She nodded, glad that he did not appear to immediately close off.
“Well, the loophole that allowed that to happen has been closed off. He was responsible for sending specially packaged pharmaceuticals over to the sales department. Unchecked on my end, I might add—which got my hand slapped—and then unchecked on Sally’s end, gaining her a hand slap as well. Terry would simply divide the packages so that Beth received more than her allotment and a new hire received less, not realizing the discrepancy.”
As she stood to leave, she shook his hand with enthusiasm. “Mr. Cook, thank you so much for meeting with me. This was… well, what I was hoping for.” Walking out, she was amazed at how easy it had been for Beth to have extra drugs to sell illegally and hoped Niles was right about the loophole being closed.
Kimberly sat at her desk in the marketing department, typing up her notes. Not wanting to miss anything, she included notes from the vice presidents and department supervisors but spent most of her energy on her interview with Tammy and some of the others in the warehouse.
When she made an appointment to talk to someone in Pharmaceutical Development, she specifically mentioned she was interested in the opioids that Kilton Pharma produces. She was thrilled to have received an email setting that up for the afternoon. Easy office work in the morning, a chance to find out more about the opioids in the afternoon, and a dinner date with Kyle this evening. She couldn’t remember the last time she was this excited about her day.
“If you grin any wider, I think your face is going to split,” Marcus said.
Lost in thought, she jumped at his words, her head whipping around to see him grinning just as widely. “I’m just having a good day.”
“Obviously! You want to confess what’s got you so happy?”
“Once I stopped interviewing the higher-ups at Kilton, I’ve had more interesting interviews with regular employees. And it’s made me want to write more for the e-magazine I freelance for. Marcus, it’s so much more exciting to me than what I’ve been doing here.” Glancing around to see if anyone else was listening, she added, “And I’ve got a date tonight.”
“Damn, I can’t remember the last time you went on one of those.”
“Tell me about it!” Shrugging, she turned back to her laptop. “Hence, my good mood.” By lunchtime, she’d finished typing her notes, sending them to her personal email so that she would be able to look at them anytime.
She grabbed her backpack and made sure her notebook and pens were inside. Pulling out a granola bar, she tossed a wave to Marcus and said, “Dr. Chen has arranged for me to visit the research and development area this afternoon.”
With his goodbye following her as she left, she munched on her granola bar as she walked along the sidewalk between the various buildings of the pharmaceutical compound. The research and development building was near the production plant, and she planned on touring and talking to some of the production members soon.
Entering, she signed in with the guard and was soon met by an assistant who led her into the bowels of the building, past many glass windows overlooking the research area. Everyone was dressed in full personal protection equipment: booties on their feet, jumpsuits covering their clothing, masks, goggles, head covering, and, of course, gloves.
The assistant left her in a small conference room, telling her that Dr. Chaudra would be in to speak to her shortly. She pulled out her notebook and quickly began jotting notes of her impressions so far. The building was pristine, not a speck of dirt to be found anywhere. She described the employees in their PPE and the workstations she had seen.
The door opened and Dr. Chaudra walked in. A wide smile on her face, she stuck her hand out in greeting. “I’m Dr. Sahana Chaudra. It’s nice to meet you.”
Both women settled at the table, and Kimberly immediately dove into her subject. “I know you’re extremely busy, and I’m thrilled you agreed to meet with me. I’m more than willing to hear anything you have to tell me about the pharmaceutical research, but I also wondered if we could speak specifically about fentanyl.”
Dr. Chaudra nodded, not giving any outward expression of surprise or irritation. Instead, she inclined her head politely and said, “Of course. It was originally developed as an opioid pain medication. Opioid, of