had come to that agreement eight years ago, and Max had never regretted the decision.
He was reviewing the information in front of him in preparation for a meeting with Mr. Shea later this afternoon. Max was curious whether or not he would earn another bonus for his previous work. After a quick glance at the clock, he decided to drive to Mr. Shea’s new office, carefully hidden from public view. Only he and Shea knew of its location. Well, Hailee Maher knew, but she was gone. Max didn’t know where, only that she would never see the office or Shea again.
“Yes, Max, please come in,” Shea said as soon as Max knocked on the door and poked his head into his office. “What news do you have for me?”
“I’ve got a preliminary cutout organization set up through which you can invest in GenSpan. Have you decided how much you’d like?” Max asked, sitting down before Mr. Shea.
“Let’s wait until a few more venture capitalists throw their hats in the ring. Once they’ve got upwards of a hundred million in backing, I’d like to give five, maybe ten percent more than the largest backer; do you think that will cause any issues?” Shea asked.
“I doubt it, sir. From what I’ve discovered so far, that’s pretty standard for large VC firms to funnel their funding through various back channels. It’s all legal, since it’s all private, and they seem paranoid about tipping their hand to one another,” Max explained. “If you don’t mind me asking, is there any interest in this besides keeping an eye on Miss Berg?” he asked. “The reason I’m asking is if you do have genuine interest in the company, I can hire some researchers and perhaps even get some agents inside the company,” Max suggested.
Shea pursed his lips in thought. “What do you know about genetic research, Max?” he asked.
“Not much, but my opinion is that this is just another trend, more flash than science from what I’ve read, not that I understand all of it completely, but they are a long ways away from rewriting the genome to stop the aging process,” Max said carefully.
“I tend to agree, but is it not true that they also might discover other genetic therapies? I agree that anti-aging is more of a quick-money health scam, but if they are fairly close to other disease cures, GenSpan may be worth something,” Shea said, thinking out loud. “Tell you what, Max, move forward on the VC angle, meaning invest whatever millions you need to be their largest backer, and see about getting somebody inside there. If they do stumble onto a cure for cancer, it would be nice to file for the patent before they do. Curing cancer may be very profitable,” Shea said in a tone Max understood meant to take the ball and run with it.
“Yes sir, I’ll put something together. And on the other issue?” Max asked, slightly grinning.
“Excellent as always, Mr. Emerson, you always do such good work. She was indeed a virgin. Your bonus should be deposited into your account by the end of this week.”
“Will you be needing any future, uh, acquisitions?” Max asked.
“Yes, yes, I believe we will. I think one per month will be sufficient for now, however, we will be needing to ramp up inventory in the coming months, once Mr. Ricker starts to get our real estate expansion underway,” Shea said.
“One per month will require some additional logistical support,” Max stated.
“How so?”
“Well, after a couple of months, if young sixteen- and seventeen-year-old girls in the area keep disappearing, the responses to the various advertisements might start to decrease, especially if there is any
He was reviewing the information in front of him in preparation for a meeting with Mr. Shea later this afternoon. Max was curious whether or not he would earn another bonus for his previous work. After a quick glance at the clock, he decided to drive to Mr. Shea’s new office, carefully hidden from public view. Only he and Shea knew of its location. Well, Hailee Maher knew, but she was gone. Max didn’t know where, only that she would never see the office or Shea again.
“Yes, Max, please come in,” Shea said as soon as Max knocked on the door and poked his head into his office. “What news do you have for me?”
“I’ve got a preliminary cutout organization set up through which you can invest in GenSpan. Have you decided how much you’d like?” Max asked, sitting down before Mr. Shea.
“Let’s wait until a few more venture capitalists throw their hats in the ring. Once they’ve got upwards of a hundred million in backing, I’d like to give five, maybe ten percent more than the largest backer; do you think that will cause any issues?” Shea asked.
“I doubt it, sir. From what I’ve discovered so far, that’s pretty standard for large VC firms to funnel their funding through various back channels. It’s all legal, since it’s all private, and they seem paranoid about tipping their hand to one another,” Max explained. “If you don’t mind me asking, is there any interest in this besides keeping an eye on Miss Berg?” he asked. “The reason I’m asking is if you do have genuine interest in the company, I can hire some researchers and perhaps even get some agents inside the company,” Max suggested.
Shea pursed his lips in thought. “What do you know about genetic research, Max?” he asked.
“Not much, but my opinion is that this is just another trend, more flash than science from what I’ve read, not that I understand all of it completely, but they are a long ways away from rewriting the genome to stop the aging process,” Max said carefully.
“I tend to agree, but is it not true that they also might discover other genetic therapies? I agree that anti-aging is more of a quick-money health scam, but if they are fairly close to other disease cures, GenSpan may be worth something,” Shea said, thinking out loud. “Tell you what, Max, move forward on the VC angle, meaning invest whatever millions you need to be their largest backer, and see about getting somebody inside there. If they do stumble onto a cure for cancer, it would be nice to file for the patent before they do. Curing cancer may be very profitable,” Shea said in a tone Max understood meant to take the ball and run with it.
“Yes sir, I’ll put something together. And on the other issue?” Max asked, slightly grinning.
“Excellent as always, Mr. Emerson, you always do such good work. She was indeed a virgin. Your bonus should be deposited into your account by the end of this week.”
“Will you be needing any future, uh, acquisitions?” Max asked.
“Yes, yes, I believe we will. I think one per month will be sufficient for now, however, we will be needing to ramp up inventory in the coming months, once Mr. Ricker starts to get our real estate expansion underway,” Shea said.
“One per month will require some additional logistical support,” Max stated.
“How so?”
“Well, after a couple of months, if young sixteen- and seventeen-year-old girls in the area keep disappearing, the responses to the various advertisements might start to decrease, especially if there is any
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