Heart Stopper (14 page)

Thursday, July 21, 2011

The lack of sleep was getting to him. The diplomat knew there were things going on in the background that he didn’t need to know about. He knew all he needed to know was how to work the device, with no awkward movements, with nothing to show in his demeanor. He wasn’t looking forward to the meeting with the man the next day. Probably their last one. And then facing another long weekend, sitting and staring and thinking. He couldn’t even contact the kids, didn’t want to betray his tension. He hoped that later, after he had killed the woman, he would still be able to look them in the eyes, to pick up his grandkids without his guilt rubbing off on them, staining their souls. He rubbed his eyes. He was getting fanciful. The waiting was getting to him.

He had 11 days.

Friday, July 22, 2011

The rain had washed the tarmac clean and it winked in the alternating sun and cloud that hung over Galway. Though the research company’s office was in the same complex, it was separated from the clinic by the lines and trees and the irregular shape of the car park. Priya had been able to ignore it, out of sight, out of her consciousness. Priya walked into the foyer of the clear glass and grey steel building feeling the weight of memories. She had first gone through those whisper smooth doors oblivious to the threat, innocent of the guilt she had carried now for what seemed like a very long time, but it had only been three years.

The foyer was small, but bright. There was no receptionist. Just a set of buttons on a panel by the lift. She remembered the code from her days working here and guessed Gerry wouldn’t have changed it. The sequence of numbers worked and the panel for the lift buttons slid open. Her finger shook as she pressed the button for the first floor. The doors opened and she started at the sight of herself in the mirror. She got another fright as the voice announced that the lift doors were opening. On the way up, she examined her reflection. She looked more confident than she felt. She looked like nothing could reach her, as if she had drawn a dead shade of black over her eyes. She had worn her smartest pair of grey trousers and they hung off her hips. She looked professional; her black hair untied, but neat, nestled on the shoulders of her loose cream shirt.

The lift opened onto a corridor lined on one side by glass through which she could see the river. There were rowers bending and straightening in their pushes, their boat leaving a wake of ripples that swam to the shore. The doors on the other side of the corridor were closed. She headed for the one at the end of the corridor. As she walked away, the voice from the lift followed her and suddenly she realized what she had heard that morning when she was running from Daniel’s apartment. She hesitated for a moment, gripping the handle, and then took in a deep breath and opened the door to Valerie’s office.

The office had glass walls on two sides and the sunlight washed pale the burgundy of the other two walls. The other three were already seated at a conference table set into a corner of the room. Expensive looking office furniture took up another corner and paintings of the college grounds were positioned on the walls. The light wood floors shone with a dull glaze.

Gerry got up immediately Priya entered the room. He came around the table with a wide smile and took her hand. He wore a conservative dark blue suit; his tie today had a Simpson’s motif with yellow-headed Homers juggling donuts on a red background.

“Priya, good to see you again.” Gerry seemed to assume that Reyna had invited her. He led her to the table and pulled out a chair for her. He looked like he had aged by a decade, the grey in his hair marching further inwards.

Priya looked at the two women sitting across from her. Valerie never tied her hair back and it fell in blonde layers. Her eyes searched into Priya’s even as she smiled and nodded a greeting. It was a habit that Valerie did not even seem to notice anymore, her eyes on remote control seeking a weakness, a hold. Reyna’s eyes were shuttered, the taut lines of her jaw highlighted by the pull of her hair tied back in her usual business-like manner. She acknowledged Priya’s presence with a nod and continued her conversation with Valerie. Priya’s mind was still trying to deal with the possibility that there had been no one around on the morning Daniel died and that, without meaning to, she had misled Catherine and Reyna.

“So, the funding that we received from the government was used to build…” Reyna gestured around her.

Valerie flicked back her hair and said, “It was used for the setting up of the research company in 2000. As you can imagine, it took a lot of money. We re-invested to build this facility 2 years ago. We are on the cutting-edge here. Ask Priya. She did her PhD research component here with us. We have given a lot of students a chance to work with the latest research.” Valerie turned to Priya and smiled, and Priya noticed a slight narrowing of Reyna’s eyes.

Gerry said, “Yes, we shook up the industry when we launched the Mark I pacemaker. Your grandfather’s patent provided us with a groundbreaking technology. The Fairer Mark I pacemaker uses an alternative source of energy powered by the electrically charged cells in the heart muscle which sends current through leads to the pacemaker itself so it is a self-generating system. Daniel II had developed the idea for the alternative energy source in the 90s. He worked all his professional life in the field. He invented and patented different technologies. Amazing man. Well known and well respected in the field. I couldn’t believe it when I found out his grandson was doing the fellowship with us. When we set up the research company in 2000 with Three.” Gerry paused as he noticed Reyna’s raised eyebrows. “Sorry, erm… your brother, Daniel, we used the technology, which was patented by Daniel II, your grandfather.”

Reyna asked, “So, is that the only research work carried out by the company?”

Valerie said, “Mostly. We worked solely on the Mark I pacemaker and Mark I and Mark II controllers which were very successful. We have just developed version III of the Controller which allows the patient to be monitored at home. The Mark I pacemaker was developed by us and manufactured and marketed through TechMed Devices and captured 43% of the market for that particular class of devices. Millions of dollars involved. Our company’s continued future is dependent on this range of products and technology. The Mark II controller was offered at a deep discount to those returning the Mark I controller so it obviously did not have as good a return. The Controller II was really just a change to the available frequency and getting ready for the Mark II pacemaker. The Mark II pacemaker will be launched soon and that will help TechMed Devices regain its share.”

Priya spoke up. “Were there ever any problems with the Mark I pacemaker or controller? I know we didn’t get any product advisories, did Daniel ever mention any worries he had about those products?”

Valerie focused on Priya. “There were no product advisories necessary. The pacemaker worked beautifully. Daniel set up the clinic here on the basis of the success with the product. He was encouraged to do so. We only had to issue one software patch in 2008 for the Controller II.”

Gerry said, “When I decided to go into research rather than work as a clinician I never realized I’d get the chance to work with technologies that can make as much of a difference in the lives of patients as I could have working as a doctor.”

Reyna said, “Did you have much contact with my grandfather? Was he very involved in the work you do here?”

Valerie turned her attention back to Reyna. “We went to see him as you know. He liked to keep in touch with everything. For a man in his eighties, he was very energizing to be around, he still has a fire in his belly.” Priya felt Gerry tense beside her, but then relax as Valerie turned to him and smiled. “Like Gerry here, all their lives spent knee-deep in saving other people’s hearts.”

Priya asked Gerry, “The clinical trials for the pacemaker lasted two years, didn’t they? And were very successful.” He nodded and she continued as Valerie and Reyna turned to look at her, “Did anyone follow through on the reports of the 2 deaths and the heart attack suffered by technicians over the last 7 years since the launch?”

Priya felt the shock in the air. Reyna had a look of surprise on her face as she turned to Valerie.

Valerie said, “I don’t know anything about this.”

Priya rushed on. “Well, all 3 were carrying out routine checks on the Mark I pacemaker using the Mark I Controller. They were all in specialized clinics when they had their heart attacks so one managed to have a temporary pacemaker installed and then he went on to have a pacemaker implanted. The other 2 weren’t so lucky.”

There was a sharp edge to Valerie’s voice as she asked, “And you think this has something to do with the product? Where did you get that information anyway?”

Priya glanced at Reyna and answered, “I was reading up and doing some searches on the Internet for a project I’m working on and I came across the information on the woman who died. I did some more digging and found out about the heart attack and the other death.” She sensed Reyna wouldn’t want them to know about the papers Daniel had given to Priya or the ones he had sent to Catherine, and she agreed. The incidents had been spread out over the 7 years, but Daniel had found them and connected them.

Gerry got up from the table. His face had reddened with the usual darker patches over the tips of his ears and the back of his neck.

He said, “This is incredible!” He turned to Valerie. “How could we not have known about this?”
 

Valerie shrugged and held out her hands with the palms up. “This is the first I’m hearing of this, Gerry. For all we know, it might be a coincidence. Do you know how many pacemaker checks are carried out each day all over the world?” She got up from the table and said to Reyna, “Let me do some investigating. We’re just back in the office today after the shock of the last few weeks. How about we meet up tomorrow evening and I’ll fill you in with what I’ve found out. I would like to return the hospitality,” Priya felt her stomach tighten as Valerie purred out the word, “so perhaps we could take you to dinner? We have some extremely fine restaurants in Galway; of course the seafood here is excellent.”

Reyna got up. She said, “You don’t need to, but that would be nice, thank you.” She turned to Priya. “Are you free tomorrow evening?” Priya could see Valerie’s face tighten and she wished that she was free, but she’d promised Michael she’d go with him to a concert.

She said, “Sorry, I have to go to a concert at St. Nicholas’s church. I promised my friend and I haven’t been to anything with him at the Arts Festival.”

Valerie said, “Not Michael? Are ye two still an item?”

Priya reddened with anger. Valerie knew Michael had been her close friend since their college days. Valerie had cut Michael off the few times all of them had met socially, dismissing him as though he didn’t exist. Valerie also knew Kathy and Priya had been in a long-term relationship and she’d oozed her charm on the two women, leaving Gerry and Michael to talk. Priya was struggling to contain her anger. This woman had wreaked havoc on her life, what right had she to continue to play games?

And how had she managed to diminish Priya’s findings so adeptly.

Gerry said hurriedly, “Valerie, you know Priya’s gay, why do you continue to tease her?” He smiled at Priya. “Michael’s a nice guy, is he still living in that apartment he managed to buy before the boom?” Priya nodded. He continued, “Nice guy, and lucky guy then. Everything went up so high, of course, we bought at the height, and then it all crashed. Valerie was saying it would happen, but I wasn’t really listening, real estate really isn’t my thing, but she was saying all right, the boom was built on nothing, housing industry feeding off itself.”

The tension in the room had defused and Valerie said to Reyna, “Reyna, how about I show you around? And we can get Gerry to put all the financials in your car. Priya, Gerry will show you out, or you know your way, you’ve been here often enough.” Valerie had her hand on Reyna’s elbow as she guided her out of the office. Gerry smiled and was moving towards the door to see her out, but Priya waved him back with a forced smile.

“I don’t need an escort, Gerry, thanks.” She reached for his outstretched hand to shake it and then impulsively gave him a hug. He squeezed her tight and then released her and examined her face.

“Thank you, Priya, I needed that.” She noticed close up the lines on his face, the dark circles under his eyes, and worst of all, a new pain in his eyes. She wondered again, as she had many times before, did he know the type of woman he had married. Or was his head so filled with his research? He had not had a clue of the undercurrents when they’d all sat in the bar on the nights out. Of the looks Valerie had given her. Of the orchestrated seating. Of the hand touching hers under the table. Or the crazed fumbling in the bathroom. Valerie had hunted and Priya was trapped as surely as a rabbit. And left flopping weakly, dust settling around her in the wake.

“Take care, Gerry.” She left the office, the guilty click of her shoes echoing down the glass-lined hall.

She was not due back at the clinic today. She didn’t feel like being around people anyway. The sight of Valerie had brought up too many bad memories, the sound of her speaking reminding Priya of a now silent voice. Priya wandered down the path that ran alongside the river, from the college past the shiny buildings that housed the commerce, and now the new engineering, faculties as well as research facilities. The student village was visible in the distance, colored blocks spaced around green areas; it was used for student accommodation during the college term and as a holiday village in the summer. The new university term was not until September and the buildings were mostly empty, the path deserted.

Priya left the narrow tarmac of the path and picked her way over the loose stones that lay on the rough ground leading to the edge of the water. She sat on a large boulder, molded into a smooth seat by generations of river gazers. She couldn’t remember if she’d sat here before. Maybe with Michael. Never with Kathy. When they had met, Kathy had been living in the heart of what was now Galway’s trendy pub scene. Then it had been a slightly dingy collection of back streets with an air of menace. Kathy had moved in with her into the house in Barna after they’d known each for six months, they’d often joked with their friends about the ‘second date U-Haul’. They had been together for years, seven surprisingly happy ones. Until Valerie. Priya couldn’t even blame the seven-year-itch; she hadn’t felt anything, but contentment. They’d even been discussing having kids. Which was why Priya had been so shocked at her own treachery.

“Priya?” Reyna’s voice broke through her thoughts. Priya looked back at the path; she could see the glass walls of Valerie’s office over Reyna’s shoulder. Reyna slid down the little track and joined Priya beside the river. She sat down beside Priya, the boulder large enough for more than two people. It was a quiet cocoon. The hum of traffic crossing the river on the bridge drifted down to them. The intense blue of the water was shadowed under the span and she could see the cars through the railings.

Priya broke the heavy silence that had seemed to surround them since Reyna had met Valerie again.

“They still call that bridge the New Bridge despite the fact that it’s been there since at least the mid-80s, about 25 years or so. I guess its real name is too much of a mouthful, Quincentennial. Celebrating 500 years of Galway. Me, I don’t believe in history.”

Reyna laughed. “You can’t not believe in history! It isn’t something that can really be disputed, it happened.”

“Yes, but we can never be sure exactly what happened, can we? Depends on who tells you about it. It just seems that all history is bad, everyone always fighting. Show me a place with no history of fighting and I’ll bet it’s probably full of animals rather than humans.” She rubbed a little pebble loose from the boulder and threw it into the river. “I try not to study the history of any place where I’ve lived, India, America, Ireland. I try to see them with blank eyes, a blank canvas, undiluted by the centuries of hatred. Michael gets so frustrated with me, he loves history, but then he can see the good that’s happened. Me, I can’t see it. And I don’t want to get involved in it, all that hate.”

“I have to keep believing that it’s not all hate. Leo and Catherine were good teachers in that sense, they believed in compassion, in sending out love. They said it was the only thing that could work. My grandfather, on the other hand, is always warning me about people. Daniel said once that he was not always like that, that he had changed, became withdrawn after what happened in New York.”

Priya wanted to say something, to warn Reyna about Valerie, but the words stuck in her throat and they were silent as they watched a branch struggling in the moving water. Reyna seemed as reluctant as she was to talk about the research, about the deaths, Daniel, Valerie, the reasons they had met.

Reyna asked, “Have you moved a lot?”

“Yes, this is the longest I’ve stayed in one place. Even after my parents moved to Galway, there was a lot of travelling. Before that, my grandparents in India brought me up. So, citizen of everywhere, but nowhere to call home.”

“But you’re an Irish citizen, aren’t you. And you’ve lived here a long time. Surely you consider this home.”

“The closest thing, I guess. And I find myself relating to the Irish more than any other race. But, I’ll never be Irish to them. Not at first, when they see me first. Do you know, I studied and paid a fair whack in college fees, and worked and paid taxes, but then the boom came in the last ten years and things changed. When the refugees and asylum seekers arrived, I was taken as one. The assumptions, the lumping into any stereotype, made my blood boil and I had this speech all worked out about my contributions to this country but I realized no-one was interested.” Priya laughed. “That speech was so good too, but I condensed it into this perfect glare which I threw out at anyone who mistook me for a refugee which unfortunately now meant that they felt smugly confirmed in their belief that I was an unwelcome, and now also unfriendly, leech that didn’t speak English.”

Reyna looked horrified and Priya rushed in, “Don’t get me wrong. There have been so many changes here over the last while, I think the Irish are just besieged and bewildered. And I love this country, deeply. It has given me so much. I wish it could be happy.”

They sat in silence for a few minutes. The sharp blare of an annoyed driver sounded loud. Priya glanced over her shoulder at the building that housed the research company. She was conscious that if Valerie looked out through the glass she would see them. There was no movement in the office.

Priya asked, her tone level, “Did you enjoy the tour?” She saw Reyna glance at her.

“Well, I saw a lot of equipment. Which wasn’t much use to me. But I did manage to get a hold of the financials from the Research Company. Thank you for coming in. I know it was hard. When did you find out about the deaths and heart attack?”

Priya told her about the typed links and gave an account of the searches she had done and the phone call.

“I would never have found out about them if Daniel hadn’t typed out the links. I couldn’t get through to you. Sorry about that,” Priya gestured with her head towards the building, “I certainly set the cat in with the vultures then, didn’t I?”

Reyna grinned. “You certainly did set the cat amongst the pigeons there. Valerie was flustered and I get the feeling she’s not a woman that is easily thrown.”

“Do you think she knew? About the deaths of those women, the heart attack. Before I said anything?”

“I don’t know. It wouldn’t be something they would be aware of necessarily. Maybe TechMed. As she said, it could be a coincidence when you think of the number of checks that are done every day and this happened over, what, seven years. I’ll try to find out more tomorrow at dinner.”

Priya got up off the boulder and swept the sand off her trousers. Her movements were rough.

Reyna touched her arm. “It would have been nice if you could have come too.”

“I couldn’t have sat down to dinner with that… woman. Though I might have, just to annoy her. Can’t let Michael down though.”

Reyna got up too, and they walked back down the path to the car park. They stopped at Reyna’s car.

Priya said, as she turned to leave Reyna, “I promised your mother I’d speak to her at the end of the week. Maybe Sunday? I’ve got that concert tomorrow and you have dinner. I still have a lot of stuff to go through, but I’ll definitely have a better picture by then. I’ll work on it for the rest of the day and tomorrow.”

Reyna nodded. She seemed to want to say something, but she got into her car without another word.

Priya wanted to ask Reyna to come back with her, to sit out, talk, to spend as much time as possible with her before she left. But, Reyna was married. And in Valerie’s sights.

∞

Priya stood in the car park looking after the car as Reyna drove away. She heard the slick of tires behind her and the ruby red Jaguar slid up alongside her.

“Can I give you a lift somewhere?” She couldn’t believe Valerie was actually being civil. To her. After what Valerie had done to her life.

Priya shook her head. She pointed to her own car. Valerie did not take her eyes off Priya’s face.

“Get in Priya, we’re going to have a little chat.” Valerie’s voice was quiet, but determined.

Priya stayed where she was. She had kept the anger she felt at this woman at bay by refusing to think about her, by restricting contact with her to the absolute bare minimum. She turned to leave.

Valerie leaned her head out slightly and said, “Do you think about Kathy these days? Or is it all Reyna now?”

Priya stopped. She felt the pierce of adrenaline and her fists clenched. She took a deep breath and turned to walk away.

Valerie’s voice was louder now. “Do you still think Kathy was the innocent martyr?”

Priya stopped and turned back around to face Valerie. The words spurted out. “She was a lot more innocent than we were.”

“If you’re so sure of that, then you’ll have no problem hearing what I have to say, will you?” Valerie reached across the front seat and opened the passenger door.

Priya hesitated, but the urge to know, to learn more about what had happened proved too strong. She’d never been able to talk about it to anyone, certainly not Valerie. She made up her mind. She’d hear her out. Even death-row prisoners were given a chance to confess.

Priya walked around the car and sat into the passenger seat as Valerie revved the engine. The car jerked forward and Valerie raced it out of the car park. Neither woman spoke as they moved through the traffic. Priya realized they were heading towards her house in Barna. She couldn’t be in the house with this woman! Not after what they had done there.

“Not the house.” Priya said. She crossed her arms.

“Wasn’t going there.” Valerie smiled. Another driver tried to cut her off as they exited the roundabout, but she pushed the powerful machine through the gap before the other car.

They turned off before Priya’s house, at the road leading to Silver Strand beach. How appropriate, Priya thought. She’d confessed to Kathy here, as they’d sat in their car facing the sea. The wind had been howling, battering the car, shaking it on its wheels. And inside, in the darkness, Kathy had screamed at her, pounding the dashboard, her fists leaving indentations in the hard plastic.

Valerie pulled the car into one of the many empty spaces in the parking area. It was deserted and there was only one figure walking the beach bent against the wind, a raincoat pulled closed despite the watery sun, the King Charles spaniel leaping around in circles, hairy waves of fur lifting and falling.

The engine ticked as they sat there. Valerie now seemed reluctant to speak which was so unlike her that Priya felt a twinge of trepidation.

After a few minutes that stretched between them like the pulling back of a stringed bow, Valerie spoke.

“Gerry doesn’t know anything about what happened between us. I want it to stay that way.”

Priya turned to her. “Did you bring me out here to warn me off spoiling your happy little marriage?”

Valerie smiled. “I don’t think anything is going to spoil my ‘happy little marriage’. Unlike yours.” She ignored the look of shock on Priya’s face and continued, “What did you tell Reyna? Did you tell her about your ‘little indiscretion’?”

“Little indiscretion! Is that what it was? Valerie, what we did was, was, … I don’t know how you can be so flippant about it. You pursued me, right under their noses, and we were all friends and those two people did not have a clue what we were doing. In the bathroom of a pub while they’re chatting at the bar, in our bed! Don’t you feel
any
guilt?”

“Guilt is such a waste of time and emotion.” Valerie turned in her seat to face her. “My little Priya, I have to say you were fun. You were so reserved, proper… so honest. How long did that last, what, two weeks?”

Their words were echoing off the inside of the car and Priya could feel every jab.

Priya said, “At least I felt something for you. I didn’t do it as some kind of screwed up game.”

“You mean you convinced yourself it was okay because you felt something apart from just wanting to have sex with me. At least I’m honest about it. The sex was good, wasn’t it Priya?”

Valerie was facing her, her eyes the usual weapons. She put her palm against Priya’s cheek and turned Priya’s face towards her, the soft caress controlled. Priya stared into Valerie’s eyes. The pupils were black voids in the sea of brown, the gold glittered. She had felt the lure of those eyes and her life had fallen into a black hole. She had loved this woman.

Priya’s voice was a whisper between them. “I didn’t just convince myself that I felt something for you. I did. At the time. I would never have cheated on Kathy otherwise. And I told her and ended things with her.”

Priya shoved Valerie’s hand away and turned to the sea outside.
Why was she excusing herself to this woman
?

Valerie cleared her throat. She said, “Yes, Kathy was very upset about your infidelity. Funny that…”

“Funny?!” Priya consciously unclenched her fists. She understood now that Valerie played games. Said things to get a reaction, to push her opponent off balance. She calmed her voice and said, “If you think that’s funny, you have a sick sense of humor.”