Terminated (16 page)

The QA manager is dead, long live the new QA manager
, he thought.

Management kept everyone in suspense
until the afternoon. Tarbell had noticed that all the managers had convened during lunch, where they were no doubt read the party line for mass consumption. As his department was called into a conference room, he noticed other managers calling their staff together and finding a sequestered spot to share the news.

This was it. The moment of truth.

He took his seat at the table. He wasn’t presumptuous enough to take a seat at the head of the table. They hadn’t made him Gwen’s successor yet. It was a natural selection under the circumstances and one that should have been made six months ago. Gwen would be still employed if they had. Well, it was their loss, not his.

Besides himself, Lauren, and David—all that remained of Gwen’s tarnished staff—Deborah from HR and Josh Hanson, the director of Regulatory Affairs, were in attendance. Greg Spencer, the vice president of Quality, presided over the meeting like a judge handing down a sentence.

“There’s no point in pretending something serious didn’t occur this morning,” Spencer said. “It is with deep regret that I have to announce that Gwen Farris was terminated from Pace Pharmaceuticals for gross misconduct.”

Lauren and David looked at each other, then at Tarbell for an explanation. He looked suitably shocked and shrugged in ignorance.

“That’s crazy,” David said. Tarbell always suspected he had a thing for Gwen.

Spencer nodded. “Sadly, it’s true.”

“What did she do?” Lauren asked.

Tarbell sat back. He wouldn’t rush forward with a slew of questions. He’d only draw attention to himself. It was better if his two colleagues led the questions and he tossed in
his own comments when it was suitable.

“For legal reasons, I can’t reveal the nature of the misconduct, but rest assured there is no doubt over what she did. We were left with few options.”

“I can’t believe it,” Lauren said.

“None of us can,” Hanson said.

“This now brings up the matter of the department,” Spencer said.

Tarbell straightened up in his seat. This was his big moment. This was where the planets realigned themselves and he assumed his rightful position in charge.

“It goes without saying, you three are more than competent to run day-to-day operations without supervision.”

Flattery will get you everywhere, Tarbell thought.

“But someone is needed to make decisions that steer the department in the right direction.”

Lauren and David both looked at Tarbell. Even they knew who should be running the department.

“That’s why Josh will take over the department until a replacement is found for Gwen. He will make a great interim boss. Josh?”

Hanson took his cue to speak. “Like Greg said, I’ll just be guiding the department. You’ll be running it. I’ll be coming by after the meeting to get a handle on what’s going on in your areas.”

Hanson’s speech turned into white noise as the betrayal sunk in. They’d screwed him over again. No doubt Gwen had something to do with that. When she went down, she must have dragged him down with her. He could picture her grandstanding as they handed her a pink slip.

Bitch
, he thought, the word spilling acid through his thoughts. Under the table, out of sight, his hands bit into his thighs. His fingernails cut deep into his flesh, but he felt no pain. His pain was mental. He’d been screwed over by these
idiots and Gwen again.

“Hopefully we can put the past behind us and move forward,” Hanson said with a dumb-ass smile plastered over his face.

Not yet we can’t
, Tarbell thought.

P
etersen was getting ready to pretend to
tail Tarbell again when the call came from Ingram. His normal routine consisted of driving over to Pace for the shift change with Reggie Glover. Once Glover left, he checked in with Tarbell to see if he needed him to watch his back. Each of these calls burned in his gut. If Tarbell told him to get lost, he found a bar somewhere and nursed a couple of beers punctuated by Cokes, watching the TV until they kicked him out with the barflies. Then he hung out on a street corner waiting for his shift to end. There was no way he could face Lynette at home. She’d see through him in a second. He was a traitor to a life dedicated to law enforcement, but slowly, he was working to make things right. He was building his own case against this prick. He had yet to exonerate himself, but he could look himself in the mirror. It was only a matter of time before he caught Tarbell.

“It’s over, Tom.”

A twinge told him he knew what was over, but he played along. This was the day he’d been waiting for. “What’s over?”

“The Tarbell investigation. We caught Gwen Farris trying to smuggle company research to a competitor. She’s out.”

“What’s that got to do with Tarbell?”

“Nothing, really. I don’t really know if there was anything
to the original claim, but it could have been a ploy to set Tarbell up as a fall guy. I think she may have been on a timetable, and things went awry when we didn’t reel in Tarbell as quickly as she’d hoped.”

“Do you believe that?”

“It’s the prevailing theory. Either way, it doesn’t matter. Pace pulled the plug. Gwen is no longer on the payroll, and we’ve got nothing concrete on Tarbell, so it’s a job well done and back to the ranch for reassignment.”

Ingram’s tone was one of disappointment. Petersen knew him well enough to know he liked to finish his cases. The bad guys went to jail while the good guys and the oppressed rode off into the sunset. But Ingram wasn’t a cop anymore. The days of seeing a case through no longer applied. Jobs got investigated until the client stopped paying.

“I would have liked to have seen this one through,” Petersen said.

“Yeah, well, there’s always next time.”

“Not for me, Robert. I’m calling it a day.”

“Why?”

“I’m not a kid anymore. My ass has gone flat from years spent on stakeouts. This job, working graveyard, has broken my butt for good. The money’s nice, but I don’t need it. I’ve put in my years and I want to spend the rest with my family.”

“That’s a shame, Tom. I’d hate to lose you. Is there anything I can do to change your mind?”

Petersen hemmed and hawed. “I don’t think so.”

“How about I take you off the surveillance jobs and put you on background checks and witness interviews?”

“Maybe. Give me six months away and ask me again. I might be stir-crazy by then and ready to bite your arm off to do anything.” He finished the line off with a laugh.

“Will do and thanks. It’s been good working with
you, Tom. I’ll get your final check out to you.”

“Thanks.”

“And don’t be a stranger. Drop by now and again, and I’ll buy you lunch.”

“Will do, Robert. Take care.”

Petersen hung up and dropped the jovial facade. Tarbell had gotten what he wanted. He had hung Gwen out to dry, and now he was free to do what he wanted. After witnessing his little rant outside the house in Vallejo, Petersen knew Tarbell wasn’t the kind of guy to let this go. He’d keep hounding Gwen, and Petersen was counting on that. He wanted to be there when Tarbell did something that he couldn’t worm his way out of.

He drove over to the Home Depot where his brother-in-law worked and swapped the Audi for the Mazda again.

“More UC work?” he asked.

UC. Christ, the guy watches far too much TV
. “Yeah, I’m undercover again. Your part in the fight against crime has been noted.”

The guy was as pleased as punch to have the Audi again.

Petersen checked his watch on the way to the freeway. It was after four. Tarbell would still be at the office, no doubt gloating over his success.
Live it up while you can
, he thought,
it won’t last
. He called Tarbell’s cell.

“The surveillance is off. You’re in the clear.”

“I guessed as much.”

Tarbell didn’t sound too happy about it. Petersen was surprised. He’d expected the douche bag to be turning handsprings.

“So we’re all square now? You’ll leave me and my wife alone?”

“You’ve got nothing to fear from me,” his tone had hardened, “as long as you keep your word.”

“I’m out. I don’t work for PSI anymore. I’m retired.”

“Good,” Tarbell said and hung up.

Petersen joined the freeway and
pointed the Mazda toward Alameda. He hadn’t been able to protect Gwen while the investigation was ongoing, but now he could.

Gwen expected a fight when she dropped the bombshell that she’d lost her job, but she didn’t get one. All Paul said was, “It’s probably for the best.”

An air of defeat had fallen over Paul, which she understood. After the assault, the break-in, and Desmond Parker’s impending parole hearing, her wrongful dismissal seemed like the knockout punch. He hugged her and told her it would be OK. “These things have a way of sorting themselves out.”

Gwen hoped that was true, because she wasn’t seeing it yet. She did see one glimmer of light. She dug Judy Brent’s business card out of her purse and called her cell number. It was after five and she’d probably be caught up in the evening commute. As Gwen called, she went outside onto the patio and walked a circle around the wreckage of their personal belongings. Judy picked up.

“What is it, Gwen?”

The frosty tone was unmistakable. Tarbell had drawn another innocent victim into his war.

“I just wanted to say sorry about this mess.”

“You should be. What were you thinking, Gwen? I offered you a job. That was it. You didn’t have to steal the company jewels for it. It was yours.”

“Judy, it’s not what you think.”

“Do you know how much shit I’m in? The people here want to know what I was doing coercing you into a position. They want to know what other practices I’ve employed to bring people here. Christ, they’re looking at sacrificing me to appease the gods at Pace, and I’ve got you to thank for it.”

Gwen spotted her wedding photo among
the rubble. It was still in its frame, but the frame had been split, shattering the glass. It had gouged the image. A diagonal slash cut across Paul and her. She bet Tarbell loved breaking this. She couldn’t bear to look at it and turned the frame over.

“Judy, I didn’t tell you something at lunch the other day.”

“That you’d screw me over?”

“Just let me explain. Please.”

“What?”

“Parker isn’t the only problem in my life. One of the guys I work with assaulted me. He held a knife to my throat and threatened to cut me, then smashed up my home. I’m standing on my patio looking at the smashed remnants of half of our belongings. I’m betting he sent the e-mail to you, because I didn’t. You have my word. He wanted to discredit me, and it worked. Sadly, you got caught in the crossfire. For that, I’m truly sorry.”

Judy’s tone softened. “Why’s he doing this?”

“I don’t know. He’s not stable. I gave him a bad review and he snapped, and it hasn’t let up.”

Something resembling a disgusted laugh came down the line. “That’s it? Some guy’s pissed at a review and he’s taking your life apart?”

“That’s about the size of it.”

“That’s crazy.”

“I didn’t say it wasn’t.”

Gwen couldn’t bear to look at her broken belongings anymore. She went over to the garden bench and sat with her back to the rubble.

“I’m wondering if the offer is still open.”

“You’ve got to be joking, Gwen. You’re Typhoid Mary. No one here wants a piece of you. I’ll be lucky if I’m left with a job working reception here. No one is going to buy this persecution story. I’m not sure I do. No one trashes someone’s life over a bad review. What happened? What did you do to him to cause
this? Tell me. You owe me that much.”

Gwen should have expected this reaction and in some ways, did. “Judy, I didn’t do anything to this guy. I’m just in his way.”

“Well, none of that helps me, does it?”

“I’m sorry, Judy. Really, I am.”

“Look, I’ve got to go.”

“Sure. I’ll call you over the weekend. Maybe we can get together or something.”

Judy didn’t dignify Gwen with an answer and hung up.

Gwen didn’t know whether to scream, cry, or throw the phone as far away from her as possible. Soon she wouldn’t be able to afford to keep the damn thing anyway.

Paul poked his head out of the sliding door. “I’ve got dinner going. It’s not much. Salad. You want to come in?”

She nodded. They ate under an oppressive cloud of silence with no one up for conversation. Dinner progressed into an equally quiet period of watching mindless TV. Gwen put Kirsten to bed around eight, then sat with Paul on the sofa watching a movie. The comedy failed to bring them a laugh, and they went to bed when it finished at ten. They took to their sides of the bed. Paul fell asleep swiftly.

Gwen lay there wondering how she was going to piece her life together. There were other jobs, but it would be tough finding one now. Biotech was a small world. Word would get around about this mess. No one in the industry would touch her. With the black mark from Pace Pharmaceuticals, no one would notice the career highlights on her résumé. It meant starting from the bottom again. A sob crept up on her and it got out before she could stifle it.

On the bright side, there was no more Tarbell. He’d won. He didn’t deserve his victory, but his downfall awaited him. He’d trip himself up someday.

The crash of glass striking the floor followed
a sudden bang. She sat up with a jerk. Her body tingled with fear.

“What the fuck was that?” Paul said. He stared across at her in the dark. The glow from the alarm clock illuminated his silhouette.

“Mommy. Daddy,” Kirsten called.

Paul leaped from the bed. “Check on Kirsten.”

Gwen chased after him. She flung the door to Kirsten’s room open and flicked on the light. Her daughter was OK.

“Someone threw a damn rock through the window,” Paul called from the living room.

“Stay here. Don’t open the door to anyone,” Gwen told Kirsten and shut the door.

She ran into the living room. Paul had jerked the drapes back. A golf ball–sized stone sat on the hardwood floor, and the picture window had a fist-sized hole in it. The tempered glass had fragmented into ten thousand pieces but held its shape in the window frame. Diamond-sized shards fell from the ruined window in slow succession like chunks of melting ice.

Gwen ripped the front door open.

“Where the hell are you going?” Paul shouted after her.

She pounded down the pathway in her bare feet and stopped at the sidewalk. A car was driving slowly away to her right. She chased after it. The car sped up the instant Gwen broke into a run. Paul yelled after her to stop, but she plowed on. She recognized the car. She just needed to see who was behind the wheel.

The Toyota was a long way ahead, but her street had plenty of four-way stops. She’d never catch him, but she just needed to get close enough to see the driver. She didn’t want to leave room for doubt.

The car braked hard for the stop signs, but blew through each one. Gwen didn’t gain on the car, but she kept up. The driver ramped up his speed, but he had to stop for the light. Traffic spilled across Hacienda Avenue without providing the driver a big enough gap to jerk out into traffic. Seeing
him thwarted spurred her on. She ran hard, ignoring the abrasive concrete sidewalk shredding the soles of her feet.

The streetlight overhanging the intersection illuminated the car’s interior. The driver turned around and she saw him. It was Tarbell.

The traffic light changed to green, and he roared away. It didn’t matter that he’d gotten away because she’d seen him. Finally, he’d screwed up. He couldn’t resist going after her one last time, and he’d blown it. This time, she had him.

She stopped running and a smile spread across her face. “Gotcha, Steve.”

Paul came racing up behind her. “Are you crazy?”

“It was him.”

“Who?”

“Tarbell.” She grabbed Paul’s hand. “We’ve got him. Let’s get back.”

When she reached home, she called Ingram.

Paul collected Kirsten from her room and brought her into the living room.

“Yes,” Ingram answered sternly.

“Mr. Ingram, it’s Gwen Farris.”

“Gwen, why are you calling me?”

“Stephen Tarbell just threw a rock through my window. I saw his car, and I saw him driving. If you have one of your people go to his house, he won’t be at home or wherever he says he is. It just happened. He won’t have even made it out of Alameda yet. We’ve got him.”

“You don’t have him.”

Ingram’s stark reply killed her enthusiasm. “What are you talking about?”

Paul looked up at her questioning tone. She turned away from him.

“The investigation has been dropped.”

A spike of rage ripped through Gwen. She
wasn’t going to be denied this time. Not when she had Tarbell cold. “What do you mean ‘dropped’? He assaulted me, terrorized me at the office, ransacked my home, and framed me for this stupid espionage thing. Now he’s just thrown a rock through my window. There’s nothing to drop. You have to stop him now. You have a responsibility.”