Marriage of Inconvenience(Knitting in the City Book #7)(120)

“You want more coffee, Kit-Kat?” I asked, giving her a wink.

She shook her head, her eyes were laughing. “No thanks. This one is perfect, darling.”





Chapter Twenty-Two





Pyrimethamine (trade name Daraprim™) is a medication used to treat toxoplasmosis and cystoisosporiasis and has been “out of patent” since the 1970s.





In the United States, as of 2015, Turing Pharmaceuticals acquired the US marketing rights for Daraprim™ tablets and increased the price. The cost of a monthly course for a person on a 75 mg dose rose to about $75,000/month, or $750 per tablet (up from $13.50 a tablet prior to Turing’s acquisition). Outpatients can no longer obtain Daraprim™ from their community pharmacy, but only through a single dispensing pharmacy, Walgreens Specialty Pharmacy, and institutions can no longer order from their general wholesaler, but have to set up an account with the Daraprim™ Direct program.





As of the writing of this book, there are no generic versions available for Daraprim™.





—The New York Times (Paraphrased from)





**Dan**





I’ll spare the ugly details, but after a few more empty threats, Caleb stormed out.

Then Sharpe, looking like he’d just had a near-death experience, rushed forward to Kat and tried to apologize. I got between them, forcing him to back off. But I mean, the guy tripped all over himself trying to kiss her ass, telling her they’d withdraw the petition to freeze the Caravel-Tyson assets as soon as possible, which meant later today. Which meant she’d have full access again by tomorrow.

She gave him the same look she’d given Caleb earlier, the maggot-pus look, and said nothing. This was her M.O., I realized. When she didn’t like a person, or was pissed at them, she erected a wall and pretended they didn’t exist.

Interesting . . .

Eugene collected Sharpe, pulling him away from Kat and excused them both, briefly explaining they needed to take care of an urgent matter. He also promised to return soon so we could review the will and get started with the day’s meetings. His earlier tension was replaced with a twinkle in his eyes and a spring in his step.

Good.

I liked the old guy, even though he was devious and his professional ethics were questionable.

This left Kat standing at nine o’clock and me at twelve o’clock around the oval conference table. She was still holding her coffee.

“He’s broke?” she asked, looking thoughtful.

I nodded. “Yep.”

“Alex?”

I nodded. “Yep. Alex and Quinn sent over the specifics yesterday morning. I meant to tell you, but . . .”

She nodded. “Don’t worry about it.” But then her stare grew hazy, like she was doing math in her head. “Where did the money go?”

“I don’t know. His salary is capped, so are his stock options, but it’s not like Caravel pays peanuts. He sold all the shares he had months ago, but the cash is nowhere. At least, nowhere Alex could find it. Yet. Your cousin has two mortgages on both his houses.”

“Hmm. . .” Her gaze went blurry again. “There’s been a problem with the division earnings reports for the last twelve quarters.”

“What do you mean?”

“At Caravel.” She set her coffee down, looking at me thoughtfully. “We’ve had no new agents go to market, and spending in R&D is way down—way down—but profits are up.”

“Where is the money coming from?”

“Current product sales, which shouldn’t be the case because all of our in-house catalogue is out-of-patent with generics available. At least, I think generics are available.” Kat frowned, her gaze sliding to the table and resting there. “I should check on that,” she murmured.

A knock sounded on the door, followed by a team of assistants appearing with a platter of fancy croissants and pastries, and asking us if we wanted a latte or cappuccino. We didn’t. We thanked them. They left.

I sat down, taking the seat next to where she was standing. Placing my coffee on the table, I grabbed one of the fancy croissants. “The way I figure things, Eugene didn’t know anything about the frozen assets until just this morning. Obviously, Caleb and Sharpe showing up took him by surprise.”

She studied the platter, grabbing a napkin. “Sharpe isn’t a bad guy, but he’s never considered me a priority client. He doesn’t know me. He considers Caravel the main client, even though it’s my family’s money that pays the firm’s retainer, not the company. Caravel has their own legal team in-house. And Caleb is the CEO. So. . .”

“Why would Eugene pick that guy for his partner?”