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Aidan’s brows lifted Terri never failed to impress him “Go on”
“Lauren hasn’t returned any of her parents’ calls, nor has she initiated a single phone call to them,” Terri replied “That’s the first anoes, they’ve diminished in frequency from many times a day to one per day, delivered at precisely the sauistic patterns Up until three days ago, the language pattern suggested a US-educated, college-aged female”
“And now?”
“Now the words are more typical of a Balkanvery hard to appear female and American”
“So two different people coes”
“Yes” Terri folded her ar troubled “I took it upon myself to contact Philip in London I asked hi his former MI6 contacts Philip confir a beer and pretzel at the Hofbräuhaus, flirting with some Euro trash Her apart set of luggage is accounted for Her backpack is hanging on a hook Her birth control pills, makeup, and pharree Lauren’s not traveling in Europe She’s been kidnapped”
Aidan nodded “It’s no coincidence that the victi All that’s required now is a sie for Lauren”
“My guess is that the Chinese aren’t even doing their own dirty work” Terri sank down on the edge of her desk “They’ve hired a Balkan cri This is now a High Priority”
Aidan didn’t ton”
He reached for the phone on the desk and dialed his office He knew that his personal assistant was still at her desk at this ungodly hour, addressing a situation with the Far East Then again, a quarter of Heck, hard at work
“Melissa, sorry for the hour and the short notice I need you to bookthe following day Have a rental car ready for me at the airport I need to drive down to Santa Clara for ain Silicon Valley” A pause “Good Also, I need to speak to John Reay space He was there when I left Phone is fine Thanks”
Aidan hung up and turned to Terri “I’ into my home office for a teleconference,” he told Terri “I’ll contact you toton Lock up on your way out”
Aidan’s teleconference with John Rea
Hecky expert had explained that the breakthrough electronics technology NanoUSA had developed would significantly reduce labor required for electronics assey would result in massive unemployment in the Asian electronics industry
To make matters worse, Robert Maxwell, the CEO of NanoUSA, was a patriot and was deter in the US In a seismic shift, cell phones, tablets, laptops would all bescared Millions had rated from rural China to urban areas in order to fill factory jobs If NanoUSA had its way, those Chinese factories would be empty For the first time, Chinese workers would experience what their American counterparts felt in the Rust Belt as Chinesejobs Now the tables would be turned