“And we encouraged him to go to the press. No one else did.”

“Wayne is furious he went to the press. He’s worried about the impact to the Sullivan brand.”

“I don’t get that.” If anything, I’d expect sympathy from customers.

“Sullivan Arms’ marketing campaign stresses self-defense. Wayne apparently blew a gasket that the PR team allowed this to happen. Says if the owner’s daughter is kidnapped, then that goes against their positioning that guns keep your family safe.”

“What does Jack say?”

“He doesn’t give a damn. Only reason I know about it is he had me on speaker phone when Wayne charged into the office. But he backed down pretty quick. Said he’d go do damage control.”

“It’s hard to imagine this negatively impacting sales, but if it does, then does that give a competitor motive?”

Ryan concentrates on a far corner, his expression a nearly blank slate. His lips scrunch, and he gives a quick shake of his head. “No. I can understand Wayne’s concern, but he’s too close to his marketing campaign. Maybe a touch possessive over the PR agency. In recent history, fear serves to drive gun sales, not hamper them. And the fear the ads strive to create drives sales for all gun manufacturers, not just one brand.”

“So where does that leave us?”

“Other than Reyes, no other executive was in the FBI database. They’ll still pull together background reports, but no one has a criminal history, and there are no red flags.”

“And Reyes did sales?”

“He has a lot of international accounts. My bet is that’s what put him on the ATF watch list.”

“I keep thinking that it could be random. But then I remember the spliced tape. It’s not random. I hate to say it, but I assume you’ve checked insurance policies…” I let the words trail off. It sucks to vocalize it, but the reality is, tomorrow we’ll be with a new team, and they won’t leave any stone unturned.

“Sullivan doesn’t need money. He doesn’t give a damn about his reputation in the press. This trail isn’t going to lead back to Sullivan.” Ryan speaks with the conviction of someone who has given the matter thought and studied it from all sides. I agree with him. “If it leads back to Jack Sullivan, it’s going to be related to his role as a dominant player as a gun manufacturer. At least sixty percent of their product is exported. It’s going to be a deal gone bad. An SOB angry that a deal didn’t happen. We aren’t looking in the right places yet.”

“Did you ask him about any deals?”

“He says he doesn’t negotiate any of the wholesale deals. It’s all in the sales department.”

“So, a deal could have gone badly, and he’s unaware? But the slighted party goes after the CEO’s daughter?” That doesn’t make sense.

Ryan’s lips contort, and his eyes squint. He’s not buying too heavily into this line of reasoning. His eyes widen and he shakes his head. “Anything is possible at this juncture. I called Wayne. Asked him if he’ll have time to talk with us. Gave him the heads up we’d like to go over any deals that didn’t end with happy customers.”