Victim's, Inc.

by A. R. Licht

  iCloud accounts all with passwords that were the same except for the final number.

  The emails she had created using the victim's names- something that will be etched into her memory for as long as she lives. Twenty seven victims that might not have existed at all, their bodies invisible as they were transferred to the morgue via an empty ambulance. Then she’d used her sister’s name, her mother's name, and then there was her original iCloud account.

  With that completed, she ran to the electronics store and purchased two large external hard

  drives. She then transferred all of the files to one, duplicated the files to the other and then

  packaged them separately.

  The flash drives she tossed into a gallon-sized sandwich bag, and taped it to the back of her dresser drawer in the bedroom.

  The hard drives, she shoved into sandwich bags to make them waterproof, then into manila envelopes. One envelope she stored in the safety deposit box at her credit union, the other she took with her to Abby’s house.

  “Surprise!” Kate said when Abby opened the door.

  “I thought you were out of town.”

  “I was, but I got back yesterday. I’m sorry, I was distracted and forgot to text you.”

  “That’s okay. Come in. I’m washing all of the baby clothes so I can put them away in the new

  dresser mom got me.”

  “I can help fold if you want,” Kate said, hoping Abby would remember how much she hated

  folding laundry.

  “That’d be great. I’m running tired.”

  “Can I use your bathroom first?”

  “Why in the heck did you ask? Of course you can.”

  Kate hurried to the guest bathroom before Abby asked why she would bring her purse in with her, and searched for a place to stuff the envelope. She finally settled on the cabinet under the sink, tucking it up high, securing it with black electrical tape. Abby was too pregnant to look under there anytime soon, so it would be safe for a while. Probably until her kid started opening everything.

  She helped Abby fold for a while, making small talk before Abby started to press.

  “Something’s wrong. I know it.”

  “You keep saying that.”

  “I smell it on you. Remember that time you got a dent in dad’s truck? You were scared, trying

  to figure out what to do. I knew something was up.”

  Kate nodded.

  “It's like that. I’m not going to let it go until you tell me.”

  It seems the tenacious spirit runs in the family. Kate said, “I didn’t want to worry you. I lost my job.”

  “You lost your job? How?”

  “I messed up. But its fine, I might have another job lined up at another network.”

  “How did you mess up?”

  “I don’t want to talk about it right now, okay?”

  “Don’t get snippy with me.”

  Kate sighed. “I’m sorry. I’m just feeling stressed out.”

  Time passed and Abby announced she wanted macaroni and cheese with cottage cheese and

  ketchup.

  “That’s gross!” Kate said.

  “Don’t knock it till you try it,” Abby shot back, already on her way to the kitchen to cook the atrocity.

  “I’m not trying that. Pregnant women eat the strangest things.”

  “I heard that!”

  “Hey, do you think Brian is busy this afternoon?”

  “I don’t know, why?” Abby said from the archway to the kitchen with the macaroni box in her hand, yanking off the lid.

  “I was thinking about stopping in to discuss a legal matter with him.”

  Abby froze, “What legal matter?”

  Kate had to think fast, and because he is a real estate lawyer she said, “My apartment lease is

  coming up soon. My landlord is bugging me about signing another year’s contract but I just want

  someone in the know to look it over first.”

  Abby looked relieved, “Oh, I’ll call over and get you in. Hold on.”

  Chapter 16

  Essex, Maryland - April 18th

  “Thanks for seeing me so soon,” Kate said into Brian’s ear as they quickly embraced.

  “Of course, Sis. Abby told me everything. I'll look over your contract but I think I’m going to put you in touch with one of the guys down the street. They might be able to review your case and see if your firing wasn’t legal.”

  He was referring to the firm two buildings down the block in what was known as lawyer’s row.

  The joke was you could close your eyes, walk inside any building and find a lawyer. Chances

  are it’ll be the right type for your needs.

  “I appreciate that,” Kate said, sitting across from Brian in a chair less comfortable than a city

  bench, “But I'm not interested in pursuing the matter with my old job, and besides, I lied.”

  “About getting fired?” Brian said, leaning on his elbows on the desk.

  “No, I lied about the apartment contract. I didn’t want to worry Abby about my problems.”

  “Alright, my curiosity is piqued. What is troubling you?”

  “I have gotten myself into a situation where I’m not sure what the repercussions will bring.”

  Kate logged into her iCloud account on Brian’s computer and played the videos for him. Then she walked him through what she had discovered.

  “It’s hard to believe that something so brutal and well-documented could be a hoax, Kate. You

  may be reading too much into it.”

  “But look at Terry. How do you explain that?”

  “He is a grieving father. People deal with grief differently.”

  “By acting?”

  “Who says he is acting?”

  Kate knew she sounded defensive, but, she couldn’t help it when she said, “Have you ever seen a

  method actor prepare for a role in the theater?”

  “I can’t say that I have.”

  “I have, and that is what it looks like.”

  “Or, it could just be that it finally hit him seconds before he had to relive it on live camera.”

  “Fine,” Kate said, “but then how do you explain the empty ambulances?”

  Brian scoffed, “Who says that video was filmed the day of the crisis?”

  Kate jerked. What if that was a rehearsal? What if that footage came from the day before the

  event?

  “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, sorry. Something you said made me realize something.”

  “What?”

  “You probably will think I’m loony.”

  “Obsessive, maybe. Loony? No.”

  “I really think this is an elaborate hoax,” Kate said, hearing herself say the words and questioning them even as they came out of her mouth.

  “Alright. Let’s go through this. Let’s say for scenario’s sake, that this is a hoax. Walk me through

  it. Because that would implicate an entire town. There are too many moving parts, too many

  victims and family members. Besides, why would anyone want to do something like that? That’d

  be pure evil.”

  “I don’t know,” Kate said. “I’ve been trying to understand that myself. How could all of those

  people be playing a role? To what end?”

  “Exactly. There is no way it could be a hoax. Could you even imagine how many people would be upset? Take for instance all of the people who invested their emotions, their money, their time?”

  “I agree with you, it would be cruel. People would be in an uproar if they found out.”

  “And the legal ramifications... I know it would be considered committing fraud. Impersonating an officer or FBI agent. If no one was hurt, there wouldn’t be much they could do with that.

  Possession of weapons and grenades, that might be something.”

  “Not if the weapons aren’t real. None of us saw the grenades, only the afterm
ath,” Kate said.

  “So, that’s probably all they would face. Still, those first two are a doozie.”

  “What if it is all about promoting gun laws?” Kate said.

  “What do you mean?”

  “The first time someone brought it up I thought it was odd, but I figured it’d been in the news so

  often lately that it was on the minds of the loved ones who were trying to make sense of a

  senseless crime. But a number of people brought it up. It seemed to be a common theme.”

  “I guess I could see that, hypothetically speaking of course.”

  “I’m still trying to figure out where the teens got all of those grenades. They are expressly illegal

  to have them in your possession.”

  Brian licked his lips and frowned. “I heard from someone that they could have bought them in

  Mexico.”

  “Mexico?”

  “They’re not cheap but they sell them to anyone buying. Sometimes people get ripped off,

  thinking they are getting the real deal and then find out too late that it was full of sand.”

  Kate took this in, said, “How do two teenage boys, still in high school without jobs, afford to

  purchase as many as they did? How would they get to Mexico and back with no one noticing?”

  Brian shrugged, “Smuggling? As for getting the money, maybe they sold drugs.”

  “As far as I could tell, Travis was a drug user. Neither of them struck me as dealers.”

  “I couldn’t tell you.”

  “So, tell me, you don’t believe it was a hoax?”

  Brian held up his hands and said, “I don’t think it was, but you never know. Either way, I don’t

  think it’s a good idea that you keep poking around in it. It got you fired.”

  “That seems to be the general consensus.”

  “Maybe you should listen for once.”

  “If only you knew how hard I try,” Kate said, gathering her things together.

  “I’m sorry I wasn’t much help, but if you want to look into fighting the way you lost your job and try to get it back, I can put you in touch with someone who is really good with that sort of thing. It might take a few days before you hear back, though.”

  Kate felt defeated, wasn’t even interested in getting her old job back. If the job with Sienna

  worked out it would put her in a better position. But, she didn’t have the heart to tell that to her

  brother-in-law who looked hopeful. She wanted him to think she was still reasonable and had her

  wits about her. If she pursued this event and blew it wide open, they would attack her character.

  She would need someone who would be a credible character witness.

  It amazed her that she was even thinking that far into the future. It was possible she would let it go and move on, but right now she couldn’t let it go. She was too invested. It was like watching a

  television series for more than three seasons, only to find the final two seasons disappointing, but

  because the viewer is so invested, they watch it through to the end in the hopes it will improve.

  She accepted the lawyer’s phone number on a torn off scrap of paper with thanks.

  “I’m really glad you didn’t concern Abby with all of this. She didn’t want to tell anyone but the

  doctor told her yesterday that she should be on bed rest for the rest of the pregnancy.”

  “Why didn’t she tell me! I helped her fold baby clothes and put them away earlier. I would have

  done it all had I known.”

  “She doesn’t want you to worry. You’ve been so busy with work. Your mom and dad are

  getting up there in age.”

  “Does mom know?”

  “No, and you aren’t supposed to either, so don’t tell her. Promise?”

  “Fine. But, I’m not happy about it. She needs all the help she can get and mom is right here.”

  “It’s your sister’s wishes, not mine.”

  In the car, Kate pulled out her cell phone. Two missed calls. The first from a number she didn’t

  recognize, the second from her mom. She cussed under her breath.

  She called her mom first. She was upset that Kate had forgotten to let her know she was home

  safe and for not telling her about losing her job.

  Kate spent the next few minutes apologizing, then comforting her mom, convincing her that

  she was going to land on her feet and get another job.

  Next she called the unknown number back, wondering if maybe it was the mystery video sender.

  “Hey girl,” Waylon said on the other end of the line.

  “Hey,” Kate said, pleasantly surprised.

  “You doing alright?”

  “No. Yes. I don’t know. I feel depressed, Way. I don’t know what to do with myself.”

  “It sucks. I’m sorry that it happened.”

  “How did you hear?”

  “Ann.”

  “Oh. God, I miss you guys.”

  “We miss you too. We were a great team, even if it was short-lived,” Waylon said.

  “Well, I hope you get someone awesome to replace me.”

  “You’re irreplaceable, you know that.”

  “That means a lot.”

  “So what are you going to do now?” Waylon asked.

  “I’ll try to get another job somewhere.”

  “I’ll be watching for you. Maybe I’ll quit ANB and come work for you.”

  Kate laughed, “We’d make a great team. But only if Ann comes too.”

  Kate passed the ladies in the lobby, dying to ask them if they actually lived there or were just

  loitering. Nothing in the mail box, she climbed the stairs to her apartment.

  She checked the inbox again, just in case. Nothing.

  She poured over the donation site again, wondering if she should email them again, then began

  looking for each victim individually in the search engine.

  She started with the victims that had a Facebook page and tried many different combinations.

  Names with locations, date of birth and name, all three.

  Everything that came up was either a news article about their death, or sites she was already

  aware of. It was like the person never had an internet presence before the event.

  She started printing off everything she found about each victim, setting the papers in files and

  organizing the files in a box with a lid. She labeled each file, twenty-four in all, combining the

  three mothers with their newborns.

  Next, she started reading through the online articles, watching any clips she came across about the massacre.

  In the greater majority, gun laws had been something talked about at length.

  She took a break, warming up a TV dinner and checking the inbox again. Still nothing.

  This time she sent a message to them. “Do you have more?”

  Chapter 17

  Essex, Maryland - April 20th

  Rain drips down the windows catching the colors of the night in bokeh streaks like precious stones, fire opal, citrine, jade, iolite. The radio low, music and voices blurring with the road noise. The wheel beneath her hands vibrating up her arms, her thoughts floating free, broken loose like the plastic snow of a shaken globe.

  Two days had passed in a funk, a series of channel changing to keep abreast of national news and of refreshing the inbox. Tired of the self-imposed prison, she took to the road to clear her head.

  At twenty-two, she had been both the equivalent of a success story and a failure. Adulting, as her generation like to call it, had been easy for her. She never hating paying bills, cleaning house, or even going to work. It is all in the mind and how it is perceived by the person, Kate had been excited about life and her future.

  This was the first time that things had truly been tough. Some people might find her problems
simple, but for her they were an oil slick that was beginning to sink beneath the surface. She could try to pretend that she was fine, but underneath it all, that fear remained. What if Sienna doesn’t come through? What if CNL thought she was too green?

  She rolled down the drivers side window with the touch of a button, her hair fluttering in the sudden wind.

  The air is cold and damp, but it is exactly what she needs to numb her aching heart.