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“I want you to start deleting the Jiàn Innovation files.”
“Which ones?” Leo asked.
“All of them,” I said. “I want you to start figuring out their backup systems. Map everything out. Be ready. I’ll tell you when.”
Chapter 27
The next few days passed in a blur. I buried myself in my work, pushing my sadness about Clive to one side and my fears about Li Na to the other. Our production, manufacturing, and distribution plans were rapidly coming together for our launch. Hannah had a comprehensive publicity agenda lined up. We were still shrouded in secrecy, but Paragon would soon be a name that would be recognized by the world as a leading innovator in the healthcare industry.
My legal team and Hannah had met with Agent Marks. He’d begun a preliminary investigation of Clive Warren’s hacking, but as Clive Warren was dead, the sense of urgency was lost. Mostly I felt like he’d come by to snoop around. Hannah had said he’d asked all sorts of questions—questions about the technology, Paragon’s history, and our status with the FDA—but that my very expensive lawyers had earned their keep and kept him satisfied.
I told Hannah to follow up with him. And to be extra friendly, just to keep him happy and out of my hair.
Eva continued to work beside me tirelessly. We’d completed the initial the mass-market production of the patch, had the packaging assembled, and would be ready to begin distribution in less than a week.
It was a miracle. Which, as my father used to say, was a concise term for when extremely hard work and dedication met with great timing.
I hadn’t seen or spoken to Gabe. We’d stopped texting entirely. It wasn’t safe, and I didn’t want to remind any of my enemies of our involvement. He hadn’t sent me the number for his replacement phone. If I knew Gabe, he was throwing himself into his work, readying his international contacts to begin distribution of the patch, and lying low. He probably had armed guards at work and at home. I couldn’t wait to finish the launch so I could be back in his arms again. I was lucky to be so busy. Otherwise, I would have gone crazy because I missed him so much.
Still, the atmosphere at Paragon was thrilling. Just as when I’d first started the company, I’d gotten into a comfortable, adrenaline-and-caffeine-infused routine with my work. I enjoyed the process of finally putting all of the pieces in place. It was hard work, but it was good work. Finally, I was on the cusp of being able to share my invention with the world. With all the craziness of the past few weeks, I’d almost lost sight of the fact that my invention was going to help millions of people. They would be able to afford sophisticated medical testing at a fraction of the price. I had no doubt that many lives would be saved because of the preventative measures patients would be able to take based on the patch’s results.
But lives had been lost too. Clive. Even though he wasn’t a good man, I still grieved for him. His murder was wrong. It was pointless.
I thought of him as I headed up to my office. I’d been sleeping on a cot in the lab, and my back had begun to hurt. I crawled onto one of my couches, wrapping my sweater around me. I immediately fell into a troubled sleep, dreaming of Clive’s face.
I woke up to my phone buzzing. I reached for it and squinted blearily at the screen. It was a text from a twelve-digit number I didn’t recognize.
I sat up straight and quickly rubbed my eyes. I needed to see clearly.
I have an offer for you, it read.
Who is this? I texted back.
Let’s not pretend, was all she wrote.
I blew out a deep breath and stared at my phone. My hands were shaking. We were just texting and already, Li Na was getting under my skin. Let’s not pretend, indeed.
I took a deep breath. What’s the offer? I texted back.
I will buy the majority stake in your company for a reasonable price.
Paragon is not for sale at any price, I texted back immediately. I wasn’t going to pretend otherwise.
Then let me buy the patch from you. Or partner with you here in China on a similar product.
I paused for a second. I wanted to fire back a quick No way in hell text, but I needed to proceed with caution. I’m not interested in option one. Need more details in order to consider option two.
I had no plans to partner with murdering, thieving criminals, but I didn’t need to tell her that right that second.
I’ll be in touch. But be prepared to say yes.
I shuddered. Hopefully she was going to just send me another text, not reach out and actually touch me. The clock read five a.m. I got up and hustled down to Leo’s office. A new plan was starting to take shape in my brain. I had to make sure he didn’t start deleting Jiàn Innovations’ files, even though I’d asked him to do just that.
I had another angle I just might be able to play.
“We can do it by the end of next week,” Eva said, tucking a curl behind her ear as she reviewed the most recent manufacturing reports. “It’s going to be a wide launch. Domestic and international. We don’t have to scale it back. We can go global from day one.”
“That’s amazing,” I said. “But I still want to hold off on the announcement for a little while longer.”
