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It seemed they’d not only been sequestered from the rest of the teams, but that management wanted each of her team members to be isolated from each other. For the most part, Emery, like everyone else at NLGP, just kept her head down and tried to focus on her own work. But the days of collaboration and teamwork were gone, and Emery wasn’t sure they’d ever be back.
Lyssa had come to get a cup of coffee. Emery had been away from her cubicle and when she touched Lyssa’s shoulder to move past her, the woman had almost jumped out of her skin.
“I didn’t think you’d mind,” she stammered.
“No, Lyssa, of course, I don’t mind. This is getting ridiculous. Everyone has become so paranoid we’re all starting to look at each other suspiciously.”
“I don’t think that should be a surprise. After all, given that Carson was our team lead, and he stole all that information…”
“Allegedly stole. We don’t know anything. I choose not to believe that Carson is some kind of corporate spy or traitor.”
“They may not have arrested him, but that’s because he slipped out of the country. They’ve got teams searching for him on the ground in various places, and corporate security is watching for any electronic trail.”
“Did it ever occur to anyone that Carson is innocent?”
“No,” Lyssa snorted. “Because that makes no sense. Do you really believe he just up and left without telling anyone at the same exact time as a bunch of highly classified information was downloaded? Even you can’t be that naive.”
“Or,” Emery said evenly, trying not to give in to her irritation, “someone else—someone from outside—might have broken in and downloaded those files. Maybe Carson got in their way. Maybe he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Or maybe they kidnapped him, either because he saw them or he had the knowledge to interpret the information for them.”
“Do you really think so?” Lyssa asked hopefully.
Emery shook her head. “Honestly, I don’t know. The only thing I do know is that from what I know of Carson Payne, it doesn’t lead me to believe he is capable of this kind of duplicity.”
“Duplicity? The company is calling him a traitor.”
“I think that’s a little harsh.”
“Is it?” said Kam Perkins from behind them.
“Excuse me,” said Lyssa, grabbing her coffee mug and exiting Emery’s cubicle like the devil himself was hot on her heels.
“Coffee?” asked Emery. When Kam declined, Emery continued, “For the record, from what is being said you have no empirical evidence that if something was stolen, Carson stole it. Circumstantial evidence? Perhaps, but nothing you can take to the cops.”
“And how would you know that?” asked Kam, archly.
“Because it isn’t all over the internet or the paper. No one is talking about it anywhere other than NLGP, no cops have questioned anyone, and NATO does not have a red notice put out on him.”
Kam looked taken aback. “For someone who says she doesn’t know Dr. Payne very well, you certainly seem determined to defend him.”
“I don’t know enough to have a strong opinion, but from what I do know about Carson and what I’ve observed going on here in light of his disappearance, I’m inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt, and it bothers me that I appear to be the only one willing to do so. As I said to Lyssa, for all you know, someone else is responsible and has either killed him or is holding him for whatever reason we have yet to determine.”
“What reason do you think some unknown third party would want to hold Dr. Payne hostage?”
“I can come up with two right off the top of my head. One, information is no good if you don’t know how to interpret it; and two, ransom.”
“Ransom?”
“I know when Heidi was onboarding me, she mentioned that the company had a K&R policy for all of its scientists.”
“No one outside the company knows that.”
“I don’t know that you’re correct. Last time I checked, it was on the company’s website under employee benefits.”
Kam looked shocked. “Are you serious?” She rolled her eyes. “Of course, you are.” Shaking her head as if to dispel something unpleasant, Kam regarded her with the friendly smile Emery had first seen when she met her. “If you can put your feelings for Dr. Payne aside—and I would caution you about letting others know what you think—I’d like to pull you from the team. Between you and me, I think management is going to reassign all the people who worked for Carson to different teams and get rid of some of the people who aren’t pulling their weight. I’ve got a special project for you that I believe is better suited to your skills and talents.”
“I’m not sure I’m a good fit for NLGP, Kam. I’ve been thinking about taking a break—maybe do some traveling and then find another place to work where it’s warmer.”
“You have a contract…”
