Chapter Twelve
took a cab back to my apartment before I remembered that I'd given Ryan my keys. I texted him from the cab and told him that I'd gotten fired and was headed home. Aside from the fact that I had no job, I was glad that I'd gotten out of there. In the three days since Dr. Powell's death, it had become obvious to me that the only reason I enjoyed working at TriCorp was because he was my boss.
We pulled up in front of my building and after I'd paid the driver, I hauled my things into Nemo's. They'd just opened up for the early lunch crowd, and I grabbed a table in the back and set my stuff down. Mando came out from the back with a questioning look on his face.
"I got fired," I said gesturing at the box and bags.
"What the hell?" he said. "What happened?"
"My boss died and the guy in charge is convinced that I'm hiding something," I said. Mando looked at me like I was speaking a foreign language.
"Your boss died and his boss thinks you're doing something illegal?" he asked.
"Well, I might be," I grinned. "Now."
"Do I even want to know any of this?" he laughed.
"Not unless you want to be called as a material witness in a trial," I said.
"Then don't tell me anything except why you are camping out here instead of going up to your apartment," he said.
"I gave my keys to the guy who is staying with me because I thought he'd be back before me," I said.
"You've got a boyfriend now?" he asked as a wounded look crossed his face. We'd been down this road a couple of times and while I'd been perfectly clear about the fact that we were not going to wind up as anything more than just friends, Cece told me that Mando harbored fantasy thoughts of sweeping me off my feet and riding off into the sunset.
"No, not a boyfriend, just a friend staying with me," I said. I didn't want to encourage him, but he was my friend and I wasn't going to lie to him.
"How did you meet this friend?" he asked.
"What is this, twenty questions with Mando?" I laughed as I lightly slugged his shoulder.
"I'm just looking out for you, Echo," he said looking at me very seriously. "New York is a dangerous city and I don't like the idea of a stranger staying in your apartment."
"It's okay, Mando," I said as I soothed his bruised feelings. "He's my boss's son, and he's a Navy SEAL. He's honorable. I promise."
"A Navy SEAL, no shit?" Mando said shaking his head. "Wait, if his dad was your boss, why doesn't he have a place of his own to stay?"
"Long story," I said. "Can I get something to eat while I wait for him to get back and then I'll introduce you guys?"
"I'm not sure I want to meet the Navy SEAL sleeping in your apartment," he grumbled as he walked back to the kitchen to fix me a plate. I knew he was half acting the hurt feelings and that he understood why I would take a complete stranger into my home. He and Cece had done the same thing a million times, and I was one of the beneficiaries of their largesse.
I moved my box to the floor and took a seat at the table facing the door. If Ryan came in, I wanted him to be able to see me right away. I picked up my phone and texted him to meet me at Nemo's when he got back. Then I pulled out my laptop and began working on the project I'd begun before I left TriCorp.
It wasn't that I wanted to hack into their system and do any damage; I just wanted to retain my ability to get email from their server. So, I checked the bug I'd left and found that it had maintained the open space in the server just the way I'd intended; however, there was a good chance that it would be recognized by the IT department when they did a sweep, so I set to work coding a hiding place that they'd be unlikely to find.
With that taken care of, I went back to the original message from Dr. Powell. I re-read it several times and I understood his instructions as asking me to hold the files until he could safely retrieve them, but now I wondered whether I should open up the attached file since we already knew he was dead. I wavered until Mando brought my food, and then I set the computer aside to eat. Mando sat with me as I declared my lunch the best lunch he'd ever made and then smiling, he returned to the kitchen to prep for the lunch rush.
I pulled out the computer and flipped through the email one more time, and this time I saw something I'd previously missed. There was a small link underneath Dr. Powell's signature on the note he'd written to me. I hadn't seen it before because it was white lettering on a white background. I clicked the link and watched as my computer quickly opened a browser tab. When I saw what was on the page, I picked up my phone and began urgently texting Ryan every ten minutes saying: Come home now. Urgent.