Anna thought about that. She had no idea that Jared knew how to shoot a gun. She remembered her mom having a pistol. She used to carry it in her purse. She told Anna that all women should know how to use one for self-defense, but then she had died before Anna was old enough to learn. Maybe she should let Jared teach her. Could she even afford to buy one?
Buttercup: Okay. I’ll think about it.
Buttercup: But I can’t just go around knocking off old ladies just because they are a little crazy.
Mr. Carson-Collins: A little crazy?! She came at you like she was the mob, and you owed her money!
Buttercup: Okay. Teach me to sling some lead.
Mr. Carson-Collins: *thumbs up* Goodnight, Buttercup
Buttercup: Goodnight, Wyatt Earp.
Mr. Carson-Collins: I’d rather be a less consumptive version of Doc Holliday…
Buttercup: Fine…I’ll allow it.
Chapter Six
Speculation
On Monday, Anna put the meals for herself and Jared in the fridge, carefully scooting someone’s extremely expired-looking lunch to the back. She was turning around to leave when a voice nearby startled her.
“I know what you did,” Darla said, glaring at her from the doorway. She looked a little pale.
Anna jumped and put her hand over her chest. “Darla, you scared me. What are you talking about?”
“My popcorn, and the microwave. I know you know who did it.” Darla raised an eyebrow and gave her a nasty look. “I expect after my little talk with Mr. Hubbard, we won’t be having any more problems in this office,” she said smugly.
Someone has a popcorn addiction…
“I have no idea what you’re talking about, and I need to get to work now.” Anna pushed past Darla and went into the hallway.
Oops! They were so screwed!
“I’ll be watching you. You and Jared both,” Darla called out, motioning to her eyes with two fingers and waving them in Anna’s general direction.
Anna rolled her eyes and went to start her work for the day. She forced down the trepidation she felt. Jared would know what to do. As she sat at her desk, waiting for him to come in, she pulled up the news.
She scanned the headlines for any mention of crazy people. She found none and was both disappointed and relieved. It was a strange coincidence for sure. She widened her search to include international news. Most of the headlines concentrated on the supposedly resolving health crisis, which was starting to wind down, and the state of the world economy. China seemed to be having an inordinately hard time controlling the population, which was weird considering its heavy-handed government. Then, at the very bottom of the webpage, was an innocuous link.
Sporadic unrest breaking out among recovering RF patient populations.
She clicked it.
“…this journalist to report that there have been indications of sporadic and violent tendencies among some patients recovering from the so-called Russian Flu in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev. Authorities here have declined to comment, and the medical community in Moscow remain silent on the phenomena. At this time, residents are being urged to remain cautious and to report cases of violence to the authorities immediately…”
So, that could very well explain that woman’s behavior in the store Saturday. If she had gotten the Russian Flu, then she could have had a relapse. A weird one. A violent one, but maybe she was fine now. Anna wished she had found out who it was. Maybe she could call the police station and ask.
What if she isn’t fine? What if it’s permanent? What if she’s dead? Am I next?
A hand on her shoulder made her jump and she let out an extremely embarrassing squeal and spun around quickly in her chair. Her heart raced as she confronted the threat. The threat who was smiling smugly at her overreaction.
“Sorry,” Jared said, holding his hands up in apology.
Anna let out a deep breath and shook her head. “No, it’s okay. I’m just jumpy this morning. I’ve been reading about the…well, just reading.”
“You were reading romance novels again, weren’t you?” he asked, cocking an eyebrow knowingly.
“No!”
“Then what?” he asked, setting down his briefcase on his desk.
“About the people who have had the flu, and suddenly go crazy. Listen, I know I kind of dismissed it when you told me about, but now I’m wondering if it isn’t worse than we think. They’re saying a lot of people in the Ukraine and some other places are turning violent. I think that woman at the store was one of them.” Anna pushed her fingers against her temples, still feeling the effects of the fright he gave her moments ago and attempting to mitigate the headache forming there.
“I think it’s very possible,” he said agreeing with her. He reached past her and opened her top desk drawer. He opened the baggie of ibuprofen tablets and handed her on. “Take this.”
“What if it starts happening more?” she asked, worried.
He raised both eyebrows and shrugged. “We’ll have to deal with it. Make sure to always keep your phone on you, maybe put 911 on speed dial. Keep your corn ready.”
◆◆◆
They sat together at lunch, as always, and Jared seemed to be as relaxed as ever. He endlessly praised the couscous dish that she had made. Basically, it was a grilled chicken couscous salad, mixed with raisins, red and yellow diced bell peppers, and green onions. She threw in some chickpeas for extra nutrition and tossed it with an allspice-olive oil dressing. It was pretty good, if she did say so herself.
“I think we need to strategize about how to deal with this Darla thing,” he said, leaning in close to whisper.
She looked around, but only Donnie was in the room and he wasn’t a particularly alert person. She waited until he took his pizza from the oven before she replied though, just in case.
“So? Any ideas?” she asked.
“I happen to have a CD copy of some extremely funky beats in my desk. I also happen to know where to locate a label maker. If Darla isn’t careful, she could find herself in possession of some incriminating evidence. I happen to know that Hubbard is extremely interested in finding the speaker hijacking culprit.”
“You seem to randomly happen to know, and to have a lot of stuff, that happens to apply to our situation.”
“The fates have blessed me,” he said, holding his hands out. “I’ll keep thinking. Maybe I’ll happen across some less drastic means of getting her off our backs.”
“Yeah, I don’t really want to get her fired,” she replied.
They watched the news, but there was no mention of the strange, crazy people. Riots had broken out in some eastern European country, but news anchors were at a loss to explain what it was over. They went to a commercial break. Anna finished chewing, then asked Jared a question that she was a little embarrassed to be bringing up.
“Doesn’t it worry you? I mean, I know you haven’t been sick…but I have. What if I suddenly get all crazy?”
“I guess we’d have to postpone our date,” he said. “At least until I manage to locate a straitjacket for you.”
“I mean it, Jared!”
He looked at her seriously and wiped his mouth with the napkin before crossing his arms on the tabletop. His sleeves were rolled up, and she wondered why she had never noticed how large his forearms were. He started speaking and she turned her attention back to his face.
“Of course, it’s concerning. If something happens, then we’ll deal with it when the time comes. I think there is a lot to be said for being prepared for things, but not dwelling on them. I don’t live my life fearfully and you shouldn’t either,” he said intently.
She nodded and looked own at her half-empty bowl.
“And you aren’t going to turn crazy,” he said, and she looked back up. “Because I won’t let you.” He smiled a little. It was completely false of course. He wouldn’t be able to stop something like that, but strangely…it reassured her as well. She smiled back.
“You going to eat t
hat?” he asked.
She rolled her eyes at him and pushed her bowl his way.
◆◆◆
Tuesday was calm, and Anna thought perhaps she had been a little too hysterical yesterday. She started to question her own wholehearted belief in that one news story from the Ukraine. Journalists weren’t exactly known for their integrity anymore. That one could have easily made up sensational details for that story, just to get more coverage. She knew better.
She resolved to stop watching the news for a few days, and she even changed the channel on the break room television to HGTV. Nobody would bother to change it back for a while. People usually just watched whatever was already on.
Darla was acting unusually morose, even after she had burned her afternoon snack she still seemed down. It was unlike her. She was usually so full of smug self-satisfaction that Anna wanted to trip her.
At lunch, Jared disappeared and didn’t returned until five minutes before clock in time. He didn’t say anything, just quickly ate the meal Anna handed to him. He looked troubled, but she would wait until he brought up whatever it was. There was no faster way to shut him down than to ask what was bothering him. She had found that true for many men actually. Well, of the men she was personally familiar with…which was about three.
She decided to toss Jared a note and open up a conversation. Hopefully, he would tell her what was bothering him.
I was watching HGTV. We should open up a GFI branch in the Dominican Republic. We can live like kings there for cheap on a branch manager’s salary. What do you say?
She was even more worried when she didn’t get an answer back. Usually, he’d be all over a note like that. She missed him at afternoon break as well. He spent the entire time on the phone outside. He didn’t look well. It kind of ruined her day, and she felt selfish for thinking that. It wasn’t Jared’s job to make her workday pleasant, and if something was wrong, she should try to help, not bug him about random stuff.
Mr. Hubbard came to Anna’s cubicle right before quitting time. For a moment, she thought he was going to ask her if she knew anything about Darla’s popcorn. She didn’t know what she would have said, probably admitted to doing it. She couldn’t lie to her boss, could she? However, she was relieved when he only asked her if she could come in early tomorrow and stay late.
“Madeline hasn’t been feeling so well and she’s gotten behind,” he said in explanation.
Anna almost questioned it but changed her mind after studying his face. Perhaps this wasn’t just Madeline’s attempt to get out of doing her job. He really did look worried about her. People did seem to be more apathetic than normal now that she really considered it. She noticed a lot of the salespeople were a lot of less perky too, which was a huge deal because some of them always seemed to be on the verge of a manic episode. The realization was jarring.
Even Jared had changed.
What had she missed?
She realized Mr. Hubbard was still waiting. “No problem,” she told him with a small smile.
“Is six o’clock okay? You’ll get overtime of course, and I’ll have pizza brought in at six for your supper. If you could stay until eight, I think you’d be able to get a handle on things.”
Fourteen hours!? Six hours overtime!
“That’s fine. If you could have her leave me a list of what she needs done?”
“Thanks Anna. You’re a real treasure,” he said tiredly then went back to his office. She kind of felt guilty for all the pranks they pulled lately.
She put her head in her hands and blew out a deep breath. Tomorrow was going to be a long day. She heard the squeak of Jared’s chair moving, but he didn’t comment.
She scooted her chair over to the entrance to his workspace. He was hunched over his desk, his ledgers and paperwork lying forgotten under his elbows. She waited a moment, but he didn’t turn around.
“Hey,” she said quietly. “Is there anything I can do?”
“No.”
That was his only answer. No.
She didn’t think this had anything to do with her, or them. She guessed it was a personal issue, maybe with his family, or maybe he was sick, or maybe he got a warning from Mr. Hubbard? She wished he would have confided in her, but honestly, even though they were friends, it just wasn’t her business.
She got back to work, trying not to think about tomorrows slog through Madeline’s paperwork. She was also ignoring her own inner sense of unease.
She had the feeling that they were on the edge of something. It was like hearing tornado sirens go off in the towers all around the county, and seeing the dark clouds gathering, and knowing that it was coming for you next. It put her off balance and she couldn’t shake it…not that night or the next morning.
Chapter Seven
Could Have Been Worse
She was up before dawn Wednesday. The coffee was brewing, and she had just finished dressing. She had thirty minutes left, so she gathered up her travel mugs. She was taking an extra one for her tea. She was going to need the caffeine later, for sure. She climbed up on the counter and looked in the highest cupboard. She searched around and found the bag she was looking for. On the way down, she banged her shin against the edge of the counter.
“Frickin’ hell!” she yelled, clutching her injured shin. She peeled her hand away to see if it was bleeding. Dang, that was going to bruise like crazy. It felt like she took a chunk out of the bone.
She limped over to the counter with her larger than usual lunch bag, adding in three meals and some stuff for her tea. She tossed in some snacks as well, intending on putting them in her desk. Popcorn was not among them.
She added a couple of sports drinks and a few bottles of water. She didn’t know why, but she realized that she never had kept anything to eat or drink at her desk. Most of the others did, and she could hear the surreptitious rattling of plastic around the office at certain times of day, especially from Jared’s cubicle. Now, she could rattle too.
She pulled on her black Keds and checked her shin once more. It was already changing colors and a huge knot was forming.
The Keds weren’t exactly standard office attire, but she wasn’t about to wear heels for fourteen hours. She didn’t think anyone would say anything. They blended in well with her black slacks and blouse.
At a quarter to six, she left her apartment. Her apartment opened directly to a covered, but open-air, central walkway between apartments. From there, a door opened into a stairwell that led to the street. It wasn’t exactly secure, but this town was fairly safe, and she lived in a decent, peaceful area.
She got to the office five minutes later, parking in her usual space in front. She dreaded the day but looked forward to a nice fat check at the end of the month. The door swished open, blowing frigid air across her face. She flipped on the lights. It was a bit eerie being here alone, but it was also peaceful in a way. She put the food in the fridge and stocked her desk with her snacks and drinks.
At fifteen after six, the main door opened with a rattle and a soft whoosh, and she heard someone enter the office. Footsteps muffled on carpet got closer to her desk and her heart stuttered in her chest. She scanned her desk and thought about grabbing a pair of scissors from the carousel.
Nobody should be here. She should have locked the door.
Screw it. She took the scissors.
She stood up quietly and crept forward, swallowing back the tang of fear flooding her mouth. Was she being silly? Surely nobody would come in to hurt her. Maybe Mr. Hubbard or Madeline decided to come in early as well. What if it wasn’t Mr. Hubbard…what if it was a stranger, a crazy person?
She peered around the corner and the man spotted her instantly. Her brow furrowed in confusion. “What are you doing here?” she asked.
“I’ve got things I need to catch up on. Stuff. You know…things,” Jared said.
Anna nodded slowly, though she didn’t really know. She let her arm drop, the scissors hanging by her side. Jared looked down at the scissors th
en slowly raised his free hand in the air.
“My wallet is in my jacket pocket. Take it, just don’t hurt me,” he said seriously.
Anna raised an eyebrow at him. “Hey, you could have been a murderer or a rapist or one of those flu creeps,” she said, pointing the scissors at him. “I wasn’t going down without a fight.”
He grinned, “Atta girl. I wasn’t really scared you know. I could have taken you down even with the scissors. Canned corn on the other hand…,” He made a fifty-fifty gesture with his hand.
“What are you really doing here, Jared?” she asked as he set his briefcase on his desk and hung up his suit coat.
He answered while logging in to the company program. “I wasn’t about to let my work wife get murdered or raped or attacked by another rabid elderly person. Have you seen this place? It’s dangerous! You’re practically guaranteed to at least get mugged on the way to the breakroom.” He shook his head and bemoaned the rampant criminality of Gregory Fields Inc.
Anna sighed and laughed. She laid her scissors down. “I better get to work. I have tons of crap to catch up on.”
He plopped a white box on her desk. “I would have been here sooner, but I had to wake up the baker and threaten his life for these donuts.”
“My favorite,” she said with a smile.
◆◆◆
At ten-thirty, Anna needed a nap.
It was that time of morning when, if she had gotten up extra early, the coffee would be wearing off. She had, and it was.
She yawned, hearing her ears pop in the stillness of the office. She still had ten hours to go. She tapped her finger on the wrapper of a candy bar but finally decided to just get more coffee instead. She had already drunk so much that she was getting the weird jittery feeling from the excessive caffeine, but it couldn’t be helped.
The Salvation Plague | Book 1 |The Turning Page 6
