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“That’s exactly what the stuff is, and Mr. Bendy loves it,” Felix says and leans across the table with a hand extended. “Nice to meet you, Sage. I’m Felix. Sam and I served together. With this guy.” He jerks his thumb in my direction, then nods to the screen. “Kairi. How’s it going?”
“Good. David’s mom isn’t feeling well, so I’m home today with her. Just a heads up if I get interrupted.” Kairi’s husband, David, is a pediatrician. He doesn’t have the luxury of working from home.
“You guys are so lucky to have family right there,” Felix says. “Man, Maria would kill for that.”
Ryan raps the table with his knuckles. “What’d you learn, Kairi?”
She reaches down, and the screen switches from her to a photograph of an aerial shot of five buildings surrounded by trees.
“This is the campus for the entity Sloane Watson’s tax returns show she worked for. We finally located the personnel files. According to her file, she resigned and her employment discontinued on July twenty-first. Three weeks ago.”
“That’s not accurate. She and I spoke in July. You can check our texts. She would’ve mentioned if she was changing jobs. She didn’t resign. I know she didn’t.”
Sage’s dark brown eyes jump from Max, to Felix, to Ryan, pleading her case.
“If that’s true, then someone within the company must be preparing for inquiries,” Felix says.
“Kairi, are you showing us this complex because you think Sloane Watson is still there?” Ryan asks.
“No. This research center gets too much attention. There’s no barrier around this complex. People come and go freely. Lumina is a leading biotech firm headquartered in Switzerland with approximately forty-six thousand employees worldwide. “
“But she didn’t work for Lumina,” Sage says.
“No, but Lumina International is the primary investor in Origin Labs, where she worked. The complex on screen is Origin Laboratories property. It’s not technically a division of Lumina, but it’s probably set up this way for tax purposes,” Kairi says. “Lumina International is a large conglomerate with individual CEOs for each entity. Some entities have CEOs for specific geographic regions. All those CEOs are here right now. My guess is they’re having a conference in the Caymans for the location. I mean, she could be held here, but if she’s being held against her will, that would be ballsy. And to be quite honest, based on the annual reports, Lumina is a reputable firm. Now, what’s interesting is that Origins Labs barely got a mention in Lumina’s annual report. They invested one hundred and twenty-five million in 2022. Since that investment, Origins Labs hasn’t expanded any infrastructure.”
“Sloane talked about the space,” Sage says. “It impressed her. Said it was state-of-the art and like nothing she’d worked in before. Brand new construction.” Sage’s face lights up. “She sent me photos.” Her excitement dims. “But they might’ve burned.”
“She snail mailed you photos?” Felix asks.
“We both like getting mail. So, yeah, we mail each other. Sam, Sloane, and…I mean, we texted and emailed too…but she always included photos in her letters to me.”
Kairi’s voice breaks through the speaker in the room. “We called Origins inquiring about your sister. Under the guise of a cousin trying to locate Sloane. We ended up being transferred to a Lucia Oliveira, an assistant to Lumina’s Global CEO. Based in Zurich.”
“Why would an investor field employee inquiries?” Ryan asks.
“We’re not sure. It’s possible that for various accounting or tax reasons Lumina set Origins up independently but they are really running the show. International business structure isn’t something I completely understand. I’ve reached out to someone to look into it. But my guess is however they have it structured, it’s all about tax avoidance. A contact at Interpol confirmed they were monitoring Origins Laboratories but wouldn’t share more information. Said it was above my pay grade.”
“I’ll reach out,” Ryan says.
“Contact names in Slack,” Kairi says. “And by the way, the yellow notice is in effect. Sloane Watson is now officially listed as a missing person on the Interpol network.”
“Any proof of life?” Ryan asks.
I glance to Sage, but she doesn’t wince at the terminology.
“She’s alive.” Sage answers with absolute conviction.
“Has she been in touch with you?” Ryan asks, but we all know she hasn’t. She answered that exact question yesterday.
“No. But I know it. The same way I know Sam is alive. I can feel it.”
And with that last comment, Sage’s credibility gets shot to hell.
Max and Felix shift in their seats, angling their bodies to the static screen mounted on the wall.
Ryan visibly swallows and raps his knuckles against the table. “Alive or not, we’ve got someone out there who is coming after you, so we’ve got a case. Knox, you and Felix take the lead. Pull a plan together and let Stella know what resources you’re going to need. That includes your team, Kairi. I’m gonna make some calls. Run it up the flagpole with our Interpol friends. If I need to, I’ll reach out to my brother-in-law at the NSA.”
“Speaking of Sam,” Max says, “he packed a duffel bag for you, right? It included guns and cash. And he told you to come to Knox if you were ever in trouble?”
