Blood Money (19 page)

“How is that shoulder of yours coming along, by the way?”

“It hurts quite a lot. I think that they are going to have to operate on it soon. There are a lot of shattered bones in there. I can feel the pieces pressing on muscle and nerves. The doctor says that it will take up to six months before I'll be completely healed. They hope to operate within a month or so.”

“I feel so bad for you. I really hate that you have to go through all this.”

“You're so sweet, Mark. Don't feel bad for me. Remember, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.”

“Somehow, I don't find that very comforting. Well, I think I need to be going now. I have to get back to Centerville to hire an assistant. The middle of next month I have to go to Quantico for training. I'll sure be glad when that is out of the way. I hate being away from you for so long a period.”

“You go and do what you have to. I'm in good hands here. Most of the time while you're gone I'll be here resting and recuperating. Mark, before you go, I need to ask you a question.” Her face turned crimson. “It's sort of personal. I can't think of anyone else I could ask.”

He moved closer to the bed. “What is it, Susan?”

“Mark, did I pee my pants back there? You know, while I was in the warehouse?”

He knew where she was coming from. It was embarrassing when your bladder gave out under duress. It's very natural, it even happens to the most macho of men. “No, Susan, you didn't.” He told a little white lie. To his way of thinking, she was going through enough. She sure didn't need to have something like that on her mind.

“Thank God,” she said. “That would be so embarrassing.”

“I know what you mean.” He leaned down and kissed her softly on the lips. “You take care of yourself, Irish. Do everything the doctors tell you to do. They know what's best for you. I'll call you when I get to Centerville.”

Mark turned and left the room. It looked like the road to recovery would be a long one for her, but they now had a lifetime together to look forward to.

CHAPTER 29

It was time for Peter Thurston to unveil his plans to Dr. Cartwright. The Dayton Daily News had a story about the federal government raids on the NRBA. He was certain that Dr. Cartwright would be anxious to know how his operations team fit in. A day had already passed.

“Dr. Cartwright is here to see you,” Mrs. Barth announced. She escorted the Doctor into the room.

“Please come in, Doctor. Have a seat. Today, your patience will be rewarded. I got a call this morning from a friend in Washington. I'm sure that you have been following the news about the NRBA. It looks like you were right on the money with your concern about their financial dealings. They have been implicated in some serious money laundering that funneled large sums of money to terrorist sympathizers abroad. For all intents and purposes, what was the National Rare Blood Association has ceased to exist. The Board of Governors have been stripped of all their power.”

Now that he had laid the foundation, he was ready to break the good news. “Now for the good part. Doctor, under an executive order released earlier today by the White House, Thurston Electronics, acting under the name Lifeflow Laboratories, has been chosen to become the administrators of the National Rare Blood Association, effective at noon today. National headquarters will be moved to Dayton, and all thirteen laboratories will report directly to you as the National Director. That, too, is effective at noon today. The White House is anticipating only a minimal lapse in service to result from the turnover. Your work of the past several months should assure that. Congratulations!”

Dr. G. Mason Cartwright was speechless. He had assumed that the problems of the NRBA would result in significant changes, but by no stretch of his imagination did he think that his team would take over the entire operations. “What can I say? I'm dumbfounded. This is such great news.”

Thurston smiled. “Doctor, this is the chance of a lifetime for you. I can't think of anyone more qualified and deserving than you to carry on such an important undertaking. You know the operation better than anyone. I'll trust you to determine which people will stay and which need to go. You will have carte blanche to make whatever decisions are necessary to make a smooth conversion over to Lifeflow Laboratories. I've instructed all of my department heads to work closely with you. If you run into any roadblocks at all, come directly to me.

“The President is very concerned that the trust that people have in the blood bank system might be compromised by all the negative publicity. He wants it restored quickly, and he is counting on you to make that happen.”

“Thanks for your confidence in me, sir.”

“No thanks are necessary. This is the result of your own hard work and unwavering dedication,” he assured the doctor. “All members of the Board of Governors of the NRBA have resigned. Some have become fugitives. Their last official act was to issue orders to their thirteen laboratories to cooperate with the turnover of authority to Lifeflow. You need to keep the transition from having a deleterious effect on either the collection or distribution of the blood. I'm sure, in an emergency such as this, even non-participating blood banks will help with any supply shortages. Mention the White House if you have to. Who knows, maybe the change will even bring more blood banks aboard. I'm sure the NRBA made a lot of enemies over the years.” He reflected for a second. “Well, look at me telling you how to do your job.”

“That's no problem, sir. Your advice will always be appreciated. Again, I want to thank you for your faith in me. You will not regret it. My crew is ready, and I do know who the good guys are at the NRBA. Lifeflow Laboratories will make you proud. You have my word on it.”

Thurston thought he detected a tear or two welling up in the Doctor's eyes. Tears of joy? Tears of pride? It was probably both. “I'm certain that it will, Doctor. You've been preparing for this day for a long time. Even I didn't envision things turning out so well. Now it's time for you to ‘bring-it-on-in', as they say. Touch base with legal, accounting and customer service. They are all standing by, ready to support you with whatever help you need.” Thurston got up and walked around the desk. As the Doctor rose, Thurston put his hand on his shoulder. “Good luck, my friend,” he said as he shook the Doctor's hand. Then he walked him to the door.

This was the first time that Dr. Cartwright had not been summarily dismissed by Thurston. He just turned and walked out the door. He was at a loss for words. Thurston had even called him “my friend.”

As he walked alone toward the elevator, he could still feel Thurston's hand on his shoulder. He stopped to go to the restroom. As he prepared to leave, he hesitated for a minute to straighten his tie. As he looked at his image in the mirror, tears welled up in his eyes. “Daddy,” he said softly, “The President of the United States thinks that Doctor G. Mason Cartwright is a ‘big shot.' What do you think of that?” He removed a handkerchief from his back pocket, dried his tears and left the room.

CHAPTER 30

Special Agents Turner and Eaton walked up to the desk at Peabody's Gym in Denver. They flashed their shields and ID's. “How can I help you?” the attendant asked.

Turner showed him a photo. “We're looking for this man. We understand that he works out here a lot.”

“The Monster? Yeah, he's a regular. He hasn't been in for about a week, though. His name is Mel Tarkington. He works over at that blood bank company that's been in the news recently. What's he done?”

“Nothing. We just want to talk with him.” Do you mind if we walk around and talk with a few of your customers?”

“Knock yourselves out, gents.”

Ten minutes later, the agents were ready to leave. Eaton handed his card to the attendant. “If you should see him or hear anything, we would appreciate it if you would give us a call.”

“Sure thing, glad to help.” As the agents left, the attendant tore the card in half and tossed it into the wastebasket. Peabody's gym was Tarkington country.

CHAPTER 31

When Mark left Susan's room, he headed for the airport to return to Centerville. Dennis had arranged for a commuter flight to the Dayton International Airport. From there, he took a cab to his house. Bruce Crandall had agreed to meet him at the office after lunch. It was Brenda's day for billing, so he planned to speak with her before he met Bruce. She was busy at work when he arrived. “Brenda, it's been a while. Somehow, we keep managing to miss each other. How have you been?”

“Hello, Mister Matthews. I've been just fine. It looks like you were away for a while. I don't think I've heard from you at all in the past two weeks.”

“Actually, I was just taking some much needed R & R. All this travel takes its toll. May I interrupt you for a few minutes? I want to run something by you.”

“Certainly, I was just getting ready to run the billing cycle. Let me sign off and I'll be ready.”

A few minutes later, she came into his office. After she was seated, he closed the door and sat down at the desk. “Brenda, I've been thinking for some time about adding an associate. Someone who can help me grow the business and be here when I need to be out of town. That seems to be a lot lately. I'm taking on some new clients, and they will require me to do a lot of traveling. Sometimes I'll be overseas for a time.” He stopped for a minute to gather his thoughts. “I'm also planning on moving our office to that large suite two doors down. It's been vacant for a while. It has an extra office, and it would be roomier for you, too.” He looked up to see if she knew where the conversation was leading. Apparently she did. “The bottom line is that I'm going to need a full time secretary, and I'm offering the job to you. There will be a big raise in it for you, and it will be a full time with benefits. You won't have to work those extra jobs any more. What do you think? Are you interested?”

“I'd have to be crazy not to be. Thank you, Mister Matthews. For a moment there, I thought you were going to let me go. It's so kind of you to give me the opportunity. Yes, of course I will take it.”

“You will even have your own computer. No more sharing.”

“That sounds really great. When does it start?”

“I have an interview in an hour with a candidate for the Office Manager position. I will be counting on you to help break him in. So that means I want to start this next Monday, if that's okay with you. If you need me to, I'll speak to the other companies you do work for.”

“That won't be necessary, Mr. Matthews. I know that they will all be happy for me. Sometimes I think that they create extra work just to help me out. They're a great bunch of people. I'll make sure that they all are covered.”

“Good. Then be ready to start next week. I've already got work orders in for moving our furniture and equipment, so it might be hectic around here for a while.”

“That won't bother me a bit. I'm looking forward to it.”

His next job was to hire an Office Manager to lighten the workload. The man he had in mind was a good friend of his father. He had met him a few times; just casually. When his father died, they had a long conversation after the funeral. Bruce was fascinated with PI work.

Bruce Crandall was a large man; a recently retired Dayton Police lieutenant. Although he never had any military experience, he had the bearing of a kick-ass marine; a man you didn't mess with. A lifetime of weight lifting was evident in his well-muscled frame. He had a full head of thick grey hair coifed as a crew cut. He carried himself with a stiff upright posture. He had a large nose, and his ears were too small and very close to his head. He spoke with an accent that was noticeably Midwestern. He showed up right on time.

“Mark, it's so good to see you again. I haven't seen you around town lately. What have you been doing with yourself?”

“I've been traveling a lot. That's why we need to talk.”

Bruce was fifty-eight and married for over thirty years. His wife Angelina had been a very successful real estate agent in town when he met her. It was love at first sight. They married six months later. Bruce joined the Dayton Police Force at the age of twenty-one after having worked construction for three years after he graduated from Centerville High School. He played center for their football team. Even though he was named “All State Center” for three consecutive years, he was not good enough to earn a football scholarship, and his parents didn't have the money for college. He worked construction jobs instead. A year after he and Angelina were married, they were blessed with a son. They named him Shawn. Angelina left her real estate career and he joined the force. Now with Shawn off to Ohio State, she had returned to work part time.

Bruce took advantage of an opportunity to retire from the force with full benefits. After thirty-five years he now found himself with time on his hands and a yearning to do something meaningful with the rest of his life.

Mark's call came at just the right time for him.

“Do you remember that you and I talked a few times about my business? As I recall, you said that you found private investigating interesting.”

“Yes, I remember saying that, and I still do.”

“Well, like I said before, I'm traveling a lot more because of new clients and I need someone who can conduct investigations and keep an eye on the office. I'm ready to move to a larger suite. It has two large offices and a reception area. Brenda, my part time secretary, has agreed to work full time. What I am planning to do is expand the practice. I think you would make a perfect addition to the company. I'm certain that with your police background you would have no trouble getting your PI License.”

Mark stopped for a minute to catch up with his thoughts. “I seem to be rambling quite a bit, Bruce. What I'm getting at is that I'm going to need an office manager who can also help with the PI workload. I think you would fit in nicely. What do you think?”

“Well, Mark, from what I can tell so far, I'm very interested. It sounds perfect for me. Of course, I would need to brush up on my computer skills, and I would have to learn exactly what a PI does. I'm sure it's different than what I see on television. But, yeah, I would be very interested in hearing more.”

“I was hoping you would say that. Look, it won't be very different from the case work you had on the force. Only, of course, with us the client is the boss, instead of the city. Let me go over the kind of work we do here. First, let me assure you that the image of a PI that you have probably formed over years, the one of Sam Spade or Mike Hammer, just doesn't fit with the real thing. Sure there are some PI's that specialize in surveillance, divorce and criminal cases, but we generally don't get involved in those kinds of cases. We don't have any dead bodies to deal with, or wear wires or even carry a gun, for that matter. I have one, but I've never had to use it. If you're expecting that kind of glitz and glamour, this would be the wrong job for you.”

“Believe me, Mark, I had enough of that kind of crap while I was on the force. I am not looking for any more of it. That's why I retired when I had the chance. How about telling me what the job really entails.”

“Okay, then. The mainstay of my business is doing background searches. Many of my clients are small businesses that don't have personnel departments to do the checks for them. Even large corporations quite often prefer an outside agency to do their checks for them. When I started, I offered them my services free of charge to demonstrate that I could do the checks better than they could. I picked up close to a dozen paying clients within the first month. Most of the work now is checking references and doing background checks for mid-to-large sized corporations. Another area that I'm heavily involved in is data search. That involves finding out information that the client cannot or prefers not to pursue on their own. Most of these clients are attorneys that are searching for witnesses or evidence that will corroborate or dispute testimony. I substitute what used to be known as “dumpster diving” with massive searches of databases. Thanks to my four years with the government in Washington, I can find out just about anything that is in the public realm, and often even gain access to computer systems that are not.” Mark hesitated for a minute to give Bruce a chance to catch up on the notes he was taking.

“Are you still interested, after all that?”

“You bet I am. The more you tell me, the more fascinating it gets.”

“Well then, let me tell you the rest. I don't, as a rule, work with a contract unless the client insists. That happens mostly with corporations. A handshake closes most deals. Brenda uses interview notes to set up the files we need in Quick Books. Then, she relies on activity and expense reports to take care of billing.” Mark let him finish his notes before wrapping it up. “Bruce, I am very confident that you will have no difficulty catching on. Now, as for compensation. I can pay you fifty thousand a year to start. There will be no medical. I will only withhold for Centerville, State and Federal taxes, and for Social Security. How does that sound to you?”

Bruce hadn't expected so much. He mentally added Mark's offer to his police pension. He would be making more that he had ever made in his life. He already had medical benefits for life with his retirement package, so he didn't need any of those. This was the opportunity of a lifetime.

“It sounds great, Mark, when do you need me?”

“Well, I was hoping that you would start on Monday. That would give us a good head start before we have to move.”

“What time?”

“Tell you what, why not have breakfast with me Monday at Denny's? Say about eight.”

“I'll be here. Thanks, Mark, you won't regret it.”

“I know I won't, Bruce. It feels right to me. I know that you'll do a great job.”

As soon as Bruce left his office, Mark called Dennis to let him know that he had accepted the job offer.