| General Fiction posted January 12, 2025 | Chapters: |
...21 22 -23- 24... 
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Marie's return and the team's final plans
A chapter in the book The Devil Fights Back
The Devil Fights Back - Ch. 23
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 22: The 4th quarter edition of Myalosoma, the medical journal, came out early with a hit piece against Glyptophan and Brian. Leonard Merra assigned a team to make fake postings on social media to spread the word.
To help counteract this, Dana decides to stir things up by proposing a plan to Merra to confront Brian with threats of and actual mild physical violence. Merra seems amenable to the idea. Dana also says she has a friend familiar with strong-arm tactics and volunteers to set up a meeting between him and Merra. Dana is hoping to trap Merra with the goal of getting a tap on his phone in case he has any greater plans for violent intimidation tactics against Brian. She knows she will need corroboration to get a wiretap warrant, hence the suggestion of a friend to help.
Chapter 23
Marie
“Hello, Cecil?”
“It’s Cedric, Ms. Schmidt.”
“It’s Dr. Schmidt, Cecil.”
“Whatever,” we said together, laughing. “Listen, Cecil. I’m flying to North Carolina tomorrow. Would you be able to bring my bags down in the morning and arrange a taxi for me for a 9:00 AM pickup?”
“You going to see that grandbaby again for Christmas, Ms. Schmidt?”
“No, I thought I’d go down there to watch NASCAR and eat barbecue.”
“Ha ha, that’s a good one. I know you’re lyin’ to me. You gonna bring him a present this time?”
“As a matter of fact, I am. I bought him a toy banjo so he can grow up to play hick music like his mommy.”
“Aww, that sounds nice. Okay, I’ll come get your bags around 8:45. See ya tomorrow, Ms. Schmidt.”
“Good night, Cecil.”
The taxi was waiting for me right at 9:00 AM. Cedric helped load my bags into the trunk. I stopped him before he went back inside and handed him an envelope.
“Merry Christmas, Cecil. You’ve been a big help to me.”
“Why, thank you, Ms. Schmidt. You have a very Merry Christmas too. Say hi to that baby for me.”
Inside the envelope was a Christmas card and a check for $300.
I texted Julia, who was waiting for me in the cell phone lot when I arrived at Charlotte Airport around 4:30 PM. When she drove up to the arrivals area, I quickly hopped in the front seat with her.
“Where’s your baggage, Mother?”
“Oh, for Christ’s sake! You wouldn’t believe the hassle this fucking airline has put me through today.”
“What happened?”
“We boarded at the normal time, but before pulling away from the terminal, the captain announced there was a slight mechanical problem, and a team had been called in to check it out. After 45 minutes, they announce that we can’t use that plane today, so they unload all of us to sit around in the terminal until they can get another plane ready for us. They assured us all our luggage would be transferred to the new plane, which took two hours to get ready to fly.
“Finally, we board that plane, but the temperature had dropped so much by then that the plane had to be de-iced before we could take off, setting us back another 20 minutes. By the time we took off, it was over three hours later than we should have left.
“So, I get here to Charlotte, and I wait around for all the bags to be unloaded onto the carousel. None of my bags made it. Now I have to go file a report of the missing bags. They say they should come here by tomorrow—Christmas Eve day—and they will deliver them to your house.
“I’ll tell you, Julia, I laid into that woman in the baggage claim office and let her know what a shitty airline they run here. Their planes are falling apart, and they can’t do a simple thing like transfer all the bags from one plane to another without losing a few. She told me she didn’t work for the airlines but instead for the Charlotte airport, but she understood how frustrating things like that can be. She kept hitting me with, ‘Oh, bless yer heart’ and ‘Ah’m so sorry, Sweetie, fer all yer troubles,’ in that awful southern drawl. I felt like smacking her. My God, Julia. The world is falling apart for all the incompetence! I need a drink.”
Right then, I heard a little sneeze from the back seat, and I looked around.
“Ha, Gamma.”
“Hi, Sweetie. How’s my little guy? Julia, would you mind pulling over and letting me transfer to the back seat to sit by him?”
“Sure, no problem.”
She did, and I switched to the backseat with Johnny. Already I was starting to feel less agitated. He might be as effective as a stiff drink in that regard. I took his little hand and held it for a while.
“I’m sorry you had such a difficult trip, Mother. We can just go home and relax tonight and tomorrow. We’ve got a couple of houseguests, but they are really nice. You’ve met one of them already—Abby Payne. I have to warn you, though, the other one, Patty Mattson, has a strong southern accent. Please try to be nice. She is just the nicest person.”
“I will, Julia. Don’t worry. I’m just venting now.”
“I really do sympathize, Mother. That’s one thing I don’t miss at all about touring—the travel.”
“Do you really think you’ll go back to it someday?”
“I don’t know. We’ll see. If I do, it will be far less often than I used to. Maybe just a few times a year. Or maybe I’ll just audition for the Charlotte Symphony like you used to play in.”
“Such a waste of your talent that would be. And do you think you’ll continue playing in that bluegrass band of yours?”
“Oh, yeah. I wouldn’t give that up for anything now, Mother. I just really enjoy the music and the people in the band. They’re my friends now.”
“Whatever floats your boat. So, what’s the deal with all the houseguests?”
“They’re still working with Brian on that project. It’s taking a lot longer than they expected, and they’ll be here for at least another week—probably through New Year’s.”
“What on earth are they doing down there?”
“Well, it’s sort of top secret, and I’m not at liberty to discuss it with you. It’s a government project dealing with national defense. Brian’s sister Fran is the special agent in charge of the mission. I guess I never told you that she is an FBI agent. She said it was okay for me to tell you that, but I can’t say anything about what they are doing. I don’t even know too many of the details myself.”
“I must say, Julia, the more I hear about Brian, the more impressed I am with him. I really do feel awful about how badly I misjudged him all these years.”
“Thank you for saying that, Mother.”
I looked at Johnny then, and he turned to look at me and smiled. “Do I notice some teeth starting to poke through, Julia?”
“You bet. He just started right after you left a few weeks ago. He may have been an early walker, but he’s a late teether.”
“That’s okay. He’s perfect just the way he is.”
Fran
“Alright, you brainiacs. What’s the good word?” I asked them at our weekly meeting down in Brian’s lab.
Brian answered for the group. “I think we’ll be ready for production shortly after New Year's. I have to warn you, though, that, although we’ve been able to make the chemical, we haven’t been able to test it live. All of our testing has been and will continue to be done with QSAR modeling, which stands for Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship Modeling. This is all done on the computer using simulation software that Patty and Abby have developed. It isn’t foolproof, and I can’t guarantee that the chemical will work in real life. There may be unforeseen things we haven’t accounted for, but I don’t think we have the time to test it in the field. We’ve got to rely on the accuracy of the models and hope we’ve thought of everything.”
“Fair enough. I have a lot of faith in you guys, and I agree with your assessment that we don’t have the time to try it out in the field. We just have to hope for the best.”
“Do you have a manufacturer lined up yet?” asked Brian.
“We do. Do you have a materials list for me?”
“Yes, but there may be some additions to it if we have to tweak the formula some more. We still have a few more simulations to run, but I think it’s pretty close. They are going to have to produce 5,000 gallons of the material to cover the 160 acres of the island. That’s going to require something like two C-130 Hercules planes with a carry capacity of at least 2,500 gallons, or one will have to make two trips. I have this all written down for you.”
“Excellent. How long do you think this will take to produce?”
“It shouldn’t take more than a week once they get started. I still plan on accompanying you on the trip there, Fran. Just let me know as soon as you can when you have a date for the mission.”
“Will do. Hey, listen, guys, you’ve all done outstanding work so far, and I can’t tell you how much we appreciate the Herculean effort you’ve put in to make this happen. I’m just so sorry y’all can’t make it home for Christmas.”
“Bless your heart, Fran,” said Patty. “It’s for a good cause. Seein’ that fellow at McDonald’s last week had a big impact on me. The way he quit work after one time takin’ that drug and how he doesn’t feel he needs any help just sends shivers down ma spine.”
“You know what struck me?” said Abby. “He seemed content with his life now. He’d spent all his money and his wife’s money on that drug and was kicked to the street, and all he was concerned about was getting more money to buy more of the drug. What kind of life is that? Yet he said, ‘It’s the best I ever felt.’ I surely hope we’re successful.”
“I think we will be. I believe in you guys,” said Fran.
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 the assistant marketing director for a Big Pharma company.
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.
Mike Pekarsky: Fran's husband. He is a DHS agent.
Willy Stubblefield: The leader of Julia's bluegrass band.
Shannon Stubblefield: Willy's wife and the drummer in the bluegrass band.
Leonard Merra: A vice president at the Big Pharma company where Dana works. He is in charge of stopping Glyptophan.
Steve Griffin: Dana's husband.
Alphonse: A Dip-addicted, homeless man who Brian and Julia met in rehab 17 years earlier.
Picture courtesy of Playground-v3
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