by Jan Coffey
“Please, Steven.” She took his hand. “Believe me…or just humor me. But do something. Get me some news of him. I know you can. Please, love.”
Steven looked at Kei’s teary eyes and gathered her in his arms. They’d become so much closer since he’d sold his company. They’d rediscovered what it was that had brought them together in the first place. More than best friends, they were soul mates. He loved her more than ever. He appreciated who she was.
“Okay, my love. I’ll find that monster today. You’ll hear his voice. I promise you.”
CHAPTER 5
STIGMA
Boston
For the hundredth time, Jay Alexei scraped his knuckle on the sharp edge of the narrow mailbox.
“Dammit!” he muttered, looking at the piece of hanging skin.
Shaking his head at the row of chrome-colored mailboxes, he carefully slid his hand back in and tugged at the manila envelope, trying to free it. Apartment building mailboxes suck, he thought as the corner of the envelope tore. The letter carrier had shoved the envelope all the way to the back, with all kinds of junk mail stuffed in front of it. That didn’t help, of course.
He’d rented the studio apartment on the fifth floor of this building in South Boston last September. That had been right after he and Padma had decided to go to the courthouse in Pawtucket and get married. Neither of their parents had shown up for the wedding. She’d been eighteen and already four months pregnant. They’d moved up to Boston right after that, and he’d gotten a job in a warehouse six blocks away.
The place wasn’t great, but it was convenient. For now, at least.
It’d been a hard four months for Padma, though, living here. For him, it wasn’t bad, but he wasn’t pregnant.
No, this was a lot better than Jay had seen in the past. Jail, for instance. That had been no picnic.
Until hooking up with him, Padma had never had to worry about heat or phone bills or where they were going to get the money to pay this month’s rent. She’d been the only child. Just as her name denoted, Padma had been the lotus, the goddess Lakshmi, in her parents’ eyes. They were first generation immigrants from Mohali, India. Her father had come to this country for an engineering degree, gone back, married, and then returned to Rhode Island to stay. Her mother had spent her life taking Padma to piano lessons and ballet and all kinds of other extra-curricular activities. They adored and spoiled her. That is, until she’d gotten knocked up by Jay. Then, she’d been given a choice. Lose the baby and forget Jay…or stay with him and they’d disown her.
Luckily for him, she’d taken Door Number Two.
Deciding he needed to use two hands, Jay put the open box containing the computer on the floor to get a better grip on everything that was stuffed in the mail box.
The thing that twisted his heart day in and day out, however, was that she never complained. Sick as a dog during the whole pregnancy, she always had a smile for him. It didn’t matter that her bathroom back home had been bigger than the entire apartment they were renting. She greeted him every night as if she were welcoming the king to his castle. And every morning, she sent him away, telling him that she was the happiest woman in the world.
He didn’t deserve her.
The envelope came out with more junk, and he threw the ads and flyers into a trash can next to the door. He stared at the manila envelope and smiled bitterly at the word Mr. printed before his name. He checked the sender. It was from his old high school back in Rhode Island. He tore it open. It was his high school diploma.
“So I get a piece of paper after all.” He shoved the diploma inside the computer box and picked it up.
Jay had skipped the graduation last June. There had been no point in going. At the time, he’d been a month away from turning twenty-one. He’d been too old to go to classes during the day, but the night classes had given him enough credits. Granted, the kids all knew him. He was famous in town, but everyone was too afraid of him or too embarrassed to say anything about his jail time. No, there’d been no point in going. It wasn’t as if anyone in his family was going to be there, celebrating with him. That night, Jay and Padma had taken off for Newport to celebrate on their own. They’d spent the night huddled up in a blanket on the beach.
He slid his key into the metal inner door of the apartment building. If he knew then what he knew now, he wouldn’t have bothered to go back for this stupid degree after getting out of jail. He’d thought it would be more meaningful than just getting a GED while he was in the slammer. But this piece of paper hadn’t made a bit of difference. No one wanted to talk to him. No colleges had been standing in line. It didn’t matter that he’d scored perfect on his SATs in seventh grade and how, from the time he’d been four feet tall, the gifted teachers in the public schools drooled all over him. They called him a prodigy, a genius. He had a photographic memory. He was getting letters from MIT and Johns Hopkins when he was still in middle school. Now, he couldn’t even get a job as a techie at a local computer store.
He couldn’t make a decent living to support his wife and baby that was on the way.
Jay took a breather on the third floor landing. He didn’t know how Padma handled these steps every day. She worked four hours a day at a deli around the corner. When they’d first moved in, she was doing eight hours a day. But she couldn’t spend so much time on her feet. In fact, the doctor at the free clinic they’d gone to last week together told her that she should stop working entirely until after the baby was born. She hadn’t gained enough weight, and there were times when Jay thought the little bundle in Padma’s stomach weighed almost as much as the rest of her. Even so, Padma wasn’t hearing what she was being told.
As he stood there, that flash of heat washed through him, just as it did every time he thought too much about their situation. They had a baby coming. How in God’s name were they going to pay for it all?
Jay switched the box from one arm to the other and started up toward the fourth floor landing. Odd jobs. Keep working. Keep scratching for every penny.
The computer under his arm belonged to one of the guys he worked with. He’d been having trouble with the thing, so Jay had offered to fix it up for fifty bucks. There were other jobs he’d done at work for free, but it was time to start charging. People he worked with knew he was good at this stuff.
Even though this was the first paying job, Jay hoped that maybe the word going around would get him other jobs like this. He had to make more money. There was so much that he wanted to do…no, needed to do…for Padma.
Just last night, the two of them had gone shopping for a crib for their baby. So they went to the Goodwill store. The only problem was that they didn’t have any cribs available…that they should check back again next week. Padma hadn’t complained, but he could look at her and see right into her soul. She was sad, disappointed.
As he plodded up the last remaining steps, he wondered for the thousandth time whether he was staying on the right side of the fence for nothing. For every guy in the pen, he knew there were a hundred on the outside…making it.
Jay had made one mistake in high school. Other kids made them all the time. But he was much smarter than other kids. So, of course, his crime had been that much more serious. The punishment more devastating. Well, he’d paid. He was still paying.
In spite of it all, he didn’t want to be Padma’s one mistake, even though her parents were certain he was.
At the top of the steps, he stopped and looked at the number on that pale green door to their apartment. Just thinking of her on the other side sent a burst of energy through him. That was all he needed. She was all he needed.
Still, as he fished in his pocket for the key, he wished he was carrying a bouquet of flowers or a box of chocolate instead of a busted computer.
At that moment the door opened. Padma, phone cradled against one ear, motioned excitedly to him to come in.
Jay was surprised. No one called them. They didn’t have any friends. They only had the phone sinc
e that was his way of getting onto the Internet. He spent a lot of time on that. Also, having the phone gave him the peace of mind that she could call him at work if there was an emergency. She gestured that the call was for him.
Jay walked in, gently laying the box down inside the door.
“Hold on. You can talk to him yourself. He just walked in. Okay, thanks.” She covered the mouthpiece and held out the phone to him.
He took it out of her hand and tossed it onto their sofa. She looked pale, and there were dark circles under her eyes. Her face had lost its sweet roundness, growing more drawn all the time. Every day, she looked as if she was shifting weight from her own body to the body growing in her rapidly expanding belly. He kissed her, ignoring the look of shock in her face at his cavalier treatment of the phone.
The phone was immediately forgotten, and Padma nestled into his arms, pressing her face against his chest.
“Group hug,” she said, smiling as she placed his hand against her hard stomach.
“I missed you,” he whispered against her silky hair. “Both of you.”
“We missed you, too.” She rose on her tiptoes and kissed his lips. She motioned to the handset on the sofa. “I think you might want to talk to him.”
“Who is it?” Jay asked.
“I don’t know.”
“But you think I should talk to him,” he said with a chuckle.
She shrugged. “It’s a guy. He sounds pretty nice. He knew we’re expecting our first baby. He said he was calling with news of an employment opportunity.”
“An employment opportunity?” he repeated, curious. The people he knew these days talked about jobs, not employment opportunities. Usually, they meant heavy labor type work. Somebody moving or buying something and needing an extra hand to take it somewhere. Well, the people he was working for at the warehouse knew Padma was pregnant. Jay suspected that this person had been referred by them.
She shrugged again and looked up at him in that cute way that made her look like an imp. “I didn’t make it up. That’s what he said.”
A dozen things ran through Jay’s mind as he went over and picked up the phone. He’d stuck a resume up on a Monster job board and on Craig’s List last summer…just to test the waters. Nothing serious had come out of it. He tried not to build his hopes up.
“Hello. Can I help you?” he asked.
“Mr. Alexei?”
Mister! This was the second time today. Jeez, they’d be calling him sir next.
“Yes?”
“I’m calling on behalf of a client. We’d like to set up an interview with you, sir.”
Okay, what the hell was going on?
Padma was standing so close, trying to hear what was going on, that Jay figured the guy could probably hear her breathing into the phone. Jay gently pushed her down on the sofa. He knew it would take her at least ten minutes to find her balance and get up again.
“Who’s your client, if I may ask?” Jay asked.
“A private computer firm. You wouldn’t know the name.”
For the first time, Jay’s attention zeroed in on the caller. In two and a half years in jail, he’d met plenty of guys running scams. They sounded just like this guy. “Okay. Well, what kind of a…job…is it that your employer wants to interview me for.”
“It is for a programmer position.”
“A programmer,” he repeated, not believing his ears. Now he knew it couldn’t be legit. The resume he’d posted online was clear that he only had a high school degree. What legit company would want an entry level programmer that had no degree or real work experience?
“That’s right. I can tell you that the position comes with a standard benefits package that will cover you and your family. I am also permitted to tell you that the annual salary is in the $150,000 to $180,000 range, with additional bonus incentives. This position requires relocation, but my employer will take care of the moving costs and all the smaller details. Would this kind of arrangement interest you, Mr. Alexei?”
Jay sank down next to Padma on the sofa. He couldn’t catch his breath for a couple of seconds. Legit or not, this was music to his ears.
“Are you there, sir?”
He cleared his throat. “I am…I am. Are you sure you have the right…the right person?”
“Oh, yes. I’m quite certain of that.”
“Mr…Mr…What was your name again?”
“My apologies, Mr. Alexei,” he said from the other end. “I never introduced myself to you. My name is Mr. Diarte. Hank Diarte.”
“Mr. Diarte,” Jay started. “I have to tell you I think you must be mistaken about whoever it is you think I am. You do realize that I only have a high school education, and I—”
“I know more about you than you think, Mr. Alexei.” Jay could hear a touch of European accent in the guy’s voice. “Your name is Jay Alexei. Twenty-one years of age. Birthday? July 21. Born in Providence Women and Infants Hospital at 2:47 a.m. Your mother has been a music teacher at the Saint Cecilia School in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, for the past twenty-three years. A devout Catholic. Your father was a computer technician. He has been unemployed for the past three years. He has a problem with alcohol, I’m sorry to say. Your parents are presently separated, and you’re not on speaking terms with either of them. No siblings. Do I have the right Jay Alexei?”
Jay leaned back. This wasn’t exactly Google material. Padma snuggled next to him, looking curiously up into his face. “Keep going.”
“My client believes you are an exceptionally bright young man. ‘A genius with computers,’ were his exact words, sir. To date, you are the only person who has ever been able to hack into NASA’s central mainframe. And at the time you did it, you were only seventeen. You served two and half years in the Federal Correctional Institution in Otisville, New York.”
“Look, I only poked my head into their site and looked around. No damage was done. No data was stolen. I made that mistake once, and I paid the price,” Jay said thinly, planting his elbows on his knees. “I’m not interested in going that route again.”
“Yes, sir. My client…Mr. Lyons…understands that entirely. He—”
“I have a family of my own, now.”
“My client knows that, sir. You need not have any fear on that account. You should know that Mr. Lyons is a man who believes in second chances. He also believes in his ability to find exceptional…albeit unconventional…talent.”
“Go on.”
“He knows that you are lacking in a few formal programming skills. Two and a half years is a long time to be out of the field. Still, if you decide to take the interview and you are offered the job, then my client will make every arrangement to provide any necessary training. Mr. Lyons is offering you something you will be hard pressed to find elsewhere, Mr. Alexei. He is offering you a fresh start.”
Jay looked at Padma. She’d been listening to most of the conversation since he sat down. She was pressed up against him. She looked as wary of the whole thing as he was.
“What do you say, Mr. Alexei? Would you like to schedule an interview?”
Just as he started to answer, Jay felt a sharp kick from the baby against his side.
“Yes, Mr. Diarte” Jay said, having come to a decision. “I’ll talk to you.”
CHAPTER 6
LOSS
Apparently, you had to be Bill Gates or the Director of NASA to get permission to look at surveillance-camera tapes of the parking lots at Moffett Field.
Alanna stood in the security office and looked at the line of monitors behind the security guard. In several of them she could see the noon lunch traffic going by.
Well, she thought, a person at least needed to sound reasonably sane. I thought I saw someone who looked like my dead fiancée clearly hadn’t sounded sane to anyone. Not to Moffett Field security. Not to the police detective who’d investigated Ray’s accident last fall. Not even to the handful of people she and Ray called friends. Even the woman in division of human relations who’
d brought Ray in as a contractor a year ago had listened to her question with barely concealed skepticism. The records showed that Ray Savoy was diseased.
Aside from HR representative, everyone had obviously felt sorry for her, of course. Alanna had heard the note of sympathy over and over again.
And that was really about to drive her crazy.
She didn’t want sympathy. She lived in the world of real, hard, quantifiable data. Yes, she had been distraught after Ray’s death. She was still distressed. But she wasn’t crazy. Or, at least, she didn’t think so. If hallucinations now had to be added to her troubles, though, she’d go right down and have herself committed.
She hated this uncertainty. She hated doubting herself. Either Ray had been here or he hadn’t. The answer was simple enough to find out.
“Ready?”
“Are you sure you aren’t going to get to any trouble for this?” She knew the security guard who was bending the rules to help her. Juan’s grandmother was a good friend of Alanna’s own abuela. She’d known the young man since he was a teenager and, in fact, had been a reference for him when he’d been hired a couple of years earlier.
“No,” he replied. “Seriously. No trouble at all.”
She still hesitated. She understood Juan thought of her almost like family. She shouldn’t have asked him, Alanna thought. She didn’t want him risking his position here. His wife had given birth to their first child just before Christmas, and Alanna knew that Juan was the only wage earner in his household at the moment.