| General Fiction posted September 25, 2025 | Chapters: |
...15 16 -17- 18... 
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Brian confronts Larry
A chapter in the book Beating the Devil
Beating the Devil - Chapter 17
by Jim Wile
The author has placed a warning on this post for language.| Background A cancer researcher invents an early cancer detection system. |
Recap of Chapter 16: Larry lays his trap for Bertie by substituting peroxide for isopropyl alcohol. The testing begins, and a problem arises when Bertie cleans out the breathalyzer. Larry’s subterfuge works, as the cleaner she uses begins to foam. It ends up ruining the breathalyzer. Bertie is distraught at her apparent mistake in choosing the wrong cleanser, while Larry secretly gloats over his success.
Later that afternoon, Bertie goes to Brian’s office to apologize again for the mistake, but this gets Brian to thinking it may not have been a mistake after all. He then remembers the cameras in the storeroom are still there and may perhaps hold the key to the mystery.
Chapter 17
“Larry, could you come in here, please?”
It was 8:00 AM, and Larry had just arrived at work.
“Mind if I get a cup of coffee first?”
“I need to speak to you right now.”
What could Brian want that was so urgent he couldn’t grab a coffee first? Could this be related to Birdbrain’s botched cleaning job yesterday? His mouth suddenly went dry and his pulse quickened as he entered Brian’s office.
“Close the door.”
Oh, shit. That’s not a good sign.
“I want to show you something.” Brian tapped his phone screen and turned it to face him.
As Larry watched, his face grew ashen. After a minute of seeing what the hidden cameras had captured, he said, “You were spying on me. Is that even legal?”
“Yeah, it is. There’s no expectation of privacy in a storeroom. The camera has been there for some time, and it just so happened to catch you in the act. What I want to know is why, Larry? What would possess you to do that?”
“I don’t know, Brian. Maybe it’s because you’ve never appreciated my talents, and you continue to show favoritism to everyone else. You did it with Mal, and you’re doing it with Roberta.”
He stood and began pacing while Brian remained silent.
After a few seconds, he turned to Brian and said, “You know what? I quit. I’ve had enough of this shit. The only person around here who ever appreciated me was Abby.”
“I’m sorry you feel this way. Maybe I didn’t tell you often enough how much I appreciated the work you’ve done. I wish we could have talked about your unhappiness in a more constructive way, though. I’d like you to give me your keys now, and I’d also like to remind you about the non-disclosure agreement you signed when you started work here. I’m sorry it came to this, Larry, and I wish you luck in the future.”
“Yeah, right,” he said as he removed the different keys that he possessed and dropped them on the floor. Without another word, he turned around, opened the door, and left.
Brian could hear the door to the outside slam a minute later. So, Larry had gathered up his cactus, his Rubik’s Cubes and split.
Brian stood and came around his desk to retrieve the keys Larry had dropped like the child that he was. Well, good riddance. He didn’t need an immature, spiteful, rude, humorless pain in the neck working for him any longer. His quitting preempted Brian from firing his ass as he had fully intended to do.
Maybe there was some truth to Larry’s claim of preferential treatment, but could he be blamed when Larry was so hard to like? He had been smart and competent, and his skillset might be hard to replace; however, Brian couldn’t stand all those negative vibes he’d been giving off lately, especially toward Bertie, who promised to be equally, if not more, competent than Larry. And she was a hell of a lot more pleasant to be around.
The poor kid came in this morning with baggy eyes. What a night she must have had trying to figure out how she’d gone wrong yesterday. This news should certainly set her mind at ease.
“Bertie, could you come in here, please?”
She had just settled back to studying her computer screen after that sudden departure by Larry. She couldn’t imagine what had happened, but he had sure seemed pissed off. Now she wondered what Brian wanted. Could he have had second thoughts about yesterday’s mistake and decided to give her the axe after all? She couldn’t look him in the eye as she headed into his office.
“Please, have a seat.”
She sat, and when she finally looked up at him, he was smiling. It was not the look of someone about to give her the axe.
“Bertie, I imagine you had a rough night last night, thinking about what happened yesterday. I want to set your mind at ease and tell you that you did nothing wrong. You were set up by Larry, who is no longer working here.”
Relief at this extraordinary news was paramount, but confusion was a close second. Why would Larry do that, and how? And how did Brian know? So many questions.
Brian then filled her in on what he had discovered, describing how Larry had poured peroxide into the alcohol bottle and had also hidden another bottle of peroxide out in the lab to switch it later and make everyone think that was what she had used.
He didn’t discuss with her how he knew what he knew, but Bertie sensed that he was speaking with discretion and didn’t question him about it.
“I don’t know what to think about all this, Brian. I hope I didn’t do anything to drive Larry to it.”
“This was Larry’s problem, not yours. I can tell you he’s been a thorn in my side for a long time, and you probably noticed his interpersonal skills weren’t so great. You’re not responsible in any way for his behavior.”
“Well, thanks for letting me know. I can try to work more hours now if you need me to.”
“I appreciate the offer, but I’ve really got to fill the position. There’s certainly more work than the two of us can handle. Abby only comes for a few days a month, but we need another tech. You know of anyone who might be interested?”
“Not offhand, but I’ll put some thought into it. Thanks again for letting me know, Brian. I’ll be able to sleep a whole lot easier tonight.”
That evening, after the kids had gone to bed and Brian and Julia were relaxing on the porch, he shared with her the events of the day. He had filled her in on his discovery of Larry’s sabotage yesterday evening, so she already knew of his plans to fire Larry first thing this morning.
“He beat me to the punch. I guess he could see the writing on the wall and knew it would be better for him to beat a hasty retreat. Would you like a few more cliches?”
Julia laughed. “You sure nipped it in the bud.”
“Yep, I caught him with his pants down. Let’s just hope he doesn’t go postal on me.”
Julia was suddenly sobered by the thought. “Do you think he might?”
“Mm… not really. I never got the feeling he was nuts. He could be irritating, and he lacked a lot of social skills, but he never struck me as especially angry except for that last talk we had. I made an effort not to antagonize or come down hard on him. I didn’t have to—I just showed him the evidence of what he did and let him quit.”
“Probably smart, even though I’m sure you wanted to read him the riot act.”
“Yeah, you’re right. I think I understand what he was feeling, though. I met his parents once, and they seemed awfully intimidating. I think he has an inferiority complex, and meeting Bertie maybe gave him the feelings he gets around his parents. I don’t know. I’m not a psychologist. I’m just thinking out loud here.”
“You’re probably right, though. Have you thought about a replacement for him?”
“Just starting to. We need one soon. I was lucky to get Bertie so quickly, but the next one may take a lot longer. There’s so much to do now too. I wanted to get started on the nanoparticle pill on top of all the breathalyzer testing.”
“I don’t know what you’ll think of this, but I’ve got an idea about it.” She paused before continuing so she could choose the right words for making her case.
“Well, let’s hear it then, but I think I know what you’re going to say. You’re going to suggest I reach out to Mal, aren’t you?”
“Evidently you’ve been entertaining the same thought.”
“Yeah, it’s a tough one, though. Can I trust a guy who betrayed me once? I know he felt really guilty and apologized up the wazoo for it, but is that enough?”
“Well, just think about the second chances you were given in your past. Remember what Paul Rieke did for you?”
How could he forget? After the gym accident at the end of his freshman year, he became addicted to painkillers once again and started screwing up badly in Paul’s organic chemistry class. His test scores were suffering, and one afternoon during chem lab, he was so high that he made a careless error that caused his lab partner to be burned.
When questioned about it later, he confessed what he was going through with his addiction, and Paul took pity on him. Paul himself had lost a favorite nephew to an opioid overdose the previous summer and was extremely regretful for never having recognized the problem. He had claimed that Brian reminded him so much of his nephew, and he took Brian under his wing as a sort of penance.
Maybe he should give Mal another chance.
“Do you know how he’s doing up there in Cleveland and how his daughter’s heart surgery went?” asked Julia.
“No, I haven’t talked to him since he left.”
“Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to find out. You know, just feel him out? He may not even be interested in coming back. But I keep thinking about how much you liked him. We all did. He was great with the kids. Remember how he always used to take the time to answer their funny questions when they came down to the lab, and how he would joke around with them? They loved him. I did too. He was like a big teddy bear. He was always so easy to talk to and friendly. That’s why I couldn’t believe it when he turned out to be the saboteur. It was so out of character.”
“You make a good case, Babe. No guarantees, but I’ll think about it.”
 Recognized |
Brian Kendrick: A 41-year-old neuroscientist and cancer researcher
Julia Kendrick: Brian's 41-year-old wife. She is also a world-class violinist.
Johnny Kendrick: Their 6-year-old son
Lindsay Kendrick: Their 4-year-old daughter
Earl Kendrick: The Kendrick's chocolate Labrador Retriever
Dr. Marie Schmidt: Julia's mother
Abby Payne: Brian's partner on the project. She is 65 and a brilliant mathematician
Malcolm Roberts (Mal): One of Brian's two lab technicians
Larry Posner: One of Brian's two lab technicians
Vivian Delacroix: An oncology professor at Wake Forest University also doing early cancer detection work
Roberta (Bertie) Chen: Brian's new lab technician
Picture courtesy of Imagen-4
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