by Darin Gibby
* * *
“Can you at least get me a newspaper?” Addy said to the guard when he passed by her cell during his morning rounds. Her head was pounding and her mouth was pasty.
After spending the night in jail, she was desperate for news of her arrest. She should have called Perry the moment she was booked, but she was too humiliated. She didn’t want to admit he was right, and she held out hope that this was a giant mistake that would soon be sorted out. She assured herself that both she and Quinn had been set up, and that they’d be able to prove the governmental conspiracy to stop them.
She was scheduled for an arraignment before the judge after lunch, and she needed to call a lawyer. Addy wasn’t sure she was ready to call Perry, especially not until she understood what the rest of the world had been told.
Someone brought her a copy of the San Jose Mercury News and tossed it onto her mattress. Addy tried to control her emotions when she saw her picture on the front page, biting her lip. Her photo—not Quinn’s. The image of the dapper Korean inventor was conspicuously missing. She frantically scanned the article. It reported her arrest for stealing important technology from the United States. What exactly she had stolen the article didn’t say, only that it was so important to national security that it was being kept under wraps. But the reporter said there had been rumors that it was tied to her locally famous impounded car.
There was a mention of Quinn’s presence during the interview with the examiner at the Patent Office, and that he had been searched but not arrested. Addy shook her head, trying to clear the confusion—and anger.
Quinn’s lawyers released a statement saying they were considering whether they would bring any civil charges against Addy for stealing WTG’s trade secrets. Damn him! she thought. Brash as Perry had been, he’d pegged Quinn for who he was. She didn’t yet know how, but it was clear she was nothing but a pawn, caught in some kind of crossfire. Quinn had used her and then thrown her to the wolves.
She crumpled the newspaper and hurled it against the wall, where it hit with nothing more than a rustle and drifted to the floor.
She’d trusted Quinn, breaking her vow to never trust anyone again. Why did she keep doing it? Every time she trusted someone, she got hurt. And now it involved much more than feelings. She was facing serious criminal charges, ones that could land her in a federal penitentiary for decades. Even if she could beat the trumped-up charges, she’d never be able to practice law again. No firm would want to touch her.
Exhausted, she curled up on her rickety bed and began to sob. She wished she had her father’s shoulder to cry on, but that window had long since closed.
Instinctively, she slipped her fingers into her pocket, searching for her phone, for some comfort. No, wait. They’d taken it moments after her arrest, undoubtedly to mine it for every bit of data it contained. And she would likely never get it back.
She felt so alone, completely abandoned. It would have helped to know there was someone who cared about her. In just two days she was supposed to be with Lynda and her stepbrother and stepsister. But now it would be impossible.
She couldn’t even call them to let them know. But they probably already knew. Thanks to modern media, half of America probably knew. She wondered how they reacted. Then she decided she really didn’t want to know.
25
ADDY’S EYES WERE red and puffy when she was hauled out of the patrol car. This was her second trip to a courthouse in less than a week. But this time it was the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, located in the Robert F. Peckham Federal Building in San Jose. She was being arraigned on numerous federal charges. Bail was possible, but she had no way of knowing how much would be required, especially if federal prosecutors called her a flight risk. And, after deciding she couldn’t face Perry, she decided to represent herself.
The police vehicle pulled up to the curb and a federal marshal opened the door. She blinked her eyes in the bright sunlight and wiped her eyes with her fluorescent orange sleeve. Not only did she stand out like a neon sign, but she also looked ridiculous in her prison garb.
She’d barely looked up when she spotted Perry’s familiar figure waiting beneath a large elm tree. She rushed forward to embrace him, but the cuffs held her hands tight. Perry threw his arms around her, pushing the agent aside. Once again, Addy burst into tears.
“I figured you needed some help,” Perry said, an arm over her shaking shoulders.
Addy could hear the bustle of photographers nearby, but she didn’t care. She looked into Perry’s eyes. “Sure—I mean yes. I want you to be my lawyer. I can’t believe you’re here, especially after the way we left things. You’re all I have.”
“I’m not much,” Perry said. “I’m a patent lawyer, not a criminal attorney. I twisted the arm of one of my law school buddies, who’s inside waiting for us. If we have any luck, we’ll get you out on bail, and then we can try to sort all this out.”
She wiped her eyes with the back of her sleeve while the federal agents hustled them into the federal building. Thirty minutes later, and fifty thousand dollars poorer from bail, they re-emerged. Perry’s colleague had convinced the judge that Addy was not a flight risk and she posed no threat to society.
But she was still facing charges, including espionage, theft of trade secrets, and half a dozen others stemming from her alleged hacking into government databases, including those of the Patent Office. She was charged with trying to steal important technology relating to hydrogen fuel cells and hydrogen production.
* * *
“So, what are you going to do?” Perry asked, sliding behind his office desk while sipping his coffee. She could see the bags under his eyes, and wondered how much he’d slept since hearing about her arrest. She felt awkward being back at Wyckoff, and was grateful Perry had closed his office door.
Addy was sullen. “At WTG we had this IT guy named Sung-soo. Janice figured out that he was staying up all night and using my login to search the Patent Office databases. We had no idea this was just a pretense to illegally hack into the Patent Office computer network to search for patent applications that weren’t yet publicly available. Quinn must have known they would pin it on me if they got caught. They sure played me. I’m so embarrassed.”
“Any word from Quinn?”
“Nothing. He’s probably back in Korea by now. I don’t understand why they didn’t arrest him instead of me. He’s the one who stole the catalyst and tried to claim it as his own invention.”
“No probable cause. It was your account his IT guy used. The best the judge would give them was a search warrant to tear apart WTG.”
“They must believe he has the catalyst.”
“Highly likely. But if that’s all they wanted, they didn’t need to arrest you.”
“But couldn’t they see Sung-soo was using a WTG computer?”
Perry shook his head. “You weren’t actually working for WTG. He set up the US company in your name—Addeline Verges P.C. His lawyers made sure he could have no possible connection to the break-in. He nailed you pretty good.”
Addy squeezed her head, trying to make the dull ache go away. “I don’t know what I’m going to do. I’m so terrified I can’t think straight, Perry. How am I going to prove I’m innocent? I could be spending the next decade in jail. Stealing government secrets—people don’t just walk away from that.”
Perry didn’t sugarcoat the situation. “It’s certainly possible. The Patent Office has a list of applications for hydrogen production that were accessed from your computer using your credentials. All were assigned to the Department of Energy. It didn’t help that some of the information in the applications you filed for WTG had many of the same ideas. This looks very, very bad. And the fuel cell they confiscated still had trace amounts of a chemical that was allegedly stolen from the DOE. If the government can prove they invented the catalyst first, you could be in a whole bunch of trouble.”
Addy looked down and shook her head, her l
ong dark hair slipping over her shoulders to cover her face. She was afraid to reveal to Perry what she had done with the vial holding the catalyst for fear of entangling him in her mess..
“Let me guess, every DOE application lists a guy named Wilcox as the inventor.”
“They didn’t provide me with that information. Why do you ask?”
“Probably doesn’t matter now. Agent Long wanted to know if I’d ever heard the name. Anyway, did they search the office?”
“They did, but couldn’t find anything. Quinn was clearly smart enough to have your computer’s hard drive removed and replaced with a clean one. Your hard drive is probably already back in Korea.
“What’s worse,” Perry continued, “is that the hearing today was open to the public. This is sensationalist journalism at its best. You are going to be front-page news. I’ll bet you’re already the top story on most of the national networks. Addy and Hindy—you have to admit, the jingle has a nice ring to it.”
Addy looked up and cleared her hair from her eyes, not bothering to hide the tears rolling down her cheeks. His regrettable sense of humor missed its mark, again. “Everything I’ve worked so hard for is gone. And for what? Because I was too vain to face reality? Why couldn’t I see that this was too good to be true? Why couldn’t I be happy as an ordinary patent attorney?”
“Don’t be so hard on yourself. We all have dreams. If you never chased yours, you’d always have wished you had. You’re young, you have time to learn from your mistakes and move on.”
“No, even if I could beat these charges, I’ll never be able to practice law. Who’s going to want me for their attorney?” Perry’s reaction was very subtle.
“I’d hire you.”
His words sounded forced. As she’d suspected the firm would never vote to bring her back as a partner.
“Well, I guess you won our little wager. Quinn was everything you said. I was completely blinded, even though you warned me. I should have trusted you over him. I’d love to come back to Wyckoff, but you know as well as I do that it would never work. I’m probably going to be disbarred, which doesn’t really matter, because you can’t practice law from a prison cell.”
“I’ve been giving that some thought. We’re going to need a defense strategy, and if I’m going to be your lawyer, I need you to tell me what’s been going on in your life. Everything. Let’s take this one step at a time.”
Addy sighed. She needed to trust him, even though they’d had their differences. Beyond that, every time she’d trusted someone, she’d been hurt. She’d believed Quinn would be the exception, and look how that ended. Why would Perry be any different?
She drummed her fingers on the table. She didn’t have a choice.
“Okay, let’s get going,” she said, and began to summarize everything that had happened since the hydrogen balloon was torched. She told her mentor about the attacks and warnings in Vietnam, Quinn’s too-good-to-be-true offer, and her introduction to the WTC hydrogen team. She retold the story of her tumble off the bicycle and the punch to the ribs, and Quinn rehabilitating her at his Half Moon Bay home.
She explained the office setup, and how she and Janice spent a week of total boredom while Sung-soo monitored their every move, at least while he wasn’t snooping on the DOE’s patent applications. When they were both about ready to leave WTC and come back to Wyckoff, Quinn appeared with the patent applications. She’d studied every word and convinced herself that the technology was scientifically sound.
And yes, Quinn had balked about bringing a sample of the catalyst, supposedly because of “production problems,” but he eventually came through.
“What he showed to the examiner was real,” she concluded. “There is a catalyst, and cars really can run on water.”
Perry looked up from his notepad. “You were attacked while driving to work. So that’s why Quinn got you a driver?” Perry said.
“At the time, I really believed he was looking after me. He was convinced some disgruntled gang from the Middle East was going to make sure the technology never saw the light of day. That much makes sense, especially when the man who attacked me recently looked Arabic and had a tattoo, and I could swear was the same guy who shot the balloon, and one of the two who accosted me in Vietnam. Plus, I doubt the people who threatened me were employed by the DOE, especially the ones in Vietnam.”
“So do you think the attacks on you are somehow tied to same group that shot Hindy’s balloon?”
“I’m pretty sure it was the same guy. Plus, you told me Homeland Security is investigating it as an act of terrorism.”
“Sounds like you’ve got a lot of enemies.”
“Including Quinn,” Addy said, still fuming that she’d fallen for his slick, glib personality and the convoluted scam he’d created to trap her into—what?
“This is unbelievably complicated,” Perry said. “Quinn hires you to protect his applications from being stolen by the Department of Energy, while at the same time he’s using your login to steal technology from the DOE. Meanwhile, you’re getting the crap kicked out of you, regardless of which continent you’re on.”
“It all seemed so legitimate. Quinn showed me two patent applications that he filed last year for WTG. Not only were they hit with a secrecy order by the Patent Office, but six months later the DOE filed its own patent application with the same invention. It was all bogus technology, but that’s why Quinn was convinced they were planning to steal his inventions. That’s the whole reason he hired me.”
“I understand,” Perry said, “but that’s not going to help you in front of a jury.”
Perry stood and sauntered over to the window. He folded his arms and peered at the foothills like he always did when he was seeking inspiration. While she waited, she fought tears over his last statement and wished he wasn’t always so blunt.
“I have an idea,” he said turning to look at her. “It’s kind of crazy, but it may be your only option. Can you trust me?”
Addy tucked her hair behind her ear. Perry had bailed her out of jail. He’d also tried to protect her from Quinn. Still, that wasn’t enough. “I’m not in much of a trusting mood right now.”
“At this point, I’m not sure you have much of a choice.” Perry strode across the room and perched on his desk facing Addy. “You told me I should start believing in someone, and I have. I believe in you, Addy. I know I say things that aren’t politically correct, but I can’t help it. I call it just as I see it.”
Addy remembered Perry had called Quinn and said he wasn’t wanted in America, and that he was preying on a vulnerable little girl. She wanted to confront him, especially about the little girl part, but decided to hear him out first.
“I know I can’t relate to what you’ve been through, having parents who deserted you, and now this. I can only imagine how you must feel right now. Keri and I had a great marriage. Trust was never an issue. We shared everything. But I do know what it’s like to be alone. I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but over the past few weeks I’ve been so lonely I even considered ending it all, hoping somehow I could be with her in the next life.”
“She would never have wanted that,” Addy said. “You still have so much to contribute. Think about all the good you can do.”
Perry smiled sheepishly. “Funny. In my most desperate moment, I came to the same realization. I don’t know why, but I just did. And the next day I saw the news flash on CNN about a patent attorney who was arrested for stealing government patent applications. It was then I knew I had to help you. I figured that if you really believed in something that much, I should find out why.”
Addy swallowed hard and wiped her eyes.
“That’s really how you found out about me?”
“God’s truth,” Perry said raising his hand.
She took that as an apology. For Perry, it was the best he could do. “Okay, tell me what you’re thinking,” she said.
“First, tell me why you left the firm. I mean, I know it didn’t wor
k out, and it may seem like a poor decision in hindsight, but what really drove your decision?”
Addy leaned back. “I suppose there were lots of reasons,” she said, “but I wouldn’t have done anything if I didn’t believe in the technology. While I was in Vietnam, I imagined what it would be like if those poor people could have their own cars and afford to drive them, or find a way to cook their meals without burning trash in the street. I realized that’s why I’d spent years tinkering with Hindy. In my gut, I believe something like this is possible, and when I was shown Quinn’s technology, I knew I couldn’t walk away, no matter the price.”
Perry slapped the table. “Then that’s it. That is exactly what you should do. You should pay the price and make it happen.”
Addy frowned. “I’m not sure what you mean. I’m looking at going to jail. I need a defense, not another silly dream.”
“I’m being serious. You’ve seen the technology. You know the catalyst is real. You already see how this can change the world. You’re the only one who can make this happen.”
“It is for real,” she said.
“Then fight for it. It is the right thing to do. The world needs this technology. If you can find a way to get the catalyst and prove it really works, I’m betting there will be such a public outcry that perhaps nobody will get the patents and everyone can use it. Isn’t that what we really want?”
Perry might just be right. She knew the formula, and, perhaps more important, she knew where to find the vial of chemicals Quinn had used for their interview at the Patent Office. If she could show the world what was being kept from them, the court of public opinion might just win the day.
Addy nodded. “I agree with you. If Sung-soo was stealing inventions contained in our government’s patents, WTG shouldn’t be entitled to any patents, and if the US was also stealing WTG’s technology, they are just as guilty. And, if the government is hiding this technology to protect big oil companies that’s even more outrageous. Let’s show the world the invention, and let them be the ones to demand that the technology be donated to everyone.”
