What exactly had the two agents hoped to accomplish? It certainly wasn’t the extraction of a confession. And why give away the fact that they were investigating him?
Peter called his lawyer and relayed the encounter, but the beta didn’t have any ideas what game the FBI was playing either.
“If they suspect you were involved in this crime—which you and I know you weren’t—perhaps they were hoping to rattle you into doing something rash?” he suggested.
“Maybe,” Peter said, not convinced. “We’ll just have to keep an eye out.”
Peter ended the call and leaned back in his chair. Then he glanced at the time, and jumped when he realized that his meeting was starting in just half an hour.
He needed to get going.
***
Peter followed the hostess to the out-of-the-way table where he and Gilroy Sprain could speak without being overheard.
The CEO of Novotech was an older alpha well past his prime, and when he gripped Peter’s hand his palm was sweaty.
“Mr. Tank, it’s good to finally meet you.”
“You too, Mr. Sprain.” Peter smiled and sat down, discreetly wiping his hand on his napkin as he put it in his lap. Theirhostess, hovering a foot away, stepped forward and handed him a menu.
“Call me Gilroy,” Sprain said with a wave of his hand. “Mr. Sprain was my father.”
Peter almost winced at the clichéd utterance, but he managed to keep his expression neutral.
“Then call me Peter, please.”
“Your waiter will be right with you,” the hostess said, drawing back. Peter put his menu down on the table, already knowing what he was going to order.
“This is a nice place,” Gilroy said, looking around. Peter followed his gaze, nodding his agreement.
“They do a good steak.”
After the awkward exchange, the waiter showed up to take their order. Peter got the porterhouse steak, rare, and a glass of Cabernet. Gilroy copied his order, and Peter’s opinion of him sank even further.
“So, Mr. Sprain—I’m sorry,Gilroy—what can I do for you?” Peter smiled, taking a sip of his water. “Your secretary made it seem rather urgent.”
Gilroy fidgeted, playing with the napkin next to his plate. He looked at Peter like he wasn’t quite sure what he should say.
“Well, you see… as you’re aware, Biotech Universal is in possession of a substantial amount of Novotech’s research. Now, despite the recent unfortunate incidents that befell some of their executive team, they’ve still managed to use that research to start producing our product before us. We planned to use ourown factories here in the US, but they’ve sped up the process by using contracted facilities south of the border. Quite frankly, I need your firm’s help in putting a stop to their production.”
Peter tilted his head, waiting to see if there was anything more. This was certainly something that he could help with, but he didn’t see why they had to meet face-to-face to arrange it.
“And I need you to assassinate Biotech Universal’s CEO.”
Peter froze, the blurted out words taking him off guard. Gilroy flushed, his face going red, but he didn’t take the words back.
Peter wrinkled his forehead and gave the older alpha a stern look. Something about this just didn’t add up. For a minute he wondered if the FBI was trying to frame him, but they’d have to be colossally stupid to do so right aftertellinghim they were investigating him.
“That seems like a pretty extreme solution,” Peter said at last, and Gilroy’s mouth turned down.
“It’s the only solution. Now I’ve been told that you provide this service, and I am willing to pay whatever it takes. If I were younger I’d challenge him myself, but I’m old and weak and I want him dead.”
Gilroy’s voice was fierce, but something about the way he looked rang false.
“You’ve been told? By whom?” Peter had a reputation for doing this kind of work, but not in the corporate circles Gilroy Sprain was likely to run in.
“What?” Gilroy asked, impatient.
