Chapter 8

Sweat beads sheathed the man's forehead. The conflicting emotions swirling in his eyes could start a war. It was obvious he weighed his chances. He had blown his cover already.

"Mr. Mackay requested for our lab's financial reports. I swear on my life that it's the truth."

Jacob edged closer.

"Did my father also ask an employee to overstep and make use of a VIP lift?"

The realization of his mistake pinned his eyes wide. Regret squeezed his face. The man's head had dropped, and Jacob didn't hesitate to act.

He darted across and popped the man's knee with a foot. His average frame lost its balance. Jacob grabbed a hold of his tie. He tugged and the man's head inclined towards him, but then he pressed a foot to the man's chest so he wouldn't go all the way up.

He was choking. He struggled to loosen Jacob's tight grip with his free hand, but it was to no avail.

Jacob said, "How about we try this again? Give me your real name?"

The choking man agreed like a lizard on steroids, bobbing his head. "Br-brian Dower."

The man's skin had turned pale and ashen. His eyes rolled upwards.

"What's in the file?"

He was silent again, but Jacob squeezed harder.

"Wait! I-will t-talk. Please, urk!"

The instant Jacob released him, he rolled to his side, hacking and coughing for a minute.

Jacob waited impatiently, playing with the crystal of his watch. He didn't think he was going to end the man. He wasn't that brutal, but he was ready to do away with anything in the way of him getting that file.

Brian turned himself and laid on his back. "The information I am about to tell you is top secret...but I guess I just have to. A few of the executives are planning something huge. Mayce Labs signed a secret merger with Emarx, and this file holds all the evidence."

Instead of clearing things up, he had only confused Jacob the more.

"The defunct Emarx labs?" Jacob placed his hands on his waist. "I don't understand. Walk me through it."

"I wish I could, but I'm only a messenger. Mr. Mackay agreed on the merger with Emarx without consenting the board. Here, have it. See for yourself."

Jacob took the file and made a hasty scan through the pages. The air in the box had already lost its freshness, tightening the more. He couldn't believe what he was reading. Emarx Labs shutdown because the FBI caught them manufacturing hard drugs. They supplied the biggest cartels around the world with big names like cocaine, marijuana, and so on.

The head of Emarx was a narco at his heart, but he hadn't lasted long in prison. Someone pulled strings for his early release, and now, Emarx Labs had returned from their grave.

He couldn't put a finger on it. There was no reason for his father to sign a merger with crooks. Unless there was more to the story.

"Why?"

"I don't kno—"

Jacob cut him short. He dragged him to his feet and drove him hard into the wall. A hand was strangling Brian again.

A little pressure should jog his memory, Jacob thought.

"St-urk-op."

He released him, and Brian's mouth loosened with immediate effect.

"Christ!" Brian's breathing was frantic. "I overheard something about joining a vaccine race. It would be Mayce's largest project, and it would be worth billions of dollars."

Jacob held the man's gaze with a riddled expression. It still made no sense. His father knew about Emarx and their history. Investors would run for their money the minute they knew his father had tied Mayce with criminals.

Jacob reached for the switch, and the elevator hummed to life. The lift arrived at the ground floor in a flash. The bottle Jacob held before the man came along was long forgotten on the floor, and when the doors slid open, Brian dashed away without a single glance behind.

He adjusted the hem of his jacket as he caught sight of maintenance approaching the elevator. They had caught wind of a malfunction already, but then, as the crew drew nearer, Jacob pushed for the twentieth floor again.

The onion of surprises that was Jameson Mackay puzzled him. With each layer coming off, he feared for what he would discover at the very end. The last thing he saw before the doors closed was the thinning figure of a scared man running for his dear life.