Kelly’s leg jackhammered under the table. She fought hard to stop it from powering her chair through the ceiling.

Arnold resumed his narration. “Rubicon Pharma is a team. A family. We’re all working toward the same goals, so we cannot tolerate this dissension.” His eyes swept the room as he apparently drew from his memorization of this part, his voice rising as if relishing the message he was delivering. “We will hold an official inquiry to find the guilty party and get to the bottom of what, we presume, is just a misunderstanding.”

He sent another oily smile toward Kelly’s end of the table, but this time it was directed at her.

*  *  *

Kelly stared at her desktop, frozen in fury and terror.

Jasmine leaned back from the divider between them. “I wouldn’t want to be in that rep’s shoes.”

Kelly was lost in her stare, her brain abandoning any attempt at thought.

“Oh, Kel, it’s not you, is it?”

A single nod.

“But you’re already on one warning.”

“I know.”

“You couldn’t help yourself, could you?”

“Children are sick, Jasmine, because of something I sell. That’s not right.”

Jasmine’s eyes darted around the cubicles in their corporate prairie. “You had better keep your voice down.”

Kelly knew what she had to do. It was time to save more than the one family whose children appeared on Simon’s wall. She stood and smoothed her jacket. “Now is the time for my voice to be heard. I’m going to talk to Arnold.”

“What, throw yourself on the mercy of the court?”

“No, it’s just the right thing to do.” Kelly walked past an openmouthed Jasmine to the office at the end of the row. She took a deep breath and knocked.

Arnold’s smile oiled up at the sight of her. “I’m writing an email to you.”

Kelly took a seat on the edge of his guest chair.

Arnold leaned back and laced his arms behind his head. “I’ve heard back from R&D, and I know which clinic called—”

“It’s one of mine.”

Arnold frowned. She had taken the wind out of his sails. Good.

Kelly held her head high. “I can give you the exact wording of our conversation, if you like. The doctor had two children reporting symptoms similar to the side effects we’re trying to pretend don’t exist, and I told him if he wanted information, he could get it from our R&D team. If these rumors are as untrue as we keep claiming them to be, then what’s the problem with proving it?”

Arnold’s mouth flopped open as Kelly pressed her finger into his desk.