The taxi stopped under the entrance canopy at the laboratory and Carla got out. It was then she realized the car across the road from the Rabinowitz bungalow, had followed her here.
As she paid the taxi driver, a smartly dressed man in his mid-30s, got out of the passenger side of his car and strode purposefully towards Carla. He held out his ID credentials. “Miss Walters, please come with me.” It was not a polite request. It had the formal tone of an arresting police detective. Carla glanced at the ID and did not recognize it as belonging to any law enforcement or government department she had ever heard of. ‘Pharmaceuticals Security Agency, Special Agent Mark Goodwood’, it read and the photo alongside identified the man as Goodwood.
Somewhat intrigued, Carla presented an intimidated demeanor and spluttered, “What do you want with me? What’s this all about? Will it take long because I’ll be late for work?”
The man said nothing, but held open the rear door of his car, ushering her into the back seat. With a brief squeal of the tires, the car pulled smartly away, into the traffic.
Carla tried again to get answers, but Mark Goodwood stated that it would be explained at his office down town, only a short distance away. He remained stern and fixed his gaze ahead.
Ten minutes later, the car pulled into a narrow alley and stopped. Mark Goodwood and the driver got out. As Goodwood disappeared into the side entrance of an adjacent building, the driver opened the rear car door, directing Carla to follow.
This was the side entrance to a rabbit warren of small offices. Carla had no idea what she was getting into, or who these people really were.
Goodwood opened the door to his office, according to the cheap wooden sign, and offered Carla a chair. He sat opposite her, at his desk and the driver waited outside the closed door.
He leaned forward, into her face, to intimidate.
“Miss Walters, you have been making unauthorized copies of computer data, by taking screen shots of your computer screen. I want to know who you have been passing the data on to.” He fixed her with an unflinching stare, searching for the slightest flicker of an eye, or facial tell.
Even Carla was stunned at the presentation of this blunt accusation. Usually the interrogator starts with a few formal pleasantries and introduction, hinting that they know everything and want it confirmed by the interviewee, for the record. She looked downwards, to the left. A dead giveaway that she was guilty.
In that split second, Carla had analyzed the facts and scenarios available to her and prepared to respond for the best effect.
Although Dean was the obvious suspect for reporting her, any of the other laboratory workers might have seen what she was doing. Dean had no good reason for reporting her, because of his dyslexia. He needed the prints in order to keep his job.
The Pharma Inc. security team were well equipped to deal with her illegal activities, so why weren’t they dealing with this matter?
Could he be from a competitor company aware of the drug, and testing her to see if she could be turned, to work for them? If, as Sam anticipated, the competing pharmacological companies were becoming aware of the wonder drug, she needed to feed them the false data.
If this was a genuine security firm employed by Pharma, perhaps they just wanted to keep the matter quiet.
Perhaps Pharma were crooked. It had crossed Carla’s mind that they could pass on the secrets to another start-up company under their control, and deny the leak had come from them. If that was the case, they would not want Carla selling the secrets to a competitor.
Perhaps Bernard Long had been selling secrets and that is why he found himself dead, under a bus.
Carla was not unduly concerned that they might kill her as she did not class this situation as life threatening. Her palm, rammed up Goodwood’s nose, driving the broken bone up into his brain, would silently kill him - so he was not a threat.
Sam would be upset though, because the mission would have failed. He wanted all the competitors to believe the drug was a dead dodo.
It would not have taken long for the start-up to do their own testing and find it was every bit as good as they suspected.
This would be her only failed mission. That must not happen. Carla tasked her subconscious to manipulate this negative into a positive.
Goodwood knew about the screen device, but he apparently had no knowledge of what she was doing with the data. She had done nothing with the data of course, but anyone watching her would think they had somehow missed the handover. This she could exploit to her advantage.
Whoever was behind Goodwood would want the trail of data exposed and the matter hushed up. If it was Pharma or start-up, or even a different bunch of crooks, they would not want competitors to have proof of such a wonder drug. Not at this stage, anyway. Carla felt this was the way forward, a win-win solution.
There was no possibility that she could get answers from this man, to explain his role in all this. Asking pertinent questions would alert him because she was not what she appeared. She could find that out later. Better she continue with the submissive bimbo persona.
She raised her tear filled blue eyes to meet his glare, her face reddened and strained, as the look of abject misery at her predicament took hold. Even the hard hearted Mark Goodwood flinched perceptibly.
“If I could tell you, I would,” she blubbed. “I stick the chip to the underside of a park bench and walk away. I am paid $1000 in cash each time, left in an envelope with a new chip, in the mailbox, next morning.
“I had this phone call from a woman, about 3 weeks after I started working at the laboratory. I was desperate for the money and could see no one being hurt by it, so agreed to do what she asked. The woman said the device I needed would be in my waste paper bin, the next day, wrapped in paper. She told me how to use it and to put the device back each time. So it wouldn’t show up in a scan, she told me to smuggle the chip out, past the security team, by covering it in tape and putting it in my mouth, at the back.
“I am so sorry - please let me go, I promise I will never do it again. I really needed the money, and I couldn’t see the harm, no one was getting hurt.”
Mark Goodwood could see the girl was close to breaking down, and it did not suit his purpose for that to happen.
“Ok, Miss Walters, but I am more interested in the people who have the data. Say nothing to anyone about this meeting and continue to deliver as before, so we can see who takes the chip. We will take no action against you, this time.”
Carla’s face lit up with relief, genuine enough, under the circumstances and mopped her tears with a tissue she pulled from her sleeve.
“Will I get paid by you as well?” She enquired innocently.
Goodwood gawped for a moment - the utter naivety of the girl defied belief. He decided she would be more cooperative with money as an incentive so agreed to the same fee of $1000 per drop.
“We will take you to work now, but be warned, we will be watching your every move. Break our deal in any way, and you will regret it.”
Mark Goodwood had spoken to her as a parent would a naughty child. Carla laughed inwardly. “He thinks he is playing me, but I’ve just played him. Cocky bastard!”
One thing was clear, they wanted this kept quiet and believed she had passed on the data like she had said. Her next problem was to get someone to pick up the data from the park bench. She needed to get Sam on the case. For the deception to work, Goodwood and his crowd needed to believe there were others out there, after the data.
Goodwood’s driver took Carla to work. Traffic was much busier now and it took 20 minutes to get to the laboratory. The pressure from management to keep ahead of the testing was palpable. Everyone was hard at work in the laboratory when she walked in. Management were not happy with the sudden drop in good results - something was wrong. Protocols, chemicals and reagents were being checked, in case of sabotage and security was noticeably tighter.
Goodwood phoned Jane Foreman from his office. She was outside the laboratory, waiting to hear the result of his meeting with Carla. He explained the girl would continue to pass on the data, because she was able too, but Jane must watch Carla’s every move.
”Let me know if she communicates with anyone else. If she steps out of line she would end up like Bernard Long.”
A chill ran through Jane as she realized how vulnerable she had become. If Carla could steal the data, Goodwood had no real need for her.
During the morning, Carla asked security if she could make a brief personal phone call as she was concerned about her mother’s health. They put her in a side office and watched her through the glass wall. Carla was in no doubt the call was being monitored.
The phone rang and was answered by an older woman, her voice weak and infirm. As part of Carla’s cover, a woman had been briefed to respond appropriately should she get a phone call.
“Hi mum, I was worried about you. You didn’t let me know how you got on with your new specialist. I hope he is taking immediate action and trying to get to the bottom of the tests?”
“I believe he is concerned about the latest results. He said he was getting another opinion later today. I will phone you at home tonight after work, and let you know what he says.” The woman replied informatively.
“I will leave work at 6.00pm. I have an errand to run, so will be home for about 7.00pm, hear from you then. Love you mum, fingers crossed it will be good news.”
Carla put the phone down and went back to work.