one of Jessica Layne’s scams. She’s finding investors for Genedyne by sending them fraudulent research. She’s taking everyone’s reports and making the numbers look better than they really are.”
“I haven’t given her my numbers,” Noelle replied.
Cara slid that folder across the table. “Then why did she print out this report earlier today? This is what she did to Madison. This is what she did to her original partner, too. Madison was working on a cancer project. Shortly before she died, Jessica Layne met with some of the biggest pharmaceutical companies in the world.”
God, could this be true? “Madison told me her research was going to change the world. But she was working on a biochemical solution to pollution.”
“And sometimes the greatest breakthroughs are made by accident,” Cara pointed out. “What Madison discovered was that the bacteria she manipulated to basically eat pollution, ate tumors as well. She hadn’t even started real experiments on it yet, but she had high hopes that it could potentially lead to a breakthrough.”
“But that could be worth a lot of money. Why would Jessica squash that research?” Her brain was racing with the implications.
“Because Genedyne is a house of cards,” Chris explained. “She’s running it like a multi-level marketing scheme. She pays investors and her legal team by bringing in new investors and selling promising research to people who would like that research to never reach the marketplace. From what Hutch has given us, we believe that she sold Madison’s research to that pharmaceutical consortium for fifty million dollars.”
“She’s selling my research and getting rid of me. She killed Madison.” That truth felt like a kick in the gut.
“Good.” Tag sat up straighter. “We’re all on the same page now. In light of this new information, can we all agree Noelle is potentially in physical danger?”
“Why have her arrested?” MaeBe spoke up. “What was our spy doing there? She said she was meeting with Sidirov, so I would bet she’s not working for Jessica Layne.”
“No, she’s working as a corporate spy, trying to get the real research. If they have the pure data, they can prove Layne’s lying about how far along the research is and knock the price down in exchange for not talking about it,” Hutch surmised. “Someone in the corporate world caught on to her shakedown. They had you arrested to create chaos and to discredit you in case they decide not to pay at all.”
“They’re driving down the price of my work.” She thought she’d been stunned before.
“Genedyne is literally built on nothing. It’s a work of fiction fueled by fear of Jessica Layne,” Cara pronounced. “And I’m going to take her down. Hutch gave us an excellent start, and he believes no one is going to even question that he has the financial data because Layne will be so concerned with the data breach on research.”
His eyes were intense as he stared at her. “That was not my intention.”
But he would use it. She understood that. There was no reason to put his investigation at risk when the damage was already done.
Jessica Layne had taken everything from her. Including Hutch, since she now knew what he truly thought of her. He might care about her, but he’d lied to her.
It seemed like everyone had. There was only one way to handle it. She had to fight, had to throw all of her personal feelings to the side and survive this the best way she could.
She turned to Cara. “I’m going to help you. What do you want me to do?”
Chapter Seventeen
Two hours later Noelle sat on a spanking bench contemplating the turns her life had taken.
When she’d woken up this morning, she’d had a promising career, a relationship with a man she was falling in love with, and a nice apartment that she could feel comfortable in.
Now her career was in shambles, her boyfriend had lied to her, and she was a prisoner in a dungeon. She wasn’t technically in the dungeon, but Sanctum had one. The second floor was a big old dungeon complete with a hamster wheel that was being used by her bodyguard, who needed to literally run away from his demons.
She was confused and on edge, and she wasn’t sure what to do with it. She was never going to be able to sleep.
Was this how Madison had felt before someone had set her lab on fire with her in it?