by K. C. Crowne
He stomped down the hall and slammed his bedroom door shut behind him. It was the last I saw of him all evening.
Chapter 5
Vivian
When I walked into work on Monday, I was startled to find that Molly’s cubicle was cleaned out. Empty. Not even so much as a bright neon pink Post-It Note left. Her computer had been reset to the company’s default profile, and all her drawers were empty.
I discreetly pulled out my phone and tried texting her. I normally didn’t condone phone use while on the clock, but this was important. An entire chain of my unanswered messages from the weekend filled the screen.
Hey, where were you last night?
Did you get lost somewhere?
I’m at work. Where’s all your stuff?
Hellllooooooooooo Is everything alright?
No response.
A sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach crept up on me, slowly but surely, dragging me under. Something wasn’t right. I could feel it in my bones, but I had no words to describe it properly.
I peeked over the edge of my cubicle, peering at my co-workers. Everyone had their heads down, focused on work, staring at their computer screens. The distant ring of office phones, the low murmur of conversation from the water coolers, the click-clack of people typing furiously to meet deadlines… it all seemed so ordinary.
And yet it was also off-kilter; wrong ever so slightly.
I leaned back in my office chair and whispered to Marta. “Hey. Do you know where Molly is?”
“How should I know?” she grumbled indifferently, returning to her work.
I sighed. I should have known better than to ask Marta for help.
The squeaky wheels of the janitor’s cart reached my ear. I flagged him down. “Excuse me? Do you know where all of Molly’s things went?”
The janitor, an old man with bushy white eyebrows and thin lips, tilted his head like I’d asked a strange question. “I’m not sure who Molly is,” he said, “but I was instructed to clear out that desk this mornin’.”
“Who told you to do that?”
“No one specifically. I get work order requests through that there system and then I go an’ clean whatever needs cleanin’.”
I swallowed, my throat uncomfortably dry. Confusion washed over me. This was so weird. First, she didn’t show up to drinks, then she wasn’t answering her phone, and now her workspace was cleared out? What the hell was going on?
I rose from my chair and walked over to my supervisor’s office. A metal name plate was drilled into the side of the frosted glass wall, the title Floor Supervisor engraved in cursive lettering just below his name. I knocked on his door and peered inside.
“Hey, Arty?”
He looked up from his work. “Ah, Vivian. Just the gal I wanted to see. Come on in and shut the door, would you?”
My stomach flipped, but I did what I was asked. I stepped inside and closed the door behind me, freezing when I realized there was another person in the office already: Alistair McCloud.
“Hello, dear,” he said with a kind smile.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you were already in a meeting. I can come back and—”
“No, no,” Arty insisted. “We were actually just about to get you.”
“Me?”
Alistair patted the free chair beside him. “Come and take a seat, dear. We won’t take up too much of your time.”
I sat next to him, picking at my fingernails.
Arty nodded, warily eyeing Alistair the entire time he spoke. “I’m sure you’re curious about Molly.”
I held my breath. “I am. Where is she? Did something happen?”
Alistair chuckled. “Everything’s fine, dear. We simply transferred her to a different division for her co-op placement. I thought it would help her take in all sides of the business better. Expose her to new departments and connections. Networking is half the battle in this line of work, as I’m sure you know.”
“Yes,” I mumbled, though deep down, I didn’t understand in the slightest.
None of this was adding up. Molly would have told me the second she found out she was moving departments, probably in an attempt to get me to come with her. We texted all the time, so why hadn’t she answered her phone? It wasn’t like her to keep secrets. This wasn’t right.
“I understand that you must be disappointed,” Alistair said gently. “I’ve heard you two are very close?”
I nodded. “Yes. Molly’s my best friend. We… tell each other everything, which is why I’m confused here.”
I didn’t miss the way Alistair stole a glance at Arty.
“Everything?” Arty asked.
I licked my lips. “Yes.”
Alistair leaned in, bracing himself against his cane. “Did she, by any chance, mention anything to you that seemed… strange? Out of the ordinary?”
My heart railed inside my rib cage. The whole conversation was making me uneasy. “Out of the ordinary?” I echoed. “What do you mean?”
“She often gets you to check over her work, right?” Arty asked.
“Sometimes.”
“Did you notice anything off? In her work, I mean.”
Something in the back of my head clicked. The fudged ledger numbers I’d shown her Monday. Her sudden disappearance and supposed transfer. Upper management sniffing around and asking weird questions. This was all chalking up to be suspicious, and I didn’t like where this was going at all. Something was afoot, though I couldn’t say for sure what it was.
I had to think of something and fast; otherwise they’d know I knew more than I was letting on.
“Now that I think about it,” I said innocently, “Molly did mention that she was experiencing a really heavy time of the month.”
Arty sputtered. “E-excuse me?”
I nodded and smiled sweetly. “Oh, you know. Periods? She told me she was having really bad cramps and asked me if I had a Midol, but I didn’t, unfortunately. I normally always carry some just in case.”
Alistair cleared his throat, obviously unnerved by the subject matter. “Oh, that’s, uh…”
“Oh, sorry,” I said with a giggle. “It’s a girl thing. You wouldn’t understand.”
Art cleared his throat. “Well, um… If you remember anything, just let us know, alright?”
“For sure. Does this mean I’m free to go?”
“Yes,” Alistair said, still squirming in his seat. “Have a good day, dear. Thank you for your, er… time.”
I smiled as wide and chipperly as I could, leaving the office and returning to my cubicle. I knew talking about good old Aunt Flo would freak them out enough to let me go without further scrutiny.
I kept a low profile for the rest of the workday. It was probably the paranoia talking, but I could have sworn I was being watched on all sides by someone. Not just Arty, but my co-workers, too. Every move I made felt heavy. Judged. I couldn’t shake the feeling that something bigger than myself was going on.
The portfolio I showed Molly… Did it have something to do with her disappearance?
I scrolled through my work pipeline and pulled up the files I’d been reviewing yesterday. My guts tied themselves into an impossible knot when I realized that the files were now password protected and impossible to access without the right clearance.
This was getting really freaky.
Had I stumbled onto something I shouldn’t have? Was Molly missing because of me? I had to get to the bottom of this, but not here under Blue Cloud Financial’s nose. I wondered if they had keystroke monitoring built into their computers. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if they did. If I tried accessing the files now, would they know I was snooping around?
I couldn’t risk it.
I proceeded with caution, going about my regular tasks with the same level of care and attention I always used. I was already dangling above a pot of boiling water. Any deviation from the norm could land me right in the middle of it.
Arty was by no means a negli
gent floor supervisor, but I could have sworn he was hovering more than usual. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched as he came and went from his office, strolling casually past us in our little cubicles.
He was lingering, I realized, whenever he reached my section of the office. I kept my eyes forward, making sure to look totally engrossed in my work. A gnawing paranoia ate away at the pit in my stomach.
The second it was time to clock out, I gathered my things and logged out of my computer. I held my breath and walked briskly, hurrying for the elevator. I didn’t stop to talk to anyone, leaving without a single see you later like usual.
Even when I exited the building, I couldn’t relax. Every fiber of my being was tense, threatening to snap. I trusted my gut, and right now, my gut was telling me I was still being watched.
I needed to get as far away from Blue Cloud Financial as I could. I needed to find Molly. I needed help. Fumbling for my phone, I called the only person I could think of. He answered on the fourth ring.
“Hey, Viv. What’s up?”
“Wally,” I gasped. “Wally, I think I’m in trouble and I need your help.”
Chapter 6
Jesse
If Pegasus Star Security was my castle, then my office chair was my throne. A throne that my younger brother, Devin, had no problem marking up with his dirty shoes.
“For the love of God,” I grumbled. “Would you sit like a normal human being? You’re going to ruin your back like that. Not to mention destroy the leather. I had this chair imported from Italy, you know.”
Devin scoffed but didn’t budge. He was too preoccupied with whatever was on his laptop, which was perched precariously on the tops of his knees. “Whatever you say, Mom.”
“Grown-ass man, but you sit like a child.”
“I’m doing you a favor here,” he pointed out. “Do you want me to help you set up a new cybersecurity division or not? I’ve got plenty of offers from other companies in Chicago who are willing to pay me way more.”
I clicked my tongue. I loved my brother, but sometimes he could be the world’s biggest pain in the ass. If I wanted to give Pegasus Star a leading edge against other security firms in Chicago, I needed to branch out and offer my clients digital protection as well as physical. We both knew that he was the leading expert in cybersecurity analytics from here to Dallas. I wouldn’t find anyone better.
Growing up, Devin had always been considered the intelligent one. We were both smart, but he was sharp. Too much for his own good, in my opinion. It got him into his fair share of trouble with the other boys in the trailer park. Most of them didn’t take too kindly to being shown up time after time.
And while Devin had excellent wit, he wasn’t so good with fists. That was where his big brother came in. I dragged him out of more fights than I could count. I won far more often than I lost, but one thing remained the same: no matter how much of a pain in the ass he was, we’d always be there for each other.
Which was exactly why I knew Devin was full of it.
“Please,” I said with a snort. “If you wanted to work with someone else, you would have done that already. Didn’t Google offer you a hefty paycheck to join them?”
Devin’s fingers flew over his keyboard. He was coding a new server system for my firm. That, or hacking into the Matrix. Both were perfectly valid options.
“I don’t like working for suits,” he muttered.
“You work for me.”
“No, I work with you. There’s a difference.” He pressed the Enter key several times. “If I’d taken that job with Google, there would have been some supervisor with a superiority complex because they graduated from MIT breathing down my neck the whole time. I prefer freelancing.”
“What makes you think that I’m not going to breathe down your neck the whole time.”
“Because you know for a fact I would never put up with that shit, so you’re not going to try in the first place.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re so fucking annoying.”
“Right back at you.”
“How’s everything coming along? You going to take much longer?”
Devin glared at me. “This isn’t like the movies. I can’t create an entire security server with a couple of clicks. It’s complicated. You wouldn’t tell a brain surgeon to hurry up in the middle of an operation, would you?”
“I might. If they had their damn feet up on my desk.”
My brother hummed. “Jesus.”
“What?”
“Your calendar’s awfully full.”
I frowned. “The hell are you doing going through my calendar?”
“I’m waiting for my codes to load.”
“That’s not an invitation to go snooping. It’s supposed to be password protected.”
Devin shot me an are-you-kidding-me look. “As your future head of cybersecurity, it’s my recommendation that you don’t set your password as password. That’s asking for trouble.” Before I could get a word in, Devin continued, “Seriously, Jesse. Look at this. Do you even have time to breathe?”
I paced around my office. “It’s none of your business.”
“Training new hires… Client briefings… Even your meals are scheduled.”
“By design,” I noted. “It’s the nature of running a security firm.”
“When was the last time you took a vacation?”
“I don’t need one.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
I thought about it briefly. The last time I had a real vacation was when Wally was eleven. Melissa and I were still married, albeit our relationship had taken a turn for the worst. We were as emotionally distant as two people could be, hanging onto the threads of our marriage for Wally’s sake. I took them both on a trip to Paris for two weeks. It was fun for the most part, as long as I deliberately ignored all of Melissa’s passive-aggressiveness. It was the last trip we ever took as a family.
I found Melissa in bed with Alexei five months later. I filed for divorce by the end of the day.
“Years,” I grumbled.
Devin set his laptop down on my desk and —finally— put his feet on the floor. “Look, man. I’m not telling you what to do, but you should take a break every once and a while. You’ll go bald faster if you’re under constant stress.”
“My hairline is fine, thank you.”
“Seriously. It’s not good for your health. Remember what happened to Dad?”
I set my jaw. I didn’t like talking about our father. “Dad did everything he could to provide for us.”
“Yes. And he worked himself to the grave.”
“He had a heart attack. It happens.”
“He had a heart attack because he was pulling triple shifts four times a week.”
“To put food on the table,” I snapped. “To buy you those advanced textbooks you wanted. To give us a better life.”
“I know you looked up to him—”
“Of course I did. Dad gave up everything for us so we could succeed. He taught us that hard work was the only way out of that dump of a trailer park. Now look at us.” I gestured vaguely about the space. “We did it. We got out. The only way to have a good life is to work hard. Making excuses and taking breaks… That’s the fastest way back to that hell hole.”
Devin closed his laptop and exhaled slowly. “You really believe that?”
I pressed my lips into a thin line. I could still remember the late nights when Dad would come home well after midnight exhausted, dripping in sweat and hands covered in grime. He’d pass out on the couch so he didn’t have to disturb us as he passed our room. At the crack of dawn, he was up again to take a quick shower and scarf down a bowl of cereal before heading off to his morning job.
We didn’t have much. Prospects were limited. Money was always tight, and bills were always paid a day or two late. When I turned sixteen, I offered to drop out and get a job. Do the honorable thing. Devin had all the smarts, anyways. He had a way better chance of getting into a good college
than I did. Dad wouldn’t have any of it.
“Hard work is the only way to get out on top,” I said.
A long pause settled over the office. My brother simply sighed and stood up. “If you say so,” he mumbled, clearly not wanting to drag this out any further. “I’m done for the day. I’m going to have to come back tomorrow to finish up. Whoever you hired to install your firm’s firewall were idiots. They left a huge backdoor. Anyone with intermediate coding experience could get through and gain access to all the files they wanted.”
I frowned. “That’s a security breach waiting to happen. Did you—”
“Already took care of it. Don’t worry. I’m not even going to charge you extra. Consider it a family discount.”
“Thank you for your generosity,” I replied dryly.
“All work and no play makes Jesse a dull boy,” Devin muttered amusedly to himself as he left.
I pretended to ignore him. There was too much work to do.
Chapter 7
Vivian
I asked Wally to meet me at a coffee shop on campus. A huge wave of relief washed over me when I spotted him seated at the back table, the one furthest from the front entrance near the glass display case full of cakes and cookies fresh from the bakery. It was our old spot, where we used to share late-night coffees and last-minute study sessions when we were still seeing one another.
We texted on and off since our breakup a couple weeks prior, but the was the first time seeing each other in person since then. I thought it would be awkward to see him again, but it wasn’t. He smiled wide when he saw me, standing as I approached. He hugged me tight, like two old friends reuniting after years apart.
I shouldn’t have expected anything less. Wally was always easy to be around. He as a good listener, a kind soul. He was a genuinely wonderful person.
I knew lots of people would probably take issue with us just being friends. Exes who could maintain a platonic relationship and an above average level of decency were rare in this day and age. But nothing ever happened between us that warranted maliciousness.