“And you shouldn’t,” Winslow interrupted. “If you think it’s confidential, you’ll need to transfer it onto the computer and shred the hard copies. An inconvenience, I know, but we can’t take the risk. And that brings me to an important question…”

The tone of Winslow’s voice had changed slightly, and the anger Juan felt at some unnamed person’s betrayal was set aside for the moment as his curiosity was piqued.

“I’ve talked with the board of directors about where your research has been going. I didn’t plan to broach this with you until we got approval for human trials, but—I want to bring your project to headquarters. We have better facilities here, better access to resources in the DC area for what you’ll be doing. So I’m asking if you’re up for living in the DC area.”

Juan considered what that would mean for his work. “I mean, I don’t have any particular issues with moving, but all the lab animals and—”

“Don’t worry about the lab, we’ll take care of all that.” Winslow waved dismissively. “Trust me, I’m going to make this as painless for you as possible. And I’d also like to do this as soon as possible. I’ll contact the HR folks and let them know I’ve approved a complete moving package for you. Just tell them when and where, and they’ll pack your house up and bring everything over.”

“Um, but I do have a lease on my apartment—”

“That’ll be taken care of. Trust me, the company moves folks all the time. With the corporate moving package, you won’t have to worry about anything other than telling the moving company what address to deliver your stuff to. They’ll pack, move, and unpack you.”

“What about Carol, my assistant?”

“Anyone on your team, I’ll make them the same move offer. That is, of course, assuming they pass the polygraph.”

This was all happening so fast, and Juan wasn’t sure how he felt about it. Excited… and also worried. Studying Winslow’s demeanor and facial expression, he felt as though the man was treating him differently than normal. For the first time in his career, he wasn’t being treated like a cog in a wheel, but like someone important. That was a good thing. And yet Juan couldn’t bring himself to fully trust it.

“Okay,” he said, “let’s do this. What’s the next step?”

A broad smile spread across Winslow’s face. He touched a button on his desk phone. A ringing sound broadcast through a speaker on the phone, followed immediately by a man’s voice.

“Yes, sir?”