FanStory.com - The Devil Fights Back

Recap of Chapter 12: At breakfast the next morning, a sullen Marie and Julia refuse to talk to each other. Brian decides to move things along by doing it for them since they won't apologize. In a humorous routine, he impersonates each of them apologizing to the other, building himself up with flattering words, which ultimately leads to a food fight. They pelt Brian with every scrap of food they can find as they all laugh their heads off, even Johnny. The ice is broken, and the healing begins.

Julia promises Marie that she won’t give up on the violin but is just taking a break from touring to stay at home with Johnny. They end up the chapter playing a violin duet together, after which Johnny begs for the banjo, and Julia plays a famous banjo number.

Chapter 13

Dana

Leonard Merra entered my office this morning, bubbling with enthusiasm. He’s the vice president who seems to be tasked with destroying Glyptophan’s reputation to prevent it from ever coming to market.

“Dana, I just found out some excellent news that I think will put the kibosh on this upstart Glyptophan for good.”

I groaned inwardly but put on an interested face. I’d thought a lot about what Fran had suggested—about my becoming a whistleblower—and I’ve decided to do it. “You seem very excited about this, Leonard. What is it?”

“I don’t know if you’ve heard about it, but there’s a new street drug called Dipraxa that’s hit a bunch of American cities. This drug is so psychologically addictive that anyone who tries it is instantly addicted and becomes virtually useless after that.”

“I did read something about a new drug starting to gain in popularity. It gives a better high than heroin and isn’t physically addicting. What does that have to do with Glyptophan?”

“Here’s the good part: it was invented by the same guy who invented Glyptophan. He even has a patent on it, although it’s been rescinded. That’s how we found it, by the way—through the patent office. Someone had the bright idea to look into this Brian Kendrick and see what he’s been up to, and lo and behold, there’s a rescinded patent for a drug called Dipraxa he’d also invented. It’s the same drug that’s on the streets now.”

“How do you know that? Just because of the name?”

“No, our chemists looked at the formula in the patent and also got a sample of the street drug. They’re the same thing, Dana.”

“So, what did he do, start manufacturing it on his own and selling it to a distributor?”

“I don’t think he’d have the facilities for that. It’s too widespread now. I think he probably sold the formula to the Mexican cartels or something, and they’re making it now. Regardless of the circumstances, we should be able to leverage this connection to expose him and Glyptophan. If the cops or the FBI can prove he sold his formula to the cartels, that should ruin him right there. Even if it turns out someone else stole the formula and sold it, I think the chemical similarities to Glyptophan will be enough for your reps to use to discredit it and scare folks about its addictive potential.”

“What should I tell them they should say to their customers if asked about it?”

“They should say that Glyptophan was made by the same chemist who originally made the highly addictive Dipraxa that has invaded the streets. Tell them that Glyptophan is a better analgesic than Dipraxa but is just as addictive.”

“Is that true?”

“How the hell do I know? Probably not, but that’s what we’ll tell them. Got it?”

“Got it.”

“Hopefully, this won’t even become necessary. If they can prove he did sell the formula for Dipraxa, he’ll be arrested and jailed, and Glyptophan will hit the skids on its own.”

He walked out then, whistling as he left. God, what a prick. On the other hand, it is disconcerting that Brian Kendrick made both Dipraxa and Glyptophan. At home tonight, I’ll give Fran Kendrick a call and see what the story is behind it—if she’ll tell me. If she’s a fed, as I suspect, she may not be able to. Then again, if I become an official whistleblower, they might potentially make me a—what do they call them in the cop shows?—a confidential informant? This is getting kind of exciting.

“Fran, this is Dana Padgett. We met at the Omni Hotel?”

“Of course, Dana. How are you?”

“Listen, Fran, I’ve thought a lot about your suggestion to do something constructive rather than just complain about my company, and I’ve got some information to share. But you’ve got to let me know if you’re the one I should be talking to about it and if this is to become part of a formal investigation. Before I share anything with you, I’ve got to know who you really work for.”

There was a long pause as, I’m sure, Fran was gathering her thoughts and deciding what she could tell me.

“Okay, Dana, your speculation about me at the restaurant last week was correct. I am a fed—an FBI field agent in the Charlotte office. Although what you may decide to tell me at this point is only slightly related to my current mission, I’d still like to hear it because you never know how things may relate eventually. Do you know what a confidential informant is?”

“I’ve watched enough cop shows to know that.”

“If you’d like to become a CI—”

“Count me in.”

“Great, then we’d need to do a background check on you and set up a few things first.”

“And I’d need to see your credentials too.”

“Absolutely. Are you planning a trip to Charlotte again any time soon?”

“I could.”

“I’ll fast-track the background check, but I’ll need at least a couple of weeks to do it. Why don’t you make flight plans for a trip two weeks from now? We’ll reimburse you for it.”

“I’m excited about this, Fran. Plus, it will be nice to get together with you again. How long a trip should I plan for?”

“Let’s say three days. You can be a guest at my house. I’d like for you to meet my brother and his wife too, and my husband, of course. I’ll plan on picking you up at the Charlotte airport when you arrive.”

“That sounds perfect. I’ll get right on it. Nice talking with you, Fran, and I look forward to seeing you again soon.”

“Very good, Dana.”

So, I’m really going to do it! I felt excited about it. I’m not sure my company, Newman-Price, is guilty of anything illegal at this point, but I wouldn’t put it past them to try something in the future. If nothing else, it will give Fran and her brother some advance warning of what my company’s plans are to sabotage his new drug.

If this drug is all it’s cracked up to be, it will be the greatest aid to pain relief there is, and millions could potentially benefit from it. It would be a damn shame if it was killed by the greedy bastards of Big Pharma, which includes Newman-Price, so they can keep their highly addictive, inferior products selling.

Two weeks later, I arrived at Charlotte Airport, where Fran met me at arrivals. “Great to see you again, Fran.”

“You too, Dana. Nice of you to be willing to come down in person. As I told you on the phone, we would do a background check, and everything looks copacetic. Here are my credentials, too, so we can begin to talk to each other.”

Her SUV was still at the curb, and we hadn’t pulled out yet. She handed over her FBI identification card and badge for me to inspect. I took a cursory glance at these and handed them back to her. She returned them to her purse.

After we’d left the airport and were on the road, Fran said, “For becoming an official CI, we’ll sign the necessary papers in the morning, and we can set up secure communications. We’ll also go through a few training exercises.”

“Sounds good. Hey, Fran, I’ve been thinking about this a lot, and what I have to share with you about my company may be more closely involved with your current mission than you think. I have a feeling I know what it’s about.”

“Hmm, that’s interesting. What do you think it is?”

“Okay, first, here’s what I’ve got: Leonard Merra, one of our veeps, came into my office a few weeks ago and was bursting with enthusiasm because he’d found out that your brother’s new drug, Glyptophan, was preceded by a drug called Dipraxa that he’d also invented.”

I was looking at Fran, and her eyebrows raised at this announcement. I continued, “This is the same drug that has recently hit the streets of a number of cities and is highly addictive. He figures, first of all, that your brother may be arrested for selling the formula to whoever is manufacturing it, but if not, we could use this to smear Glyptophan. He wants our reps to say it’s just as addictive as Dipraxa. He’s a real shithead if you want to know, and typical of Big Pharma’s approach to their competitor’s products.”

“How did they establish the link between these two drugs?” asked Fran.

“According to him, they did a patent search and found out that besides Glyptophan, your brother had also patented Dipraxa. Our chemists analyzed the ingredients as well as those of the street drug and found out they were the same and also very similar to the ingredients in Glyptophan. So, can Glyptophan be as addictive as Dipraxa, like shithead wants us to say?”

Fran then told me the history of what happened with Brian and Dipraxa—that it was the precursor to Glyptophan—but that Brian had solved the addictive aspect of it with gene modification additives.

“Well then,” I said, “I’m guessing your current mission is to find out who sold the formula for Dipraxa to whoever the manufacturer is and, more importantly, to stop it in its tracks before it turns us all into useless addicts and destroys the economy of the country.”

Fran just nodded. “You’re extremely perceptive, Dana. I’ve already discovered who the “kudzu-spreader” is, and it wasn’t my brother. Plus, you’ve correctly surmised the larger mission. As you can see, it’s only marginally related to your information about Big Pharma’s unscrupulous practices at this point, but I still really appreciate your telling me about this.

“What your veep is suggesting is certainly unethical and probably illegal under current slander laws. It’s defamatory, unsupported, false information. However, it’s very hard to prove a financial hit to my brother because it’s only undergoing trials and hasn’t been brought to market yet. This is good to know, though, because it may help Brian get ahead of the problem and think of a way to counter it. This doesn’t yet rise to the level of an FBI mission, but these things tend to escalate into something more serious, hence the decision to turn you into a CI.

“Tomorrow, we’ll go over this again at the FBI, but tonight, we’ll just go home and relax. I’ll introduce you to my husband, Mike. You’ve probably had dinner already since it’s 9:00 now, but we can grab some snacks if you’re hungry when we get home. I believe Mike made a peach pie tonight if that would interest you?”

“Do you have any vanilla ice cream to go with it?”

“Of course.”

“How could I refuse then?”