Page 105 of Rescuing Mia
“Mia, this is… This is huge. The level of detail, the evidence you’ve compiled… It’s staggering.”
I nod, my throat tight. “I didn’t want to believe it at first. I kept hoping I was wrong, that there had to be some other explanation.” I clear my throat. “But the more I dug, the more I realized…” My voice trails off, the words sticking in my throat.
Mitzy reaches across the desk, her hand resting on mine. Her touch is warm and grounding.
“You did the right thing. This information is going to change everything. We’ll make sure of it.”
I nod, a single tear escaping down my cheek.
Skye settles into the chair beside me, her presence a calmingbalm to my frayed nerves. She turns to face me, her eyes filled with a gentle curiosity that invites me to open up.
“This whole thing must be overwhelming. You’re incredibly brave. I admire that.” Her voice, soft and understanding, helps to decrease my unease. “It would help if you could tell us a bit more about your work at Red Phoenix Pharmaceuticals. What brought you there? What were you researching?”
I take a deep breath, my mind drifting back to the early days of my career.
“I’ve always been fascinated by the potential of biochemical engineering.” My voice gains strength as I speak. “The idea we could use the building blocks of life to create new therapies, to heal people… It was a dream come true when I was offered a position at Red Phoenix.”
Skye nods. Her expression encourages me to continue.
“I was part of a team researching the applications of deuterium in targeted cancer treatments. We were making incredible progress, pushing the boundaries of what was possible. I felt like I was making a real difference, you know?”
“I can only imagine,” Skye says, her smile genuine. “It sounds like you were doing truly groundbreaking work.”
I nod, a bittersweet feeling washing over me. “I was so focused on the science, on the potential to help people, that I didn’t see the warning signs at first. The inconsistencies in the data, the odd requests from upper management… I thought it was just the chaos of cutting-edge research.”
Skye reaches out, her hand resting on my arm. “You couldn’t have known. You were doing your job, focused on the problem, and it sounds like you were doing it very well.”
I swallow hard, the weight of my realization settling heavily in my chest.
“When I started digging, I realized what was really going on. My whole world shattered. Everything I thought I knew, everything I believed in—was all a lie.”
Skye squeezes my arm, her touch grounding me in the present. “But you didn’t let that stop you. You had the courage to keepgoing, to uncover the truth no matter the cost. That takes an incredible amount of strength.”
I look up at her, tears blurring my vision. “I couldn’t stand by and let it happen. I had to do something, even if it meant risking everything.”
Skye nods, her eyes filled with fierce determination. “And you did. You took that first step, a step not many would take. From here on out, we will be with you every step of the way.”
I take a shuddering breath, the knot in my chest loosening slightly. For the first time in weeks, I feel a glimmer of hope.
I lean back in my chair, my mind drifting back to that fateful moment when everything changed.
“It was just another day in the lab.” My voice turns distant as I lose myself in the memory. “I was going through the inventory logs, double-checking the numbers against our research data. At first, everything seemed normal, but then…”
I pause, the image of the discrepancy burning bright in my mind’s eye. “We were short on deuterium. I never would’ve known what was happening if Dr. Xiang hadn’t gone to that conference. He asked me to go to the supply dock and inventory one of our scheduled shipments. The amount of deuterium didn’t match up.”
Skye leans forward, her brow furrowed. “What did you do?”
I take a deep breath, the memory of that moment sending a chill down my spine. “I tried to rationalize it at first. Maybe it was just a clerical error, a simple mistake, but something about it didn’t sit right with me. So, I decided to wait for Dr. Xiang to return and let him deal with it.”
Mitzy looks up from the tablet, her eyes wide. “And that’s when you found other discrepancies?”
I nod, my throat tight. “Well, I went back to work. Checked out the deuterium I needed for my work. I pulled an all-nighter, two in fact, and had to go back to get more deuterium to finish up. That’s when I discovered the theft. I started going through the logs with a fine-toothed comb. Every shipment, every transfer, every requisition form. And the more I looked, the more I found. The numbers were off, not just by a little, but by staggering amounts.”
My heart races as I remember the feeling of dread that settled in the pit of my stomach.
“It was like a puzzle, but with every piece I put together, the picture became more and more disturbing. The excess deuterium, the secret shipments, the coded messages… It all pointed to considerably more threatening than I could have imagined.”
Skye reaches out, her hand resting on mine. “I can’t even begin to imagine how that must have felt. To realize that the company you trusted, the work you believed in…”