Jim decided to double check with Bob and he pretty much confirmed what Terry had told him. Bob was no fool; he knew that his future was directly linked to Terry rather than Ashton. Terry was in charge of the developmental lab and disputing him could lead to a short career at DigitCom.
The problem with lies is that they tend to grow and it is often difficult to remember the details. Terry knew it was just a matter of time and that nothing they had done so far had isolated and corrected the problem so he had started to look for someone that might be interested in buying them out.
A contact in the State Department had put him in touch with Aikimoto Limited. Initial meetings proved fruitful and soon Terry had ordered the Chief Financial Officer, Joan Cole, to supply Aikimoto with documentation and financial information.
Terry held a series of meetings with Jim to convince him that it was time to sell the company. Jim wanted nothing to do with it but Terry relentlessly pursued the matter until finally Jim said he would consider it if the offer was just too good to pass up.
Ashton still had full faith that the Millennium 3 would make DigitCom a world leader in high-end computer hardware. Finally a face-to-face meeting with the principals was arranged and Mr. Aikimoto made his offer. It was immediately after the meeting with Aikimoto Limited that the extent of the problem with the chip was realized.
Jim had been upset with both Bob Spitzer and Terry. He felt that they had deliberately deceived him regarding the seriousness of the problem. He no longer felt that he could trust Bob and believed that he had probably misled Terry in the severity of the problem. He had known Terry too long to believe that he would intentionally lie to him.
He had talked it over several times with Stephanie and she felt that Terry must have been misled as well. He was somewhat surprised that she felt the same way Terry did about selling DigitCom. She had never taken much interest in the way the company was progressing as long as she had enough money to do as she pleased.
Lately things had not been as smooth and she had been forced to cut back on spending. She was aware that the success of DigitCom hinged on this revolutionary new product that Jim constantly talked about.
Dark clouds were on the horizon and they could lose everything. She began to put subtle pressure on Jim to at least consider a proposal if one was made. He reluctantly agreed, if the proposal was good enough.
He was still concerned that he had little faith in Spitzer and it was that mistrust that led him to have Linda Taylor go into the field and see if she could isolate the problem. He had considered telling Linda of his distrust of Bob but in the end, decided that it would be best if she went without any bias.
****
Ashton left for work in his rented car. He had expected the FBI to provide him with a replacement while his was impounded but found that was not the case. It was just another irritant to deal with. He held a brief meeting with the lab people, but nothing new had been forthcoming. Terry had been civil but distant so Jim was somewhat surprised when he came by his office and wanted to talk.
“Hi Terry. What’s up?” he asked after Terry had taken a seat.
“We need to decide what we are going to do about the ransom money. We only have eight days left according to what you told the FBI. That doesn’t give us much time. Nelson called me and said he was coming by in a couple of hours and wanted to know what we had come up with.”
“I know. He told me the same thing. I thought we might go over our options when he got here,” Jim said.
“Our options? What options? Do you know something I don’t know? I hate to seem obtuse, but I don’t see many options to discuss,” Terry said pointedly.
“I just meant, they may have some new information to consider,” Jim said.
“I don’t understand you anymore. Really I don’t. You’re sitting here grasping at straws while our wives are missing. We have only one remote chance of getting them back and that means coming up with ten million dollars. I don’t know about you, but the only thing I can think of is getting to Aikimoto and seeing if I can somehow salvage the deal,” Terry said heatedly.
“I’m not saying you’re wrong. I just think we should wait until we know everything. Nelson said that you should contact him in case it became necessary and I agree,” Jim said, trying to calm Terry back down.
“Just don’t try to fight me on this. Not this time. This is no longer about your ego, this is about rescuing our wives,” Terry warned him.
Jim started to say that it was never about ego but figured that it would be lost on Terry in the condition he was in. Terry had never been as stable mentally so it was no surprise to Jim that he was having a harder time controlling his emotions.
“Terry, I don’t want to fight with you on this. There is enough going on without us going at it. Of course I’ll sell if that’s what it takes to get them back. I have gone over the proposal from Aikimoto twenty times and it looks fine. I wish we were getting a lot more but that is secondary now. Have our lawyers get together and draw up the necessary agreements,” Ashton replied.
“All right then. I want to get on the phone to Aikimoto. They may not even be interested any longer. Japanese companies don’t like a lot of adverse publicity,” Terry said, starting to calm down somewhat.
“Terry you do what you think is right. I’ll go along as long as they don’t change the initial offer. It isn’t what I want but this isn’t just about me. It’s about all of us. Get the papers to me as soon as you can so I can look them over and we can start digging our way out of this,” Ashton said, resigned to the fact that their backs were against the wall and they had no other options.
“I’ve already started on it. I knew you would eventually come to the same conclusion I did when this first started. You were always the dreamer. You think you can figure a way to beat the odds somehow. Maybe that’s why it has worked so well for DigitCom. Your wild optimistic enthusiasm coupled with my cautious skepticism. Optimism will not get our wives back this time. Cold hard cash is what we have to have now,” Terry said as he was leaving.
Ashton just sat there. There was really nothing more to say. Everything they had worked for was going to go down the drain and there was nothing he could do about it. Terry was right, the only thing important now was getting their wives back safely. His thoughts were interrupted by the intercom.
“Mr. Ashton,” Martha said.
“Yes?”
“Line three. It’s Linda Taylor.”
He immediately answered the phone, “Linda. I was hoping you would call. Where are you now?”
“Houston. At one of the JPL facilities,” she told him. The Jet Propulsion Labs had been an enthusiastic beta program tester for some time and always wanted the latest upgraded hardware.
“I sure hope you have something encouraging. It has been a rough week,” he told her.
“I heard about your wife on the news. Should I come back?”
“Heavens no. I appreciate your concern but there is nothing you can do for me now except find out what the problem is with the Millennium3. Any progress?” he asked.
“Well, that’s why I called. I may have found something but it doesn’t make a lot of sense to me,” she said hesitantly.
“Go on. Let’s have it. What did you find?” he quickly asked.
“I pulled the chips from both Berkley and here and put them under a microscope. Like I said, what I am finding doesn’t make a lot of sense to me,” she told him.
“Go on. What is it?”
“Both look like they may have been altered. I can’t be sure yet but something isn’t right. I need our testing equipment and programs to be sure,” she said.
“How could that be? Didn’t you tell me that you personally checked each chip and ran the final diagnostics program?” he asked.
“Yes. I did. I checked each of these chips. I checked the numbers to be sure. I don’t have an explanation and that’s why I am so hesitant to tell you now,” she confessed.
“Okay, okay. How
could they be altered? Could someone in the field have done it?” he asked, trying to think of a logical reason.
“I guess anything is possible but why would they do it? It doesn’t seem very logical to me. If it was an isolated problem then maybe I could see it, but we have a dozen places reporting similar problems,” she said.
“After you check each chip what happens next?”
“I fill out the spec report and note any deviations, if they exist, then I compare them against the allowable standards. If they are within tolerances, they are placed back in the sterile container,” she told him.
“And then what happens?” he asked.
“I give them, along with the variance report, to Bob and he determines which chip goes to which beta tester. Once that is done, they are packaged and sent out,” she reported.
“And they were within specs when you saw the chips last?” he asked.
“Of course they were, I would not have passed them otherwise,” she replied insistently.
“Alright, here is what I want you to do. I want you to go and retrieve the chips from everyone who has reported a problem. I don’t want you to let them out of your sight. You are to bring them back directly to me. No one, and I mean no one, is to know about this just yet. I want to see what you have firsthand. Do you understand?” he said.
“Yes, but Mr. Ashton, it will take me a good week or longer to get all the chips back. They are scattered all over the place. It is going to cost a small fortune to change tickets and buy counter fares,” she said.
“I know, but it is vital that you get those chips and get them back here,” he insisted.
“I agree. We need to look at them under our micron scope and see if they really have been altered. I don’t see how, but it would explain a lot. I’ll get started today and I’ll call you after I have the last chip,” she said.
“Thanks Linda, and good work. I knew I was sending the right person,” he said, hanging up the phone.
Jim sat there in his office for quite a while trying to sort out what all of this meant. Only a few people could be responsible for such an act.
Bob Spitzer was his first thought but he knew it could be almost any one of the other lab people. He needed to find out everyone that had any possibility of handling the chips once Linda passed them for placement it the field.
He sat in his office, trying to think of a logical answer and exactly what he should do next. Who was involved and who could he trust? He decided there was nothing he could really accomplish until Linda got back with the chips and they had a chance to really check them out. Maybe it wasn’t as sinister as it seemed he thought as his optimism kicked in once again.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Agent Nelson was going over Petty’s report when his phone rang.
“Hey Pete, it's Dave at the lab. You got a second?” David Starkel at the forensic lab asked.
“I always have time for you. What ya got?” he asked.
“We finished with the Larkins car. Not much to report. We matched some hair in the car interior to the brush we took from his home. Carla Larkins fingerprints are in the car, both front and back. Other than that there isn’t a lot. One other small thing. Some of the road dirt from the wheel wells is from out in the country, not the city,” he said.
“Nothing suspicious then?” Nelson asked.
“Not really. The trunk was very clean. Almost too clean but then maybe he never used it much. Do people carry ordinary stuff in a Jag?” David said.
“Nah. They are usually sitting in the repair shop, waiting for parts,” Nelson kidded, “What about Ashton. Since you started with Larkins I am guessing you have a surprise for me.”
“Actually his car was much the same. His wife’s hair and finger prints are there for sure but we did find one unusual thing,” he said, letting the suspense build.
It was a game they played to keep things interesting.
“Let me guess. You found Carla Larkins blood in the trunk of his car,” he said.
“Hey. Not bad, but wrong. Actually, we found what appears to be a wedding ring down in the tunnel that houses the spare tire,” he said.
“Whose?” Nelson asked.
“We don’t know for sure but I doubt if it’s Stephanie Ashton’s. From the description you gave us she would have much larger hands and this ring is very small. It’s size 5 1/2. It belongs to a smaller person,” he told Nelson.
“More like Carla Larkins; is what you’re saying?”
“That would be my guess. It would certainly be consistent with her physical size,” he said.
“But you don’t know for sure?” Nelson asked.
“Well maybe the initials CAL on the inside of the band might have given me a clue,” he laughed, dropping his last bomb.
“If I didn’t love you so much I would hate you Starkel. Thanks pal. I owe you again. Anything else?”
“Not really. You might tell him he needs an oil change,” David said hanging up the phone.
Things were really starting to pile up against James Ashton, Nelson decided. It wouldn’t take much more before he decided to charge him. He called in Agent Petty and told him of the latest findings. Petty wanted to go arrest him on the spot but Nelson told him it wasn’t time.
He would make another mistake soon enough and then they would nab him. Petty still thought they should do it now. He had been monitoring all phone calls to and from Larkins' and Ashton’s houses.
Larkins had received a number of calls of support and sympathy about Carla. Ashton, on the other hand, had received few calls, which made him distrust the man even more. At least if they had him in custody they could go to work on him and hopefully break him. The sooner they did that, the sooner they would get the two women back, if they were still alive.
****
Carla had started to lose all touch with reality. She could no longer determine if she was actually awake or dreaming. She had been kept constantly blindfolded and time meant nothing any longer.
She had tried to work her shackles loose but it was hopeless. For a while she used mental exercises to keep her mind sharp but after a while she started to give up.
Even the food she received was always the same. A cold ham and cheese sandwich and water or sometimes tea. She was sure they were doing that so she couldn’t figure out what time of day it was and keep track somehow.
They were wasting their effort; she no longer cared. She had not had a bath since she had been taken and she could feel that her hair was matted and greasy. She could feel a layer of dust and grit on her skin. She had called out a great deal at first but now she didn’t bother.
The times she had been allowed to talk to Stephanie were getting further and further apart. Stephanie’s voice had been like a prayer answered when she first heard it but it saddened her as well, because it meant they were both in the same desperate situation. The small talk had helped keep her spirits up and it was comforting despite their predicament.
Stephanie seemed so strong and Carla desperately wished she could be more like her. She had not taken well to her at first. Stephanie’s physical beauty and strong independence was somehow a threat but as time went on she came to admire those qualities. Stephanie was always involved in something exciting and new, while Carla had a tendency to stay at home and be more domestic.
She did like Jim Ashton a great deal but he was just not her type for many reasons. He was far too much of a risk taker and dreamer. She wanted stability and that was not Jim’s forte. Stephanie seemed to thrive on it however, and it seemed they had a good marriage. She was happy in her marriage as well for the most part.
Terry had started changing about a year ago, only slightly at first, but now he was a lot different. He seemed more distant now and was home far less. Of course the new secret computer chip they were working on was occupying a great deal of Terry’s time but it seemed to be more than just that. He was much later getting home than ever before and other small things started to change. His clothes style had
always been so regimented and now he was far more casual.
For the first three years he wore a suit and tie to work every day. Now he hardly ever put a suit on. He changed his hairstyle and even started going to a health club to tone up and trim down.
At first she was enthusiastically supportive. It would be good for his health, she reasoned, but after a while, it became an obsession with him. He was up to three and sometimes four times a week. He looked the healthiest he had ever looked since they had met back in college. Also, he never seemed to have an interest in anything sexual with her these days.
A brief conversation she had with one of her girlfriends who was going through a divorce caused alarm bells to go off in her head.
“I’m so sorry about Mike and you,” she had said, offering her condolences.
“I should have seen it coming. I can’t believe how dumb I was,” her friend replied.
“How could you know? You can’t blame yourself for this,” Carla told her.
“You’re wrong. I can. I think I knew it sometime ago but I turned a blind eye rather than facing up to it. Now look what I am left with. Maybe I could have done something to change it if I would have only tried,” the woman said bitterly.
“You’re blaming the wrong person. You didn’t do anything wrong. Mike is the one who caused all of this,” Carla protested.
“I let it happen. I saw the changes in him but I just stood there with my eyes closed and let it happen.”
After that conversation Carla began to re-evaluate the changes in Terry. The seed of doubt had been inadvertently planted in Carla’s mind and was about to take root.
She started questioning Terry about his hours and where he went. He became defensive and they fought more. On more than one occasion they had gone to sleep in separate rooms because of disagreements they had.
The distance between them grew and often they would go days with only the minimum being said. They seldom did anything together any longer. They used to go hiking or on weekend getaways together. Now they mostly went their separate ways.
Finally, Carla had come right out and asked him, “Are you having an affair?”
Avarice or Innocence (JOHN LOGAN FILES Book 1) Page 11
