InGen's California headquarters were less… extravagant than the group expected.
"Are you sure this is the place?" Claire asked when they pulled up in front of the large, unmarked warehouse.
Owen nodded. "This is it. I guess they're not too keen on people knowing who they are."
"Can you blame them?" Zack said. "There would be a lot of trouble out here if they did more advertising."
Zack was right. It took one of Alan Grant's contacts for them to access InGen's location The company managed to keep their headquarters a well-protected secret. That made Owen wonder what they were hiding inside.
"Everyone remembers the plan?" Owen whispered. "We get in, introduce ourselves, and request an audience. Look around for other options in case it doesn't work."
Everyone acknowledged the plan. It wasn't ideal, but it was what they had to work with on short notice. Maisie had been missing for less than twenty-four hours, but with no ransom call and no trace of the young girl, Owen and Claire knew they had to do something to speed up the process. They couldn't just wait around for someone else to get Maisie back. Neither of them were good at sitting on the sidelines, especially now.
Owen started to take the lead but Claire brushed ahead of him. He smirked at her back and followed close behind.
The warehouse had two glass doors on the farthest side of the building, but that appeared to be the only way to get in. All of the other doors were metal and likely only opened from the inside. Of course, the entry doors were surrounded by thick woods. They wouldn't have noticed them if it weren't for Gray pointing them out. His keen observation skills would help a lot on the mission.
Claire pulled one of the doors, expecting it to be locked, but found it opened easily for her. She walked inside nervously until she reached a reception desk. The older woman popped her gum and looked over her glasses at the group.
"You must be Claire and Owen Grady, and Karen, Zack, and Gray Mitchell," she said. "We've been expecting you."
Claire didn't bother pointing out that she had her own last name. If she ever did get married, she planned to hyphenate, but that wasn't the point.
"Where's Maisie?" Owen growled.
The woman continued to look bored. "Dr. Wu will see you."
A pair of security guards appeared around the corner to lead them into the proper building. Claire hesitated. "Where are you taking us?" she asked.
"Follow us, ma'am."
The older guard attempted to take Claire's arm, but she pulled away before he had the chance. Owen would have knocked the guy out if he grabbed Claire, so he was glad she was faster than the aged man.
"You can take us there without touching," Claire admonished. He had the good sense to look scolded. "But first, tell us where we're going. Do you have Maisie?"
"Dr. Wu's office is just down this hallway. He will explain everything to you."
Was everyone around here a robot? They wouldn't put it past InGen to staff only artificial intelligence. Nothing about this company was real anymore.
Claire met Owen's eyes. "What do you think?" she asked.
He shrugged. "We have no choice."
Karen and the boys agreed without reluctance. "Let's go," Karen said. She followed behind her sister with her head held high. She hoped the guard would try to touch her, because she started practicing self-defense after her husband left and she had yet to use it on a real opponent.
The squat guard didn't try to touch Karen, much to her dismay. He brought the group down a sterile hallway towards a single, frosted glass door. After two taps with the man's chubby knuckles, the door creaked open like it was a thousand years old.
Owen and Claire shared a look. The squeaky door was eerily similar to the ones at Lockwood's estate. The doors they had to hide behind as they were hunted by a dinosaur this company manufactured.
Claire walked first into the strange office, followed closely behind by Owen, Karen, Zack, and Gray.
Dr. Wu stood from behind his desk, causing everyone to wonder who opened the door for them. Everything about this seemingly abandoned warehouse was creepy.
"Welcome!" Dr. Wu greeted them. "I've been expecting you."
Owen charged the doctor, grabbing the collar of his lab coat. "Where's our daughter?"
Dr. Wu remained calm. "I don't have your daughter, Owen," he told them.
Owen didn't back down. "Forgive me for not believing you after all the shit you put us through."
Claire put a gentle hand on Owen's arm. He lessened his grip, but didn't let go.
"If we took your daughter, we would be breaking a court order. You could sue us, and we both know you've proven you can win. InGen is on thin ice as it is after Eli Mills' mess."
Claire cringed at the name of the man who swore he wanted to help the dinosaurs. If she hadn't been so quick to listen to him, they might have avoided this situation.
"Yes, we wanted Maisie, but we don't have her. But we know who does."
Owen's grip tightened once again. "Who took her?"
"Mr. Grady, I'm going to have to ask you to back off."
Reluctantly, Owen released Dr. Wu and took a step back. His hands were clenched by his side, ready to take Wu again if he needed to.
"Excellent. How about we have a seat, shall we?"
There were five heavy, wooden chairs lined up in front of Wu's desk. Two in the front, three in the back. Dr. Wu hadn't just been expecting Owen and Claire, he knew they would bring reinforcements. Owen took note of this. How could Wu have known exactly how many people would show up?
Claire took a seat in the front row with Owen beside her. The boys flanked their mother in the back.
"Tell us who has Maisie," Claire said calmly.
"We will reveal her location to you, Ms. Dearing, but we want something in return."
"Are you blackmailing us?" she asked. At least Dr. Wu used her last name. "After all you did?"
Dr. Wu scoffed. "All I did? I only ever did what I was told. In fact, if I remember correctly, it was you who gave the green light on the indominus…"
Claire tensed. Wu was right, and she would carry that guilt for the rest of her life. At that moment, though, there was something much more important to worry about. This man knew where Maisie was. "Please, just tell us what you know about Maisie."
"As I said, we want you to give us something in exchange for help in getting your daughter back. We will offer you our resources, our horde of security guards, and an exact location for Maisie's whereabouts. All we want is one tiny thing in return."
"Name it," Owen said desperately. He hated being played with, but he could tell by the sparkle in Wu's eye that the doctor wasn't backing down. Dr. Wu had inherited all of InGen after the Lockwood scandal and he was keen to hold onto it. What he wanted to do with it, Owen wasn't sure. He planned to find out after Maisie was safe at home.
"Ms. Dearing?" Dr. Wu asked.
Claire silently asked Owen what to do. When he gave a slight nod, she told Wu she was in. She said she'd do anything to get Maisie back, and apparently selling her soul to the devil was part of anything.
"Excellent," Dr. Wu said. "After the incident with Lockwood's estate, InGen has been working on a few new things. We've put the military on hold for now, but we have other ideas for the raptors."
Wu watched Owen for his reaction, but Owen remained passive. What Dr. Wu couldn't see was how tightly Owen and Claire held each other, blocked from his sight by the massive mahogany desk.
"If you capture Blue and bring her to us, we will provide all the necessary information and resources you need to get your daughter back."
"Why don't you capture Blue yourselves?" Owen spit.
Dr. Wu's nostrils flared. "You think we haven't tried? The creature evades us at every turn. She refuses to be caught."
"What makes you think we'll have different luck?"
"Blue trusts you. You caught her on the island. We know she helped you kill the indoraptor. You have a bond with that animal, and InGen plans to use that bond to lure her in."
Owen took deep breaths to stop himself from crying. Blue had been through enough. He couldn't be the one to put her back in captivity. The other escaped dinosaurs caused trouble all over North America, but not Blue. She only hunted wild animals, and never more than she needed to survive.
Owen knew because he kept track of her, and she kept track of him. They had no contact after that night she ran free, but he knew she was behaving.
But if Owen and Claire were going to get Maisie back, they needed Dr. Wu's help. Neither of them wanted to admit it, but their research hadn't brought them any closer to finding Maisie and the police had no leads. Dr. Wu was their only hope.
"We'll do it," Owen said finally.
"Owen, no," Claire cried.
Owen shook his head. "But we do this on our own. If Blue even suspects you're with us, she'll run."
Wu nodded. "Understood. You have one week to capture Blue and bring her to us."
Dr. Wu opened a small box on his desk and pulled out two darts. Claire looked at them, confused, but Owen knew exactly what they were.
"I'm not using those darts on Blue." They were the same darts that some idiot brought to Sorna. The darts used venom from the south sea cone shell and it would be deadly on Blue.
"They're a new formula," Wu promised. "This will put her to sleep in one shot, but it won't hurt her. She'll stay asleep for six hours after just one dose. That should give you enough time to get her to us. We have reason to believe Blue is here in California still."
Owen didn't have to ask how they knew. He was beginning to unravel how InGen's new operation was working, and he didn't like it.
Claire took the dart box from Dr. Wu. She wanted nothing more than to get out of his stark white office. The only color was the shiny, wooden desk. It was completely out of place in the otherwise hospital-like office. Claire had to talk some sense into Owen, and that wasn't going to happen with Wu watching their every move.
"We except updates as you go," Wu told them. "We'll give you a call in, say, two days?"
Owen nodded. "We'll have a plan by then."
No one thanked Wu before walking out. He may have offered them the opportunity to find Maisie, but his cost was high.
Once outside the building, Claire opened her mouth to begin her spiel, but Owen stopped her.
"Not a word until I say so. Follow my lead."
The serious look on Owen's face kept their mouths shut. Owen powered up the van and drove. They talked candidly about the meeting and how they had to find Blue. Everyone allowed Owen to lead the conversation, though they were thoroughly confused.
Owen parked the van outside the trailer and motioned for the group to stay quiet. He led them through the woods for a mile before finally stopping.
"InGen knew we were coming," he said finally. "I couldn't figure out how. It didn't make sense that they had those five chairs set up for us already, and they knew Karen and the boys' names. Then it hit me: they knew we were coming because they heard us talking. The trailer is bugged."
"What?" Claire whispered. "How can you be sure?"
"I can't be until I sweep the trailer, but I'm pretty sure. It would explain a lot. How he knew we were coming, how he knew Maisie was missing…"
Claire hadn't thought of that. The Amber Alert had only gone out that morning. InGen didn't exactly scream 'connected to the outside world.'
"That thing he said about the indominus being my fault… I had been talking to Karen about that earlier. About how I feel like I screwed Jurassic World up."
"He played to both of our weaknesses in there. And he's going to keep doing it until he gets what he wants."
Claire teared up. "We can't give him Blue. They'll do horrible things to her…"
Owen looked around. InGen hadn't come stampeding through the woods, so he figured they were probably safe.
Before Owen had a chance to speak, Claire started up again. "You raised her, Owen. And you've risked her life for her over and over again. You went to an exploding island to save her!"
Owen blinked. "You think I went back to Isla Nublar for Blue?"
"Of course. I told you she was still alive…"
He pulled Claire into his arms. "I didn't go back to the island for Blue. I care about her, I do. I raised her. She is an incredible animal. But the only reason I went on that ridiculous trip, was you. As soon as you said you were going, I knew I had to go, too."
"Seriously?" she asked, blinking back tears.
"Seriously," Owen promised. He kissed her lightly then pulled away. Romance could wait. They had a daughter to save.
"What are we gonna do, Owen?" Zack asked. "That Dr. guy seemed pretty serious."
Owen nodded. "He wasn't messing around, but we can't give them Blue. I don't know how yet, but we're gonna double cross them. We'll keep Blue safe and get Maisie back. It'll be risky…"
"But worth it," Claire finished. "Blue deserves to be free. We'll find her, and we'll make sure she stays that way."
Karen, Gray, and Zack all agreed.
Claire looked around. "Now what?"
"First, we strip the trailer for bugs. We'll move them to the cabin so InGen doesn't get too suspicious. They'll still catch some of our conversations, just not the important ones. After that… we'll make a plan."
It sounded daunting to Claire, but she trusted Owen and she knew her sister and nephews were there to help. The sun started to set behind the trees, reminding Claire it had been almost a full day since Maisie went missing. And almost a full day since they'd eaten anything.
"Why don't we order a pizza first, and de-bug the trailer later?"
Owen smiled, but his eyes were sad. Maisie loved pizza. They had it at least once a week for the month they were together. There was only one place that would deliver to their secluded home, and they always gave a generous tip to the poor kid who had to bring them their food. "That sounds like an excellent plan."
They walked back to the trailer, Owen and Claire arm in arm, and tried not to worry about the pile of tasks they faced.
Saving Blue would be hard. Betraying InGen would be harder. Finding Maisie might be impossible without InGen's help.
Even so, they would do everything to succeed in all three. They had been through so much already, including Karen who survived a nasty divorce and a newly dinosaur-filled lifestyle, and the boys who had years to recover from Jurassic World. Together, they would find Blue and Maisie.
No matter the cost.