| General Fiction posted February 5, 2025 | Chapters: |
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Leonard Merra meets his fate
A chapter in the book The Devil Fights Back
The Devil Fights Back - Ch. 31
by Jim Wile
| Background Three intrepid women team up to conquer medical challenges. |
Recap of Chapter 30: Dana prepares a text for Leonard Merra saying that Tony Faiella (Barry Degner) completed his mission and included the audio file of the recording Tony supposedly made. She sends this to Fran, who attaches spyware to it and then forwards it on to Merra, as if it came directly from Dana. Merra’s phone is now bugged.
Cedric shows up at Marie’s apartment for his first violin lesson. Marie insists they treat it seriously with none of their usual banter. Cedric does very well at the lesson and promises to keep up his end of the bargain by practicing and being prepared. When the lesson is over, they revert to their usual routine together.
Chapter 31
Fran
It was two weeks since the installation of the spyware on Merra’s phone until we got our first significant phone call. The calls were being monitored on a daily basis by an intelligence analyst, and he picked up the following exchange between Tony Faiella (Barry Degner) and Merra:
Merra: Good work issuing the threat to Brian Kendrick, Tony. I listened to the recording you sent, and it sounds like you worked him over pretty good. Listen, I didn’t really expect this would have much effect on him, so I think we should step this up. I’m now going to want you to inflict some bodily damage on Kendrick, perhaps a broken arm or dislocated shoulder or something of that nature. Can you do that for me?
Tony: Sure. For, say, six grand dis time.
Merra: Okay, fine. Let’s see some pictures too. I want photographic evidence of what you’ve done. Just text them to Dana like you did the sound recording.
Tony: You got it, Mr. Merra.
Now I had to decide what to do about this call. I could simply take it to Judge Jezek and get an extension on the phone tap warrant, hoping to catch Merra in a more significant crime, or I could see that he’s arrested immediately, and perhaps this would dissuade Newman-Price from any further harassment efforts, knowing that the FBI was onto them.
I opted for the latter. I would never forgive myself if Merra ordered some sort of action that ended up harming Brian or his family that we weren’t able to prevent in time. The guy was clearly showing the tendency to escalate matters.
I asked my boss, Lou, if I could be the one to arrest Leonard Merra. Ordinarily, an agent in Pennsylvania would be contacted to do this, but I wanted to visit Dana, and I offered to drive my own car up there. Brian and I wouldn’t be leaving for a week or two on our trip to the Philippines, so there was adequate time. How could Lou say no after how well and quickly the Philippine mission was going?
He couldn’t and gave me the okay to do it but told me to coordinate with the FBI field office there because all legal action against Merra would take place in Pennsylvania. I promised him I would.
I first notified the Philadelphia FBI field office and told them what was happening. Since the FBI usually sends at least two agents to make an arrest, they had no problem with me being one of them. They would assign the other from their office. I told them I could arrive there at 2:00 PM tomorrow if they could have an agent ready to accompany me. They said that would be fine.
I then called Dana to let her know of the plan.
“We got the crime we were looking for off the tap on Merra’s phone.”
“Yeah, I know. Barry Degner called me after he got his instructions from Merra. I was wondering what you would do about it.”
“We’ve decided to arrest him on conspiracy and solicitation of assault charges.”
“Won’t he wonder how the FBI knew about this? Do you think he’ll put two and two together and figure out it was me who fingered him?”
“When I interrogate him, I’ll tell him we had a tap on Tony Faiella’s phone because someone had witnessed him assaulting Brian during his first supposed trip down. I think that should provide cover for you if you want to remain working there.”
“I’ll think about that. Perhaps Newman-Price will assign someone else to take over Merra’s role in this, but it’s also possible that his arrest will put them on notice that they’re now being watched, and maybe they’ll quit all this crap.”
“That’s what we’re hoping.”
“By the way,” said Dana, “I haven’t seen any sort of response from Brian yet on the article in that science magazine and all the internet buzz about it. Is he still planning to address it in some way?”
“He’s been a little busy, but he’s begun working on a written response to it. Unfortunately, he’s not at liberty to fully explain everything in the article. He can’t give details on how the formula was stolen, and he certainly can’t talk about his efforts to stop its spread. That’s top-secret information. So, he will mainly address the misinformation about Glyptophan. He’s got his legal team looking at the issue now.”
“What can they do?”
“Threaten that little magazine with libel. Brian probably wouldn’t win because it’s hard to prove a financial impact to him unless his drug is already on the market. The lawyers are hoping that by bringing a potentially very costly lawsuit against the magazine, this will serve to pressure them into issuing a retraction to the original article in exchange for dropping the suit. Then we can play the same game they did by raising a social media response to the new article.”
“That’s pretty clever, but you know retractions never carry the same weight as the initial articles.”
“That’s true, but it will be better than leaving it unanswered. He’s got to do something so that people will keep an open mind about it.”
Dana then asked me, “So, how is your other project going?”
“I can’t tell you a lot, but it’s going well and nearing the end now. I’ll be glad when it’s over.”
We ended the call by planning to meet for dinner when the arrest was all wrapped up.
I left at 6:00 AM for Philadelphia. It’s a seven- to eight-hour drive.
I arrived at the FBI field office a few minutes past 2:00 PM. While the accompanying agent drove us to Newman-Price, I filled him in on all the details behind the pending arrest. I told him this would come as a complete surprise to Merra, but I didn’t expect any kind of trouble.
Against the protestations from his secretary, we entered Merra’s office. He was seated at his desk. I said, “Are you Leonard Merra?”
“Yes. Who are you?”
I held my creds out to him and said, “FBI. I have a warrant for your arrest. Please remain calm and make no attempt to escape.”
Merra shot to his feet and looked indignant. “What is this about? What am I being charged with?”
“Conspiracy and solicitation to commit assault. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. Do you understand these rights as I’ve stated them?”
“This is ridiculous. I’ve done no such thing!”
The other agent said, “Please lower your voice and place your hands behind you so I can cuff you.”
“I will not. Get out of my office!”
I said, “Listen, Mr. Merra. I told you to remain calm. We have means of making you comply, but it would likely involve pain to you. I’d advise you to cooperate and make this much easier on yourself.”
I fixed him with a glare, and he could tell I was serious. Reluctantly he put his hands behind his back.
When we marched him out, many eyes were riveted on the procession. As we passed by the hushed, incredulous spectators, Merra said, “Don’t worry, folks. They’ve made a terrible mistake. I’m going to sue their asses for false arrest before this is over.”
As soon as we got him to the field office and processed him—mugshots, fingerprints, and the like—we headed to an interrogation room. The first words from him were, “I want to speak with my attorney,” which had the effect of stopping us from any questioning until the man arrived.
After that call to his attorney, he asked if he could get the one call he was entitled to, since the one to his attorney didn’t count as his single allowed call. Apparently unaware that this call would be legally monitored, he uttered a single sentence to the recipient: “I’m passing the baton.”
Dana
I called Barry Degner tonight to talk to him about this new job Merra had for him. “Hello, Barry.”
“Hey, Dana. I imagine your wiretap picked up a conversation between Merra and me yesterday, and that’s why you’re calling.”
“That’s right, but I wanted to let you know Merra was arrested today by the FBI. I think we can say that your part in this is done now. All I’m going to need from you is a brief report describing that phone conversation with Merra. I want to thank you for helping me out with this. You did a great job.”
“Thanks. It was kind of fun. Arrested, huh? Just what the little prick deserves. Let me know if you need any further help down the road. I have a feeling this might not be the end of it.”
“I will, and thanks again.”
 Recognized |
Fran Pekarsky: One of three narrators of the story. She is an FBI agent from the North Carolina field office in Charlotte.
Dana Padgett: One of three narrators of the story. She is the assistant marketing director for a Big Pharma company.
Brian Kendrick: Fran's younger brother. He is the inventor of Dipraxa and Glyptophan.
Julia Kendrick: Brian's wife. She is a world-class violinist who now plays in a bluegrass band.
Johnny Kendrick: Brian and Julia's baby boy and Marie's grandson.
Dr. Marie Schmidt: Julia's mother. She is the third narrator of the story.
Cedric (aka Cecil): The doorman at the apartment house where Marie lives.
Lou D'Onofrio: Fran's boss at the FBI.
Patty Mattson: A hacker friend of Fran's. The programmer on Brian's project.
Abby Payne (nee St. Claire): A girl from Dana's past, who she used to bully but has befriended during their adulthood. The mathematician on Brian's project.
Mike Pekarsky: Fran's husband. He is a DHS agent.
Leonard Merra: A vice president at the Big Pharma company where Dana works. He is in charge of stopping Glyptophan.
Steve Griffin: Dana's husband.
Barry Degner (aka Tony Faiella): Dana's friend who will act the part of a leg-breaker to attack Brian.
Judge Raymond Jezek: The district court judge in Philadelphia who grants Fran a wiretap warrant against Leonard Merra.
Picture courtesy of Imagen3-Fast
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