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“No But now you are”

“Why tell me?”

“Because you’re in the middle of a crisis that you’re co technology that NanoUSA is about to commercialize”

Vance’s eyes narrowed “And you want to hear all the details of the technology in order to fix my problem?”

“It’s not what I want that matters,” Aidan said “It’s what others want—and what they’ll do to get it We already have a significant amount of data We need more”

“What is it you think you know?”

Aidan relayed all the information John had debriefed him with

With a dubious shake of his head, Vance rose “None of that is news to us, Mr Devereaux” It didn’t go unnoticed by Aidan that Vance had reverted back to the formal address “I’ of ht and the Chinese are stepping up their gay, we’ll handle it on our own Now, if there’s nothing else—”

“They’ve got your daughter”

Vance froze “Pardon me?”

“Lauren She’s been kidnapped The Chinese hired an Albanian crioing to offer you a trade—the technology for Lauren And they’re going to kill her unless we act now to prevent it”

Vance gripped the edge of his desk “What proof do you have of this?”

Aidan went on to provide so the unreported kidnapping outside Hofbräuhaus

“I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t believe this,” he added “Have you noticed any change in Lauren’s behavior over the past couple of days?”

The expression on Vance’s face told Aidan he’d struck a nerve