Fatal Dose (13 page)

“I think you’re right. We should give him these three. Vennuti is going to be looking for something credible. These reports will keep him busy for awhile. It’s a perfect diversion.”

Dennis put the three reports into a manila folder and set it aside on his desk.

“Do you have any idea how you will approach Snyder?”

“Carefully,” Mark said with a smile. Dennis showed no reaction to the attempt at humor.

“I’ll need to spend some time investigating this guy’s three families. Then I’ll probably approach him as a recruiter. I’ve used that technique before with excellent results. People like to feel that they are wanted. They usually will listen to what a recruiter has to offer, even when they have no intention of changing jobs. It’s sort of an ego thing. I make it so enticing for them that they usually let me go through the early recruiting steps. Then, once I’ve opened the door I go back to them with any dirt I’ve dug up. The next step depends on how they react to my findings. If I smell fear, they’re usually open for a deal. They generally don’t care who is behind my investigation. Mostly, they’re concerned that the truth may reach their employer, family or, in some cases, the authorities. Fear of exposure is a potent tool. I don’t actually threaten them. I just let the possibility of exposure do the work for me. It leaves the victim open to being manipulated.”

Out of the blue, Dennis asked, “What I want to know is what you are planning to do right now.”

Mark was caught off guard. He squelched the desire to reply,
Sorry if I’m being unclear. What part of my ingenious plan don’t you comprehend?
Instead he said, “Let me be more specific, then. When my fact finding is complete I will set up a meeting with Snyder under the guise of being a recruiter searching for an Assistant Vice-President of Manufacturing for a major pharmaceutical company. I have business cards with a phone number in Los Angeles. It’s for an unregistered phone. There is an email and voicemail relay service available there too. I will make the job offer enticing enough to pique his interest, even if he has no intention of job hopping. Then I will contact him for a second meeting about a week later. That’s when I will drop the bomb about what I’ve uncovered. The next step depends on how he reacts to the potential of being exposed.”

Dennis seemed satisfied with the details. He didn’t appear to be as testy as he was previously. Mark figured that he must have hit a raw nerve somewhere, perhaps because of the need to expand Marcia’s involvement with Vennuti. He wasn’t quite sure.

Mark continued, “Where we go from there depends upon how far you’re willing to take it. As I see it, he must be in a position to know about the production of the fake drugs, even if someone else is in charge of the actual processing. He is probably paid well enough to just look the other way during these runs. There is, of course, an outside chance that he is in on the operation. Either way, we can learn a lot from him if he is willing to cooperate. If he is not, he stands to lose everything. His job and his reputation are in jeopardy. These appear to be important to him. There are also the legal issues involved with trigamy. Can we offer him protection?”

“That depends. I will need to review the case with Justice before we make any commitments like that. It would have to be submitted to a review board. I want to be there when you finally confront him so I can assess the situation. Copy me on your initial three-oh-two.” Form FD-302 is a report of an interview conducted by an FBI agent with a suspect.

“Fair enough. Let me get out of here and start gathering the information about his three families. I’ll let you know the results of my initial findings. As for the other three, maybe we should set up a facade by having a couple of agents drop in on Atronen’s president, Mitchell Turner. They’ll have to check-in at the security desk, so Vennuti is bound to hear about it. That will validate any information Marcia gives him. The agents can discuss concerns the FBI has about drug crime or whatever else you want them to say. Just so long as they make an official appearance. What do you think?”

“That’s a good idea. We need to protect Marcia at all cost.”

As Mark turned to leave, Dennis said, “Good job, Mark. I think this is workable.”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Paul Snyder began his career at Atronen in November 1997 as a Production Supervisor, Midwest Division. Security checks of new employees at that time were conducted by the Personnel Department, after a fiasco with a search company that was headed into bankruptcy. The Personnel staff was ill equipped to take over the responsibility on short notice. They limited the check of an applicant’s background to a perfunctory contact of most recent employers. This type of check allowed applicants with serious flaws in their backgrounds to sail easily under the radar. That was certainly the case with Paul Snyder.

Fortunately he had exceptional organizational skills and within three years he was promoted to Production Manager. At one hundred ten thousand annually, his compensation was not commensurate with the salary customarily paid for a position with comparable responsibilities. This isn’t unusual when one moves up through the ranks. Paul’s secret life, three families and four children were a constant strain on his take-home pay. It was for this reason that Mark was certain that Paul would entertain the thought of switching jobs.

The search was designed to be for an Assistant Vice-president of Manufacturing for a Fortune 500 company. The applicant would be groomed to take over as Vice-president within three years. The offer was sweetened with a significant pay increase, stock option plan and liberal vacation and relocation policies.

Mark called Snyder at his home and spelled out some of the details. As expected, Snyder jumped at the bait. A breakfast meeting was set up for eight o’clock Wednesday morning at a suburban hotel. Mark quickly put together everything he would need, including the phony job description, the business card he would use for his recruiter persona and untraceable cell phones. He contacted the computer service in Los Angeles that he used to intercept and relay emails and phone calls. Within two hours he was positioned to launch the sting against Paul Snyder.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Marco sat across from Marcia at their usual booth in the Slip-In Saloon. He took a sip from his glass as he watched her remove a brown envelope from her bag. She pushed it across the table as he slid his envelope with the thousand dollars over to her. Never one for pleasantries, he got up, tossed a twenty on the table for the waitress and turned to leave.

“I’m glad you saw things my way. A thousand bucks is nothing to sneeze at. Are you sure this is everything?”

“Those are the only employee files with irregularities that I uncovered.”

“Well, if you get any more assignments like this, be sure to call me right away. There’s a lot more money where that came from. We can always work something out to our mutual benefit.”

Marco left first and waited until she left the parking lot before opening the envelope. The records for Michael Prendergast, William Nesbitt and Sarah Applebee were inside. As he scanned them he was impressed with the FBI’s thoroughness, but didn’t see how the FBI could benefit from the information. He already knew about Nesbitt’s fraudulent references and educational background. He decided to keep that information to himself until the need arose to use it. Nesbitt’s job performance was excellent, so why rock the boat. Marco Vennuti was capable of playing the company man. Michael Prendergast was a different story. A manager in Cost Accounting might come in handy sometime, especially one with a record of questionable practices. He decided that he would have a talk with Michael soon, to figure out how they could work together on a few production audits that were on the drawing boards.

The most intriguing of the trio, however, was Sarah Applebee, aka Sarah Egbert. If the FBI was going to contact anybody, she would certainly be the one. He would have to get to her first. He wasn’t just interested in controlling her cooperation with the FBI. He also saw in her the opportunity to have a pipeline to activities in the president’s office.

Sarah Applebee joined Atronen as supervisor of the typing pool. The performance of the pool soared under her guidance. A year later, when the president’s secretary announced her intention of becoming a stay-at-home mom, Sarah’s name was placed top of the list of possible replacements. Three interviews later, she was chosen for the job. She’s been Mitchell Turner’s secretary for the last three years.

Marco dialed her number and persuaded her to meet him at the Slip-In Saloon that evening at seven. Sarah knew him from his many visits with her boss. She knew he was single and thought that he just wanted to get to know her outside of the office. She arrived on time. She wore a pink silk blouse, blue skirt to the knees and medium height heels on matching blue shoes. Sarah had a great figure and looked younger than the thirty-five years Marco knew her to be although she may have been lying about that too, for all he knew. It was obvious by the look on her face that she was slightly uncomfortable being in such seedy surroundings. She came mostly out of curiosity about what he had to say.

She approached the booth and said, “It’s good to see you again, Mister Vennuti.”

“And you too, Ms. Applebee, or should I say ‘Ms. Egbert’?

She instantly paled and she had to reach for the table to support herself. She quickly slid into the booth. With a quivering voice she asked, “How do you know about that?”

“It’s my business to know everything about our employees. Did you really think that you could hide your transgressions from us forever? You were convicted of some pretty heavy stuff.”

“I was younger then and I got involved with a con-man. I didn’t know it at the time and when I finally found out it was too late.” She looked into Marco’s eyes. “Look, Mister Vennuti, I need my job. I paid for what I did. I went away for three years. My record has been clean since then. I’ve done a good job for Atronen.”

“Yeah! Yeah! That may well be, but nevertheless, you got your job under false pretenses. Do you think for one minute that you would have been hired if Personnel had done their job properly?”

Her eyes dropped to her hands, which were clenched in front of her on the table. Tears began streaming down her cheeks. He picked up a napkin and handed it to her. Sarah had been hired under unusual circumstances and was uncertain as to how much Vennuti knew about it. She decided to play along with Marco for now, until she knew where this was leading. “No, I don’t imagine that they would have.”

“Exactly!” The next few minutes passed silently. Marco took a sip of his scotch. “Can I get you something?”

“I’ll have whatever you’re having.” That seemed a safe call.

Marco signaled the waitress to bring two more drinks. While they were waiting, Sarah mind raced. There was no doubt that her job was in jeopardy, but if that were the case, she wouldn’t be having a discussion about it in, of all places, the Slip-In Saloon. Marco Vennuti obviously wanted something else.
I sure wish I knew what he’s after. I’m willing to give him whatever he
wants; what choice do I have if I want to keep working at Atronen? I’ll just have to wait him out. Whatever it is, I’m certainly not in any position to say no.

They sipped their drinks in silence. Finally, in desperation, Sarah asked, “So, where do we go from here? What is it that you want from me, Mister Vennuti?”

He looked at her and smiled. “That all depends on you, Sarah. I’ll be blunt. You’re a great looking woman and I want sexual favors from you. I’ve always wanted to have a woman at my beck and call with no strings attached and, of course, free of charge. If you’re as hot in bed as you look in person, you would be just perfect in that role. Now, don’t be concerned. I’m not into any of that sadistic stuff. Just straight, run-of-the-mill sex only a lot of it. I’m horny all the time. I can’t help it. It’s the way I’m made.”

Sarah wasn’t surprised by his demand. She figured that it would come down to sex or money sooner or later. Sex would be a lot better price for her to pay, if it came down to that. She ran the options through her mind.
I want to continue working at Atronen. He looks like he’d be good in the sack and he’s a nice looking man. If he’ll keep silent about my past, what do I have to lose? I’m not seeing anyone right now. Why not go along with it, at least for now?

“You don’t give me much choice, Mister Vennuti. Is that all you want?”

“Well, first you may as well get used to calling me Marco, Sarah. In addition to our arrangement, maybe you can do me a favor now and then, you being the boss’s secretary and all. In fact, there is something coming up soon, but this is neither the time nor place to discuss it. Let’s go to my apartment, where we can have some privacy. My scotch is top shelf and I’ll get a chance to try out the merchandise. You can take a cab back later to get your car.”

They left the bar and got into his car. The ride only took twenty minutes. As soon as the door to his apartment closed behind them, they were all over each other. It took only a few moments to shed their clothing. As Sarah stepped from her panties, Marco leaned over and scooped her up in his arms and carried her to the bedroom, where he dropped her down on the king-size bed.

They went at it like animals, finally falling exhausted. Sarah began to run her hands over his muscles and washboard abs and let her mind roam.
Wow!
Marco Vennuti is a sex machine. God, we must have done it three or four times. He’s the sexiest man I’ve ever gone to bed with. What was I worried about?

Marco looked down at her. “Sarah, you are one hot piece of ass. I wish we had met earlier and under better circumstances. You really turn me on.” He was thinking,
That erectile dysfunction pill I took back at the bar didn’t hurt any either. Thank god for pharmaceuticals.