Inception - Ascension Paradox, Book 1
Copyright© 2023 by L.R. Thornton
Chapter 31
“You have to know it’s not a good idea for Amy to go out with Castle,” Mark Berry told Daniel when they were left alone. Karlo and Jackson had gone to pick up their order of Chinese.
“I know. But what can I do? The man’s a billionaire and an elite in the industry.”
“It’s not just that.” Mark shook his head of black and gray dreadlocks. “Castle works for that scum, Stallworth.”
Daniel frowned. “I’ve never had the opportunity to meet Stallworth although I know him by reputation.”
“Who doesn’t?” Mark shrugged. “I used to work for him.”
“Did you?”
He nodded. “Elliot and I both did.”
“Who’s Elliot?”
“He was a good friend. We’d known each other since we could write our names in the snow.”
Daniel chuckled. “That close, huh?”
“Yeah.” A distant look dulled Mark’s eye. “We went to school together. Ended up working with a small company in the private sector, developing prototypes for big companies. While we were there, Elliot and I worked on our own prototype, a robotic soldier that would be used for military combat but also for law enforcement. We were going to change the world one robot at a time.”
He sighed. “Elliot had figured out something ... pivotal.”
At the evasiveness, Daniel couldn’t help wondering what it was that Mark was trying to hide.
“We were contracted by a company who wanted to utilize our schematics.”
“This is starting to sound familiar.” Daniel’s eyebrows rose into his hair line.
“Elliot got too close to some secrets, I guess. High profile, confidential stuff. He told me he stumbled upon files showing that although this company sold to governments and private sectors all over the world, it also sold weapons and defense secrets to the highest bidder on the black market.”
“What happened when all of this was discovered?”
Mark frowned. “The schematics for the prototype which Elliot and I had worked for years went missing.”
The tail end of the conversation he’d caught between Mark and Adrian Castle rose up in his head. “So Adrian...”
A snarl contorted the features of the man’s face. “That piece of ... crap had interned with us that summer. He was the only who knew about it since he’d been sent by Stallworth in order to infiltrate our laboratory.”
“Infiltrate? You make it sound as if Adrian’s a spy.”
“I can’t prove anything I’m saying, professor.” A bleak look replaced the anger that had been there just moments before. “I can’t prove a damn thing. All I know is that our contract was suddenly terminated once the schematics went missing. The next thing I know, Elliot had been reassigned to a different branch cross the country. A few months later, he’d been killed in a car accident.”
Daniel coughed. “Are you suggesting...”
“I’m telling you that I know Barry Stallworth was behind it all. He had Castle steal our work and then, to kill two birds with one stone, he got rid of Elliot.”