| General Fiction posted January 27, 2025 | Chapters: |
...26 27 -28- 
|
Fran seeks a wiretap warrant and gives Brian disturbing news
A chapter in the book The Devil Fights Back
The Devil Fights Back - Ch. 28
by Jim Wile
| Background Three intrepid women team up to conquer medical challenges. |
Recap of Chapter 27: Marie and Julia discuss her behavior at the Christmas party the previous day, and Julia questions her about being an alcoholic. Marie denies it. Julia also finds out Marie’s life mainly consists of just going to work, coming home, and drinking. She suggests getting psychological help and perhaps taking on a few violin students. Marie promises to give it some thought.
On an outing at the park with Johnny, Julia introduces Marie to one of her young students, and Marie gets more food for thought when she sees the loving relationship between teacher and student that Julia has with her student.
Chapter 28
Fran
In the early morning of December 30, I caught a flight to Philadelphia. At 10:00 AM, I entered the James A. Byrne U.S. Courthouse on Market Street for my meeting with U.S. District Court Judge Raymond Jezek. Of the nine judges in that office, Judge Jezek was the most conservative of the lot and the one most apt to grant the wiretap. He was a Bush the elder appointee and was rather advanced in years.
“Good morning, Judge. Hope you had a Merry Christmas and will have a Happy New Year. I didn’t expect to find too many people working this week between the holidays.”
“The work of the courts never stops, Agent Pekarski. The same good wishes to you. Tell me about this warrant you’re seeking today.”
I gave him the complete history of how I’d met Dana and how she’d become a CI. I described to him what she’d told me so far of her company’s tactics and what she and Barry Degner had heard Merra order. I then handed him the reports they had provided me, which described the recent contract to issue bodily harm to Brian.
Judge Jezek took a few minutes to read the two reports. When he finished, he removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes while formulating his response. He didn’t look particularly pleased.
“So let me get this straight. This leg-breaker fellow, Barry Degner, had a sudden attack of conscience and decided not to do what he was being paid to do after all but instead rat on Merra?”
“As far as I know, he wasn’t really a leg-breaker as you put it, but someone my CI thought could play the part after Merra showed an interest in this sort of thing. When Merra confided in her that he wanted to step things up, she got the idea to use Barry as a witness to his scheme.”
This was a slight rearranging of the order of things, but I hoped the judge wouldn’t pursue it any further.
“I must say, this is very thin grounds on which to issue a wiretap warrant. It doesn’t sound like Newman-Price has engaged in similar violent activities in the past.”
“You’re correct, Judge. To Merra’s knowledge, they have not, but they recently had their top two drugs taken off the market by the FDA for problems, and now their third-leading seller is being threatened. The company is getting desperate and is facing bankruptcy if Glyptophan proves to be as successful as it appears to be so far. They have waged smear campaigns against competitors’ products in the past the way they are now doing against Glyptophan. I think it’s just a matter of time until they step up their game, as the reports indicate.”
“Well, I still think we may be on shaky ground here, but the threat seems real, so I’m inclined to be lenient in this case and grant you the warrant—for 30 days. If there’s been no further evidence of wrongdoing or at least an impending threat of wrongdoing in that time, I won’t be extending it.”
“Fair enough, Judge. I appreciate it.”
“In all candor, if this weren’t your brother who made this drug, would you have come to me with this request?”
“To be perfectly honest, maybe not. I feel the threat is real because the company is getting desperate, but at the same time, I know the amount of evidence is marginal, and I hesitated even coming to you with it.”
“Well, I hope this amounts to nothing, and that I won’t need to renew the warrant in 30 days.”
“Me too, Judge. Thanks for your time.”
Since I was in Philly, I met Dana for lunch and told her the news. “We have to act fast now because we have only 30 days to gain evidence of another threat. Do you happen to know Merra’s mobile phone number and the type of phone it is: iPhone or Android? For clandestine communications, he’ll most likely use his mobile phone rather than his office phone, which logs all his calls.”
She knew this information and gave it to me.
“Okay, I want you to create a text message for him. It can be anything you might normally text him about. Send it to me first, and I’ll manipulate it and send it on to him, but it will look like it came directly from you. When he opens it, spyware will automatically install on his phone. This will enable us to listen in on his phone calls and read his texts for the next 30 days. If we hear anything of an impending crime or a crime is committed within that time, we’ll most likely be able to renew the warrant. I’ll also let you know what we’ve heard. Let’s just hope we only hear about it and can prevent it from actually happening.”
“Got it.”
“Dana, I wasn’t so sure the judge would agree to it, but this is one case where maybe the ends will justify the means. Let’s hope it pays off now, but in a way that we can prevent any actual violence.”
Back home tonight, I called Brian to give him an update on everything and to find out the state of his work with Abby and Patty.
“Hey, Little Brother. What’s the good word?”
“Hey, Big Sis. The good word is that we are practically done. Abby has already made her plane reservation for a flight home on January 2. I feel confident we’ve got the right formula, and I’ll prepare all the documentation for the production of it in the next couple of days. I’ll have it to you on January 2. You already have the materials list, and there are no further additions to it. I trust they’ve been ordered and are on the way?”
“Yep. Do you know when Abby’s flight is on the 2nd?”
“11:00 AM.”
“Then I’ll come by your house at 8:30 to thank the team before it disperses for the final time, and I’ll plan on driving her to the airport. Y’all have done a phenomenal job in a very short time, and I just wanted to personally thank you.”
“That sounds great, Fran. Why don’t you come at 8:00 instead and have some breakfast with us. Jules is planning a special breakfast for the occasion.”
“Sounds good. I’ll be there. Listen, Brian, I have some updates for you on that other thing Dana is doing for us. I haven’t wanted to trouble you with it since you’ve been so busy on the Dipraxa project, but you’re going to have to get a handle on this before Glyptophan’s reputation is ruined before it even gets started.”
I told him about the smear article that was published early in Mayalosoma and the social media backlash against Glyptophan. I advised him to work on a rebuttal and attempt to set the record straight.
I then told him about Dana’s initiative to get a wiretap on Merra’s phone and that just today the judge signed off on it. He was relieved to hear that, but in a moment of sober reflection, he surprised me with a question.
“What do you honestly think the chances are that they will come after me or my family with actual physical violence as opposed to just threats of it?”
“That’s hard to say. I think the threat is real, but I couldn’t hazard a guess as to the actual probability. I think it will just start with harassment and verbal threats, but at some point, if you don’t respond to their demands, there is some chance that it will escalate into action. But that’s the whole point of bugging Merra’s phone: to be able to know what it is and when it’s coming, so that we can prepare for it and prevent it. As you know, though, nothing is 100% guaranteed. Do you still own a firearm, and do you continue to practice with it?”
“Yes and no. I haven’t practiced with it in some time.”
“Well, you may want to start again. I’m serious about that, Brian.”
“I know you are. Message received. Look, Fran, I really appreciate what you and Dana are doing now. I always knew there would be resistance to the drug, but I never really thought that seriously that it might get violent. Perhaps I’ve been naïve about Big Pharma. They claim to be in the business of helping people, but it seems like the fact that this drug has the potential of helping millions of people doesn’t enter into their thinking because they didn’t make it. Instead, they want to destroy it because it threatens their bottom line. What a bunch of damn hypocrites.”
“I’d have to agree with you there.”
“They’re not all like that, though. Detry Pharmaceutical, where I used to work and who has purchased the license to produce Glyptophan, isn’t, but it seems like many of the larger companies are. And they’re the ones always in cahoots with the government, currying favor with them.”
“Right again. Well, on that cheery note, I’ll bid you goodbye. Try to forget all that and have a Happy New Year, and I’ll see you the morning of the 2nd.”
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.
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.
Barry Degner (aka Tony Faiella): Dana's friend who will act the part of a leg-breaker to attack Brian.
Judge Raymond Jezek: The district court judge in Philadelphia who grants Fran a wiretap warrant against Leonard Merra.
Picture courtesy of Playground-v3
You need to login or register to write reviews. It's quick! We only ask four questions to new members.
© Copyright 2025. Jim Wile All rights reserved.
Jim Wile has granted FanStory.com, its affiliates and its syndicates non-exclusive rights to display this work.
