Two days later, an InGen helicopter picked up Henry Wu and Elijah Mills at the Lockwood estate and brought the two men south, to Palo Alto. Summoned by Susan Lynton, they headed for the meeting room as soon as the helicopter dropped them off on the roof of InGen's headquarters and quickly reached it. Located on one of the top floors and quite spacious, the meeting room featured grey walls and large glass windows which overlooked the San Francisco Bay. In the middle of a large wood-veneered wall, InGen's blue logo could be seen, and the centre of the room was occupied by a large table around which were already standing the InGen's CEO, Alistair Iger, Dominick Silverman and Edward Torres. As soon as the geneticist and the manager of the Lockwood Foundation crossed the threshold, a guard closed the door behind them, so that no one could eavesdrop on the meeting.

"Ed, what's the situation with the stolen animals?" Lynton asked shortly after the latter's beginning while Iger drank a glass of water to swallow the pills he had just ingested.

"As you know, we were able to retrieve some of them at the end of the raid two days ago. Those were sent to Orick and the keepers received them."

"Some… That's what bothers me."

Torres then passed them a list, which included the retrieved animals and those still missing:

Retrieved:

— 18 Compsognathus
— 2 Diictodon
— 2 Dimorphodon (all)
— 1 Euparkeria (the only one)
— 5 Germanodactylus (all)
— 6 Microceratus
— 5 Proterosuchus (all)
— 10 Pterodactylus (all)
— 2 Scutellosaurus (all)
— 1 Seymouria (all)
— 6 Yinlong (all)

Missing:

— 2 Archaeopteryx
— 2 Beelzebufo
— 12 Compsognathus
— 1 Didelphodon
— 2 Diictodon
— 1 Longisquama
— 3 Microceratus
— 2 Moschorhinus
— 1 Pegomastax
— 2 Purgatorius
— 1 Simosuchus
— 1 Yi

"As you can see, the raid was only a half-victory," the director of the security division said. "Unfortunately, I doubt we'll see the missing ones again. We think they have already been flown overseas, probably to Asia where they will become luxury pets."

"How much are we losing because of this theft?" InGen's CEO asked, turning to Dominick Silverman.

The CFO looked up from his notes to look at her.

"Sixty-three million dollars."

Lynton slapped the palm of his hand on the table.

"Damn… They'll wear us down if they do that kind of blitz again. I guess the news from Costa Rica aren't much better? I think I heard that Bonnie and Clyde have been released."

"Indeed, that's what Pedro told us. Our credibility has taken a hit," Iger sighed. "It has already been hurt by the whole mess with the carnotaur and some rumors about you, Ed," he added reproachfully, turning to Torres.

"You and I know these rumors are based on nothing," the director of the security division retorted, before looking at the rest of the table. "I've never met that… Bonel."

"Well, in the meantime, I have to deal with those rumors and limit the damage," the spokesman said irritably. "And the task is far from easy. Especially since I've been busy in those past few days with the unrest at the estate."

"The Germinal case," Lynton said.

"Germinal?" Torres repeated.

"What, you don't know Germinal? Emile Zola's book? Its movie adaptation with Gérard Depardieu? Buy yourself a culture, Ed," Lynton replied.

She then turned to Iger.

"Did you call on those two young men? Your lapdogs…"

"Who? Jack and Timothy? Yes I did."

"Yes, them. They are good at making excuses for us, they could have sold cereal boxes in another life."

"Reminds me of what Isaac once said," Silverman recalled.

"Which Isaac?" Mills asked.

"Clement. He was the park's marketing director."

"Oh him..."

"He said: You should never take people for idiots, but you mustn't forget that they are. It made me laugh a lot."

"Let's get back to our lovebirds," Lynton suggested.

"I agree," Wu said. "I've heard they found out that I stayed in Burgo Nuevo for a while. It's only a matter of time before they find me. And when they will, I fear of what she'll try to do..."

"Don't be afraid, Henry," Lynton reassured him.

"But you accused them of crimes they didn't commit," the geneticist added, almost reproachfully, looking at the CEO, the CFO, and the director of the security division. "And I dare to hope they're not on Monday's guest list. Otherwise, we are heading for disaster."

"Don't worry about them," Lynton told him a little dryly. "Ed, have you made arrangements for them yet?"

"I've asked Pedro to deploy an agent at Juan Santamaria Airport," the director of the security division replied.

"As soon as we know their departure date, we should also send someone to their arrival airport," the CEO said. "Miss Charteris for example."

"The secretary?" Mills asked. "The one you tasked with Operation Honeypot? What were the results?"

"The bear dipped into it. Several times," she answered with satisfaction. "Dominick, remind me to give her a little raise. She did a good job, she deserves it."

The CFO nodded.

"Do you think Guillaume Vuillier will be a problem?" Wu asked. "I remember he was very... inquisitive when he was in Orick."

"No, he won't," the CEO affirmed.

"How can you really be sure?" Mills inquired, barely hiding his concern about it.

"Trust me. If he tries something, then we will know how to act accordingly. We don't have to worry about the World De-extinction Monitoring Center or the Dinosaur Protection Group. With the latter, Benjamin had the intelligence to apply one of the company's most classic trick, invented by the good old Hammond back in '93. Experience always wins the day," Lynton said. "Don't you agree, Eli?"

"I do."

"And soon we won't have to worry about the government anymore. Heck, we're still collaborating on Project Ellis. Our assets still interest them."

"Project Ellis, Kent's fad… A crutch," Torres muttered snidely.

"In the meantime, this program is a handy crutch," Iger retorted. "If ever things don't..."

"Things are going great with Project Giger," Torres said firmly, looking at Wu and Mills. "It will make Project Ellis look like some common attack dog training program."

"Or let's just be satisfied that one of these projects is promising and the other is already working," the spokesman declared. "The army is satisfied with the results obtained in the past year in Afghanistan and along the Iraqi-Syrian border against the guys from ISIS. From what I heard, they were quite surprised by what they faced."

"I share Allistair's sentiment," Lynton said. "I think that when the time comes, the government would also be willing to take an interest in Project Giger before desiring to stop it."

A little later, InGen's CEO announced the end of the meeting and once everyone except her and Mills, still seated in his chair, had left the room, she went to close the door and went to sit on the table, close to the manager of the Lockwood Foundation.

"Eli…" she began softly. "You and Benjamin are the ones who implicated Mrs. Dearing and Mr. Grady in the operation. It's therefore up to you to ensure that they will no longer be a problem."

She then leaned towards him to readjust his tie.

"And if you could get some pecuniary benefit from Project Giger during your little side-party, that would be great," Lynton continued.

He turned his head to the side, toward the door, but she added:

"No, you don't need to tell Henry about that. If you successfully accomplish the tasks I'm giving you, then you will be highly rewarded, Eli."

He saw that she was looking towards the meeting table and its chairs, those occupied most of the time by the members of the board of directors. When she read in his eyes that he understood her, she touched his shoulder affectionately and smiled at him.

He took leave of her and left the room. As he searched the building for Edward Torres, he pulled out his phone and called Gunnar Eversol, a British expat who lived in the San Francisco Bay area and worked as an auctioneer. He'd been in touch with him for months, and he was the small blond bulldog-faced man he'd first met and introduced to InGen's management during the reception in March.

"Yes, Mr. Eversol? It's Eli Mills," he said when his contact picked up.

"What do you want?"

"I would like to inform you that I intend to make a small change in the program for our evening on Monday."

"I thought we had defined it in detail," Eversol said, annoyed. "If I have to tell my clients that..."

"Your clients will appreciate that change, I truely believe that," Mills cut him off.

"Stop beating around the bush and tell me what's going on."

"When do you arrive at Eureka?"

"Sunday, around noon."

"Then come to the manor early in the afternoon," the manager of the Lockwood Foundation proposed. "I'll show you."

"Okay, I'll come. But it better be worth it."

"You won't be disappointed."

They ended their conversation and Mills put his phone away. He found Torres soon after near a coffee machine.

"I assume you spoke with Susan about Bonny and Rackham?" The director of the security division asked.

"Yes. She wants me... She wants us to settle their case…"

Torres turned his head and looked at Mills while drinking his coffee. In an irritated whisper, the manager of the Lockwood Foundation added:

"Your little friends in Costa Rica failed to send them six feet under. I lost money in that little operation. I thought I could count on you."

"Don't look at me like that. I also feel like I was cheated. I thought Bonel was going to send some of his best men, not rookies who barely ever left their ghetto. Bonny and Rackham will expect to see other assassins hot on their trail. You have to change your strategy to better fool them."

"We have to."

Mills then remembered a crucial piece of information.

"They left something precious before going to Costa Rica, and they'll pick it up when they'll return. You just have to prepare a net and by Sunday midnight we will have the buck, the doe and their fawn caught in it."

Torres looked at Mills oddly for a moment, not understanding what he meant with that buck and doe story, but after a moment of reflection, he finally understood what he asked him, and he knew how he could find the place where the fawn was left. He nodded.

"I'll go to HR."

"Please do. I want them out of harm's way by Monday evening. Don't kill them though, their murder on the evening of their return would drew suspicion. Just capture them and bring them. We will decide what to do with them afterwards."

"Very well."