Blackmail

by John Charles

  One issue with Karl came to Jay’s attention. He seemed to receive an inordinate number of text messages throughout the day. Some he would respond to, but most he let slide. Although the company allowed employees to keep their cell phones turned on, they were encouraged to keep texting and calls to a minimum. While Karl seemed to adhere to that rule, he did receive more than what seemed his fair share of calls and texts.

  “You misjudged him Andrea,” said Ferris at lunch. “Jay reports Karl is doing a fantastic job. In fact, he has taken it upon himself to interface with engineering on issues that Jay could not have managed alone.”

  “I won’t argue the merits of my feelings Ferris. Both Damien and I have bad feelings about him,” replied Andrea. “I’m glad he is working out for Jay.” She turned the conversation to other business topics until they finished lunch.

  Andrea usually took a mid afternoon break with one of her staff or co-workers. Today, however, her schedule didn’t coordinate with anyone so she entered the lunchroom alone. To her surprise, Karl walked in at the same time.

  “Hi Andrea,” said Karl. “I haven’t had a chance to talk with you since I started working here. Care to sit with me?”

  She thought it might be a good chance to find out more about him, so agreed to the invitation. “I usually take a break with someone from my team. I rarely find myself alone. Today, it seems, everyone had other plans.”

  “Well then it’s my lucky day,” said Karl as the two sat at a vacant table. “I am enjoying my job here. This is a fantastic place to work.”

  “Just how the hell did you get Ferris to hire you? He is very specific when he hires someone. He never hires anyone without my opinion, yet he hired you. What gives, Karl?”

  Andrea was more than angry. She didn’t like Karl and that was going to make his job much more difficult. “I don’t know why you’re angry with me. I needed the job and figured Damien and I could become friends, too. When Damien and I didn’t connect, I had no choice but to go directly to Mr. Valente. We talked; I gave him my resume, told him what I could do for Valentech, and why I needed the job. So what gives with you Andrea? Why the attitude?”

  “What gives with me? You tried to proposition Damien at the show presumably to get to Ferris. That didn’t work yet somehow you managed to get past the second opinion process and you show up here. Something’s not right Karl and I don’t like it.”

  Karl sat in silence for a few minutes then looked up at Andrea. “You can check me out all you want. Read my resume and check my references. I need the money for college and according to Jay; I’m doing a good job. Working in a hostile environment was not what I expected when I started here.” With that, he got up and left the lunchroom wondering how he was going to win Andrea over and more importantly how he was going to get Damien to let him in on the secrets to his program.

  Several of Valentech’s projects were top secret. The staff that worked on them signed need-to-know and confidentiality documents prior to being assigned to the projects. Damien’s project was even more tightly controlled. His assistant and staff not only signed those documents, they underwent severe background checks, drug screenings, and lie detector questioning about a wide variety of very personal situations. Only when they passed the screenings were they assigned to work with Damien. The need-to-know was so ingrained in his staff that conversations around the lunchroom were purposely steered away from work at Valentech. If someone accidently slipped and asked a question that infringed on the need-to-know restrictions, they met silence.

  Monday Staff meetings were very open, but conversations on need-to-know projects were kept to a minimum. Karl was getting nowhere in his mission and his boss was getting more agitated each day. He had to find a way to become friends with Damien or everything would come to a very bad ending.

  Chapter 6

  The competition in pharmaceutical sales is fierce. It is a stressful job requiring knowledge, dedication, tact and a stubbornness not associated with most other jobs. Bennett had all these qualities and performed well. His position required considerable travel, both locally, and some away for several days at a time.

  While away on those longer trips, he often found someone to take back to his hotel room for a night of sexual fun. Although hook-ups were not as rewarding as a relationship, they served the purpose, providing the sexual release that two hot, sexy guys needed. He never hid his sexuality, though he didn’t flaunt it either. If asked, he would admit he was gay owning it like the color of his hair. It was who he was. Some of his good clients told him of new bars or clubs opening in their towns. Life was good for Bennett.

  Damien and Bennett settled into a comfortable routine. Both worked out at the same gym and adjusted their schedules so they were there at the same times. Friday and Saturday nights became “their” time. Bennett usually spent both nights in Damien’s bed. Though their lust for each other’s body grew as they became closer, their desires changed too. They felt comfortable just sitting on the balcony with a glass of wine watching the sunset. Sometimes they sat there without a word between them, for what seemed like hours. Other times their lust was so overwhelming they barely made it past the front door with clothes still on their bodies.

  Their love was growing and it scared the hell out of Damien.

  Jay’s clinical trials were on track to become a resounding success. The doctors, hospitals, and subjects involved in the trial were beyond happy. His drugs were working. People were going into remission without major surgeries, transplants or other invasive procedures. That success added to the enormous quantities of paper that needed to be input and analyzed. His team worked long hours and many weekends.

  Karl made it a point to take his lunch and at least one long break every day. He needed the time to de-stress. On one of those afternoon breaks, he found himself in the lunchroom when Damien walked in. “Care to join me?” he asked hoping Damien would at least join him for a conversation.

  After purchasing a bag of chips and a soda from the machine, Damien took the chance and sat at Karl’s table. “I don’t usually eat junk food, but I need something crunchy right now,” said Damien in an attempt to break the ice that formed between Karl and him.

  “Yeah, I know what you mean. I try to bring my lunch and some fruit, most days. Junk food really, well really is junk,” he said as he took a bite from his apple. “I understand the company has memberships available at the Body Gym in town. Is it a good place to work out?”

  “Yeah it is. I’ve been a member there since I joined the company. Ferris has this thing for exercise and insists that we do something to stay in shape. He says it’s for our health, but everyone knows it keeps the medical insurance down and sick days to a minimum.”

  “Does he use the gym, too?” asked Karl, apple halfway to his mouth.

  “Every day. I’m usually there in the morning and frequently see him there too. He says his day is horrible if he misses his morning workout. Frankly, I agree with him. When I worked that trade show, I had no time for the gym. I felt as if I were going through some weird withdrawal by the time that week was over. And it took me a few days to get back into my routine afterward.”

  “Damien,” said Karl as he put his hand on top of Damien’s. “We got off to a bad start in Vegas. Can we at least agree to put that in the past? I like you and would be happy if we could at least develop a working friendship.”

  “Take it slow Karl. I’m not one to be judgmental, but you came on way too strong at the conference. If I passed you on the street right now, I wouldn’t even acknowledge you, but we work in the same place and will cross paths often, so I’m not opposed to a working friendship.”

  “Thanks, that’s all I ask right now,” said Karl. “I have to get back or Jay will whip my ass. He’s a nice guy, but I have to say he is a taskmaster with an agenda.”

  “Well, from what I hear you are doing well. So keep that going, Jay deserves it. He’s a good man Karl, don’t fuck with him.” The two men threw their trash away and
returned to their labs. Karl smiling, Damien not so much.

  One of Bennett’s clients asked him to assist with their monthly product meeting. As in the past, he was required to present product updates and be open to questions. It was his time to shine in front of an interested group of people. He stayed at a hotel near the company building so he didn’t have to rent a car. After the first day of briefings, he made his way to the running trail in the local park to enjoy a good workout. As he reached the far side of the park, he noticed two people in, what appeared to be, a heated conversation. He carefully avoided getting too close, but was sure one of them was Karl Matthius. The other he knew without hesitation – Chad Waverley one of his most hated competitors. Waverly and Valentech had been fierce competitors for years. Unfortunately, Waverly never garnered top dog position in the industry and always seemed to be fighting one battle or another.

  Today, Chad Waverly was clearly fighting, but not with the industry. He was yelling and poking his finger into Karl’s chest. Bennett made his way to a group of trees that hid him from their sight, while allowing him to hear much of the shouting. Waverly was not happy with whatever Karl was or was not doing.

  “I don’t care if it’s top secret. I hired you to find out what Damien’s team was working on. All you’ve done is get in good with that Jay asshole. You haven’t gotten anything on Damien. I told you to get him in bed and lure him into submission with your hot body. I’m telling you Karl, if you don’t get the information I need, soon, I’m outing you to the police and to Ferris. You’re life will be ruined.”

  Karl shouted back his reply,” I’ve had it with you Waverly. You want to go to the police, go ahead. I don’t give a damn. I might even go to Ferris myself and tell him everything. How will you survive the investigation if that happened?”

  Waverly grabbed the front of Karl’s shirt bringing him to his toes. “You don’t threaten me you little prick. I have so much on you that you’d be lucky to get out of jail in ten years. Just imagine how much those cons will love your pretty ass in prison. You’ll have more sex than you could ever imagine. Now you get into Damien’s pants and get me that information or you’re dead meat. You have two weeks,” he said shoving Karl so hard he flipped over as he landed on the grassy area. When Karl looked up, Waverly was gone. Stunned and clearly frightened, Karl sat where he landed with his head in his hands.

  Bennett quietly slipped away. What the fuck did I just see? I need to get in touch with Andrea and Ferris. She may have been right about Karl. God, Damien is going to have a fit when he hears about this. Bennett made his way to the hotel and called Andrea’s cell.

  “Well how are you Bennett? How is the briefing going?” said Andrea.

  “Before I get into that, answer one question for me, please. Did Karl come to work today?”

  “Funny you should ask that. He called in with a family emergency this morning. Said he would be out of town for a day or two. What’s going on Bennett?”

  He filled Andrea in on everything he saw and heard. “He’s spying for Waverly. He’s in deep and is desperate to get answers. You need to do something or Damien and his team might be in serious trouble,” he said. “I wish I had my cell on me, I could have recorded everything, but I left it in my room.”

  Bennett, don’t say anything to Damien. You make that the best briefing you’ve ever done and return home. Let me take it from here,” she said as she clicked off the call. “Fuck, Ferris is going to go ballistic when he hears this,” she said as she got up from her desk.

  “How is this possible?” asked Ferris after Andrea gave him what she knew. “How did Waverly get to him? Does he really think Karl can get the secrets to Damien’s formulas? That man is so crazy; he’ll stop at nothing to make money.”

  “I have an idea that might just put him behind bars for a very long time, but you may not like it,” said Andrea. “It will put Damien and Bennett into harm’s way and could even put Karl in jail, too.”

  The two talked for hours, made phone calls, threw ideas out the window, and had no plan in place. By midnight Andrea said, “I’m going home. We can pick this up tomorrow. Bennett will be back tomorrow afternoon. I’ll schedule a meeting with him as soon as he returns.”

  Not surprising to each of them, several people were busy working even at this late hour. As Ferris and Andrea walked through the offices, they told everyone to go home. Ferris seemed much calmer than Andrea had thought possible considering he just found a spy in his company.

  Bennett finished his briefing to receive a boisterous round of approval compliments from those in the conference room. He was pleased that he was able to put the other situation into a compartment and handle his job. Now he wondered what am I walking into when I return to the office.

  He drove from the airport directly to Valentech. He needed to see Andrea but he really wanted to put his arms around Damien. I’ve only been away two days and I miss him so much. Yeah, I’ve got it bad. he laughed as he walked into the building.

  He walked directly to Andrea’s office where her secretary told him to meet her in Ferris’ office. “Okay, into the lion’s den, then?” he said to her.

  “You have no idea,” was her glum reply.

  When he arrived at Ferris’ office, his secretary waved him in, “They’re expecting you.”

  Hands moist and a bit nervous, he entered Ferris’ office to find him, Andrea and several people in suits he didn’t recognize. “Ah Bennett, come in. We’ve been waiting for you to arrive,” said Ferris as he guided Bennett to a vacant chair near the conference table in front of his desk.

  The guests were investigators from the FBI and police. Ferris introduced a beautiful black woman as Nicholle Galasyn. “Nicholle is the chief investigator for the FBI on Industrial espionage. You will be seeing a lot of her for the near future,” said Ferris. “Now, please tell everyone here what you saw and heard yesterday, Bennett.”

  Bennett ran through the story in as much detail as he could remember. He included the manner in which Waverly threatened Karl and the subsequent violence. When he finished the story, everyone sat there for a moment in silence. All Bennett could hear was the faint hum of the air conditioning system. Knowing when to keep his mouth shut, he waited for someone to speak.

  “I’ve seen cases like this before and managed to get convictions on many of them. That said, some were rather difficult and might I add dangerous,” said Nicholle. “Would you be willing to work with us to nail these guys, Bennett?”

  “Before you answer that question, Bennett,” said Ferris. “Let me assure you that your job is not, in any way, dependant on you saying yes. You can get up right now and walk out of this room with our thanks and appreciation for what you’ve done for us. There would be no hard feelings whatsoever.”

  “What would I be required to do?” asked Bennett.

  “Right now, just keeping your eyes and ears open would be enough. In the days and weeks ahead, there will be more, but that will be dependent on what Damien agrees to,” said Nicholle.

  “Why does Damien have to be involved? He has nothing to do with Karl. I’m the one who saw this, not him. Can’t you keep him out of this?” he asked.

  “Ferris, I may be treading on slippery grounds here, but I must ask this question. Bennett, are you and Damien in a relationship?”

  Bennett looked around the room specifically at Andrea for reassurance. When he saw a subtle nod from Andrea he said, “It’s developing into one. Why is that important to the investigation?”

  “Because we are going to ask Damien to help and we need to know everything that might affect how this goes down.” Nicholle reminded Bennett that he was not to speak to Karl or Damien about what happened. “Please be here at 8 AM tomorrow,” said Nicholle as she and the other investigators left the room.

  Bennett, Ferris and Andrea sat in silence for a few minutes then Andrea said, “Everything’s going to be alright. You’ll need to be strong for Damien. I’ll be here for you, so please see me if you have
any questions or problems.”

  Bennett shook his head, stood and left the room, not sure how he was going to be strong when his world was crashing down around him.

  Chapter 7

  Bennett’s text said can’t meet you at the gym; something came up. See you at the office. While they usually met for their morning workouts, some conflicts did arise that pulled one of them from their schedule. Damien understood and did his workout alone.

  When he arrived, his assistant said he was wanted in Ferris’ office for a quick meeting. “Wonder what’s on his mind this morning?” He said as he grabbed his coffee mug. “Whatever it is, I need my coffee first. Would you call and let him know I’m on my way, please?” He filled his cup from the always-full pot in the lunchroom and made his way to the boss’ office.

  “Morning Cindy, the boss wants to see me?”

  “Yes, you can go right in Damien,” she replied with her normal smiling attitude.

  When Damien opened the door, he saw the room filled with people he didn’t know. One face stood out, though. Bennett was sitting at the corner of the conference table looking rather glum.

  “You want me to do what?” he shouted after the investigators spelled out everything that they knew. “Let me get this straight. You want me to seduce Karl, take him to bed, make him think we have something going, then feed him some bullshit formula so you can get enough on Waverley to put him behind bars. You want me to prostitute myself. Is that what you are saying?” shouted Damien as he stood shoving his chair into the wall behind him.

  “What’s your problem kid?” asked the guy sitting next to Nicholle. “You’re gay, a fag like all the others out there. You love to get it on with hot guys, so what’s the issue with having a little sex with Karl to help out? Don’t hide behind that smug attitude, you’d probably enjoy it.”