“Tell me what it is,” I say as I walk mechanically to the front desk. I half-expect to find Ella’s cut-off head in the mail; someone must’ve seen us and gone after her to make me stop our projects.
My heart pounds into my throat.
Doug is at the desk, an envelope in his hands, wearing a mask and gloves. The staff stand at a distance.
“Put on protection,” he says, and my assistant hands me a pair of medical gloves and a mask before he backs off, too. I put everything on. Doug is concerned, and if he is, it means something is not right.
Doug slips several photos out of the envelope, and white powder falls onto the desk. The pages are covered in white powder, too.
Doug hands me the photos, but I already know what they show. They’re proof, and someone else has it now.
Shit.
My chest feels like being compressed from all sides.
I rub my fingers against each other with some of the powder between them. I bring them up to my nose and sniff them through the mask.
“Cocaine,” I tell Doug, our eyes meet. We both know it’s probably the cocaine Jared died from, and someone is declaring waragainst me.
“Is there anything else?” I ask. “Something they want?”
“Nothing,” he says after glancing into the envelope one more time.
I skim through the photos. My eyes fly to the upper corner of the last one as a rug is pulled underneath me.
YOU ARE NEXT
It is scribbled onto the page in capital letters.
My mind needs a moment to catch up.
I want to run and collapse at the same time.
Only I can’t show a reaction.
I can’t show how much fear rushes through me.
Employees are watching.
I hold the page for Doug to see, carefully keeping it out of the camera's view.
My eyes are wide. It takes all my strength to slip on my mask.
He nods.
“What do you want me to do?” he asks.
I can’t have the police involved. If they find out about the pictures, I will be questioned thoroughly, something I can’t afford right now. Not another scandal.
“Log everything, securely and discreetly. Play it down,” I mutter to him so no one else hears. We store everything back in the envelope.
I breathe in and out. Everything is fine; no one can know.
“Alright, everyone,” I say, removing my gloves and mask when I turn. “Looks bad, but it’s just one of the normal threats. It is once more important that every envelope is scanned; let this be a reminder to you. We’re doing important work to ensure the security of the citizens and our country here. People feel scared and threatened by it.”
Everyone breathes out, and we go back to our work. Only I don’t. I stare into the void, desperately trying to grasp what will come. It’s been a long time since I felt out of control like this.
At least it wasn’t Ella’s head,a barbaric voice in my head says, and I snort out.
