| General Fiction posted January 18, 2025 | Chapters: |
...23 24 -25- 26... 
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Fran hears of the meeting and present swap at the Kendricks'
A chapter in the book The Devil Fights Back
The Devil Fights Back - Ch. 25
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 24: Dana calls her friend Barry Degner to help her inveigle Leonard Merra into issuing a call to violence against Brian Kendrick in hopes that Fran can use this to secure a wiretap warrant against Merra. They pull off the ruse, and Merra agrees to pay “Tony Faiella” to physically assault Brian but without breaking any bones. She also secretly tapes the conversation with Merra. Now she just has to present her findings to Fran.
Chapter 25
Fran
Mike and I were wrapping Christmas presents when I got a call from Dana. I went into the bedroom, where the Christmas music wouldn’t be a distraction, to take the call.
We chatted for a while before she got down to the reason for the call.
“Fran, I’ve got a few things to report. First of all, that medical journal, Myalosoma, came out a little early with their last quarter edition. The hit piece they wrote about Glyptophan and Brian was rather devastating, and the resulting social media blitz was about as bad as we predicted. Were you aware it came out early, and do you know if Brian has had a chance to do anything to minimize the effect?”
“He has his legal team preparing that now. You’re right; it did catch them off-guard, but they’re on it.”
“Well, I felt badly about this—”
“No need to. You reported this scheme to me as soon as you knew about it.”
“Yes, I did, but I got to thinking that maybe there was more I could do to move things along to get that wiretap.”
“Uh… okay. Like what?”
“I know what they’ve done so far doesn’t yet rise to that level, but I figured if we could catch them in an actual crime, such as assault, we could maybe justify a wiretap. So, here’s what I did.”
I groaned inwardly as she proceeded to tell me about her plan to entice Leonard Merra to order an assault on Brian. She mentioned using her friend, Barry Degner, as an accomplice.
It took me a few moments to formulate an answer for her. “Dana, while I applaud your initiative, I must confess to having some major reservations about this approach. I’m going to have to really think about how and even if we can use the information you obtained to justify getting a wiretap warrant. I’m not totally ruling it out, but there are some legal and ethical considerations here.
“Although I’m not up on the state laws of Pennsylvania, what you did was probably illegal and definitely borders on entrapment, but there are a couple of things that mitigate against that. First, the FBI didn’t suggest or encourage you to do it; it was entirely your idea and plan that you carried out. The second thing in your favor was that you didn’t appear to coerce Merra into action. From what you told me, he seemed almost eager to embrace the idea, even though he was somewhat ignorant of how to go about it.
“I will say that was smart thinking to get an accomplice to be a witness to Merra’s complicity. A report from only one person would probably not be enough to convince a judge. Now, if I’m to consider taking this to a judge, I’m going to need a separate report from each of you, describing everything that transpired.”
“That won’t be a problem, Fran. I’ve already told Barry that would be the case. But in addition to the reports, I have something that may be even more convincing. I secretly taped the entire conversation on my phone, and I could send you the file.”
“Oh, Dana. You didn’t! I know you’re aware that Pennsylvania is a two-party consent state because we’ve previously discussed that.”
“But you also told me that wouldn’t necessarily rule out a one-party consent conversation in some circumstances.”
“That’s true. I did say that, but whether this rises to the level of one of the exceptions, I kind of doubt it. I certainly won’t bring it to the judge as evidence to get the wiretap warrant because it was illegally obtained, but I would still like to hear it. Okay, what’s done is done. As I said, I do admire your initiative and enthusiasm for this new role, but in the future, could you please consult with me before undertaking something of this nature? It could save you some real grief if things happen to go wrong.”
“Message received, Fran.”
“Alright, then. Why don’t you send me the recording you made from your phone, which will encrypt it, and I will take a listen. I’ll get back to you if I decide we can use a report from you and your friend, Barry. I’ll call you probably tomorrow.”
“Fran, there’s just one more little thing. Merra wants a recording of the encounter between Barry and Brian. This will be faked, of course, but do you think you could somehow send me a recording of Brian’s voice so I could get someone to impersonate him being confronted and attacked? This is just so that, if Merra ever hears Brian speak somewhere, he won’t figure out that he’s been duped.”
“Oh, Jesus. I’ll tell you what: He once made a YouTube video of a lecture he gave when he worked at Detry Pharmaceutical. I’ll send you the link for that. This faked recording you’ll be making is strictly for Merra; I won’t be taking fake evidence to the judge for the warrant request.”
“Understood.”
She sent the recording of her meeting with Merra and Barry Degner promptly, and after listening to it, as well as hearing her verbal report today, I do have to applaud her information, if not her methods. Whether or not I can sell it to a judge in exchange for a wiretap warrant remains to be seen. The potential danger to Brian in the future is clear enough from Merra’s request to hear and see evidence of the assaults, but I just have a real problem using Dana’s recording to convince the judge because of the 2-party consent laws in Pennsylvania.
To be honest, I’m not even sure I should go to the judge at all with this except for the fact that it’s my own brother who is the target here. What Dana did was most likely illegal and leaves me with an ethical dilemma: Should I use the results of an illegal act to try to get a wiretap warrant? I certainly can’t tell the judge everything that went into this plan, or I’ll never get it. That doesn’t seem right, I know, but I’m human, and I have my own set of personal feelings and biases that influence my decisions. Perhaps the ends justify the means here? At least I wouldn’t be making the decision to grant the warrant.
I guess I’ve decided to do it, but I’m going to have to carefully choose the judge to obtain the warrant from. After some research, I made an appointment to see Judge Raymond Jezek of the U.S. District Court in Philadelphia a week from today. I would have Dana’s and Barry Degner’s reports by then. I’ll call Dana tomorrow, as I’d told her, and give her and Barry the okay to write the reports.
Marie
Would wonders never cease? My suitcases did actually arrive on Christmas Eve day when they said they would. At least I now had some presents to give. After dinner tonight, Abby and Patty left us to go call their families.
Julia, announced that we would be having a combined Christmas/New Year’s/Johnny’s 1st birthday party at the house tomorrow on Christmas day. She hired a caterer to provide the food and drink, and there would be music. She had also invited her entire bluegrass band as some of the guests, and they would provide the entertainment. Oh, joy! Just what we’d need: an afternoon of hillbilly music.
Because we would be so busy getting ready for the party tomorrow, we decided to open presents tonight.
We started with Johnny’s presents. He sat on the floor surrounded by packages, which he enjoyed tearing open. He seemed more interested in the paper and ribbons than he was with the presents—mostly clothes and a few toys. I had three presents for him. The first was the book How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss. I promised to read it to him later.
Next, he opened a box with a little hoodie that said, “I Love My Grandma” on it. He wasn’t particularly interested in either of these gifts and kept putting the ribbons in his mouth. The third gift captured his interest, though. It was a toy banjo with four strings that could be tuned. I showed him how to strum it. It only slightly resembled a real banjo, but he seemed to recognize it and said, “Ba-bo, ba-bo.” He’d graduated from saying “ba-ba” to “ba-bo” now. He eschewed the ribbons and played with his new ba-bo for the next few minutes.
Meanwhile, I handed Julia her present. It was a collage of pictures of her playing the violin through her childhood years. Unfortunately, the glass that covered the picture in its frame was cracked in a few spots. “Those damn luggage handlers. The way they throw the bags around, it’s no wonder this happened. And they just bang them down like they don’t give a shit that people’s valuables might be in there.”
Brian suggested, “Maybe if you carry something like that again, you might try taping it between stiff cardboard or covering it with bubble wrap.”
“I wrapped a few towels around it, thinking that would be good enough, but it obviously wasn’t because of the way those animals handled it.”
“It’s beautiful, Mother, and don’t worry. We can easily get a new piece of glass for it. Thank you so much for this. It must have taken a lot of work to put it together.”
“You’re welcome, Julia. I enjoyed looking through the old pictures and picking out the right ones for it.
“Now, Brian, I’ve got a couple of things for you too.” I handed him two packages—a hard one and a soft one. He opened the soft one first, which was a gray sweatshirt with a picture of Walter White dressed in his Heisenberg * outfit on it. He laughed and put it on. And then he opened his other present, which was a beautifully carved chessboard and pieces.
“This is stunning, Marie—a really lovely chess set. Julia and I still play a lot together. Thank you very much for this and for the sweatshirt. Now we have a few presents for you too.”
Julia handed me a wrapped box that contained an electronic picture frame loaded with pictures of Johnny from his birth up to the present. They would cycle through with each one on display for five seconds before advancing.
The next present was a family picture of the three of them looking right into the camera. It was a beautiful picture in a sturdy wooden frame.
The final present was a CD of Julia’s bluegrass band, The Clark Creek Drifters. Julia was featured prominently in the picture on the cover. “I can hardly wait to hear this, Julia.” I only tried a little to keep the sarcasm from my voice.
“You’ll get to hear us play some of those songs live tomorrow, Mother.”
“I’ll be waiting with bated breath. I wonder if I’ll be able to sleep tonight from the excitement.” We all laughed. “Well, thank you both very much for these presents. It’s been years since I’ve either gotten or given any Christmas presents. This is nice.” I got up and hugged each of them.
“Alright, Johnny, would you like to hear your new book now? I think you’ll like it. It’s all about Grandma and what a Grinch she used to be.”
I sat down on the couch with the book, and Brian picked Johnny up and placed him in my lap, and he actually stayed.
I began reading,
Every Who down in Whoville loved Christmas a lot...
But the Grinch, who lived just north of Whoville, did NOT!…
 Recognized |
* Heisenberg is Walter White's alter ego in the hit series, Breaking Bad. He was the evil meth cook part of Walter's personality.
CHARACTERS
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.
Barry Degner (aka Tony Faiella): Dana's friend who will act the part of a leg-breaker to attack Brian.
Pays
one point
and 2 member cents. 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.
Barry Degner (aka Tony Faiella): Dana's friend who will act the part of a leg-breaker to attack Brian.
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