Empty Promises

by Edwin Dasso

  Her knee shot up into his crotch with such force that Sara felt his breath blow across her face. He toppled to the floor, both hands cupped over his scrotum as he moaned and rolled back and forth.

  She bent down over him. “You’re a pig, Brandon! And I don’t mean because of your weight. If you tell anyone we talked, I’ll tell everybody I can think of where I got the study info. I’ll post in on work bulletin boards, on Facebook, on YouTube—everywhere!” She jabbed a finger into his shoulder. “And my guess is that would get you into some deep shit.”

  She stepped over him and shouldered her way through the crowd to the exit and rushed down the dark sidewalk outside. She burst into tears as memories of suffering a similar experience back in Turkey at the hands of her father’s henchman, Kasim, flooded her thoughts. She’d let him grope her so she could steal the key to Jack’s cell. If she hadn’t given Jack food and medical attention, he might not have survived his kidnapping. Though she hated the memory of Kasim, she’d never regretted helping Jack and was hell-bent on doing it again.

  “I think I love you, Jack Bass,” she muttered, walking into the night.

  Chapter 26

  Late That Night

  Sara twisted a lock of hair around her finger as she sat at her home desk, pondering going onto the dark-web site Brandon had given her. She knew nothing of this place but assumed it was called “dark” for a reason. A place where people with sinister secrets lurked. She worried that, somehow, someone would discover her probing and hunt her down.

  “Relax, Sara—you’ve been in worse places,” she mumbled.

  She took a deep breath and hit the “enter” key then quickly navigated to the site Brandon had made her memorize. The landing page was a file directory containing many emails, some with data attachments and other links.

  “I’ll give you this much, Brandon—your website is well organized.”

  She dug in, working her way through the emails first, hoping they might guide her to the details she sought.

  “Well, ain’t that all just special,” she said sarcastically after she’d spent several hours examining Brandon’s website. “Another group of greedy people who want to make money at the expense of others.” She threw her pen onto the notepad that sat on her desk then slammed her laptop closed. “Others they’re supposed to be helping.”

  She’d found the records of the drug study she’d been looking for and had made copious notes by hand, not downloading anything for fear doing so might bring attention to her being on the site. It was, after all, supposed to be a secret site. She leaned back in her chair and sighed loudly as she rolled her head around to work some kinks out of her neck.

  The drug being tested appeared to be a new form of opioid with a chemical name of supracentyl. Any powerful narcotic was going to have risks, but the number of test subject deaths in the study group shocked her. She ran her finger down a spreadsheet list of study subject names, reviewing the official causes of death. Most cases had no cause listed, but a few stated “cardiac arrest.”

  “And no record anywhere of an FDA submission for the study!” She shook her fists in the air. “These clowns knew they’d never get past FDA oversight—so the bastards just circumvented it!”

  The emails she’d read seemed to indicate that a lead clinical researcher at a facility where testing had been underway had gotten uncomfortable with the high fatality rate. He’d actually insisted the study be cancelled at his site. Not long after that demand, she could not find any further emails from that individual. She was unable to determine if he’d just quit working on the study, stopped working at the VA, or… if something else had happened.

  “I should check on the email system at work tomorrow to see if he’s still listed as a VA employee.” She scribbled a quick note on her pad. “If he’s gone, that will be the second research lead that seems to have disappeared after asking to cancel the study.”

  She pulled a calculator from a desk drawer and did a quick calculation on the reported death rate for study subjects.

  She was shocked to find a thirty-five percent death rate for study subjects, even more when she read the research lead’s emails that stated eighty percent of the deaths appeared to have actually been suicides. She slapped her palm against her forehead. No wonder he wanted to cancel the study—almost a quarter of the test subjects killed themselves! She thought about her next move briefly then gathered up her notes.

  “I’ve got to get this info to General Smithson!”

  Chapter 27

  Two Days Later

  Smithson scowled at Sara’s Skype image on his laptop.

  “Sara, this is very helpful, but I can’t say I’m happy with you at the moment.”

  “I’m sorry…but I can’t not help…”

  Smithson nodded then ran his fingers through his hair.

  “Yeah…sometime soon, we need to have another talk about that.” He looked away from the screen and picked up a sheaf of papers he’d printed. “But first, I guess we should talk about what you sent me.”

  “I’m going to put more up on the screen now,” she said. “Please take a few minutes to look at them, too.”

  Smithson worked his way through the notes she’d just sent, occasionally furrowing his brow and sneaking quick glances at Sara’s image on the screen.

  “You fuckers!” he snarled. He pushed the pile of papers aside and turned his gaze to Sara’s image. “They knew they were killing people, and they still didn’t stop!” He slammed a fist on his desk. “That’s nothing but cold-blooded murder! And these vets were just looking for some help…”

  “I know. It’s terrible!”

  “Is this everything you have?” he asked tersely.

  “Yes. There may be more, but I thought this was enough to paint a pretty clear picture of what’s happening. Plus…I got nervous about spending too much time on that site—it gave me the creeps.”

  “Understood.” He jabbed a finger at her. “Don’t go back! I worry there may already be a trail back to you. Just forget you ever saw this stuff, Sara. I’ll never tell anyone where it came from…especially not Jack.”

  “Thank you for that.” She cast her eyes downward. “I don’t think he’d be too happy with me if he knew.”

  Smithson frowned and grunted. “That’s an understatement.”

  Sara was silent for several seconds. “So…what do you think? What will you do next?”

  “If I was younger, I’d go visit some people at a few of these VA centers and ream their asses!” Smithson huffed. “But for now, I’m going to settle for calling some old army medical corps contacts. See if they can help me get connected with someone at the VA Biomedical Laboratory Research and Development. I couldn’t get through before, but now, I need to know if anyone there is aware of this study…or the real results.”

  “I got the impression there’s a lot of false documentation flying around about this study,” Sara stated.

  “Agreed. The folks I know at the VA wouldn’t have any part of something like this. Either there are some big payoffs being made at some level,” he peered intensely into her eyes, “or something more sinister. That’s why I want you to stay completely away from this.” He again jabbed a finger at the screen. “And I’m serious about that! You’ve already been through enough shit in your life…and you’ve got Sasha to raise.”

  “Yes…I do,” she muttered as she averted her gaze briefly. “This supracentyl sounds like a pretty potent narcotic, doesn’t it?”

  “Yeah, too potent.”

  “I also find it interesting that this Pharmadosh company hasn’t even been a major producer of narcotics before. I wonder what’s changed?” Sara mused.

  “I noticed that.” Smithson put a finger to his lips. He thought back to the information Jack had shared with him about the contract proposal from Pharmadosh to the VA system. “And I think I’m starting to understand. I’m going to explore them. I’ll see what I can uncover about this drug, supracentyl, too—I’ve never heard of
it before.”

  He tapped the pile of papers he’d printed. “You didn’t say how you got hold of this information. I’m no tech guy, but from what I’ve heard, these dark-web sites are almost impossible to find by just searching.” He leaned closer to his computer, tilting his head and arching an eyebrow as he gazed intently at her.

  Sara blushed, darting her eyes about as she avoided Smithson’s penetrating stare.

  “Sara! Jack told me what you put up with from your captor over in Turkey—you better not have done what I think you did! You don’t need to expose yourself to that sorta shit!”

  “But innocent people are dying!”

  “I understand that, but Jack and I can find things without you putting yourself in that sort of situation. It’s just too risky for you!”

  Sara mumbled something under her breath.

  “What? I didn’t catch that.”

  “Nothing—I didn’t say anything.”

  Smithson sighed loudly. “I appreciate your help, but let me and Jack take it from here. And I mean it! Okay?”

  She turned her eyes slowly to the floor. “I suppose…”

  Chapter 28

  Next Day

  Jack growled occasionally as he read through the notes Smithson had given him, occasionally balling his hands into fists. Jack threw the papers down on the kitchen table and turned to Smithson.

  “Where’d you say you got this stuff?” Jack asked, suspicious.

  Smithson stared at the coffee mug sitting in front of him, running a finger slowly around the brim. “I didn’t,” he mumbled.

  Jack rolled his eyes. “George—I don’t want to play games. I’m just wondering where you got this.”

  Smithson crossed his arms over his chest and stared at Jack. “I’ve got my sources.”

  “And?”

  “And you don’t need to know them.”

  Jack huffed. “Are they credible?”

  “Yes—very. You might even say you’d be willing to put your life in their hands.”

  Jack’s furrowed his brow deeply, and he slid back in his chair, staring at Smithson. “What the hell’s that supposed to mean?”

  “Nothing. Forget I said it. Just take my word that the source is credible.” Smithson locked eyes with Jack. “More importantly, what are we going to do with the information?”

  Jack sat silently for several seconds. “I think we need to go visit these VA facilities where the studies were being done. See if we can figure out who knew what.”

  Smithson nodded and smiled. “I was hoping you’d say that. I’ve already looked for some flights.”

  Jack smiled at Smithson. “I guess I must be getting a little predictable in my old age, eh?”

  As Jack sat at his home office desk later that day, he cross-referenced the notes from Smithson against his prior research then shoved the papers aside and closed his laptop. What had caught his eye in his initial research was the fact that there seemed to be concentrated pockets of deaths of veterans in a few cities where there were large VA facilities. These facilities were large enough that Jack knew they likely had clinical research projects underway.

  “Good or bad, I think this little mystery is starting to clear up,” he said glumly.

  Chapter 29

  Three Days Later

  “Thank you for coming by, General Smithson, Dr. Bass,” Fred Garrison, a facility director of VA research, said politely. He stood and guided Drs. Bass and Smithson to the door of his office. “I’m glad you found our research so interesting.”

  Jack and Smithson exchanged a quick glance then turned and left the office without responding.

  Garrison watched them for a few seconds as they moved down the hall then hurriedly ducked back into his office, closing and locking the door. He rushed to his desk and snatched up his phone, dialing frantically.

  “Director Garrison, so nice to hear from you,” Schanlon said sarcastically when he answered. “Even though I told you never to call me on your office line.”

  “I don’t care!” Garrison shot back. He glanced quickly at his office door then glared at his phone. “I just finished a meeting with two ex-army doctors. Do you want to hear what they were asking about?”

  “I don’t have time to play twenty questions—why don’t you cut the crap and just tell me?”

  “They were supposed to be here to discuss general information about veteran-related studies.” He slid to the edge of his chair. “But they mentioned supracentyl!”

  “What? How the hell did they find out you were doing a study on that? All that data was buried on the dark web!” He was silent a few seconds. “What the fuck did you let slip?”

  “Nothing! I have no idea what they might know—or how they found it! They didn’t really pursue it any further—just kinda slipped supracentyl-related deaths into the conversation. Like they wanted me to know they knew about it. I could tell they were watching me closely to see how’d I’d respond.”

  “That’s not good!”

  “I know! I’m already nervous enough about this study because of all of the deaths…and now details that were supposed to be secure have surfaced! I’m out! I’m shutting down the study—”

  “Whoa, Hoss—you won’t do shit unless I say so.” He snorted. “What is it with you pussies at these VA hospitals? A few deaths and you’re all ready to cut and run. If a few vets die during the study, I could care less.”

  “I don’t know about anybody else, but I’m not going to jail for you!”

  “If you do, you do—you took the money,” Schanlon said flatly. “And I have records of that. Just remember—we don’t get the VA deal, you don’t get the big payout. You can’t back out now.”

  “Yes, I can. I’ll send the money back—I can’t spend it in jail!”

  “I would not be happy with that—there could be consequences…”

  “What?” Garrison scoffed, “You’re threatening me, now? You couldn’t do anything worse to me than throwing me in jail.”

  “You might be surprised,” Schanlon growled.

  “Fuck you! I’m done! I’m deleting all the records.” Garrison slammed down the phone and spun to his keyboard, furiously typing in the dark net URL.

  * * *

  Smithson and Jack strolled through the hospital lobby toward the exit.

  “Was your bullshit meter in the red?” Jack asked Smithson.

  “Yep…off the charts. We didn’t ask directly about Pharmadosh or the study but that guy still acted very nervous—I thought he was going to shit himself when you mentioned the supracentyl-related deaths.”

  Jack snickered. “He did act guilty as hell.”

  “My guess is, he knows something. Maybe he’s even directly involved.” Smithson stopped and turned to Jack. “We should keep an eye on him…maybe nose around here a little more.”

  Jack nodded. “My sentiments exactly.”

  Chapter 30

  Next Day

  Jack finished typing then reviewed his entry on the Moneystream Consumer Healthcare blog. He knew he was walking a fine line—technically, Pharmadosh might be able to file a libel suit—but he felt compelled to bring some public attention to his concerns about the supracentyl studies. He was hoping he could bring attention to Pharmadosh’s lapse of R&D ethics without getting the VA sucked into a quagmire that might interfere with veterans’ healthcare. His assumption at this point was that it was just a few bad apples in the barrel rather than a systemic VA issue.

  His blog note did, however, mention a concern about the possible use of hapless vets as guinea pigs for unapproved studies, putting them at undue risk. His plan was to sequentially release additional details until he got some attention or action from a federal agency. Maybe spook people at Pharmadosh. He’d just keep exposing the scandalous facts, eventually reporting details of all of the study-related deaths if that’s what it came to.

  He nodded in approval and hit the “submit” button.

  Jack was sitting in his bed later that night, abso
rbed in some online research and was startled by the chirp of his phone when he got a text. His friends knew he was old-school, and he rarely received texts from anyone except Amanda. Thinking it was her, he excitedly snatched his phone from the nightstand, confused when he saw the message. His mouth dropped open as he read.

  Dr. Bass, you are nothing but a disturbed malcontent who was thrown out of the army for cowardice. U looking for revenge against the VA?

  Jack looked at the number but didn’t recognize it. He growled as he typed out a response, mashing his index finger against the screen of his phone.

  Who the fuck is this?

  Carvin Schanlon. CEO of Pharmadosh. The company you’re slandering in your stupid, little blog posts.

  Jack lifted the phone above his head, ready to smash it against the wall. He lowered it slowly and stabbed at the screen.

  Are you the asshole behind the illegal studies of supracentyl?

  I’m not an asshole. But, yes, that is our drug.

  And your illegal studies???

  Not illegal. All study subjects are volunteers and have had full disclosure of risks.

  Bullshit! Obviously, you’ve got my number. Call me so we can talk instead of this chickenshit texting.

  No! You’re not in the army anymore—you don’t give the orders. I do!

  Most people giving orders are brave enough to talk.

  I’m tired of your drivel. Do you have a Twitter account?

  No

  You might get one—your name is going to be all over it.

  What’s that mean?