All of my love to Dragonmaster65 who betas for me and puts up with all of my misuse of commas and run along sentences.

Thank you to everyone who read, followed and favourited my story. A BIG thank you to all who left reviews.

Courtney (Greywolf) I have a surprise for you here- something we discussed the other day

Chapter 7

"We cleared my whole schedule for a meeting with a shareholder?" Michael Emerson asked his manager of risk management, Jake Patridge. They were at his personal office going over his calendar.

"Guy isn't just a shareholder. He bought 82 million shares in the last forty eight hours. He now owns 8% of our stock," Jake responded.

"What is this about a reporter?" Emerson adjusted his tie. He was not happy about this sudden change in his schedule.

"Mr. Ranella insists she is with him. And we may want to wheel the old man in here for a minute to press the flesh," Jake suggested. He was always making suggestions that he thought would make a good impression for the board of directors. This would be a solid opportunity for coverage of the new, wealthy investor.

Emerson was wary of the exposure they had received in light of James Obler's murder and this seemed like a positive coverage so he nodded and then picked up his telephone to connect to the receptionist. "See them in personally," he ordered.

Within a few seconds the door to Michael Emerson's office opened and in walked the receptionist, Ranella, and the reporter.

"Mr. Ranella, Miss Shaw." Emerson shook hands with them. "Mike Emerson, pleasure to meet you," he greeted.

Steve pressed a small box onto Emerson's hands, "From my time in Switzerland, I have learned never to go to business meetings empty handed"

Upon opening the box, Emerson's eyes widened. It was an expensive watch. Ranella sure was throwing a lot of money around. Hopefully the man didn't think he'd be so easily swayed into whatever direction he was certain Ranella would now try to push the company in. "That is quite generous. Thank you," he said smoothly.

He turned his attention to the young woman now. "Thank you again for allowing me to sit in on your talks," Miss Shaw said.

"We haven't invited the press yet to talk about Bryonia. You would be the first one. I am a little impressed with your resourcefulness of coming in with one of our huge investors," Emerson admitted

"When you are in a position where competition is fierce, a little resourcefulness is rather rewarding," she said honestly.

He put the watch on his desk and then turned back to his visitors. "Before we get down to brass tacks, would you care for a tour of our facilities?"

Both of them nodded. Emerson led the way chatting with Steven and Jake. He paused when he realized that the reporter had drifted behind. "Where is Miss Shaw?" he asked.

Callie came up suddenly, settling her bag on her shoulder. "I have to tell you that the view from your office is just spectacular. How do you get any work done? I would be looking out all day," she rambled cheerfully.

Emerson resisted the urge to exchange a look with Jake. He said a little icily, "I hardly notice the view Ms. Shaw but I am glad you like it. Shall we?"

They walked into a corridor with a series of smaller labs where one could see the researchers in white coats working. Emerson opened a lab and ushered everyone inside. There were three people working there, one of whom immediately greeted their COO. The others looked up briefly before returning to their work.

"What we like to focus on is what people really need – Pain relief," Jake said.

"I can certainly attest to that," Steven replied.

"Your company reached a 20% market share last year in that sector, didn't you? And that's only going to rise with the launch of Bryonia," Miss Shaw spoke from Steven's side. She'd taken the older man's arm when they entered the lab.

"You have certainly done your homework on us Ms. Shaw. And yes, our new drug is going to be revolutionary. It has been FDA approved recently and we hope it will bring us global exposure," Emerson said as he beamed at them.

"That sounds like a higher return on my investment," Steven smiled. It was exactly the reaction Emerson had hoped to get from him.

Emerson continued speaking as they walked through the various sections of labs on the R&D level. "Most drug companies allot a higher percentage of their spending money on advertisement rather than research, not us. We allocate nearly 45% of our capital spending on research and development."

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Callie nodded along. Frank always went on and on that research and development played a critical role in the innovation process. It was essential to a company that wants to better its future capabilities through new products, processes, and services.

As they climbed down the stairs after finishing the tour, a robust looking gentleman in his 60s was waiting for them. He extended one hand to Steven, saying "Mr. Ranella? A pleasure to meet you in person. I am Robert Virtanen. And who is this young lady?"

"This young lady is a reporter with Bayport times. And she is here to ensure that your company and my investment see the exposure we deserve," Steven answered. Callie smiled. Now this was fortunate. She'd wanted to meet with both the COO and CEO, though her realistic expectations had been met by having the opportunity to listen to Emerson talk with Steven.

"This is an impressive empire you've built here, Sir." Callie said gesturing around the office building.

"Oh, it's Mike's domain now. Retirement isn't officially till next spring, but he makes all the big decisions," Robert said giving Mike an admiring glance. Then he laughed. "Don't tell anyone, though. I'd hate to join the senior citizen's club."

Everyone chuckled.

Just then Jake stepped in and whispered something in Emerson's ears. Emerson nodded.

"If you all will excuse me. Duty calls. It was great meeting you Mr. Ranella." He shook hands with Steven. "It was lovely meeting you Miss Shaw." He kissed her hand. Callie winced inwardly.

Robert continued, "Mike has done an incredible job. Not only in keeping our finances in order but overseeing a good amount of product research. Miss Shaw I am very interested to know your thoughts on what you saw here today and what you'll be telling your readers about us."

"Mr. Virtanen, I like what I see here." She then turned and held Steven's hand in hers. "I'm confident your money is in good hands."

Steven beamed at her. "Well then, let's discuss more at dinner tonight. And this lovely young lady has been gracious enough to accept my invitation to join us," he said with a nod towards Callie.

If Robert was bothered by having a reporter around further, he didn't show it. "I am afraid I will have to come by myself for dinner tonight. It was lovely meeting you both. My receptionist will see you out."

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Frank checked his phone for the umpteenth time. He scowled and put it back down.

They were at their office. Frank had downloaded a few software packages to clear up the recording. The most recent one was up and running but the process was taking a lot of time.

"Would you stop it? She just left twenty minutes ago." Joe said irritably. "you have to trust her to get this done."

"Doesn't mean I have to like it. These people are dangerous. You and I, we can deal with this kind of thing. She doesn't have to immerse herself in it. What if they find out why she is there? What if they target her, hurt her?" Frank worried.

After the events of last night, Callie had suggested that she would go into the company office and do some investigating of her own. That did not sit well with Frank. He vehemently opposed the idea, but Callie went anyway. She'd texted that she was protected through her newfound ally in some investor she'd gravitated towards. Frank still worried. It was no secret that they were dating, after all.

"I don't like it anymore than you do. But Vanessa can't go back there. You can't. And I most definitely cannot go around asking questions without bringing suspicion on myself," Joe insisted.

Frank sighed.

Joe sat down noisily. "This is Callie we are talking about. When has she not immersed herself into our cases? She has been doing it since we were teenagers. What makes you think she is going to change now?"he said ruefully.

Frank smiled. "That is so true. She would get so mad when we cut her out of our cases."

Joe mockingly shuddered and said, "That girlfriend of yours is quite a handful. I've never fought with anyone as much as I have fought with her."

Frank groaned, "I remember it all too well. You guys fought and I had to pay the price. Either you sulked or she wouldn't talk to me. I am so glad some of us grew up."

Joe didn't rise to his brother's tease. "Is Con working on anything?"

"Just this morning a drug dealer was stabbed hard by his addict customer. The guy is now in custody for murder. Open and shut case," Frank relayed.

A faraway look came upon Joe. "So the drug dealer didn't just die. He died hard!"

Frank shot him a quizzical look. Ignoring Frank's look, Joe continued, "And because the weather today is good, I am going to say it is a good day to die hard."

"Seriously? Are you done?" Frank asked deadpanned. "If you are, Con also sent the autopsy report on James."

Joe snickered, "Fine fine. You were the one that loved Bruce Willis growing up and his Die Hard movie series."

"Whatever! Cause of death was two stab wounds to his gut and the murder weapon is the kitchen knife from Vanessa's apartment. Nothing we didn't already know," Frank said looking at the text Con just sent.

They were jolted out of their discussion by a sudden beep from Frank's computer. The brothers jumped and took their place at the table.

"I have managed to find a match on the woman's voice. I compared it against videos from social networking sites, corporate press. 268 possible matches, 6 who lived in New York, but only one who worked at Ophelia Pharmaceuticals," Frank said, ecstatic. "I present to you, Erin Miller."

Joe could see a video on the company's website where Erin was giving a small speech on what Ophelia Pharmaceuticals is about.

We create products that help and heal. Ophelia is a family. One I hope to be a part of for many years to come.

Joe whistled. "Erin Miller, Emerson's mistress, was an office romance. Nice work Frank," he said.

He went over to his laptop and opened the list that Callie had sent him earlier. "I had a hunch it won't be that easy to find Erin. Her name is among those employees who have died in the last two years. It says here she died six months ago of a brain aneurysm. She was 27 years old," Joe said.

Frank looked thoughtful, "So she wanted to go public with her affair and Emerson had her killed for it. Why not pay her off?"

"Emerson is heir to the entire Ophelia empire. If Robert Virtanen ever found out, Emerson would lose everything," Joe surmised. It fit the usual profile, unfortunately, with many infidelity cases that involved business and money.

"It might not even be hard for someone working at a pharmaceutical company to make murder look like natural causes," Frank mused. Then he froze, his insides going all cold.

"Callie is among them right now, all alone."