The only thing I can tell you is this: you won’t see her coming, but you have to know that she will. She is ruthless, Lauren. The only thing she wants is—well, is everything. She wants her company to become a pioneer in the global market. She wants money, she wants influence, she wants all sorts of things I have no idea about.
I still haven’t figured out what makes her tick. Maybe if I had, I wouldn’t be writing this letter to you.
You need to stay sharp. Stay on target with the launch and watch your back. I would tell you to watch Gabe’s too, but he’s a prick, and we both know it. He’s more of a thug than you know. Remember I told you this, and maybe someday you’ll forgive me.
She can and will use everything she can against you. She did it to me. I’m really not a bad guy. Well, since I’m probably dead if you’re reading this, I guess it’s okay for me to be honest. I might not be bad, but I’m not good. I wanted things. Things I couldn’t achieve on my own. I wanted to be great, and great is above my pay grade, so I tried to get there a different way.
It’s sort of sad, really. I had an empire of my own, and I was lord over it, but in the end, I was just a pawn. I didn’t ever see that one coming.
Don’t let that happen to you. I know for a fact that you’re smarter than me. So learn from my mistakes and adapt.
For what it’s worth, I hope you have better luck than me. If you’re reading this and I’m dead, you’re clearly going to need it.
All the Best,
Clive
I sat there, stunned. I wasn’t even
sure if I could cry for Clive, but I still felt sick. Someone had murdered him. Someone who was hired by Jiàn Innovations—I knew it. It could have been a guard or another prisoner; I wasn’t sure at that point if it even mattered.
If Li Na could get to Clive in jail, she could get to any of us.
I still didn’t understand clearly how Clive had become involved with her. Maybe it had been something simple, such as a cocktail party while he was working in Shenzhen. I could picture Clive bragging about being on Paragon’s board and the great things we were doing. Perhaps he mentioned the patch. Li Na might have been intrigued, and they’d struck up a conversation that had led to something more. Or maybe she’d known exactly who he was and exactly what Paragon had been working on, and she’d been the one to seek him out.
I don’t know why he’d become beholden to her. Maybe it was merely a matter of fear. She could have told him that she would kill him if he didn’t perform, and eventually, that was exactly what had happened.
I quickly went to my bathroom and scrubbed the mascara from my face. I had a Code Red on my hands. Clive Warren was dead. The patch was launching as soon as I could manage it.
Li Na was coming for us, and I had to be prepared.
I got the approval email from the FDA that morning. I’d always envisioned this moment—calling Hannah, popping open champagne, and celebrating with everyone at Paragon. The cheers. The smiles. The excitement.
Instead, all I felt was a pit of dread in my stomach.
I called Eva in the lab. “The FDA just approved the patch.”
“Yay? Why don’t you sound excited?”
“Because we need to launch as soon as possible. We’re under a verified security threat. Tell everyone that we’re on lockdown for the imminent future.”
“Sooner than two weeks?” she asked. That was the tentative timeframe we’d agreed upon, pending the government approval. I could just picture Eva with her brow furrowed in disbelief underneath her mop of curly hair.
“I know. It’s crazy. But trust me, it’s also necessary.”
“Okay. I’ll call everyone in.”
I called Eddie in security next. “I need you to check all of our employees—lab workers, tech, cafeteria, maintenance, everybody. Please tell them that I trust them, but that we have a verified security threat, and I want to make sure none of them have been personally hacked. I need all cell phones and other electronics confiscated. If they need to call home, they have to use a landline, and it has to be monitored. I want guards at the entrance twenty-four seven. No one gets in or out without a full search. We’re like this until we launch.”
“Wow,” Eddie said.
“You can say that again. And wait—there’s one other thing.” For all I knew, Li Na could be fully aware that I’d spoken to Clive’s lawyer earlier, and that he’d sent me a letter. She could also know that Paragon was headed into lockdown mode. “Call housekeeping. We need the building swept. And dusted,” I added for good measure.
I held my breath, hoping he’d understand that I meant swept for bugs, and not the six-legged variety.
“Yes, ma’am,” he replied without missing a beat. “A clean office is a healthy office.”
I wrote a quick Post-It to myself and stuck it on my computer. Give Eddie a raise.