Chapter 27

Becka

“He what?” Lisa exclaimed as she stood in the doorway to the office. She wore her pajamas and had her hair up in a ponytail. I was dressed nearly the same, except my hair was floating down around my collar. I grabbed it out of frustration and pulled it over one of my shoulders.

“He stole my research. I can’t fucking believe it.” I stood, staring at the blank spot on the floor, shaking my head, trying to keep my breath moving in and out of my body, struggling to make it happen. I heard ringing in my ears. “It was right here.” I pointed to the floor where there had obviously been a stack of something; there was a blank square in the middle of the floor by my desk.

I wasn’t exactly the best housekeeper, especially in our shared office. Usually Lisa straightened everything up and I ended up stacking things anywhere there was open space. The place where the boxes had been was the only empty space of carpet on the floor.

“Are you sure?” Lisa asked. “It would have been hard for him to get those boxes out of the apartment; I’ve seen them. They’re not exactly light. I mean, he couldn’t tuck them into a backpack and disappear into the dead of night.”

“I’m sure,” I said, dully. “I don’t know how he did it, but it doesn’t matter. He did.”

“Let’s look around anyway, okay?” Lisa, always the optimist, suggested. “Maybe he just moved them. Maybe you moved them. Shit, maybe I moved them,” even though that was never something Lisa would do. Still, Lisa was right, it was possible that things had gotten moved around. I was willing to search the place from top to bottom before I believed fully that Oliver was a thief and a liar.

As we searched the entire apartment from top to bottom, starting in the office and tearing it apart, I tried to imagine why Oliver would ever do such a thing. It was really more something that Ethan would do, if Ethan had been in my house and known about the research. That was the difference; Oliver knew about the research. He had found out about it, and, like an idiot, I had admitted to everything I had gathered.

What started as an independent investigation had turned into me investigating Ethan, then Oliver, then the two of them, and now it was back to…” Who? Absolutely nothing, no one, because my research had disappeared.

I continued to search ever room. I walked by the bathroom and Lisa was on her hands and knees, looking in the cabinet under the sink. I shook my head but didn’t say a word; it was certainly possible.

“Maybe we have a ghost,” I said. “A research stealing ghost, hell bent on making sure that the evils of animal experimentation are alive and well and carried out with gusto at Neurotova.”

“And that ghost just likes to hide things. You know, in the bathroom.” Lisa smiled. I appreciated her trying to keep the situation light… but, the truth was, she had no idea the seriousness of what losing that research would mean.

I sat down on the couch in the living room and put my head in my hands. “I don’t know why I didn’t back everything up! I’m such a fucking idiot!”

Lisa came to sit beside me. “You didn’t back it up because you didn’t want multiple copies of incriminating things. I get it.”

“I’m going to call them both.” I started with Oliver. His phone rang though to his voicemail and I hung up before I left a message. I realized I had no idea what to say to him. I took a deep breath and looked at Lisa.

“Just be straight with him,” she said. “Tell him that the research is missing and you’re wondering if he has it. That you need it back, and you need it back now.”

I was so grateful for Lisa, always, of course, but especially in this moment. With her sitting next to me, I felt stronger.

I dialed Oliver’s number again and let it ring to his voicemail. “Oliver, it’s Becka. Listen, you were here last night, and you left this morning without saying goodbye. I also happen to notice that all of my research into Neurotova, research I’ve been trying to use to clear you, has disappeared. I can’t imagine why you would steal from me, but it’s looking like that’s the case. Obviously, we need to speak. Immediately. Call me.”

I hung up the phone and immediately shivered, all of the shaking energy I’d kept out of my voice surging through me at once. Lisa put her arm around me.

“Good job,” she said. “Now call that bastard Ethan.”

I called Ethan’s number. Of course, there was no response. I was more prepared to talk this time around, and I gave him much the same speech I gave Oliver, minus a few important details. “Ethan, I need you to call me back. Some very important documents were taken from my apartment last night—something I’m sure you have some idea about—and I need them back. I need them back now. Today. If you took them as some sort of a joke, or revenge for the other night at Oliver’s, it’s not funny, and it’s not necessary. Call me back the second you get this.”

I hung up and looked at Lisa, shaking my head. “What a fucking mess,” I said.

I texted them both, reiterating that if they took my research, it was essential that they return it. I told them both that I would work with them in whatever way they wanted, I just needed my work back. I even tied my dissertation into it, saying that some of the data was critical to my dissertation and its completion. I stared at my phone. Nothing. No calls, no texts.

Lisa stood up and went into her room for a moment, then came back out. She grabbed some coffee from the kitchen and brought us each a cup.

“I called in sick to work,” she said. She set the coffee in front of me.

“Why?” I asked, confused. It was late, but it wasn’t so late she couldn’t still get into work for the majority of the day.

“You may want to look outside,” Lisa said gently. “But, prepare yourself.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Just look.” She walked over to the window and pulled the curtain aside. We usually left our blinds open to keep some light coming into the room. I looked out and looked down at the street at the bottom of my building. My jaw dropped open.

“What the fuck?” I exclaimed. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I looked at Lisa. “What the fuck is happening?”

“Apparently neither of us is going to leave the house for a while,” Lisa said glumly.