New Legal Thriller Series

Victor hated good news. Of all the things that could go wrong, having to hear long-awaited results with a double-edged sword was the worst.

His company’s new drug had made it through years of laboratory animal and human cell experiments. The new drug had even garnered FDA approval for continued testing and research in humans. No doubt, this was exciting for Victor’s management team. No other company had a drug like this. Cancer patients would not be cured; instead, they would receive treatment without the devastating physical and psychological effects. They would have access to live a fulfilled and joyful life.

Phase one of the human clinical trial comprised a hundred paid volunteers—not a significant layout of cash over the few months it took to complete. The drug referred to as WS90001 passed without difficulty through phase one and on to phase two where the efficacy of the drug was tested. In the study—a blind trial—neither the patients nor the researchers knew who actually received the experimental drug. 

One group of patients received the real deal, and the second, referred to as the control group, received the standard treatment or a placebo. Victor, the CEO of WallSand Pharmaceuticals, had expected WS90001 to progress to phase three of the study; still, the wait had been fraught with worry. 

They were into year two of phase three, the study conducted on thousands of blinded and randomized human subjects. The wait for the results underlining the effectiveness of the drug, its benefits, and adverse reactions had been worse than the nine months he had waited for the reveal of his firstborn’s gender. He had had his fingers crossed for a boy who would be the next in line to run the company. His wife had absolutely refused to have the baby’s sex disclosed. 

He would never be held under the gun like that again. That is why he had decided to accept the meeting with Gene Michael Archer—a researcher—when he had received the encrypted email. Victor detected no threat, but the mystery wormed its way under his skin. He had no choice. He sat in the auditorium with his team ready to watch the show.

The researcher stood on the stage after he had been summoned to share his findings. From the PowerPoint presentation—page fifteen of the fifty-page study—the results stared at the top management team. Human subject number forty-two had been cured. 

A cure!

Isn’t that the news the world wants to hear?

When Victor had received the summary of the research report which he had paid handsomely to beat the FDA to, he knew the rogue researcher had been dead on with his assessment; WallSand would want this news to stay buried like those famous words, “I did not have sexual relations with that woman.”

Gene had even been so thoughtful as to mark the page announcing—cured—with a red sticker shaped like an arrow, and a question—Cured? Dollar signs with red slash marks and trickles of blood on the curves did not go unnoticed by Victor. The man had made his point in graphic detail—the future of the company would be in peril if he allowed this claim to go public. 

Victor had read it again and felt his whole world seep between his fingers. The question mark, an innocent and curious inquisition, yet it was as damming as a bullet to the head. He had to make a choice—pay the man to alter his report or let it go live.

To date, Victor had only paid the man to present his research paper to the top management team. He would listen to what they thought about the report before he would jump in bed with this guy and dump his bank account into this man’s hat. He sat alongside his team and listened to the man summarize the data and make suggestions on how to take care of the company’s problem. He had been a sly one, thorough enough to mention how the shareholders would receive this piece of news.

The shareholders. Victor groaned inwardly. That’s a whole other story in itself. They always looked for good news—information that had the potential to skyrocket the price of the stock. If any news would do it—one word—cure linked with cancer—would make the mark. 

A fucking cure! This could not be happening, Victor thought. He had inherited the company from his father who had inherited it from his father, and so it went all the way down the line. Cancer treatment drugs had been their moneymaker, and he was like the pimp keeping the drugs on task, except now one of his whores was getting out of line, running amuck, giving more to the customer than allowed. 

Wallace and Sanders Pharmaceuticals had existed for eons. First, it had been Wallace Pharmaceuticals. When his great, great, grandfather had been in danger of another company taking market share from his company, he did the next best thing—bought the rival company with stock and cash. Today, danger descended again on the company known simply as WallSand. 

Warren Sanders, President of the company, tipped-toed over, hunch-backed, head ducked, to avoid blocking out the PowerPoint. 

“What are we going to do with this news?” he asked in a harsh whisper.

Victor’s eyes rolled back in his head. How would he keep this news from his wife? She could never know. And what about the media? They would blow it up with larger-than-life headlines—Woman Cured. Cancer Cure Found. He leaned his head on the back of the black leather in disgust, eyes pinned on the ceiling. He drummed his fingers on his chin. 

His wife, Claire, has given her life to these people—raising money and volunteering. All for a cure. Now the cure has stepped up on their doorstep, and he could not let her know.

“I sure as hell am not going to run home to tell the little woman about this,” Victor growled.

“How can you hide it?” Warren asked. “She has a right to know.”

“She doesn’t. And you had better be tight-lipped about this too if you like all your perks. If this leaks out, buddy-boy, we’ll be eating peanut butter and jelly. One person supposedly cured. That’s it. We can’t be sure it’s not a fluke.”

“We’ll have them run more trials,” Warren suggested. “This is ground-breaking.”

Victor cut his eyes at Warren. “We have to bury this shit. Now.”