A day turns into a week, and I still haven’t heard from Bella. Jim gets back to me and says, “They routed through a server in Singapore, but it traces back to her computer here in San Francisco. But we also know it came after you reported it stolen to the police report.”
“Is that enough to get her job back?”
“Unfortunately, it still isn’t enough to say that she didn’t set up to have her computer stolen, so we still need more time before we can determine whether or not Dr. Johnson was behind the break-in and the breach.”
I can’t help but be disappointed. I want the silver bullet to get her company back.
I spend the weekend in my underwear watching TV. Each time my phone rings or I receive a text, I jump to see if it’s her, but it never is, so I don’t answer or respond.
She connected with a part of me that others have never seen. I touched her and saw the reaction; it was beautiful and raw. For those moments, she was more real than the blood in my own veins, and I felt her like the beating of my own heart.
Without her smile, her laugh, or her joy, my world has become black, loneliness absorbing my every thought. My heart is broken where it was once soft, strong, and vibrant.
It’s been two weeks since I’ve talked to Bella, and I’ve given up trying to reach out to her. I’m convinced she’s blocked me and is ghosting me. I don’t sleep well at night, and I have trouble getting out of bed in the mornings.
I see an invite in my email from Dillon. The subject reads, Black Rock. I’ve talked to Dr. Johnson multiple times, and he assures me things are moving along quickly. He doesn’t mention Bella’s departure, and I don’t ask.
Picking up my file on Black Rock, I head into Mason’s office and take my seat. Dillon and one of his new financial analysts join us, and we walk through the numbers in the financials.
As I look through them, I noticed they’re different than the paperwork that Bella handed me. I search through my file and retrieve the list of overdue bills that Bella gave to me the day she was so upset. I hand it to Dillon. “You don’t think he possibly could be cooking the books in order to show these to you?” I ask.
Dillon studies the paper I gave him and compares it to his notes. “This might explain a few things. We thought something was missing and the expenses weren’t lining up. I see a few bills that were outstanding that are not accounted for in these books.”
“Do you think he could be keeping two separate sets of books?” Mason asks.
“Well, anything is possible, but it does raise additional suspicions,” Dillon replies.
Our meeting ends with Dillon planning on having Dr. Johnson in to discuss the financials, and he’s going to ask about the information that we have.
I want to show this to Bella. I want her knowledge to counter what we’re seeing.
I’m deep in thought when Emerson knocks on my door in the afternoon. “Hey, do you have a minute?”
“Come on in.”
“We’ve interviewed the staff at Black Rock. They’ve seen quite an exodus recently. You mentioned that the lab manager was gone, but we also see a few others that have recently quit, and I was wondering if Dr. Johnson had mentioned anything about why this exodus was happening?”
I shake my head vigorously. “No. He hadn’t mentioned that to me. In fact, quite the opposite—he tells me everything is fabulous and everybody loves it there.”
“Okay, those are interesting rose-colored glasses he’s wearing—so much so, they may be purple. From our interviews, I don’t know that anybody loves it there. Most are new—meaning within the last two weeks. They are sending signals that they are looking for other work. My biggest concern is that they’ve lost the people with any depth of understanding and knowledge of the research and data, not to mention I’m definitely concerned about his leadership style.”
“What can I do to help?”
“I’m just trying to keep you in the loop. I think at this point I need to push back a little bit on his team and goals for the company. I’m still not convinced his payroll even adds up correctly.”
“Have you talked to Dillon?”
“We just briefly spoke about the financials. He mentioned a few of the bills were missing.”
I chuckle. “Oh, you mean like the equipment rental?”
“Exactly.”
“Do you feel comfortable sharing with me your feeling of what has you concerned about payroll?”
“It isn’t a secret, but I’m not 100 percent sure that he’s paid all of their payroll taxes.”
“That’s a red flag. Have you checked the state registers office to be sure?”
“I’m impressed you know about that.”
“My dad owned a business, and I remember that coming up at some point.”
“He was a patent lawyer, right?”
“At one point, yes,” I tell her, not wanting to share all the sordid details.
“There are just enough things that it’s not adding up for us.”
I’m disappointed they got past me, and I feel like an idiot. They probably all believe I think with my dick, but it wasn’t that obvious. There are so many things about Black Rock I wish I could remove from my memory. “I understand.”
Emerson stands and looks at me with her brow knitted. “Look, I know you really feel like you need to put something down on the books. All I can tell you from my perspective is I’m not worried about what’s going on. This is a new area for us, and we don’t have a lot of credibility, which can make it difficult with some of these pharma start-ups. I know that you make money when we get new companies coming in the door, but right now I can’t recommend Black Rock, and I don’t want you to think that it’s for any reason other than what I just told you.”
“I appreciate that. I recognize I make money when the company makes money. If we give money to Black Rock and they don’t do anything, then I don’t make money. In fact, we all lose money at that point. So, I’m okay if we don’t fund them. I’m so angry with Dr. Johnson from a personal perspective at this point that I’m not interested in funding them anyway.”
Another week goes by, and I still haven’t heard anything from Bella. I reach out to my best friend, Dave Morgan, and ask if he happens to have Ellie’s phone number.
“Aren’t you taking this stalker thing a little too far?” he asks.
“Maybe, but I have to at least try.”
He sends me Ellie’s number, and I debate calling but decide to go with it.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Ellie? This is Christopher Reinhardt. I’m Bella’s friend.”
“I know who you are,” she says cautiously.
I can’t take the chance that she hangs up on me and blocks me too, so I rush to tell her what I’m hoping she’ll pass along. “She’s not taking my calls right now, so I just need you to get her a message.”
“Christopher, I’m not sure that I want to get in the middle of this.”
“I’m not asking you to get in the middle. I just want you to share with her that we’ve gone through Black Rock’s financials. They’re not adding up. We have problems with some of the changes going on at the office. I think many people left in protest after she was let go. And the last thing I hope you’ll tell her is that we think we see a problem with payroll tax payments. But the saving grace is that because she’s no longer a partner, she wouldn’t be liable for Dr. Johnson’s malfeasance. I know that’s not a consolation, but I just need her to understand it doesn’t look like we’re going to fund them, and we wouldn’t do it without her being attached.” I know I’m begging right now, but I have no pride when it comes to Bella.
She sighs loudly into the phone. “I’ll pass along your message. But I’m not sure that it’s going to matter. She feels you violated her trust.”
“I understand. I tried very hard to separate my girlfriend from my business.” I take a deep breath. “If you feel comfortable, please tell her how much I miss her.”
“I’ll let her know.” I wait
for her to hang up, but then she shares, “Christopher, we Latinas are proud. Don’t give up on her. She was spread too thin and may not know how to back up gracefully when making a mistake.”
My heart soars. “Thank you, Ellie. I’m not giving up. She means the world to me.”
There’s a lot of commotion going on for a Friday morning. I see people racing in and out of closed offices. Then I see Jim, the security consultant, arrive. I’m keeping my head down. I’m not interested in getting into anyone’s crosshairs.
A meeting request for all partners in the large conference room is scheduled for ten o’clock. So much for staying under the radar. I busy myself with a new prospect called Everest Therapeutics. I see some similarities to Black Rock, since they are working on a Parkinson’s drug.
When my notification of fifteen minutes until the meeting sounds, I wrap things up and drop by the kitchen to pick up a breakfast burrito and a cup of coffee before heading into the conference room.
All of the partners, plus our advisors, are present. This must be big. While we wait for Mason and, presumably, Jim, we talk about weekend plans. Dillon urges me to join him, Mason, and Trey for golf on Saturday morning. “Sure, why not?” I’d be in my underwear all weekend watching sports otherwise.
Finally, Mason arrives with Jim and two people I’m not familiar with. They are introduced as Walker Clifton, of the US attorney’s office, and Cora Perry with FBI cybercrimes. I try not to let my eyes bulge as I share a concerned look with Cynthia.
“Thank you all for coming today. I’ve asked Walker and Cora to join us because we’ve received a threat from our hackers. They sent me a voice mail early this morning.”
We all stop fiddling with whatever we are messing with and sit up straighter in our seats, anxious and nervous about what we’re about to hear.
“Good morning, Mason,” a computer-generated voice drones on in a monotone. “I see you and your friends at the US attorney’s office have indicted us. We want to assure you, we are not scared of you and your indictments. You will have to figure out who we are, and none of you are smart enough to actually do that. We are everywhere, and you don’t even recognize us. But we can assure you, we are not hiding. We are going to make a big impact, and you will regret the day our paths ever crossed.”
The call ends, and we are quiet for a half second before everyone begins talking at once.
“What does it mean?”
“How do they know we got indictments?”
“Who could they be targeting?”
“Are they someone we know?”
Mason holds up his hand, and the room quiets down. “Walker, your thoughts?”
Walker puts his hands in his pockets and says, “I’d like Cora’s team to review the voice mail.” He takes a deep breath. “There are a few concerning things in the message. Obviously, the implied threat of a ‘big impact’ tells me they’re mad and ready to take action. What that action is remains to be seen. Cora? What do you think?”
Cora clears her throat and is silent a few moments. “I am concerned about two things. The ‘big impact’ but also that they’re ‘not hiding.’ If possible, I’d like to sit down with Jim and Cameron. I want to check each computer for spyware. I know you keep up with a vigorous firewall and anti-virus, but it may be time to apply some FBI anti-virus, and I hate to admit, I’d like to see some possible spyware of our own placed on each computer and employee cell phone.”
Sara is the first to talk. “Cora, I appreciate what you are saying, but there are a number of privacy concerns when it comes to employees’ personal phones.”
“But also for company morale. This level of intrusiveness could really upset the balance we’ve worked so hard to cultivate over the last decade,” Emerson adds.
“I agree with Cora’s approach, and my thought is that my team can complete the installs remotely during the middle of the night, so we capture all the laptops that people take home,” Jim interrupts.
“Good. And honestly, we usually hit cell phones by sending a link to each phone via an app we can create, and when the phone isn’t in use, it will scan it,” Cora says.
“I like that, but if you could give us some time to discuss this, that would be great,” Charles suggests.
“I understand,” Cora says.
We talk for a short while longer and head back to our offices. I’m not sure any of us will be able to work after all this.
Chapter nineteen
Christopher
It’s time to pull out the big guns. It could backfire, but it may be my solution. I need to reach out to Bella’s mother. Google is my friend, and I find she’s located down at the hospital in San Jose. When I call, they put me right to her voice mail and I leave a message. “Dr. Vargas, this is Christopher Reinhardt. My apologies for bothering you at work, but I was hoping I might have the opportunity to meet with you. I can come to you in San Jose or meet you anywhere in the Bay Area, and quite frankly, if you wanted to meet somewhere else, I’d fly wherever it was to meet you. I just want to check in and see how Bella’s doing.”
I remember Bella mentioning her mom left San Francisco to live close to her father and her sister. I also believe she’s done some blood work on patients at a facility in Palo Alto. I take my chances and call. “Is Dr. Vargas a patient there at your facility, possibly a Parkinson’s patient?”
The operator responds, “May I ask who’s calling?”
“I’m a friend of the family. My name is Christopher Reinhardt, and I’m a good friend of Bella Vargas. Actually, she’s my girlfriend, and I want to meet with Dr. Vargas to see if he would give me permission to marry his daughter.” It’s a little white lie. I’m hoping to pull on her heartstrings.
“That’s so sweet. Yes, he’s here. He’s not able to have a phone conversation though.”
“That’s fine. I’d like to ask him in person anyway. What are your visitors’ hours?”
“He can receive visitors between twelve and three.”
“Great. I’ll be down in a few days once I’m able to get it scheduled on my calendar. Make sure you don’t tell him.”
My afternoon is quiet, so I drive down. The facility is beautiful with an antiseptic feeling. It’s definitely top-notch quality, and I can see they are really looking out for him. I sign in and I’m pointed to the memory care facility. As I walk in, I ask for Jose Vargas, and a nurse’s aide points me to a man sitting at a table staring intently at a puzzle.
“Hi, my name is Christopher Reinhardt. I’m a friend of your daughter, Bella.”
He’s sitting in a wheelchair, and he has the shake that most associate with Parkinson’s. “I… know… who… you… are...” I’ve come early in hopes that his memory is strong. He speaks incredibly slowly but leaves me with no doubt that he’s in control of his memory.
“You do? That’s wonderful. Your daughter’s quite angry with me right now, and she hasn’t returned any of my phone calls.”
“Christopher…, you… need… to… understand… how… the… Vargas… women… work... They… can… be… real… hotheads…, but… they… get… over… it...” He smiles big, and it’s infectious.
“I miss her. I just wanted to introduce myself and tell you how important she is to me.”
“I… heard… you… want… to… marry… her...”
Ah, the woman who answered the phone ratted me out. “I do want to marry her—very much, but I know she’s not ready. But I can assure you, I’m patient.”
“She’ll… come… around... She’s… talked… to… me… about… you…, and… it’s… been… a… long… time… since… she… talked… about… anything… other… than… her… work...”
“That’s encouraging at least.”
“She’s… a… mean… cribbage… player... Come… back…, and… we… can… gang… up… on… her...”
I laugh. “I promise.”
Meeting her dad tells me a lot about Bella. I need to get her back—whatever it takes.
&n
bsp; When I return to work, I find Jim sitting in my office and waiting for me. “I’m sorry, did we have an appointment? I didn’t realize I was missing anything. Please forgive me.”
“No problem. Actually, I just got here and thought I’d hang out a bit to see if I could catch you. We just learned a few things, and I wanted to make sure that I shared them with you.”
As I sit down, he opens up a file and I see photos of Dr. Johnson. “It seems that our friend Dr. Johnson’s under investigation by the Lasker Award team.”
I sit up straighter. “What does that mean exactly?”
“He’s apparently being accused of fraud.”
“Fraud? How?”
“From what we’ve uncovered, there is a scientist named Dr. Jeremy Sutherland who worked with Dr. Johnson as part of his graduate dissertation. He has presented evidence to the award team proving Johnson won the award for his research, which is corroborated by his advisor. Therefore, Sutherland owns the delivery system. He also presented the dissolution of the partnership agreement they had, where Johnson took the company away from him under false pretenses.”
“Are you shitting me?” I sit back in my chair and think out loud. “This guy has a history of stealing scientific advancement from naïve grad students. What an ass!”
“Yes, exactly. He seems to attach himself to aspiring grad students and cheats them out of their work and possibly their doctorates. We think we have a lead on someone else he did this to, but we aren’t sure yet.”
“Man, what a jackass. Where is this Dr. Sutherland?” He points to a name of a company that looks familiar to me. I’m sure it’s one that’s come across my desk. I can’t quite place it. “Do you think it would be okay for me to reach out to this guy?”
“Do you want us to pull his background?”
“No, I can start this off. I think, if he is smart enough to come up with the new medical delivery system, he’s smart enough to probably have a pretty good start-up that we may want to fund.”
Longing (Billionaire Venture Capitalist #7): A Billionaire Romance Page 14
