmaceutical in Atlanta. Have you heard of them?”
“Of course. Some of the worst stories I’ve heard about Big Pharma are due to them. All kinds of bad shit. That’s who sent me this?”
“Most likely it was sent by the security chief there. His name is Peter Israel, and he gets his orders from Spangler.”
“How seriously should I take it? I don’t want to call off the testing if this is just a big bluff.”
“I don’t think they’re bluffing.” I filled him in on some of the details of the conversation Dana and I recorded between Spangler and Israel that would become the basis for the wiretap of Israel’s phone.
“So, what should I do?”
“Probably not a bad idea to hire a bodyguard or two. The FBI and local police can only provide so much protection.”
“But the phase-2 and phase-3 trials will be lasting between 3 and 6 years. Will I need them the whole time?”
“I don’t know. It’s not like you couldn’t afford it.”
“Yeah, I’m not worried about that. But do we really want two guys becoming part of our family for the next few years?”
“It may come to that. Look, Brian, honestly, I don’t think they will necessarily come after you. Think of it like this: If the worst happened to you, and they killed you, wouldn’t Detry, who owns the license, still continue the trials and eventually produce the drug with FDA approval?”
“So, what are you saying? It’s not me they’ll go after but Julia or Johnny?”
“Well, they kind of implied that in their letter to you. Also, Dana’s recorded conversation confirms it. Can you think of a better threat to make you stop your trials than that?”
“Oh, Jesus!”
“You need to talk this over with Jules and decide together what you want to do. I can talk with you both, if you’d like, but maybe you should just talk to her first. Just to let you know, I’m positive we’ll get a tap on Israel’s phone, so there’s a good chance we’ll get advance warning of anything about to happen.”
He was quiet for a few moments while he digested everything. Poor guy. All he wants to do is make a drug that helps people the way it’s helping him, and now he has to worry about the safety of his family.
“Alright,” he said finally. “I’ll talk to Jules first and let you know what we decide.”
 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 Poe Assistant
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