"So, that's your fear?" Jake said while looking at Kiara who smiled at him. Jake ignored her for a moment.
"Yes, and the way she asked questions to me today,"
"What about that?"
"The waste disposal unit is the center of controversy. I don't want her to mention it in front of him," Perry said.
"Don't worry. I won't let that happen."
With that, they walked towards Kiara.
"I have told Jake to take you safely to the guest house," Perry tried to cover their conversation unsuccessfully.
"Don't worry, Sir. I won't let you down," Kiara said and looked at Jake who was standing behind Perry covering his face.
Perry nodded and turned towards him. Now it was Kiara's turn to stifle a laugh. Perry patted on Jake's shoulder and turned towards the admin building.
As soon as he entered inside, Jake punched in Kiara's shoulder lightly.
"What?" she said while laughing.
"Don't worry, Sir. I won't let you down," Jake mocked her.
Both started laughing. After a minute or so, Jake held Kiara's arm and started walking towards the guest house.
"If someone sees us, our act will be up," he said while trying to control his laugh.
"He is so funny when he tries to boss me around," Kiara said while holding her stomach.
"You were right," Jake said while controlling the laughter.
"About What?" Kiara asked. The smile left her face.
"There is something fishy about the waste disposal unit. Perry was worried about you mentioning it to Chris,"
"I think even they are manipulating the results in the lab or worse, they are not even collecting the samples,"
"I also think so," Jake said and looked at his watch, "We should leave immediately. Chris must be waiting for us."
Kiara nodded, "I had forgotten about it with all the commotion that Perry created."
Jake punched her again, "Don't start it again. I have somehow controlled myself."
"But, Perry Sir has taught me well," Kiara said softly. Jake looked at her and both started laughing again as they walked towards the guest house.
This was the first time that Kiara had gone beyond the Admin block. They turned right after crossing the road behind the block from where Kiara could see the factory chimneys spewing the smoke.
"That's the main factory," Jake pointed at the large complex.
"What are those?" Kiara pointed at the sheds behind the factory.
"They store the raw material there and those conveyors carry them inside the plant,"
"It's complicated,"
"Maybe, though, I heard all the operations are automated with very less manual intervention."
Kiara nodded and looked at a small block on the left.
"So, that's the lab," she smiled while screening the building.
"Yeah. Harrison has specifically instructed me to keep you away from it," he said and held her from her arm.
"And, I guess Chris would have told him that," she said while getting away.
"So much for gaining his trust," Jake looked at her.
"I don't believe this. You are still mad at me for telling everything to Chris?" she asked, nodding her head in disbelief.
"It's just that I don't think that was the right way to earn his trust. Now he knows that the government is planning to get proof against him," he said and stopped, "What if Carlson comes to know that you have blown your own cover?"
"He won't come to know even if someone tells him about it?"
"What?"
"If everything goes as planned, the government may not even need the proofs," she said calmly.
"You have a plan for everything. What is this one now?"
"Don't worry. You will see for yourself. More than a plan, it's the outcome of what we are doing now," she tried to explain. By now her words were frustrating him instead of raising his curiosity. He threw his arms in the air and started walking. Kiara followed suit.
"That's our place," Jake pointed towards a huge gate, "Behold yourself to meet the most eligible bachelor in the country."
Kiara looked at him and raised her eyebrows.
The security guard already had the instructions. He looked at them and then towards his watch, "You are late. Follow me."
Kiara rolled her eyes at his words and looked around. A dozen or so people were working around; some in the garden, some sweeping the path and a couple of them washing the cars. Everything looked at its place. The daisies were blooming; gold fishes were swimming around in crystal clear water. They looked much happier than anyone she had met in the town. The walls looked as if painted yesterday. In short, she was going to meet a guy who had been away from ground reality for so long that maybe he did not understand the cause of the common man.
Security guard left them at the main door in front of the line of swanky cars. Jake looked at them with admiration, while Kiara thought of it as a show off.
As they pushed the glass door, they felt as if they had entered a five star hotel lobby.
"You must be Kiara?" a soft voice came from the right.
"I am here to meet Chris… I mean Mr. Cooper," she said while looking at the impeccably dressed man.
"Please follow me. He has been waiting for you for half an hour," he said while looking at his watch.
"Punctuality is in their blood," Jake said in her ear.
"Maybe he feels it as another business transaction,"
There was a conference room at the other end of the hall.
"Mr. Cooper is inside." he said and went back to the reception.
"Why do they have to leave us at the door?" she said in frustration.
"Because, their job is to show us the path and not the destination,"
"Very philosophical. Will you now be a gentleman and open the door?"
Jake pushed the door and got aside.
"Good afternoon," a voice came from the other end of the room as the door opened.
A man in the early thirties wearing a suit looked at them. There was sharpness in his blue eyes that Kiara had rarely seen.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Cooper," she replied. He got up as they reached near him. He was six feet tall and had an athletic physique. He was exactly opposite of what she had hoped for. Need to read more business news, she reminded herself.
"So, what's the update? Any messages from the kidnappers?" Chris shot a question without losing any time.
"Actually, yes," Kiara said, pointing at the bruise on her face. "I had a visit yesterday."
"Oh.. I am terribly sorry," he said, though she did not find the warmth in those words, "What did he say?"
"Well, the message was to tell you to be ready," she said while looking at Jake." They don’t know that you know me. So, they just wanted me to meet you and tell the whole thing. Maybe once you are prepared mentally, they will talk about the ransom."
"I understand. So what is the plan now?" Chris asked. Kiara was finding it difficult to answer the volley of questions. Chris indeed was treating it as a business deal asking questions after questions. She looked at Jake who was looking around the room.
"Mr. Cooper.. Don't mind my saying this, but, you understand the seriousness of the situation? It's not a deal of yours. There are no defined steps. We don’t know what we are going to do next and whether that will have the desired result," Kiara said firmly.
Both Jake and Chris looked at her together.
Chris took a deep breath, "I am really sorry. It is just that I am used to taking charge of things. Past few days have been very traumatic. First Sarah left without notice and then suddenly the news of her kidnap came. I know a lot of people in the government. They assured me the full support, but nothing happened. I came to Portland, but the police was not even able to find a single clue. With your help, I got a ray of hope. I just want to be sure about everything that's happening. I can feel Sarah is somewhere around and that feeling is making me even more frustrated."
Kiara nodded, "I understand. T
hat's common among the close ones of the victim. It is really hard to trust anyone or any plan. But, still you need to be patient."
With that, she pulled her chair near to him, "Mr. Cooper. We are at the mercy of the kidnapper. We don't know who is behind all of this. They haven't left any clues."
"So, we have to just sit and wait for the ransom call?" Chris said in frustration.
"No, we don't have to," Kiara said, "Mr. Cooper, we suspect that the people involved are someone known to Sarah and maybe you also know them personally. They are not talking to us directly which points towards that suspicion. Also, we feel that maybe they have local support with all the damage the factory has done to the town."
"There is no damage. They have got jobs. I know you want something that could show us in a poor light," Chris said angrily.
"Let's park that aside for the time being. We need to discuss about Sarah first,"
"What do you want to know?" Chris asked softly.
"We want to know everything that happened between the time you met Sarah and the time she left you, everything; any discussions, anything you have noticed that can throw a clue at us."
"Some of it is rather confidential,"
"Not anymore. Someone's life hangs on it," Kiara said, "Please don't hide anything."
"Ok.. I will tell you everything about Sarah that I know. Her father was deployed in Iraq. As per Sarah, he was a great advocate of human rights. He lost his life fighting for that," Chris said and looked at them," Our project gave her a chance to relive her father's dream. In fact, she had done a similar project as a part of her college thesis. That was the reason that she was chosen for the project."
"But, the project report cleared you of any wrong doings?" Jake asked with a hint of anger.
"She had nothing to do with the final report. She was just a researcher. The final report was signed off between Richard and me," Chris explained.
"Why did the need for the report arise?" Kiara asked. "I want to know what is in this report that made someone take such a drastic step of kidnapping the researcher."
"See, I don't know whether these people want to have some money from me or whether they are just pissed off because of the report. But I will tell you how all of this happened," Chris said and looked at them.
Jake gestured him to continue.
"Before that I need to be sure that nothing goes out of this room. This room has jammers. So, none of your electronic devices will work either. If you try to tell the media what I am going to say; you better be prepared for the consequences," Chris warned them.
"Are you threatening us, Mr. Cooper?" Jake asked.
"No, I am just being cautious and keeping my end of the bargain," Chris said and looked at Kiara who nodded in affirmation. Jake looked at her not understanding what the bargain was.
"Well, we don't tell anyone anything he says and he doesn't tell Carlson and Harrison about us," she told him making him a bit angry.
"You could have at least told me," Jake said in frustration.
"I thought you will understand," she said in a low voice.
"Of Course I understand now. I don't have any other choice," Jake said in a stern voice. Chris was looking at them. "Can we continue?" he tried to diffuse the tension.
"I am okay," Kiara said and looked at Jake who nodded reluctantly.
'Great.. As you know we won a big contract last year. We knew we had created enemies out of those who were vying for the contract as well. And, when the financial results came; it added fuel to fire. We had outgrown our competition by leaps and bounds. Media went after us. They started to witch hunt us.
During the press conference, one of the reporters started asking questions about our growth and if it had to do something with our allegiance to the government. I usually don't attend the press conferences. If someone challenges me, I get out of control. My father on the other hand knows how to deal with it. But, that day, even his limits were tested. And, when the reporter started asking questions about how we have destroyed the ecological balance of Kingston, my father's patience gave up. He left the conference. And then I made a huge mistake.'
"What mistake?" Kiara asked.
"As I said, I can't handle anyone questioning my success," Chris said, "I used my contacts to put pressure on the publication and got that reporter fired."
Jake looked at Kiara as if telling how they could be the next ones. Kiara raised her brow and gestured him to concentrate.
Chris took a deep breath, "Media was waiting for such a knee jerk reaction from our side. They just needed us to make one mistake. The next day, whole media came in support of that reporter. They threatened to go deeper and find more proof against us. Our shares took a tumble and this rattled the board members. They wanted me to give an unconditional apology to the reporter and get this sorted out."
"And, you declined?" Kiara asked, knowing how he hated conceding to anyone's demands.
"Initially, yes. But, later on I had to succumb to the board pressure," Chris said and paused for a moment, "But, they did not want a closed room apology. They wanted me to apologize on national TV."
"And, you were not willing to go that far?" Jake asked.
"Never. In fact, no one will do that. This was something planned by them. They just wanted to hurt us as much as possible."
"Mr. Cooper. This reporter; you know him personally?" Jake asked.
"We have connections with the owners of the publications not with individual reporters," Chris replied.
"We need to do a background check on this reporter," Kiara suggested and looked at Jake.
"How is that important?" Chris asked.
"Well, I did some research myself and found that the reporter finally apologized to you. So, I believe you used your influence in the end. May be he is pissed off. He may not be the crime boss, but may have hired someone," Kiara suggested.
"Actually, I did not have to influence anyone," Chris said, "It’s the old game. If money and power fail individually; mix them together and you will never lose."
"What did you do?" Jake asked. Kiara had done the research, but she had no clue and was eager to understand how Chris turned the tables.
"You know how the newspapers make money," he asked
"You threatened them to pull out your advertisements," Kiara understood what Chris meant.
"I did that, but more subtly. I got this news out that we will be spending our entire advertising budget on two publications only," he said, "The one headed by Richard and Thomas."
"They were the ones who headed the rehabilitation project as well," Kiara understood where it was going.
"It was all going well for the media when money was not involved. With this move, one by one all the publications supporting the reporter started to withdraw their support. And, finally, his own publication made him withdraw all the charges and give an unconditional apology."
"Wow! Businessmen are really twisted people," Jake said with a smile. "What about Richard and Thomas?"
"They still kept a large chunk of the allocated money. And, in return, they helped with the report. They are much respected among their fraternity. The panel they created was projected as an independent panel. None of the other publications tried to say anything against it."
"But, the report says there is no need of rehabilitation?" Kiara asked curiously.
"No, it actually says that rehabilitation is needed because of the pollution caused by excessive use of pesticides by locals for farming. See, it’s a gray area. It's very difficult to predict from where the pesticide came in the ground water. I had said at the project launch itself that whatever will be the result, I will release the money. So rehabilitation was going to happen even if the report favored me."
"So, you projected yourself as a savior by painting an entirely different picture. That's really immoral. Isn't it?" Jake questioned.
"I have to run a multibillion dollar enterprise. It can't be done without manipulating a few things. And, I don't expect you to understa
nd,"
"Anyhow, I believe we are drifting from the issue at hand. Mr. Cooper, did you receive any threats post the release of the report?" Kiara asked.
"Nothing except the one from Richard," Chris said with a wry smile, "The day report was released; I had organized a farewell party for the team. By the next morning, all the commotion started."
"About that. What was the relation between Richard and Sarah like?" Kiara asked.
"I never noticed anything. I met them together only twice during the presentations. I don't think Richard can be behind the kidnapping. He is too sophisticated to pull something like this," Chris said with surprise. "Why do you ask?"
"Well, for starters, Richard put everything on Sarah's head," Jake responded this time.
"What?" Chris asked with surprise.
"You know that Richard fired Sarah as soon as the news was leaked?" Kiara said.
"No, I don't. I lost touch with her post that night. But, why would he do that?"
"As per Sarah's mother, she was the one blamed for stealing the diary. When she resented, she was fired and told to keep a low profile or face consequences," Kiara said.
Chris got up and stood behind the chair, "My father also thinks that she was the one who stole the diary and handed it to Richard. But, if she had helped Richard, why would he fire her?"
"That's what we also want to know. That's why we are keeping Richard under our radar," Jake said.
Chris nodded, "Anyone else under your radar?"
Kiara looked at Jake who also hesitated a bit," Mr. Cooper, Did your father know about your affections towards Sarah?"
Chris's face turned red with anger, "How dare you drag my father into this? Do you even know what you are saying?"
He got up and walked to the door, "I would have to tell you to leave."
He opened the door and looked at them. Jake shook his head in disbelief. Kiara took a deep breath and got up.
"We will leave. Just tell us if your father approved of your affections?" she asked firmly.
"What do you want to prove? My father got her kidnapped because he didn't like her being close to me," he said and looked at her furiously.
"Hm.. so he did not like your closeness to her," she said thoughtfully and gestured Jake to get up, "Well, you know your father more than us. You will know better what he does with people whom he doesn't like."
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