by Pinki Parks
I tapped the keyboard in front of me and scrolled through his open e-mail cachet. I knew his lawyers by name and I found five pieces of correspondence with their signature attached to it. I opened each one and found nothing out of the ordinary.
It was the last one which made me push back with the chair smacking against the wall behind me. I was staring at the image of the scorpion lying upside down in the snow. I moved a little closer, shuffling forward until my hands were flat on the oak surface of his desk. It was a message from my past. Someone was calling me out to play a deadly game of cat and mouse.
I saw something clutched in its claw and then moved the cursor until I was able to press on it. A letter was attached to the attachment in plain sight. I was reluctant to read the letter. I didn’t want him to have any power over me. It wasn’t going away. I was debating on whether or not I should call somebody, but everybody who was there was dead. I was the last one standing.
The mission was buried under so much red tape it would have taken a master manipulator to get their hands on it. I forgot Washington, DC had people with influence and power in the palm of their hands.
I spun around to face the window looking out and almost imagining the scope of their rifle zeroed in on my forehead. The windows were reinforced with bulletproof glass. The only thing anybody would accomplish by firing off a round would be alerting us to their position.
I scanned the rooftops looking for anything to resemble a perch for a sharpshooter. It was pretty damn obvious they were following me. Anybody I came in contact with was in danger of losing their lives. It was a good thing Gail had put the brakes on when she did. I would’ve only pulled her down into the mire with me. I wouldn’t want to see anything happen to her. It was better to keep my distance until the dust settled.
I took a deep breath and resigned myself to the fate of reading what could’ve been a manifesto. I didn’t need anybody holding my hand. I was wasting all of this time knowing full well I was going to open the letter.
I took my head out of the sand long enough to press the letter winking at me with encouragement. It unfolded before my eyes with the sound of paper crinkling like it was something tangible in my hands. The parchment was yellow with bold red ink. Technology had come a long way.
"You’re not the only one who knows what happened that day. Not everybody died, but I sometimes wish I did. I thought you were an honorable and noble man of conviction. It took me a long time to come to terms with what happened. I won’t ruin the surprise by signing my signature to the document. I will admit you don’t follow any known habits. It’s been interesting getting to know you. Leaving me behind was the worst mistake of your life. I’m going to take everything from you and make the people around you wish you were never born.” I read the words several times letting them sink into my consciousness.
I immediately without thinking deleted the letter and then emptied the digital waste basket. There was an e-mail address for me to correspond with my would-be tormentor. I committed it to memory.
Mason was standing at the doorway with two cups of coffee. I’d no idea how long he was there, but his expression was of concern.
“I didn’t think there was anything to worry about until I came back to see you as white as a ghost. Please, for the love of God, tell me you’re not dragging me into something that’s going to make me regret bringing you on board. I told you the past has a funny way of raising its head. You may as well tell me what this is about so that we can get ahead of it.” I didn’t know how to sidestep his accusing eyes.
“I’m probably making more of it than I should. Let me do some investigating and find out if there’s any reason to raise the red flag. In the meantime, I believe accounting is waiting for me to help go over a tedious amount of paperwork concerning these discrepancies.” He probably would have tackled me to the ground to get the truth, but he got a phone call which demanded his undivided attention.
Chapter Nine
Gail
The day after the anniversary of my brother’s death was a wakeup call. I had done the unforgivable and I had no idea how to make amends. The wedding ring didn’t help either but what matters most is that he isn’t married. Kicking him out of the bedroom was a knee-jerk reaction. Maybe I used Chase’s sculpted body and his experienced tongue to forget about my grief. My head is in a tailspin. I felt like I should explain over dinner at my house.
The brownstone was an architectural masterpiece with those traditional touches. I bought the place and found my home within the walls.
I didn’t sleep around for the sake of getting some. I vetted potential suitors. I had to find out if they had any skeletons in their closet before even venturing any further than a goodnight kiss. My time with Chase was merely scratching the surface. I wanted more.
“I know this might be intrusive, but it wasn’t my idea.” My back got rigid and my shoulders stiff from his voice whispering into my ear.
“It’s good you are here. I need to explain what happened. I don’t even know where to begin.” He placed his index finger against my lips to silence what I was about to say.
“I’ve been known to come on strong and that’s something I’m working on. It was one of those things and we don’t need to discuss it. Mason requested I help go over the discrepancies.” I was already neck deep into the problem and I was the one that brought it to Mason’s attention.
“I’m grateful for the help. I thought I was going to do this alone. I’ve been pulling out my hair trying to make sense of this. It appears somebody is working to undermine this company by planting false evidence of fraud and embezzlement. It’s rather ingenious and disturbing at the same time.” I showed him what I had.
He didn’t seem all that surprised like he was waiting for the other shoe to drop. Something was on his mind and I recognized how it was a steel trap. Getting him to open up was going to be like pulling teeth.
“We have to make sure there isn’t any merit to these discrepancies. We need to find out the origin of these made up allegations. I believe I heard somebody mention something about being able to track IP addresses. Is this something we are capable of doing?” I had considered going down that road, but it meant getting other people involved.
“We do have an amazing IT department. I’m hesitant to show them any of this in case there is a leak. Letting them dig into this might be exactly what is expected.” I held onto the hope this could be cleared up, but the evidence against Mason was piling up with each keystroke.
“I’m sure you’ve been here long enough to know who you can trust. Think about it and tell me one name that comes to mind.” Ethan James was a young kid beyond reproach in my opinion. I had seen him pick up a man’s wallet and run half a block to return it to him.
“Ethan James is a genius with anything electronic. His walls scream his accomplishments with diplomas from several different schools.” He would most likely be suspicious of leaving the others in his department in the dark.
“I have a few people in the military which I believe I could reach out to. But for now, it might not be a good idea to involve anybody outside the inner sanctum of this company. We are already under the microscope by the military. We need to hide this until we get to the bottom of it. I’m not suggesting we sweep it under the rug.” I was afraid for a moment I had stepped into something that would leave me missing in action.
“I can transfer everything we found to a file that only the two of us can access. I can write up some fake documents and plant them to make it seem like everything is on the up and up. It will only stand up to a casual look. Anything more in depth and the ruse will be discovered.” I didn’t feel very good about hiding evidence, but it wasn’t like I had made it disappear.
“We should go over this where the walls don’t have ears. I will be happy to follow you back home and take you from there to my place after work. I promise to be on my best behavior.” Those discrepancies weren’t easy to find, but I prided myself
on my work ethic. I left no stone unturned.
“I should contact Ethan and have him join us, but we can always bring him into this when the moment is right. It’s probably better we leave this between the two of us for the time being. This has to be on a need to know basis.” I was using military jargon not realizing how strange that might sound coming from a civilian.
Henry was the only one that knew about my brother and he was there for me when I was falling apart. I put on a brave face and went back to work the very next day after the funeral. I wasn’t very chatty around the water cooler. I felt it was important to separate my personal life from my professional obligations.
“It might be a good idea for you to contact him and get him to track the IP address. It’s my understanding there’s always digital breadcrumbs to follow.” He had been with the military long enough to know technology was taking over.
“I will do what I can to get him to look into this discreetly. He’s pretty much by the book, but maybe I can sweeten the deal with a couple of tickets to the Black-Eyed Peas.” I had two tickets and I was going to ask Henry to join me.
“That’s a pretty big sacrifice for a company you have only been working for a few years. Don’t look surprised. I have to go over everyone’s file. I’m a little anal with the people he hires. I make sure there aren’t any wolves in the henhouse.” I felt violated, but I understood what I was signing up for.
Nobody was above suspicion in an environment where secrets were par for the course. I should’ve known they would have dug into my past to see if I was hiding anything that could come back and haunt them. I didn’t know how extensive the research into my life was. I really didn’t want to know.
“I know I shouldn’t, but I feel like you have invaded my personal space. It seems strange saying that after what we did last night.” Something was nagging at me about the way he was staring at me when he thought I wasn’t looking.
“You are entitled to your feelings. I would probably feel the same way standing in your shoes. It was nothing personal. This business is one where the one hand doesn’t always know what the other hand is doing. It’s perfectly natural to feel like you have had a colonoscopy.” It was an interesting analogy and one that made me shift nervously in my seat.
“I want you to brace yourself for what we might find against Mason. He claims to be innocent, but he could be waiting to see how far up the chain of command this goes. I know he’s the owner of the company, but he has clients depending on him for his discretion.” Those clients would take a dim view about allegations of fraud and embezzlement.
“I know him better than anyone. You are vastly off the mark with this one. We have saved each other’s lives more times than I can count. You get to know somebody quickly when their lives are in the palm of your hand.” I could hear his conviction and understood this was a sore subject better left alone.
“Leave me with this and I’ll see what I can dig up about the IP address without involving Ethan.” His hot breath on my shoulder was causing those butterflies to churn in my stomach.
“You don’t need me standing over your shoulder. I trust you and I don’t even know you very well. Being intimate with someone gives you a better understanding of what they’re capable of.” My cubicle was surrounded by others with the sound of typing and talking going on around me. The lights were giving me a migraine.
I was lucky that Henry was busy and didn’t stick his head up to see what was going on behind his back.
Chapter Ten
Chase
She was sitting beside me in my jeep with her hands in her lap. She had raced inside after returning home to change into something more comfortable. It turned out to be a pair of tight form-fitting jeans and a white sweater. I had a feeling she wasn’t wearing a bra. I was trying to determine if there was the slightest hint of a panty line through her jeans.
“I wasn’t able to make any headway with the IP address. Apparently, anyone can learn to track an IP address off Google but this one was encrypted. Unfortunately, I had to bite the bullet and go down and personally discuss this matter with Ethan.” I didn’t specifically tell her not to if something weird was going on with the IP address and that was on me.
“I don’t know how comfortable I am about involving somebody I don’t know.” If things worked out, I might have to consider using him to find out who sent the letter attached to the scorpion’s claw.
“I know we have been intimate with each other but going with you to your home seems like a risk. I don’t get anything resembling a bad feeling about you. It could be what we did together is clouding my judgment.” I could easily reach out and touch her inappropriately.
I was determined to keep her as far away from me as possible. Being thrown together was asking for trouble. Keeping things platonic was the best way to prevent things from getting complicated. It wasn’t easy with the intense heat between us.
I weaved through the back roads with my hands instinctively knowing where the hairpin turns were. The knobby tires and the four-wheel drive made short work of the sloppy conditions. There was no snow in the city, but at this altitude, accumulation was more than possible. The change in temperature was dramatic and whatever rain had soaked the city streets can turn into ice fairly quickly.
“I don’t even know how you can see what you’re doing. I have to close my eyes and hope we don’t end up flying off the side of the cliff.” My place was off the beaten track away from the prying eyes of others.
“I should’ve considered this before issuing the invitation to join me at my place. I actually find driving during inclement weather to be soothing. It forces you to be alert, and I have the good sense to be driving in something known for its safety.” I loved the outdoors and found comfort in the sounds of nature. This was the first real storm of the year.
“I’m probably going to need a stiff one when we get there.” I smiled and then I felt her punching me in the arm. “I don’t mean that kind of stiff one. I know what you’re thinking and it’s written on your face. For a man who prides himself on keeping secrets, I can see through you like a cheap suit.” I handled the adverse conditions like a seasoned pro.
There were moments where I found myself sliding and I took my foot off the gas without panicking. I turned the steering wheel calmly shifting into a lower gear to find the traction on the side of the road. I kept my eye on the rear-view mirror. There was a pair of headlights that had been there from the moment I had left the city.
I sped up and slowed down finding the vehicle keeping pace with me. She had no idea we had a tail and there was no way I was going to take her to my place without losing him first. It was a good thing I knew the area like the back of my hand. There were several different makeshift roads. Nobody really knew they were there without personal knowledge.
“I’m going to need you to hold onto something. Make sure your seatbelt is securely fastened. This might be a bumpy ride.” I turned the corner and then veered off the road heading for a copse of trees which essentially was able to hide us from the road.
“I thought we were going to crash. My life flashed before my eyes.” I turned off the engine with the lights extinguished long enough to hear the vehicle passing without slowing down.
From the angle of the turn, the snow bank would hide the tracks from oncoming cars. I got out and quickly moved through the trees using my glove to shield my face from the falling snow from the branches. I got to the road and could see his tail lights a few yards ahead. He had stopped and was attempting to turn around.
I raced back and jumped into the driver’s seat with my gloved hands holding onto the steering wheel. I was on an old logging road which was going to take us right along the path to the back side of my property.
“Don’t you think you might be a little paranoid?” It was only paranoid if somebody wasn’t out to get me.
“It’s not unreasonable to take precautions when we don’t know who we can trust.” It could�
��ve been innocent, but I had two good reasons to think otherwise.
There was no way for whoever was tailing me to find the road in the pitch-black conditions. With the snow coming down it would be virtually impossible to find the road which was barely two tire tracks. I felt a little bit more secure. Taking evasive action was necessary to keep them from finding their way to my doorstep. Not even Mason had any idea of where I resided. I liked my privacy and I had made too many enemies in my past to think they wouldn’t come after me one day.
“I still think you went overboard, but I bow to your expertise in this matter.” Gail was white knuckling the dashboard and breathing heavily like she was in labor.
I began whistling making her believe there was nothing to worry about. It was a tactic I had used when soldiers were at their wit’s end. Soldiers never knew when provisions and reinforcements were going to show up.
Her breathing evened out and she smiled despite the fact that we were in the middle of nowhere without a compass. I knew exactly where I was going and how best to navigate the snowy terrain.
“I made a mistake by bringing you up here, but we can’t go back. This weather will pass quickly. It always does. I have a generator and a wood stove.” Her leather jacket with fur lining around the top was open.
The heat did nothing to keep her nipples from being on high beams. They were poking quite noticeably through her sweater making my lips desperate to have a taste of them. I remembered last night vividly and could bring to mind her naked body by taking off each individual item she had on. It was an easy exercise when I had already seen her unencumbered by clothes.
“Are you undressing me with your eyes?” She seemed perturbed and I shrugged my shoulders to give no definitive answer to her query. “I can’t believe you can think about sex at a time like this.” She pulled her jacket closed and zipped it up to her neck.