Chapter 200: Hearing the Incident

February 1st, 2027.

"What the hell happened? Dr. Villanueva is missing? For six days?" Michael exclaimed as he heard the news from Juliet.

"Yes, Mr. Reyes. And there has been no word from him since. We've tried reaching him in his cell, at home, even his regular spots, but nothing."

Michael paced back and forth in his office, his mind racing with concern for his valuable employee.

"This is serious," he said, stopping abruptly. "What about his colleagues? January 25th, isn't he supposed to be in a meeting with them?"

"According to one of his team, after the conclusion of their meeting, they all go home. That was their last interaction of the day," Juliet answered, double-checking her digital notes.

"Have we talked to everyone who attended that meeting? Maybe someone noticed something off, or maybe Dr. Villanueva mentioned something that seemed inconsequential at the time but could be a clue now."

Juliet confirmed, "I've interviewed most of them already, and I have a couple more to speak with by this afternoon. No one has reported anything unusual so far, but I'll press for more details."

"Well...Juliet, I thank you for this information but I think the job you are doing is for law enforcement," Michael said. "Speaking of which, have the police been informed about Dr. Villanueva's disappearance? What's their take on this situation?"

Juliet nodded. "Yes, Mr. Reyes, the police have been informed. They've started an investigation and classified it as a missing persons case. They are currently gathering CCTV footage from the area around his last known location and interviewing potential witnesses. However, they haven't come up with any leads yet."

Michael rubbed his temples, feeling the weight of the situation. "Okay, keep in close contact with them. I want updates as soon as they have anything. In the meantime, let's enhance our internal efforts. Can we check Dr. Villanueva's email and phone records for any anomalies?

Maybe he received threats or unusual messages we aren't aware of."

"Absolutely," Juliet agreed, making a note on her tablet. "I'll get our IT team on it right away to retrieve all communications from the past month. We'll look for anything out of the ordinary."

Michael looked out the window, his gaze distant but thoughtful. "I think I know why he was kidnapped."

"Is it because he works on a Medipod?" Juliet replied. "That's highly possible but what could he give to the captors?"

As much as Michael wanted them to stop their investigation because he had already taken care of it, he couldn't. Because that would be very stupid of him to admit to anything that could implicate him in any illegal activities.

"I appreciate your efforts, Detective. Let's focus on Dr. Villanueva for now. What have you found?"

Detective Abarra shuffled through some papers he had brought along. "We've been reviewing the CCTV footage from around the area where Dr. Villanueva was last seen. Unfortunately, we found that several cameras that could have given us clear visuals of the incident were deliberately disabled."

Michael's brow furrowed in concern. "Disabled? Do you think it was tampered with as part of the abduction?"

"It's highly likely," Detective Abarra continued. "The pattern of tampering suggests that someone wanted to create a blind spot at the time Dr. Villanueva disappeared. We're treating this as a planned and premeditated act."

"That's alarming," Michael replied gravely.

"We also interviewed the parking attendant and the guards at the time of Villanueva's out but they said they couldn't remember anything as they were knocked down by someone. They are still in the hospital as we speak."

Michael leaned forward, resting his elbows on his desk as he absorbed this new information.

"I understand, we can now tell that this isn't something done by someone who has an issue with Dr. Villanueva. They wanted him because he is part of something important," Michael said.

"Like being the head of operations of the Medipod?" Detective Abarra said.

"Yes, that's most likely. It's not always clear in the business world. Some would resort to underhanded tactics to gain an advantage over others. I'd say that they kidnapped Doctor Villanueva because he works on Medipod, a technology that, as you all know, cures cancer.

You know how many big corporations would be affected if a technology to cure cancer exists right?" Michael continued, his voice growing more firm as he spoke about the potential motivations behind the abduction.

"Yes, Mr. Reyes. The economic impact would be immense. Pharmaceuticals and treatments are big business. A cure could disrupt major markets. It makes sense that someone might go to great lengths to control or suppress such technology."

"Exactly," Michael agreed. "But I don't care about who is doing that, I care about bringing Doctor Villanueva back. Find him at all cost, detectives."

"We will, Mr. Reyes."