Blue Coyote Motel (7 page)

"Okay, Maria. I don't think I'm going to like what you're going to tell me, but yes, you have my promise," Dan said. Dan really liked both Maria and Jeffrey. Everyone knew that the FDA was eventually going to approve the drug, so what if Maria had been using it prematurely? Did he want to be the one responsible for Maria and Jeffrey getting fired or worse?

Maria was clearly very upset. She began by telling him about her fear of aging and how all she had ever heard from her mother when she was growing up was that she had to keep her beauty, that she had to marry while she was still beautiful or her life would be over. Maria told Dan about Jeffrey's decision to give her the drug before it was on the market because when she began the injections, she was at the most beautiful stage of her life. Maria told Dan that Jeffrey had only done this out of his devotion and love for her. She told him that Jeffrey hadn't given it to anyone else, how other drug companies had tried to bribe Jeffrey with promises of huge amounts of money if he would give them the formula, and how he had refused all offers. Maria told him Jeffrey had slipped the vial to her a couple of hours earlier as she was scheduled to get her monthly injection that night. She pleaded with Dan not to tell anyone.

Maria glanced at her watch, realizing she was going to be late meeting Jeffrey. She hurriedly finished by once again asking Dan not to tell anyone and making him repeat his promise to keep the secret. She ran down the hall, rushing to the front of the building where Jeffrey was waiting.

"Are you all right? You look upset. What's wrong?" Jeffrey asked.

Maria knew that Jeffrey would be furious with her if she told him the truth and he'd also be very worried that Dan would end up telling someone. Instead, she made up a story on the spot, telling Jeffrey that she had taken a phone call just as she was leaving and it was some crank call. Some strange person had gotten her extension number and threatened to hurt her if she didn't tell him what type of underwear she was wearing.

It was the only thing Maria could think of on such short notice. It clearly worried Jeffrey, but she told him that she was fine and it was just some anonymous call by a wacko. She reassured Jeffrey that the person never called her by name and probably just dialed randomly and got some sick pleasure from hearing her shocked voice.

He believed her.

CHAPTER 6

Dan felt sick to his stomach when he left Moore Labs after his conversation with Maria. He knew he had promised her that he wouldn't tell anyone about the vial he had discovered in her purse, but the more he thought about what Jeffrey had done, it became clear to him that Jeffrey had made a very bad decision.

Many of the other scientists at Moore Labs had made discoveries which were highly sought after by various other drug companies. Even so, they all abided by the contract they had signed with Moore Labs when they had been hired. Dan himself had made an important scientific discovery resulting in a type of aspirin, which was effective, yet had no adverse side effects, unlike the others on the market. But Dan hadn't given it to any members of his family and it galled him to think that Jeffrey had abused lab ethics and protocol by administering the anti-aging hormone to Maria.

Almost every time one of the scientists at Moore Labs made an important discovery, they would talk about how they wished they could give their discovery to some member of their family who was in pain or suffering from some type of physical or mental ailment, but they never did. It would be a breach of ethics and the legal contracts that each of them had signed when they had been hired by Moore Labs.

Sleep wouldn't come to Dan that night as he weighed the pros and cons of telling the founder and president of the company, Sidney Moore, what Jeffrey had done. Sidney had been Dan's mentor and Dan knew he couldn't face Sidney if somehow he found out that Dan had known what Jeffrey had done, but hadn't told him.

Yet, on the other hand, he had made a solemn promise to Maria. Jeffrey was not only Dan's colleague; he was his friend. They had shared many hours in the lab together as well as often getting together for a drink after work. Dan had also been the best man at Jeffrey and Maria's wedding. He desperately wished that he had never walked over to Maria's desk and seen what was in her purse. This really was a no-win situation.

As dawn broke, Dan came to a decision. He went into his office early and promptly, at 9:00 a.m., when Moore Scientific Laboratories opened for business, he called Sidney's office.

"Sidney Moore's office," answered Monica, Sidney's long-time personal assistant. "May I help you?"

"Monica, this is Dan Weaver. I'd like to schedule an appointment with Sidney. Could he see me this morning?"

"Let me check his schedule. Yes, if you can be here at 10:00, he has an opening. I know he would be happy to see you. He always speaks so highly of you."

"Thanks. I'll be there at 10:00."

Well
, he thought,
there's
no
going
back
now
. The next hour passed at a snail's pace for Dan. He dreaded the upcoming meeting with Sidney more than he had ever dreaded anything in his life. There was no way to gloss this over. Later, he wished he had never made the call.

At 9:55, he rode the elevator up to the top floor and walked to Sidney's luxurious office suite. As soon as he entered the reception area, Monica escorted him to the door leading to Sidney's office, knocking on the door, which was quickly opened by Sidney.

"It's good to see you. What brings you to my office so bright and early? A new discovery, I hope!" Sidney said, laughing, with his customary large smile. The enormous success of Moore Scientific Laboratories allowed Sidney to wear custom-made silk suits; have his hair cut and colored by an expensive Newport Beach hair stylist; and have a private trainer come to the gym that had been installed adjacent to Sidney's spacious office three mornings a week. He was proud of his home in Cota de Caza, his Maserati, and his beautiful second wife. Sidney had been a pharmacist before he founded Moore Labs and very much enjoyed the perks of his successful career.

Once again Dan felt sick to his stomach. This had to be about the worst thing that he had ever been involved in, ratting out his best friend. He began, "Thanks for taking the time to see me. I don't think either of us is going to enjoy the next few minutes, but there are some things you need to know, things that I have to tell you."

"Sit down. Tell me what's troubling you." Dan was ashen, his hands were shaking, and he was sweating profusely. One look at Dan and Sidney could tell that he was paying a very high price for whatever it was he was getting ready to tell him. He motioned for Dan to sit on the tan leather couch on the other side of the room, which Dan interpreted as a gesture of trust and friendship. Sidney usually conducted his meetings with people by sitting in a position of power behind his desk.

He told Sidney what had happened from the moment he had seen the vial in Maria's purse to the promise she had extracted from him. He knew that by telling Sidney he had broken his promise to Maria and ended his friendship with Jeffrey. He felt like a traitor and yet he knew he could not have done otherwise.

"Are you sure about this? Are you 100% certain that Jeffrey has been administering the anti-aging hormone to Maria? I need to be very, very certain that what you've told me is true. If you have even a shred of doubt, tell me now. I don't want to be sued for slander," Sidney said.

"Here is what I know and why I'm 100% certain of what I've told you. I personally saw the vial in Maria's purse. I know that it was Jeffrey's. Maria admitted that Jeffrey had been injecting her with his hormone. She even told me that Jeffrey had given the vial to her earlier that day because last night was the night for her monthly injection. Not only did she admit it, but she swore me to secrecy and made me promise I wouldn't tell anyone. I broke that promise and I don't feel good about it, but I felt you needed to know. Yes, I am 100% certain," Dan concluded.

"You know what will happen when this story breaks? There will be a feeding frenzy in the press. This has all of the elements of a really good story with a possible future Nobel Prize winner developing an anti-aging hormone and giving it to his beautiful wife against all company protocol. Yeah, this is a story the press will be all over," Sidney said.

Dan knew that Sidney was worried about the implications of what he had told him. He would have to meet with lawyers and pacify investors. And the hormone itself. Who owned it? Legally, it was the property of Moore Scientific Laboratories. When a scientist was hired by Moore Labs, a contract was signed involving confidentiality and it stated in very clear terms that Moore Scientific Laboratories owned whatever the employee developed. In this case, like in all the other discoveries, although the hormone had been developed through Jeffrey's experiments, Jeffrey did not own the hormone; Moore Scientific Laboratories did. Dan also knew that if Jeffrey had been supplying the drug to Maria in violation of all company rules and regulations, Jeffrey could just as easily be selling the formula to some competitor, getting rich in the process, against all Moore protocol and contract rights.

Sidney began, "I am very, very sorry that you had to be involved in this. I can't thank you enough for telling me. I know it must have been the most difficult decision you ever had to make and I know that Jeffrey and Maria are good friends of yours. I can only imagine what you must be going through. Again, thank you. I need to talk to our lawyers and get some things in place before I confront Jeffrey. Why don't you take the rest of today, tomorrow, and next week off? Just go somewhere and get some rest. You can come back when this has blown over. I don't think it would be a good idea for you to be here when I confront Jeffrey. Once this becomes public, even though your name will never be mentioned, the press will nose around and probably try to reach you. Naturally, Maria will have to be fired as well."

Dan left the office, sick at heart. He knew he couldn't have lived with himself if he hadn't told Sidney, but that didn't make the sick feeling in his stomach go away. He went home, booked a flight to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, and left that afternoon. In a few hours, he was sitting on the beach, a much-needed piña colada in hand.

CHAPTER 7

It had not been a good couple of days for Sam Begay. In fact, the last few days had been even worse than usual. He had lost the faith of the Tribal Council; left the sweat lodge before the ceremony had ended; and disappointed Strong Medicine. No, these were not things one wanted to have happen on the reservation. But if he could have known what the next few years of his life would bring, they would seem good by comparison.

Sam, a Native American, left the reservation when he went to college, one of the few from the reservation to do so. He was an extremely bright student and had received a scholarship earmarked for Native Americans. Even so, it didn’t fully cover the cost of his education and he still had to take out a number of loans to help pay for his education. He returned during brief vacations from school, but most of his summers were spent in school so he could get more credits and his degree earlier. Just as he was ready to graduate from college, a casino was built on the reservation by his tribe.

The tribe had gone through many changes in recent years. The members had all prospered since a gaming compact had been signed by the Governor, which essentially allowed the tribe to have a casino on the reservation. The casino, financed by Las Vegas casino management firms, had provided wealth beyond any of their expectations. As one of the 241 members of the tribe, Sam received a check every month for $30,000, as did each of the other tribal members.

People drove for miles to come to the casino, which the tribe had made into a destination resort. Like the golf courses in the Palm Springs area, they had put water on the arid desert land which allowed them to build an award-winning golf course. A five star hotel with a fashionable spa rose off the desert floor. The old adage "Build It and They Will Come" had never been truer. Because the casino and spa were on tribal land, it cost far less to stay and play there. It was an easy drive from either Los Angeles or Phoenix. Not only was it competitive with their Palm Springs neighbors, it was also far less expensive than the Las Vegas hotels. Every year the casino and resort saw an increase in revenues. Life for the tribal members was good, except for Sam and his ongoing battle with his anger.

Late in the 19th century, many Native American tribes had been forced onto reservations on lands no one else wanted, lands where nothing would grow and water was scarce. It was in these desolate areas, after tribal gaming had been approved on a statewide ballot, where the casinos had been built by different tribes. They proved to be enormously popular and literally became "money machines" for previously impoverished tribes. The tribal members had gone from eating food out of government-issued cans to buying expensive Kobe beef. Such was the case with Sam's tribe.

Sam knew many people felt that the tribes were making too much money off of the casinos. People who were opposed to Indian gaming argued that because members of the tribes were often prone to alcoholism and abusive relationships, they shouldn't be given an opportunity to receive unlimited amounts of money. They felt that the money would only feed their addictions and be squandered. Sam disagreed. He felt it was payback time. For example, Sam's reservation would soon be home to a new school, a dental clinic, a medical clinic, and a pediatric center. A psychologist had started to work with the tribal members on issues such as alcohol addiction and spousal abuse. None of these things would have been possible without the money from the casino.

Sam lived in two worlds. One foot was strongly rooted in the Anglo's world. He was a medical resident with only a couple of months left until he finished his residency. His specialty was pediatrics. With the new wealth, the tribal elders had voted to pay for the college tuition and graduate school of any child who was a member of the tribe. Sam was the first one in his tribe to go to medical school. His dream in life was to be a doctor and help his tribe, particularly the children.