Page 25 of Justice Denied

The nurse appeared satisfied with her performance because he patted her shoulder. “You’ll feel better soon.” Then he walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Quickly, Emily spat out the pills into the empty water cup before using some water to swish out her mouth. She removed the lid to spit the water back into the plastic mug. Then she mashed down the call button over and over again until her door burst open.

“Ms. Ainsley, are you okay?” The usual nighttime nurse rushed to the table, a paper cup in her hand.

Emily burst into tears. “I think he tried to kill me.”

“What?” The nurse—Merena, Emily recalled from other nights—flipped on the overhead light, flooding the room with brightness.

“Someone came in dressed like a nurse and gave me those pills.” She pointed to the paper cup on the bedside table. “But they didn’t look like the ones I usually take, so I pretended to swallow them and spit them out when he left.”

“Let’s take a look.” Merena dumped the contents onto the table. Three purple capsules rolled a few times on the surface.

The nurse frowned. “These are not on your pill list. I’m not sure what’s in them.” She handed Emily a pill cup. “These are your extra strength Tylenol the doctor prescribed for your pain.”

“Would you please get me some fresh water?”

As the nurse complied with her request, Emily verified the pills were indeed Tylenol. She then took the Tylenol to ease the discomfort. “What about the other ones? And the male nurse who tried to give them to me?”

Merena scooped the purple pills back into the cup. “I’ll take these to our lab and see what’s inside them, then stop by security to mention the nurse. Can you describe him?”

Emily gave as many details as she could about the man, which was precious little given the room’s darkness and his face mask. Merena left with assurances they would be extra vigilant the rest of the night with plenty of extra checks on Emily. Emily wanted to press for more, but without knowing the contents of the purple pills, it wasn’t clear what the man’s intention had been. Emily had no doubt the pills would contain something designed to kill her. Why else would someone sneak into her room to give her the pills?

Then she remembered Jetta and the papers someone sent Jay. Would her daughter be in danger now too? First thing tomorrow, Emily would contact the detective who had come to arrest Jay. The woman had seemed to care, even coming to Jay’s funeral—something not even many of their so-called friends had done in the aftermath of the embezzlement accusations. Maybe seeing the papers and whatever the lab found out about the purple pills would be enough to propel Detective Washington to open a new case to find the real embezzler—or at least look into her nighttime visitor. And she would warn Jetta to be very careful.

As sleep finally reached out to embrace Emily, one question circled round and round like the Johnny Cash album her husband played on their stereo system. In trying to clear her husband’s name, had she brought evil into her life?

* * *

Ryan Topher adjustedhis red power tie, the silk bringing to mind a slash of blood against the stark white dress shirt. He shrugged into the custom-made navy-blue suit jacket and buttoned the top button. The full-length mirror in his executive suite bathroom showed a man in his prime, ready to take on the world. He’d need that persona if he were to convince the board and their largest shareholders to reject Maxwell Technology’s hostile takeover bid.

His desk phone buzzed, and he punched the speaker button. “Yes?”

“Mr. Topher, Dr. Willis and Dr. James are here,” Mae informed him.

“Send them in.” He sank into the high-backed leather office chair, letting his gaze roam around the well-appointed space. From his antique banker’s desk polished every evening to a high shine to the Persian carpet overlaid on the more serviceable wall-to-wall carpet to the small paintings and objects d’art placed strategically to show off his impeccable taste, Ryan prided himself on his excellent taste. He hadn’t spent the last twenty years acquiring the trappings of wealth to lose it in a hostile takeover.

The man and woman who entered wore white lab coats, attesting to the fact he’d pulled them from their work in the company’s research wing. Dr. Jana Willis strode to his desk, stopping inches from it. “What do you want?”

Her clipped tone indicated his summons had better be for an excellent reason, or she’d carve him up for lunch. He hid his amusement at her directness, which he put up with because she was one of the nation’s brightest robotics engineers. “Dr. Willis, I need an update on the project.” No need to designate which project—there was only one that interested all three of them.

She removed her glasses, polishing them with the hem of the lab coat. “As I told you last week, we are very close to a workable prototype.” Replacing the glasses, she glared through their thick lenses. “This is not something to be rushed.”

Dr. Brian James added, “There has been progress over the past week. We’ve isolated the problem that caused the malfunction of the previous prototype and are now testing solutions to fix it.”

Ryan regarded them steadily, his mind whirring with how to spin this to convince the board and shareholders to not accept the takeover bid. “What’s the new timeline?”

The doctors exchanged glances, then Dr. Willis shrugged. “Perhaps another six months.”

Ryan slammed his fist down on the desk, and the two scientists flinched. “We don’t have that long. Do you not understand what might happen in forty-five minutes? The shareholders of Topher Robotics with the full backing of the majority of the board are likely to vote to accept Maxwell Technology’s takeover bid. You know what Maxwell Technology does to tech companies like ours? They strip it of all saleable assets, then leave it a hollow shell of its former self.”

When neither scientist spoke, he added, “They will take your work—all of your hard work—and shove you out the door without so much as an acknowledgement of your contributions to the project.”

Dr. James’s face lost its color, but he lifted his chin. “Then I think it’s best if you allow us to get back to work.”

Ryan considered the man’s request, then waved them off. “Keep me informed—and only me.”

He’d hoped to have more ammunition to tease the shareholders with visions of tech glory—and riches from the AI-powered wearable technology. He suspected several shareholders were behind the takeover bid, and he had to keep the exact nature of the project a secret, or Maxwell Technology would press harder. Ryan discarded several scenarios before coming up with a plausible story, one that should ignite interest and hold the wolves at bay for a few more weeks. With any luck, it would quash the takeover bid entirely, although he’d be satisfied with a stay of execution. Anything to stop a close look at the company’s books.

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