Lilibeth as she shows her police detective credentials to a receptionist and asks to speak with Brad Nixon or his supervisor. A strange look passes over the young woman’s face before she says, “Please take a seat over there,” waving us to a group of couches against the wall opposite her desk.
The receptionist picks up the phone next to her computer and places a call too low for us to overhear. We’ve barely sat down when an older, graying man walks toward us from a hall on the other side of the entrance.
“Lilibeth Egilsdóttir?” Smoothing his palms down the front of his suit coat, he fastens the button before reaching out and shaking hands with Lilibeth. A strange possessive feeling has me quickly sliding forward to hold out my hand in an attempt to get him to release his grip as fast as possible.
“I’m Nikon Zylyk … and my associate Alisha Cybek. Thank you for seeing us so quickly.” The older man’s dark eyes dart around the large space around us as if he’s looking for someone.
“I’m Alex Bjorn, the Vice President of Public Relations. Follow me.” Spinning around, he leads us around the corner and into a small, frosted glass conference room. I feel like all I’ve done over the last five days is sit in these rooms and question people.
We haven’t even settled into our seats when Alex begins talking. “I was notified I’d see an investigator looking into Daniel Ingolfur’s disappearance.”
Lilibeth shakes her head slightly, questioning him. “Daniel Ingolfur?’
But I know who he’s referring to. Daniel Ingolfur was on the list of those exposed from the golf club incident. We were working our way through the list, but with fifty-four names, we’d clumped them into groups of friends from the same area of the city.
I pull up the information on my implant as Alex explains. “Oh … yes. I’m sorry, but you’re here in regard to him, correct?” Alex fidgets with his coat before leaning back and leveling his eyes on Lilibeth.
Lilibeth is about to tell him no when I reach over to grab her wrist to stop her. A jolt of lust shoots into my groin, and it’s so intense, I falter briefly.
It’s Alisha who answers. “Specifically, we’re following up on Brad Nixon. He’s a new hire through your Kitimat, Canada branch and came here for training. Was Daniel Ingolfur his supervisor?” Alisha captures Alex’s attention, and he leans forward, ready to talk again.
“Not necessarily a supervisor, but he’s the company ambassador who welcomes our international trainees. Daniel met Brad at the airport and took him to settle into his apartment here for the three-week training. Technically, Brad never made it into the office here. I’m sorry … can I get you all something to drink? Coffee or water?” Alex smiles at Alisha, and I realize he’s attracted to her.
Oblivious to his interest, Alisha doesn’t even answer since eating is optional for her. She can eat to blend with her environment, but it’s rare that she bothers. Especially here on Earth. The first thing she told me when she hooked up to their world wide web was that not eating was socially acceptable for females.
“No, I’m fine.” There’s a faint vibration running between Lilibeth and me where I’m holding her wrist. When I focus on her though, she gives me a nasty look, grinding her teeth and pointedly pulling her arm from my hand.
Turning to Alex, she answers kindly. “No, thank you.”
“So, if you knew we’d be by to discuss Daniel Ingolfur, have you seen him since he picked Brad Nixon up from his flight?”
Blinking slightly, Alex furrows his brows, cocking his head slightly. “No, honestly, we’d assumed he was with Brad. We had the welcome meet and greet at the Mosfellsbær Golf Course, and we lost three ambassadors and two trainers along with most of the class. Well … all of them except one. She was sick from her own flight the day before and decided to skip the golfing meet and greet. Worried about the weather and being sick.”
Shaking my head slightly, I turn to Alisha. “How did we miss this? We were supposed to be notified of any connections between the victims. I mean transitioned. With that many people from this company, we should have come here first!”
“I don’t know. I’ll look into it.” Alisha goes still as she begins sorting through the information, but I know she’s still documenting our interview. That’s the thing about our AI Personal Assistants. They record everything,