"I am just a doctor, not a social crusader. Besides, no one can fight them. I just want to do my work till I am here," he got up, "I have to go on my rounds. Please, excuse me."
Kiara kept looking at him as he got out of the room. She came out and looked around. Paul was waiting for her. She gestured him to wait for two more minutes. Doctor was in one of the wards.
"Do you have any data or documents substantiating your claims?" she asked while ignoring the patients.
Doctor turned around, "See, I don't care about my job. But, I don't want the hospital to shut down. We are already short on supplies."
Kiara interpreted what he was saying, but wanted to be sure, "Who is funding the hospital?"
"The human rights office, which in return gets funded by corporates. If I go against one, others will also stop funding. Now will you excuse me," he said and left.
Kiara came out and kept looking at the patients. The place really needed some money. The doctor was doing whatever was in his hands.
She looked at her watch. She had twenty minutes left. Paul also needed to drop his sister before taking her to the factory. Paul took his keys out as he saw Kiara coming towards them. It took him ten minutes to drop his sister and ensure that she took her medicine. Kiara kept waiting while impatiently looking at her watch.
Chapter 9
Paul dropped her around a hundred feet from the factory gate. He had so much anger inside him that he could not even bear the sight of the factory gate. Kiara herself was angry with what she had seen at the hospital. She was going to grill Perry hard today, she thought. She looked towards Paul, once and gave him an assuring smile. Paul knew what she meant and smiled back.
With that, she started walking towards the check post.
As she got her documents checked and walked towards the office; she noticed Jake standing outside with Harrison.
"On time," Harrison said while looking at his watch. Kiara forced a smile.
Jake looked at Harrison, "Anything else, Sir."
"No, that's it. You can take her to the factory," With that, he turned towards Kiara, "When can I see the first draft?"
"Sometime next week, Sir. I will get a clear picture today,"
Harrison nodded and looked at Jake, as if telling him to keep an eye on her. Jake nodded in return. They stood there till Harrison entered the office.
"So, what was he discussing?" she asked while looking at the main door.
"Nothing much. He is pleased with the way I have handled you so far. He wants me to get actively involved in some cases going forward,"
"Well, that's great news, then," she smiled.
Jake looked at her smirk filled face, "If you don't get me out of here, I am going to turn against you."
Kiara pretended to be scared. Jake smiled at her, "Anyway, you surprised both of us by coming on time."
"I am always on time," she said with pride.
"Maybe, in New York. This is the first time in Kingston," Jake teased her.
"I had to go to the hospital with Paul. His sister has ADHD and the doctor says the possible reason is pesticide in drinking water," she said quietly.
Jake did not say anything. He knew far more stories than her. He could feel the pain that she was feeling.
After the checking at the main gate, they headed towards the factory. Kiara stopped as they were about to reach. She looked around. Jake could not understand.
"I may get into the thick of things with Perry today," she warned him, "Would you be able to handle Harrison if he complains?"
"What are you planning to do?" Jake asked with fear filled eyes.
"Even I don't know," Kiara took a deep breath.
"Please think twice before doing something stupid," Jake pleaded.
"Don't worry. I am just yanking your chain," she gave a smile; "I am going to grill him my way."
Jake did not know how to respond. He wanted to hit her, but controlled himself somehow.
"OK.. I am leaving before you make my life any more miserable," he said and left at once. He could hear Kiara's chuckle till he crossed the administrative block.
Kiara smiled and turned towards the administrative block.
Perry had already instructed the guard at the entrance who escorted her inside. Everything was going as usual. Operators glued to the monitors; no sounds except for the alarms and Perry standing behind one of the operators.
He noticed the sound made by Kiara's shoes and turned around.
"Welcome back," he said with a wide grin, "So, how's the report coming up?"
Kiara smiled back, "I need your guidance on that, Sir,"
Perry's eyes gleamed with pride on Kiara's addressing him as Sir and asking for guidance. He used to force his orders on people working under him. This was the first time someone had approached him for guidance.
"Give me two minutes. Need to finish something here. You can wait in my cabin,"
Kiara nodded and walked towards the cabin. She looked around. She had a few things in her mind, but she needed something to start the conversation with. She scanned the room; the board was having the daily reports which looked similar to the one she had seen earlier. She looked at the papers lying on the table. She pulled the lab reports, but nothing alarming was there. She held it for a moment and then folded it and hid inside her diary for her report.
She looked at the other corner that had a water cooler. That gave her an idea. She got up at once and filled a glass of water. She glanced towards the door. Perry was coming towards the cabin.
She walked swiftly and took her seat. As soon as Perry entered, she took a sip from the glass. Perry pulled his chair and looked at her.
"What do you want to know today?" he said, "I thought everything was clear to you post our last meeting."
"Indeed, Sir. But, I need to clock in my hours. I am supposed to meet you twice a week for a month," she reminded him.
"Hmm.. anyway. Do you want something for your report?" Perry said, "I have this report from before."
With that, he took out a copy of a report and pushed it across the table. Kiara's eyes widened, looking at the report. It was Sarah's report. Maybe he kept the report and gave the diary to her captors, she thought.
"Who made this?" she asked while pretending to read.
Perry came forward, "This was made by the girl that got kidnapped last week."
Kiara pretended to be surprised, "Is it? What is her name…"
"Sarah."
"Yes, right. Sarah," she said, "So, can I use this report?"
"You should use only this report. It has everything about the factory and how environmentally friendly it is," Perry said," They worked very hard; analyzing all the data. You will not find such a detailed report anywhere. In fact, Mr. Cooper had created the independent panel himself."
Kiara smirked at the thought of the panel being "independent". She wanted to steer the conversation in a different direction.
"That reminds me. I read in the paper today that Mr. Cooper is in Portland,"
"Yes, the transition work is in the process to begin. He wanted to ensure everything goes fine. He had emailed me also," he said with pride. Kiara was not too sure if the pride was in the fact that the owner of the factory put his email id along with hundreds of other employees or may be because Perry could use a computer.
Anyhow, she gave him an admiring look, "Transition work must be tough. They may need experienced people like you."
"Yes, most definitely. But, I already have a huge responsibility of running the plant," Perry said with smugness.
"I understand. So, how long does this work takes?"
"Oh.. it takes months. Even the planning phase itself needs four to six weeks," Perry said thoughtfully.
"So, Mr. Cooper will be in Portland for four to six weeks?" Kiara laid down the trap.
"No.. No. He is a big man. He is here just to give confidence to the team. He will be leaving this Sunday," Perry blurted out.
Kiara almost chuckled at Perry's wo
rd. Poor fellow did not even know her questions were a set-up.
"Oh. It's a short visit then," Kiara replied.
There was a momentary silence. Kiara wanted to get something else out of Perry. She wanted to grill him about what she saw in the hospital.
She took a sip from the glass, "This water is good. Water in the town tastes funny."
Perry looked at her as if trying to evade the query, "They have a direct supply. Our water comes from the treatment plant inside. But, I don't feel any difference."
Kiara nodded. "You live with your family?"
"No,"
Kiara knew why they were not here. Nobody would risk their kid's life. Anyhow, this was not the time to act on personal emotions. She knew the supply of water was different from the town. Maybe the water samples for testing were taken from the factory.
"This meeting went longer than usual," Perry said and got up, "Let me escort you to the exit. Our friend Jake must be waiting for you."
Kiara smiled and followed him. As they came out, Perry noticed something on one of the monitors. He rushed immediately towards it.
The operator explained him something that made him angry. He yelled at the operator for two minutes when he realized Kiara was waiting for him.
"I am sorry, please come," With that, he started walking towards the main door in a hurry. Kiara looked at the operator who had gone back into his world.
As soon as Kiara came out, she was taken aback by the pungent smell. She immediately covered her face. Jake was standing outside covering his face as well.
"What did you do, Perry?" he asked Perry, who to Kiara's surprise was standing as if nothing was in the air.
"One of the pipes leaked. I have closed the line. It will go away in a minute," he looked at Kiara, "It's not that bad. You will get used to it once you start working post your degree."
Jake looked at them, "We need to leave immediately or I will faint."
"You are a sissy, you know that?" Perry teased him.
Jake was not that bothered by it. He waved at him and started walking. Kiara followed suit. Perry looked at them for a moment and then went inside.
There was no talking till they crossed the main gate. Kiara removed her hand from her face. It was a lot better now. Jake looked at her and removed the kerchief.
"Wow! That was something," he said, "Talk about working in a pesticide plant. I won't survive a day."
"Oh. You would," Kiara replied, "You may lose sense of smell, though. Even that would take some years. Perry would be able to tell the exact number."
"What? Jake said with surprise, "That's why. How could I miss that?"
"Don't worry. The report will have that," she winked, "If needed, we would get Perry tested for that."
"Someone is getting deeper into her project," Jake teased her, "You will definitely get an A on your report. Maybe you would be recruited by a big chemical company."
Kiara punched him on the shoulder, "If you tease me, I won't tell you what I discovered about Chris."
"That's what I was thinking. How could Kiara forget about the case not assigned to her? That's not like her. Ok, tell me,"
"Chris is in Portland till Sunday. We need to contact him first thing tomorrow," she said.
Jake stopped for a moment, "You got that out of Perry. Does he know?"
Kiara nodded her head. Jake smiled back in admiration.
There was a momentary silence. Kiara stared at Jake.
"What?" Jake asked.
"We need to contact Chris," Kiara reminded him.
"Yeah, I know that, but how?" he said thoughtfully.
"I thought you would have found a way," Kiara asked ruefully.
"I thought a lot about it," Jake nodded in frustration, "But, nothing is coming to my mind."
Kiara grunted, "I have to do all the work."
"What's on your mind?" Jake inquired.
"I want Chris to come to Kingston. He needs to see what he has done in this town. Sarah's kidnap is also in a way because of all this mess he has created here,"
"I know how you feel about all of this. Will you tell me your plan or am I not needed?" Jake pleaded.
"Oh.. you are the one who is going to execute it," she smiled, "But, I can't tell you right now."
"Why not? You said that we need to contact him as soon as possible,"
"Look who is coming?" she pointed towards Harrison, who was walking towards them.
"What are you two arguing about?" he asked while shifting his gaze between the two.
"Nothing, Sir, "Kiara said softly, "Perry gave me this report to copy data. He is saying that the data is old."
"Let me see the report," Harrison held his hand out. Kiara handed the report and looked at Jake's face who was cursing her.
"I have seen this report," Harrison recognized the report as soon as he looked at it, "Perry is right. You have to use this report and the data looks perfectly fine. Ignore him."
With that, he gave an angry look to Jake.
"I am sorry," Jake said immediately.
"You can go now," Harrison ordered. Jake wanted to know the plan and looked helplessly as Kiara left. Kiara on the other hand was enjoying this. She walked slowly on purpose teasing him further.
"Are you coming or not?" Harrison roared, bringing Jake back from his thoughts.
Kiara heard that and covered her face with her hands to control the laugh; though she was sure she could not hold it much longer.
Jake shook his head and followed Harrison.
It took Kiara some time to settle down before she could forget Jake's face. She knew it was going to be the longest day of his life.
She splashed some water on her face and moved to the living room.
Paul must have seen her coming. He came within two minutes with the food.
Kiara had not eaten since morning and in fact the morning had started a bit early by her standards also. By now, she was famished. She forgot everything and jumped on the food.
While eating, she started thinking about her visit to the factory. It had been really fruitful. She could not have asked for more. She had made a breakthrough in her case and also she now knew for how long Chris was in Portland.
This thought brought her back to her plan. She thought about it once again. It has to work. The only risk with the plan was that if Chris visited Kingston, everyone would come to know and the captors will get alerted. Even Harrison would come to know and that would make it difficult for her to meet him.
She had to make sure that Chris gets convinced to the level that he comes alone and if possible without making any noise. Also, she had to ensure that he doesn't speak to anyone except the two of them. This was the primary reason, she hadn't told Jake about the plan. She knew the part that Jake was going to play, but she had to make her part much more convincing.
She put the dishes in the sink and was about to head towards the bedroom when her phone rang. It was Jake. She looked at her watch. He could not hold it longer than half an hour.
"Hi Jake," she said sweetly.
"Oh.. Kiara. Cut the crap. Will you?"
"What is this Jake? It's been barely half an hour that we met," she used his words against him.
Jake shook his head in anger, "You need my help or not?"
Kiara knew she had enough of the fun, "OK. I am sorry. Now listen. Can you come to my place after work? I don't want to discuss this over the phone and this may take a while too."
Jake looked around. Harrison was walking across his room. Kiara's words made him feel as if he was being watched. He shrugged the thought out of his mind.
"But, if something needs to be done today, then we may lose time?" he asked.
"Don't worry. We will start our work today. I want you to understand my plan, think it over the night. If you feel it's workable only then we will proceed. Your part is the main key,"
"Now you are teasing me again," Jake complained.
"No, I am not. You may get too excited or too angry hearing what I i
ntend to do," she said, "I want to meet you in person."
Jake nodded, "Ok, I will leave as soon as I can."
"Wait," Kiara said as he was about to disconnect.
"Yes,"
"Don't make any dinner plans. We will have dinner together," she gave it a thought, "Dinner's on me tonight."
"Are you bribing me?" he asked with a smile
"May be," she smiled back.
"OK, then see you in…. about three hours," he said while looking at his watch, "Bye."
"Bye,"
She held the phone in her hands and kept looking at it. She had three hours to firm her plan. Convincing Jake was the first step. If it fails at that level, there won't be any next level.
There was a knock at the door. Kiara looked at her watch. It was past seven-thirty.
"You couldn't have come late than this?" she said even before the door opened properly.
"Harrison won't let me leave. Perry gave another great feedback about you. If you know what he means," he justified. Kiara nodded her head and smiled at Perry's stupidity.
"Now, Harrison wants me to handle some cases as he feels that I have finally started obeying his orders,"
"Good for you," Kiara patted on his shoulder.
"Can I come inside now?"
Kiara felt a little embarrassed and got aside.
"This is for you," Jake held his hand out.
"Red Wine! Wow! I have turned you into a gentleman," she said with a wry smile.
Jake nodded his head and looked around. The room looked exact opposite of what he had seen the other day. Everything was in its place.
"And, I have turned you into a lady, I guess,"
Kiara mocked his smile and took the wine to the kitchen. Jake followed her and looked her fumble as she poured it into the glasses. She looked at him, but he did not say anything. There was a limit to his teasing, now that he had been declared a gentleman.
"So, what is this master plan of yours?" Jake asked while settling down on the couch.
"Please don't get freaked out," Kiara pleaded.
"I don't guarantee it. Let me listen to it first." He knew there was going to be some crazy idea.
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