Chapter 8 Summary

Javon Morris arrives at One Metropolitan Square in St. Louis for a meeting with GenaSeed executives. After presenting his FBI credentials to the lobby guard, he makes his way up to the company’s opulent reception area on the twenty-second floor. The luxury and artificial nature of the environment with an indoor waterfall, artificial birdsong, and sunlight impress him but also underscore the company’s wealth and image management. Javon checks in with the receptionist, who, flustered by his credentials, arranges for someone to escort him.

Sandra Brown, GenaSeed’s Vice President of Communications, greets him instead of Daniel Bruner, the executive Javon had requested. She explains Bruner is unavailable but will be free shortly. Javon insists on speaking with Bruner as soon as possible and persuades Sandra to take him to her office on the thirty-ninth floor while they wait. The office, like the rest of the building, is lavishly decorated with teak paneling, marble flooring, and high-end furnishings.

Javon questions Sandra about the company’s awareness of the video and news story concerning Walter Jenkins. She explains that Bruner and Jeffrey Kruger, the COO, first learned of it around seven in the morning and informed her shortly after. Javon presses her about ransom demands, attempts to gather personal information, or other suspicious contacts, but Sandra denies any such incidents.

Their discussion shifts to Jenkins’ recent activity. Jenkins' last communication was an email sent two days earlier. While his lack of contact isn’t unusual when on vacation, Javon requests further details about his travel plans. Sandra admits she doesn’t know specifics but promises to ask Jenkins’ staff. When asked if Jenkins had enemies, Sandra described him as a passionate researcher who occasionally clashed with Bruner and Kruger over how the company applied his work. Despite frequent threats to quit, Jenkins never left, as GenaSeed owns the patents to his research, effectively tying him to the company.

Sandra portrays Jenkins as frustrated by the company’s profit-driven methods but not deeply unhappy with his research itself. Javon records her responses, sensing tension in GenaSeed’s internal dynamics, and provides her with his contact information in case additional details emerge. Finally, he requests to be taken to Daniel Bruner’s office, intent on speaking directly with the executive.